The once far-off futures of the 20th century's greatest science-fiction tales are set in what is now our past. Space travel isn't commonplace as shown in Back to the Future Part II imagined. To be sure, many technologies predicted in sci-fi fiction of the past do exist in reality now, but many others are still decades away at least.
Frsutrated Redditors have discussed the technologies they believe should have advanced further by now. One discussion thread exploded in 2019, generating tens of thousands of comments. While some of the technologies mentioned have developed in the few years since, many more remain shockingly limited.
Dentistry
It's no secret that oral health is critical to overall health, so why isn't dentistry more advanced than it is? Three different Reddit comments about dentistry tech each got thousands of up-votes, with SpacePirate65 lamenting, "Dentistry is still pretty archaic." Other comments mentioned the need to replace enamel or replace teeth altogether.
There actually have been advancements in creating synthetic enamel as recently as this year, and 3D printing may help make tooth replacements and dentures more accessible. Sadly, while these technologies are developing, the average person still encounters the same technologies that have dominated the field for decades.
Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear fusion has the potential to revolutionize the energy industry, but it hasn't seemed to have much of an impact in the public sphere. As a critical component of Spider-Man 2, and while so many other parts of that film feel dated now, nuclear fusion is still in the future.
According to a commenter who claimed to be a grad student working in the field, nuclear fusion has actually been around for a long time, but it's not stable enough to be practical. While there have been major advancements toward nuclear fusion in 2022, scientists still think commercial use is another 20 years away.
Allergy Relief
Many pictures of the future show a world where any medical problem can be solved easily, but the field currently struggles with even the most common problems. As Cybertrashcan brought up, a major field that needs more attention is allergy control. "How are there no permanent cures for allergies yet?" they ask. "I'll never know how awesome it must be to own a german shepherd, and so many people wont ever know how good peanut butter is."
While these might not be the most important parts of life, they can have major impacts on those affected by allergies. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, most people can treat their allergies only with antihistamines or immunotherapy, both of which fail to fully address the problem. Oral and sub-lingual immunotherapy treatments are being investigated, but they are sadly far from being publicly available.
Nutrition Management
Science fiction has come up with many different ideas of how nutrition might work in the future, from pills that contain all daily nutrients to fantastic tasting foods that are actually healthy at the same time. Redditor Seguren just wanted a better understanding of what to expect from the foods that are already available, stating, "Every week, 'x' is bad for you, and then next week it's good for you."
Seguren is absolutely right, with the Science Daily nutrition page full of scientific 'discoveries' about what foods are now saving and ending lives. There have been diet trends that have gained in popularity recently, especially Keto and Paleo diets, but many nutritionists are now speaking out to argue that no foods are "bad." The health benefits and costs of eating are unfortunately still as confusing as ever.
The Cure For Tinnitis
There are funny Letterboxd lists for movies that depict hearing loss with high-pitched squeals, but what about when annoying sounds like that are just the norm? Redditor MishMash_101 expressed their frustration that there's no cure for tinnitus. "Just put some nanobots in my ear and make the ringing go away," they commented.
A study from August 2022 found that personalized white-noise treatments can help minimize awareness of tinnitus, but there is still no way to truly stop the noises themselves. After more than 20 years of dedicated study, ignoring the ringing is still the predominant solution.
Elevator Buttons
Those who saw the 1971 version of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory might the Wonkavator, a device that could take s anywhere horizontally or vertically, as well as flying. Redditor CriesWhenBlinking wanted something far simpler: "Elevators. Why can we not unpress a button that has been clicked?"
While there are some elevators that simply don't have this feature, for others it's a case of knowing the system. Several models allow s to double-press the button to cancel the call, while holding the button down will speed up the elevator. However, these options are not public knowledge because they could lead to even more frustrating elevator encounters than simply going to the wrong floor.
The Cure For Hair Loss
Many people don't think about how complex the beauty industry has become, but Redditor 0xMii finds that there is still room for improvement. Specifically, they explained, "I’m still shocked that with all our medical research we haven’t found any cure or reliable treatment for baldness."
There are many causes of hair loss, relating to genetics, hair care, and illness, and while not all are treatable, there are many options. According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, steroid injections, medications, or laser treatments might help. In addition, hair transplants are often an option. However, hair loss as a whole seems to be part of the aging process which can't be "cured" given current scientific knowledge.
Quieter Microwave Ovens
Computers like the 2020 or 2022 Macbook Air no longer have noisy fans, but microwaves are still surprisingly loud. As one Reddit explained, "There is no such thing as a quiet microwave door yet we can know what chemicals are in space thousands of light years away."
Thankfully, this does seem to be an area that scientists have made progress on. Best Buy has an entire section of its website devoted to "silent microwaves," including the Breville Compact Wave soft-close microwave, which opens and closes quietly and has a mute button.
Reliable Printers
In many sci-fi stories, people simply print food for dinner. Meanwhile, one Reddit pointed out that those of us in the real world can't even print documents easily: "Want to print out those pictures in black and white? Sorry, you're out of magenta. Also, the paper jammed." They're not even asking for something high-tech, just a more -friendly experience.
While there have been several advancements in printing technologies, that seems to have more to do with making new technologies accessible rather than making the old ones better. For example, 3D printers are now easier than ever for consumers to obtain, but there are still no printers capable of fixing their own jams. Programs such as HP Instant Ink track ink levels and send new ink when needed, but s still have to take the whole thing apart to install it.
Wooly Mammoth Resurrection
It might seem funny, but the comment with the highest number of upvotes came from ShiftlessElement, who explained, "Around twenty years ago, I was promised a cloned woolly mammoth. Then, I read about a plan to reverse engineer elephants back into mammoths. Look, I don’t need to know the ins-and-outs, just make the damn mammoth!"
This idea might seem like something out of Jurassic Park, but it actually is still being worked on today. According to Geneticist George Church, "Up until 2021, it has been kind of a backburner project, frankly. … but now we can actually do it." According to the company Colossal, bringing the Wooly Mammoth back will be a huge stage in slowing climate change and saving elephants from going extinct. While it is taking a while, it seems like this idea just might be on the horizon.