Introduction

   I have always loved technology.  Growing up I read Popular Science and watched movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Blade Runner.  I enjoyed the original Star Trek television series and read science fiction novels such as Dune, Lord of the Rings, 1984, and Brave New World.  Over the years I went to college, got a Ph.D. in Biology and had a great career.  Still, in all that time, I never lost my love for technology and the promise it holds for a better future.
   In truth, we live in a wondrous time. Personal computers, tablets, mobile phones, the internet, digital photography, voice recognition, self-driving cars... the list goes on and on.  It sometimes seems that there is a new technological development every week.   If you have the sense that these new products and services are coming at us faster and faster, you're right!  In fact, the rate of technological development is accelerating, and there is no end in sight.
   In this blog I'm not going to review the latest gadget, game or app.  There are plenty of places to find that kind of information.  Instead I want to begin to pull back the curtain on some of the biggest developments in technology, develpments that have and will impact your life significantly.  I'm writing this blog for laymen, for people like me who are curious and want to get a better sense of what is really going on.  You could find this information for yourself, but it would take a lot of time and effort, and time is something that most of us have in short supply.  Instead, I'll do the research and dig through the books and articles for you.
   In the months to come we'll cover topics such as Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, DNA Data Storage, Autonomous Weapons and much more.  Some of these you may have heard of before, and some will likely be new to you.  Nonetheless, all of these technologies have, or soon will, fundamentally impact your life.  So, if you're ready for a peek behind the curtain, then read on.