Greatest Inventions To Watch For In 2020

During the first industrial revolution, we mined a lot of coal, built engines and set the world on its current trajectory of C02 production and global climate change. Throughout the second industrial revolution, we (mostly) replaced coal with gas and oil, built factories, invented synthetic fabrics and put the first cars on the road. The third industrial revolution brought major innovations like nuclear reactors, telecommunications, computers and space ships that could reach the moon. We are now in the fourth industrial revolution, which has mostly just brought us devices that make it possible not ever to leave the house or talk to anyone in person.

That is the major fourth industrial revolution accomplishment, to be sure. Still, there is no denying that 21st century inventors have come up with some remarkable new products and innovations that will not only make our lives easier but healthier, too. We could not possibly list them all here, but let us talk about some of the ones you should be watching out for in the new year.

A needle that can diagnose cancer

Like all medical innovations, the trials for this one are going to take a long time, and your doctor probably is not going to get one of these things in 2020. However, this device has been designed and proven in initial testing, and it has the potential to change the way doctors screen for certain kinds of cancer. Today, cancers are typically diagnosed through a series of invasive and uncomfortable tests, which can include lab tests, CT scans, MRIs and biopsies. Worse, many of these tests take days or even weeks to process, so patients are left anxiously waiting for results. The "smart needle," on the other hand, measures how the light from a low-power laser is scattered by tissue and uses the data to determine if that tissue is healthy or cancerous. Results are obtained within seconds, which eliminates the long anxious wait and gets patients on the path to treatment faster.

Non-invasive diabetes testing

Even if you do not have diabetes, you have almost certainly thought about how unpleasant it must be to have to stick yourself in the finger every single day. There is a lot to dislike about being diabetic, but that particular aspect is right up there on the list of the top 10 worst.

Today there is a company that has designed a non-invasive, wearable diabetes monitor, which can detect chemical changes in the user's skin and breath. Now, this is something that dogs have been doing since...