In a related vein, one transformative idea (<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;science&#x2F;small-world&#x2F;2013&#x2F;oct&#x2F;21&#x2F;big-nanotech-atomically-precise-manufacturing-apm" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;science&#x2F;small-world&#x2F;2013&#x2F;oct&#x2F;21&#x2F;b...</a>) has been mostly ignored over the last 15 years or so -- as if &quot;Space travel is utter bilge&quot; had won out instead of Sputnik. At some point the continued progress in fields like biomolecular engineering is going to make the potential too obvious to miss, and we&#x27;ll be reminded that technology is not a synonym for computers.<p>(This is another &#x27;jam tomorrow&#x27; response, like a lot of others here. I pretty much agree with the OP about the progress seen before and after 1950.)