Countdowns

10 Profound Innovations Ahead

Today's world looks increasingly like the future. Robots work factory assembly lines and fight alongside human warriors on the battlefield, while tiny computers assist in everything from driving cars to flying airplanes. Surgeons use the latest technological tools to accomplish incredible feats, and researchers push the frontiers of medicine with bioengineering. Science fiction stories about cloning and resurrecting extinct animals look increasingly like relevant cautionary tales.

But even the best of science and technology has yet to solve climate change and famine, or conquer disease. More and more people live on a planet with shrinking resources, which leads to political strife and conflict.

President Obama recently called for a renewal of the "spirit of innovation" to address those challenges, and so LiveScience examines some of the hottest areas where researchers hope to forge a better tomorrow.

-- Jeremy Hsu

Editor's Note: This article is part of a series this week about the history and future of innovation in science and technology that makes life better and more productive.