Moore's Law: ''The number of transistors per unit area doubles
approximately every 18 months.'' This has given us amazing beige
boxes. Furthermore, microchips have proliferated to the point of being
roughly as numerous as people.
Sensor Technology: Smaller, cheaper, easier to use, and more full
featured than ever before. With micro- and nano-scale manipulation and
other MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) techniques rapidly
improving, we may soon see even more explosive growth in integrated
sensor systems.
Materials Science: As plastics revolutionized manufacturing over
the last 50 years, so to may the next 50 years be revolutionized by recent
advances in areas such as carbon nanotubes, conductive polymers, and
precision control of manufacturing processes.
Emergent Behaviour: Although not at all understood and used almost
exclusively as a buzz word, 'emergent behaviour' is becoming a more common
descriptor of naturally occurring complex systems composed of many
parts interacting without centralized guidance.