The human race passes on the knowledge it has gained in previous years to its young. The process has been formalized in the institution of education. However schools have been evolving constantly through the years. From a single hall where all the town’s children went to be taught by a single teacher to huge buildings where classes of different grades are held for hundreds of students. Things have changed a lot and the future will see even more radical changes.

The mobile phone has evolved technology which allows a person to gain information where ever he may be. The SmartPhone applications allow you to learn new skills, get the latest news from around the world and practice whatever you want to become proficient in. A small two year old child can draw a picture on the screen, sing along with her favorite nursery rhyme, and watch the video of her favorite cartoon all on a tablet.

As the years go by and technology continues to advance, we may end up with a mobile phone or tablet which teaches you all you need to know. Sort of replacing the need to go to a fixed place like a classroom to gain knowledge. Now that is a science project that will take some time coming to the world, but its going to be here sooner than you think.

In any science fiction story we see human beings living on planets or spaceships far away from Earth. They run their lives as per different rules and human society grows in outer space. In the real world going to a distant planet may not be possible, but scientists are fairly certain that a small colony could be set up on a planet closer home, Mars.

A non profit organization called Mars One based in Netherlands has actually started short listing a group of people who will be the first to colonize Mars. They have been shortlisting candidates from all over the world and intend to use the winners as crew of an ambitious private mission. As per the mission four people will be sent to Mars to begin colonization in 2024, on a one way trip.

It may be a “once in a lifetime” opportunity that more than 200,000 people applied for in 2013 December, but would you want to be one of them? Considering that you will eventually end up dying on the red planet when your supplies run out, how many people would want to do that? At least with the NASA missions you have a shot at getting back home. Still its an interesting science project to read about.

One of the basic diagnostic tests for detecting diseases is a blood test. However so far to get a blood test done you needed to go to a laboratory that was equipped to conduct the test and give you results. In remote regions and third world countries doctors often have no lab to refer the patients to. They have to make do with guess work based in the symptoms.

The scientists as the Michigan Technological University have now come up with a solution to overcome this problem. It is called the lab on a chip and consists of a portable credit card sized chip that can run diagnostics on anything from HIV to diabetes. So far these chips were only able to handle a single type of test as they were manually designed.

However Shiyan Hu, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Michigan Technological University, is working on a new kind of chip. This lab on a chip is being designed with the aid of a computer and will be able to run dozens of blood tests. What’s more all it will need to conduct these tests is a single drop of blood. The results of this science project will have great application in the field of health care worldwide.

The radio waves, the electro magnetic noise of computers, refrigerators, and all kinds of different waves that populate the air around us are invisible to human beings. However birds who use the magnetic compass in their bodies aligned with the radiations of the Earth are now being distracted by this man made electromagnetic noise.

Henrik Mouritsen from the University of Oldenburg worked on an experiment in Germany involving European robins who were getting confused because of this electromagnetic noise. He dubbed it “electrosmog”. Electrosmog messes up with the internal magnetic compass inside birds that lets them know North from South.

In the seven years that he has studied the effects of this electrosmog on birds Mouritsen has been able to rule out the effects of wi-fi, cellphone signals, and power lines based on their frequencies. However AM radio and electromagnetic fields from electronic such as computers, printers, and refrigerators remain as possible suspects.

Visiting cities while flying thousands of miles on their annual migration has now become even more dangerous for birds. Can they learn to navigate to avoid cities? Unlikely but can human beings learn to reduce their electromagnetic signature? Possible but requires more scientific study. The only way this will become a priority is if it is proved that humans also suffer illeffects from these emissions.

About twenty years ago a business meeting involved a group of people in the same conference hall in an office building. About ten years ago it was possible for a couple of these people to be present at the meeting using teleconferencing video tools. The participants could be seen and respond in real time to questions asked in the conference hall despite not being physically present.

Now science is taking the business meeting to the next level. Holo Meetings will allow you to see a three dimensional image of the person you conduct your business with instead of staring at a flat screen. The image of the person will be able to move around the conference room and point out to business tools as well.

Does this seem like Star Trek gone Star Wars? Maybe but the technology is being developed by more than one company in the world today. We are not sure whose science project will bear fruit first but yes, the future will see you conducting Holo Meetings with your colleagues who are sitting in some remote location.

Besides business meetings such an invention will also give a major boost to the educational and health care industries. Teachers sitting in school will be able to monitor students working at home. Doctors not in the hospital will be able to consult on a patient just brought in to the ER. The possibilities of using this technology are boundless.