100th Anniversary of E=mc^2 37
Starker_Kull writes "E=mc^2 was published as part of Einstein's theory of Special Relativity 100 years ago today." From the article: "In 1905, it was final proof of the genius and imagination of a young German-born scientist who had yet to land a university post. It seems so simple: three letters standing for energy, mass, and the speed of light, brought together with the tightness of a soundbite."
So what have we got since then? (Score:4, Insightful)
The American Physical Society's Timeline of Physics in the 20th Century [aps.org]
1990-2000s:
1989 - 1992 "The cosmic background radiation is explored." (Never effect me)
1990 "The Hubble Space Telescope becomes operational." (Never effect me)
1998 - 2008 "The solar neutrino puzzle may be solved." (Never effect me)
1998 - 2008 "Weather and climate predictions come of age." (Weather Forecasting?)
1999 - 2009 "Simulation of Brain Functions in Real Time." (Neural Networks have been around since the 60's)
2000 - 2010 "Gravitational waves open a new window on the universe." (Still just General Relativity?)
2000 - 2010 "Photonics competes with electronics. (Just a prediction, hasn't actually happened yet)
Compare this with the 1930s
1938 - 1939 Atomic Nuclear fission is observed in uranium.
1939 The first FM (frequency modulation) radio station is built.
1939 The first helicopter designed for mass production flies.
1936 Sound is recorded on Magnetic Tape
So basically I want to know where is my flying car, d**mit!
Re:So what have we got since then? (Score:4, Insightful)
The internet. [while not specifically hard-core science, it is a radical development, with a lot of science behind it.]
Hybrid cars. [nothing radical here, but an important marriage of existing technologies.]
Fluorishing of cell phones & cell infrastructure.
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One last point: With the exception of the Trinity shot, when the first atomic bomb was dropped and *OMG it worked!*, the breakthroughs you listed from the 1930's weren't immediately adopted by society at the time. FM radio didn't take off, it still took about 20 years for nuclear fission to be adopted for any real peaceful purposes (Shippingport reactor in ... what, 1958?), and 8-tracks ... well, I won't go there. I contend that some of the lower-level things we read about on slashdot like carbon nanotubes being drawn into 6 inch lengths, or Ruby on Rails development, or the $100 laptop -- that we'll look back on THESE things twenty years from now and say, "Wow! What a period of expansion!"
Just my $0.02. Your mileage may vary.