Transhumanists believe so, and contemplate how technology might be used to enhance our mental and physical capacities.

H+ Magazine has rounded up some leading minds, and steered their thoughts towards sex. Will it still exist as we know it today?

Sex for procreation will be separated from sex for pleasure. Polyamorism will be the norm. After all if “I” have uploaded, duplicated myself and exist as self-similar copies in cyberspaces co-existent with realspace, where does the “self” end and the “other” begin? —Extropia DaSilva

Exosex, sex outside the biological body, would be simulated in virtuality, much like Second Life or Skype and other digital formats where sex is enhanced, extended, digitized, and synthetic. It would be more real than real – a hyper-real experience. —Natasha Vita-More

Woah. More trippy concepts after the jump. Not exactly safe for work, though. [H+ Magazine via Fleshbot NSFW]

Here’s the list:

-Energy saving solar technology printed and stuck onto asphalt, paint and windows
-A crystal ball to help you monitor health
-We will talk to the Web, and the Web will talk back
-We will have our own digital shopping assistants
-Forgetting will become a distant memory via smart appliances in every area of the home and office

Seriously, your big prediction for the next five years of technological innovation is talking internet? Are you fucking serious? Every single one of these predictions is laughable and idiotic. Seriously, a touchscreen in a dressing room to help you call someone to get you a different size is not an innovation, nor is it something that we will need to wait five years for. If that was a good idea, we’d have it now, but it’s not, so we don’t.

You would think that a company that exists in the tech sphere would have a clue about the types of short-term advances we can expect. Oh well, better go make some more unfunny ads to run incessantly during football games! [IBM via PSFK]

Lehman Brothers is working on a “secret” AI system that they hope will be able to foresee the future of the markets, making the very rich even richer. We aren’t just talking about mergers and acquisitions, either; this bot would take into account the emotions of the traders. You know, emotions like greed and vindictiveness. They’re hoping it will make trading easier and make the market more stable, but who knows if it’ll actually work. But hey, here’s hoping it does, as if there’s anyone who deserves to catch a break it’s the folks on Wall Street. You’re the heroes, guys! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! –Adam Frucci

International Herald Tribune [The Raw Feed]

I love the future. It’s always so exciting, and it loves to bite you in the butt when you suggest you know what’s coming next. Take this list of predictions from 1900, looking at what may come to pass in the hundred years ahead… a lovely list of hits and misses.

Here’s a taste:

Prediction #7: There will be air-ships, but they will not successfully compete with surface cars and water vessels for passenger or freight traffic.

Prediction #26: Strawberries as large as apples will be eaten by our great great grandchildren for their Christmas dinners a hundred years hence.

Where will we be in 2100?-Seamus Byrne

1900 Predictions [Shiny Shiny]