What Doesn't Exist
From Gothpoodle
- Dry Molecular Nanotechnology: Modern “wet” nanotechnology uses DNA, self-assembling protein molecules, and gengineered viruses. Nanoscale systems are products of top-down assembly using atomic force microscopes. “Dry” nanorobots working at the molecular level are still confined to the lab.
- Force Fields: No fields exist that can stop solid objects or directed energy beams.
- FTL, Time Travel, and Gravity Control: No faster-than-light (FTL) travel or communications system, or time-travel technology, has been developed, nor have any machines been built to neutralize or create gravity. Some researchers hope that the study of primordial black holes may lead to breakthroughs.
- Reactionless Drives: None have been invented.
- Room-Temperature Superconductors: These have been achieved (such as metallic hydrogen wires) but are too fragile, costly, or unstable for widespread use. Robust superconductors that require limited cooling do exist.