The Future This Week: Stem Cells, Tesla, and the Self-Driving Uber

By B.J. Murphy

In The Future This Week, Serious Wonder hits the road in search of this week’s headlines of the future, from self-driving Ubers making their first trial run to the development of baby mice without the use of fertilized eggs. This week we’re given a glimpse of the future where paralysis is cured using stem cell therapies and entire power grids are helped fueled by advanced alternative energy companies.

Whether we’re changing the very means of child conception or the entire transportation industry at its very core, the future feels like a never ending mystery unfolding before our very eyes. No matter how far we go, there’s always something even more interesting just ready to peek around the corner. The future feels like a play that is moving at an exponential pace. It doesn’t matter if you blink or not, because it’s going to arrive without you even noticing. The only question which remains is: are you ready for it? Welcome to the future!

Stem Cells vs. Paralysis

After years of living with no feeling from the neck down, a surgical team from USC’s Keck Medical Center have injected millions of stem cells into a paraplegic patient’s spine, of which resulted in his regaining the use of both his hands and arms. SOURCE

Self-Driving Uber

After months of patiently waiting, Uber has finally announced that self-driving Ubers are now officially operating on the roads of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of which will serve as a trial run to help get people interested in the future of transportation. SOURCE

Photo Credit: Gizmodo

Tesla Power Grid

Elon Musk, co-founder and chief executive officer of Tesla Motors Inc., speaks during the unveiling of the company's "Powerwall' at an event in Hawthorne, California, U.S., on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Musk unveiled a suite of batteries to store electricity for homes, businesses and utilities, saying a greener power grid furthers the company's mission to provide pollution-free energy. Photographer: Tim Rue/Bloomberg

Say goodbye to those pesky blackouts, because Tesla Motors Inc. just won a bid to supply grid-scale power in Southern California to help combat shortages, of which is said to become operational in record time – by the end of this year. SOURCE

Eggless Babies

For the first time ever, scientists have revealed the successful production of live mice without using a fertilized egg cell – an achievement that will some day allow gay men to produce biological offspring or allow both sexes to self-fertilize. SOURCE

September 17, 2016 By B.J. Murphy

About the author

B.J. Murphy is the Editor and Social Media Manager of Serious Wonder. He is a futurist, philosopher, activist, author and poet. B.J. is an Affiliate Scholar for the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) and an Ambassador for the robotics company Humai.