In article . com, "Mark Fortune" writes:
Charles Turner wrote:
Guys,



It was Sir Clive Sinclair who said something like "the World Economy needs
some new discoveries, all current manufacturing etc. is based on old
discoveries." He was referring to Automotive, Telephony, Television etc,
which are of course very old ideas, some 100+ years.


Not much so far, but then we are in an era where information can circle
the globe before you can even imagine it doing so. My theory is that in
ye olde times, people sat and thought for long hours, even days about
things, noted stuff down on bits of paper, maybe shared stuff with
local villages, but didnt become widespread until it worked, and for
that reason it seemed like a massive jump in technology. Now days,
thanks to the web, people spat little bits of ideas here there and
everywhere, and it is instantly assimilated. So it seems technology
these days is gradually built upon, continuously evolving in
infintessimal steps.

At the time when semiconductors and lasers came around, information
spread quite rapidly, yet by all measures these were revolutions.




So, as far as electronics is concerned there has been no subsequent "Quantum
Leap Discovery" (I will, however, stand to be corrected and enlightened).

The big question:-

Are there any discoveries in any other disciplines that rival that of the
semiconductor and would anyone like to predict the next Quantum Leap.


One thing springs to mind:
Room temperature superconductors - these are just on the horizon as far
as some physicists are concerned

Hardly. Even high Tc superconductors, which caused such a stir some
20 years ago, didn't live up to their promise so far, and these are
still far from "room temperature". As for true room remperature
superconductors, there is currently no research direction present that
appears to be leading there.

and would certainly be a revolution in computing,

No, not at all. Some marginal improvement, perhaps, but not any
revolution.

power transmission,

Again, improvement, not a revolution. It is not as if most of the
power is being wasted in transmission nowadays. So, you'll get some
savings, worthwhile but hardly revolutionary.

magnetic shielding,

Yes, they'll be very good at this. As to whether this opens new
technological vistas or remains a niche application, it is too early
to tell.

and by some sources even gravity manipulation!

Not by any sources in existing physics. To the extent we know,
magnetic fields do nothing for gravity manipulation. In fact, to the
extent we know, gravity cannot be manipulated (other than the old
fashioned way, moving masses around.

Mati Meron | "When you argue with a fool,
| chances are he is doing just the same"