We all know what a meme is, but grandmothers everywhere are just learning what “going viral” means. Throughout the decades, older folks everywhere have seen some of the greatest inventions come about, from the internet, nukes, even one article noting Facebook as one of the most vital inventions of our time. But what will the 20-somethings of today be excited about when they’re grandparents? Here are a top few categories:

Computing Power

At least once in your life, you’ve probably received one of those birthday cards that play music when opened. We must admit they can be a bit obnoxious, but what is impressive is that they actually have more processing power than the entire Allied forces had during World War II. Thankfully, computing power has been rising exponentially since. In 1965, Moore’s Law stated that computing power will double every two years. Until recently, it’s been doing that, with the shrinking size of memory cards as proof. But why is it coming to an end? Are our computers as fast as they will ever be able to go? Thankfully not, so don’t fret if your laptop is running as slowly as mine. Enter Quantum Computing, which allows us to go beyond the atomic level restraints current technology is accustomed to. In a nutshell, it will allow computers to keep evolving progressively faster and smaller. This will unlock a whole new world of possibilities down the road, and already has so far.

Software

With these super computers at our disposal internet under our belt, what will we do with them? Hopefully still create memes. You know, for Grandma’s sake. But when the boss comes around, developers will have to work on something, so what’s going to be big software wise?

Two words: Artificial Intelligence. AI has already become much more useful than the days when you got a kick out of Siri after asking her what your name was. Because of Moore’s Law, AI will eventually become smarter than humans in the not-too-distant future. This means that we could use technology to discover more technology, not too unlike Google’s AI building its own more powerful AI.

But not all AI has to be smarter than us to be useful. Similar to Richard Hendrick’s invention in Silicon Valley, there’s a new concept called, “the Internet of Things.” This could be used to make household equipment communicate and proactively think, both saving money and making your life easier. Think of your heater saving energy by learning to stay off until about an hour before your arrival home. Hopefully that will help your dad from not keeping it freezing in winter. A sweater can only go so far, after all.

Energy

Elon Musk’s Solar City has already proven solar power as the energy of the future. In addition to being environmentally-friendly, you can use the sun’s power almost anywhere with little upkeep. Elsewhere, we still have not harnessed nuclear fusion (combining atoms instead of splitting them) for power yet, despite it being in hydrogen bombs since the 1950s. But why keep going nuclear? Doesn’t it require exotic materials? Isn’t that unsafe? I won’t bore you – no, it won’t require anything too special to do, no it won’t produce radioactive by-products, and no, it will be safe. Plus, nuclear fusion would give three to four times as much power as fission. So get excited.

Travel

It’s 2017, and the faucet still doesn’t always turn on when I put my hands in public sinks, so where the Dickens are our flying cars? Actually, not too far off, with some studies claiming we’ll have them in 10 years. While that’s neat, there’s more than just flying cars we’ll be able to travel with. Even more than jets capable of Mach 10 that can go from New York to London in two hours. Remember that Elon Musk guy? He’s also planning on putting humanity on Mars by 2026. Speaking of which, there’s this nifty new engine called the Electromagnetic Drive that doesn’t require fuel, violating our current laws of physics.

Bio-Evolution

Are you more curious on how humans themselves will evolve? If so, you’re in luck. We already have seen wearable technology like Google Glass, and we’re going to see flexible phones you can wear around your wrist by the end of the year, but what’s next? Are we going to pull a Gavin Belson and have blood boys give the elderly their fresh, younger cells?

I don’t know about you, but I’d kill for one of those robotic arms like Will Smith had in iRobot. Call of Duty fanboys rejoice, because Exosuits are already out there, helping soldiers carry heavy equipment long distances. Commercially, Lowe’s just introduced exoskeletons to prevent back injury to warehouse workers. But it gets cooler.

Remember that bit on technology getting smaller? Now remember the AI? Combine those two into, and you get nanobots. These really, really tiny robots can go in your bloodstream, provide data on your wellbeing, proactively monitor your health, and even fight off infections and cure illnesses. Paired with some ridiculous DNA modification, it’s highly possible that we could someday live forever.

The Unknown

If you asked somebody in the year 1900 what the biggest inventions of the next century would be, they probably wouldn’t have put the internet on their list. That’s what we’re left with – we may not have the slightest of ideas what is next for humanity. It could be something mentioned above, but it very well could be from far left field. There’s nothing we can do until we find out, so in the meantime, I might as well just kick back with my grandma and enjoy some memes.