If you were born in the 1970s or 1980s, you probably remember the Jetsons family. The Jetsons are to the future what the Flintstones are to the past. That futuristic lifestyle vision goes back several decades; self-driving vehicles, robotic home helpers and so on. What looked like a cartoon series built on prolific imagination seems somewhat more real today. Newly developed technologies are becoming available and connecting everything to the internet. This is the-internet-of-things era.

These ‘things’ are not new. They are just standard devices – lights, garage doors, kitchen appliances, household appliances – equipped with a little intelligence. Intelligence that is possible thanks to three emerging technologies: sensors to collect information from surroundings; the ability to control something; and communication capability allowing devices to talk to each other.

Think of cars that park on their own or that brake automatically to avoid a collision; smart assistants that will notify you to leave early for a calendar appointment in case heavy traffic en route; or a robotic vacuum cleaner that starts cleaning once everyone has left the house. This is the Jetsons’ kind of future.

After many years of research, advancements in technology have made it possible. The cost of a (very) small computer – think of an old calculator – has dropped to a few cents. A bunch of sensors and a radio module for wireless communication will make any ‘thing’ more intelligent at a low cost. Existing communication infrastructure, including wireless internet and mobile networks, now make it possible to connect a device to the internet from practically anywhere. In the next few years, we will start seeing more and more devices become connected to the internet.

Three areas are ripe for transformation as the benefits and savings are within grasp. First, smart buildings, including homes and commercial premises, are intelligent spaces that optimise efficiency, comfort, safety and more. Vacant buildings can automatically reduce energy consumption by switching off cooling or heating systems and lighting. Second, smart transport can improve both private and public transport systems. Malta Public Transport bus schedules may be tuned to support real-time network demand as commuters are detected at bus stops, and bus locations and capacity are tracked. Third, smart health (and fitness) devices monitor your health metrics and detect any abnormalities. Complications are prevented before they occur and information collected can assist with remote medical assistance.

These are exciting times ahead. Who knows, your next fridge may send you a message ahead of your favourite team’s Champions League game to say beer supply is low and remind you to buy some more on your way home.

Did you know…

• The first computer, ENIAC (1946), contained 17,468 vacuum tubes, 7,200 crystal diodes, 1,500 relays, 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors and approximately 5,000,000 hand-soldered joints. It weighed more than 27 tonnes, was roughly 2.4m × 0.9m × 30m in size, occupied 167m2 and consumed 150 kW of electricity. This power requirement led to the rumor that whenever the computer was switched on, lights in Philadelphia dimmed.

• Your cell phone has more computing power than all of NASA in 1969.

• The oldest, extant .com domain name registered on the internet is symbolics.com (created on March 15, 1985).

• The first feature-length computer animated film was Toy Story (1995), which was made by Pixar.

For more trivia: www.um.edu.mt/think

Sound bites

• Is your mobile feeling heavier in your trousers’ pocket? Could it be those extra snaps you took with your iPhone at grandma’s birthday party? A stored data byte does actually have a physical weight, albeit a very, very small one – around one attogram, which is one-quintillionth of a gram. That is because flash memory uses trapped electrons to distinguish between 1s and 0s – while the number of electrons does not change, once they are trapped (or once data is stored) they have a higher energy level and thus a greater weight.

www.sciencealert.com/how-much-data-does-it-take-to-make-your-iphone-heavier

• Researchers from the University of Queensland and Griffith University have reported building the first ever quantum Fredkin gate - a type of logic gate thought to be the key to quantum computing - that can operate on photonic qubits rather than regular bits. By simplifying a complex quantum logic operation through a Fredkin gate, they have removed one of the key obstacles between us and true quantum computing power.

www.sciencealert.com/new-fredkin-gate-points-to-a-breakthrough-in-quantum-computing.