Human Tech Tree

Energy & Industry

Transport & Mobility

50 points from the earliest roots to the research frontier: 36 researched, 6 current research, 4 unsolved and 4 that become possible once they are solved. State of knowledge: October 2026.

Open the interactive tree →

Prehistorybefore 3000 BC

  • Wheel~3500 BCResearchedThe wheel first rolls some 5,500 years ago in Mesopotamia and Europe - loads move with a fraction of the effort.
  • Sailing Ship~3200 BCResearchedSails use the wind to move over water - trade and travel become faster and cheaper than on land.

Antiquity3000 BC – 500 AD

  • Road & Canal Networks312 BCResearchedRoman roads and canals link empires - fixed routes make armies, trade and post predictable.

Middle Ages & Renaissance500 – 1700

  • Compass~1100ResearchedThe magnetic needle shows direction even in cloud and at night - deep-sea navigation becomes possible.
  • Caravel & Circumnavigation~1450ResearchedCaravels and carracks reach America, India and the Pacific - for the first time the whole Earth is connected.

Industrial Age1700 – 1900

  • Sextant1731ResearchedJohn Hadley's reflecting octant (1731), later the sextant, measures the Sun's height above the horizon from a pitching ship.
  • Marine Chronometer1761ResearchedHarrison's H4 (tested 1761-62) keeps time at sea within seconds, so ships can finally find their longitude.
  • Balloon Flight1783ResearchedThe Montgolfier brothers' hot-air balloon carries people into the air over Paris in November 1783.
  • Aerodynamics & Gliders1799-1896ResearchedCayley (1799) and Lilienthal (1891-96) show how fixed wings create lift; the Wrights build on their glider data.
  • Steamship1807ResearchedRobert Fulton's Clermont steams up the Hudson in 1807 - ships no longer depend on the wind.
  • Railway1825ResearchedSteam locomotives on iron rails beat horse and canal - land transport becomes fast, cheap and reliable.
  • Screw Propeller & Iron Hull1843ResearchedBrunel's SS Great Britain (1843) is the first large ocean liner with an iron hull and a screw propeller instead of paddle wheels.
  • Underground Railway1863ResearchedLondon's Metropolitan Railway (1863) runs trains beneath the streets; underground rail later spreads to the big cities of the world.
  • Suez & Panama Canals1869-1914ResearchedThe Suez Canal (1869) and the Panama Canal (1914) cut thousands of kilometres from sea routes and reshape world trade.
  • Internal Combustion Engine1876ResearchedNikolaus Otto builds the four-stroke engine in 1876 - small, light drives free vehicles from rails and boilers.
  • Electric Railway1879ResearchedWerner von Siemens shows an electric locomotive pulling passengers at the Berlin trade fair in 1879.
  • Safety Bicycle & Pneumatic Tyre1885-1888ResearchedThe chain-driven safety bicycle (1885) and Dunlop's air-filled tyre (1888) bring fast, cheap personal transport to millions.
  • Automobile1886ResearchedCarl Benz patents the motor car in 1886; Ford's Model T (1908) turns the car into a mass product.
  • Diesel Engine1897ResearchedDiesel's compression-ignition engine (patent 1892, efficient by 1897) wrings more work from each litre of fuel and powers ships, trains and trucks.

Machine Age1900 – 1945

  • Airplane1903ResearchedOn 17 December 1903 the Wright brothers fly powered and controlled for the first time - 12 seconds, later that day 59.
  • Gyrocompass & Autopilot1908ResearchedA spinning gyroscope finds true north without magnetism (Anschütz, 1908), and Sperry's autopilot (1912) uses gyros to steer.
  • Pallet & Forklift1917-1945ResearchedPowered lift trucks (from 1917) and standard pallets turned loose goods into unit loads that machines can move in one go.
  • Motorways & Interstates1924-1956ResearchedRoads without crossings, built for cars only, start with Italy's autostrada (1924) and Germany's Cologne-Bonn road (1932) and grow into the US…
  • Helicopter1936-1942ResearchedFocke-Wulf's Fw 61 (1936) is the first controllable helicopter, and Sikorsky's R-4 (1942) the first built in numbers.
  • Turbojet Engine1937ResearchedWhittle and von Ohain (1937-39) make a gas turbine drive an aircraft by pure jet thrust, opening the road to jet travel.

Atomic & Space Age1945 – 1990

  • Jet Airliner1952ResearchedThe Comet (1952) and the Boeing 707 (1958) make flying fast and later affordable for everyone.
  • Nuclear-Powered Submarine1954ResearchedUSS Nautilus (1954) runs on a reactor, staying submerged for weeks; the naval reactor becomes the model for commercial power plants.
  • Container Ship1956ResearchedMalcolm McLean ships the first containers on 26 April 1956 - transhipment in port gets cheap, world trade grows.
  • High-Speed Train1964ResearchedFrom October 1964 the Shinkansen runs at 210 km/h between Tokyo and Osaka.
  • RFID Tags1973ResearchedRadio tags that identify goods without line of sight; Mario Cardullo patented the first true ancestor of modern RFID in 1973.
  • Barcode & Scanner1974ResearchedOn 26 June 1974 a pack of chewing gum is the first item scanned with a Universal Product Code in a US supermarket.

Digital Age1990 – 2015

  • QR Code1994ResearchedA two-dimensional code that holds far more data than a barcode and can be read quickly from any angle.
  • E-Commerce & Fulfilment1995ResearchedOnline shops from the mid-1990s turned warehouses into fulfilment centres that pick and ship single orders to homes.
  • Hybrid Cars (Prius)1997ResearchedToyota's Prius, on sale in Japan from 10 December 1997, was the first mass-produced petrol-electric hybrid; global Prius sales passed one million in…
  • Warehouse Robots2003-2012ResearchedMobile robots bring whole shelves to the packer; Kiva Systems built them from 2003 and Amazon bought the company in 2012.
  • Mass-Produced Electric Car2008–2012ResearchedTesla Roadster (2008), Nissan Leaf (2010) and Model S (2012) show that electric cars are fit for daily use.

Present2015 – Oct 2026

  • Drone Delivery at Scale2016-2026Current researchZipline (since 2016), Wing and Amazon fly parcels to homes by autonomous drone; Walmart claims over 1 million drone deliveries by May 2026.
  • AI Forecasting & Supply Twins2020-2026Current researchLearned forecasting models and planning software set stock and routes at big retailers; Amazon claims 10-20% better forecasts, but supply-chain…
  • EV Mass Market2020–2026Current researchOver 20 million electric cars were sold in 2025 (one in four new cars); for 2026 the IEA expects almost 30%.
  • Robotaxis in Daily Service2020–2026Current researchWaymo passed 500,000 paid rides a week in March 2026 and now serves 14 US cities; Baidu Apollo Go has passed 22 million rides across 27 cities.
  • Electric Air Taxis (eVTOL)2023–2026Current researchEHang's pilotless EH216-S has held a Chinese type certificate since 2023; Joby is in the last stage of FAA certification, Archer further back.
  • Supersonic Comeback2025Current researchIn January 2025 Boom's XB-1 became the first independently developed jet to break the sound barrier; the Overture airliner is planned for about 2029.

Research Frontier · Todayunsolved as of Oct 2026

  • Level 5 Autonomous DrivingopenUnsolvedA car that drives anywhere in any weather without a driver does not exist; robotaxis drive only in limited areas.
  • Resilient Low-Carbon LogisticsopenUnsolvedCOVID-19, the Ever Given (2021), Red Sea detours (2023 on) and Hormuz (2026) exposed thin, opaque chains; the IMO shipping carbon framework is not…
  • Zero-Emission AviationopenUnsolvedJet fuel stores over 40 times as much energy per kilogram as today's batteries; Airbus has pushed its hydrogen airliner beyond 2035.
  • Zero-Emission ShippingopenUnsolvedShipping causes about 3% of greenhouse gases; the IMO's global climate rule was postponed by a year in October 2025.

If Solvedbecomes possible

  • Driverless Mobility Everywhere2035+?If solvedVehicles drive anywhere without a driver; mobility becomes a service and parking lots disappear from cities.
  • Self-Healing Global Logistics2040s?If solvedA closed chokepoint or a stopped factory causes days of delay, not months, because alternatives are known in advance and freight emissions fall.
  • Climate-Neutral Flying2050s?If solvedLong-haul flights on hydrogen, e-fuel or strong batteries hardly burden the climate any more.
  • Climate-Neutral Global Shipping2050s?If solvedFreighters run on green methanol, ammonia or wind - world trade without fossil exhaust.