Ancient structures

In southern Africa there are ruins from a mysterious unknown race. There is the most vast stone age (therefore very ancient) built settlement, going from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and parts of Mozambique. The indigenous bushmen of the region are disputably the descendants of the ancient race who created it. The origins, however, are uncertain. The biggest of the structures is a tower like fortress and various other buildings called the ruins of Great Zimbabwe. There are few artifacts besides the structures found, however one famous artifact is a stylised eagle carved out of soapstone. Modern Zimbabwean sculptors create pieces in the same style inspired by the mystery of the Ancients. There is a growing popularity amongst some scientists for the theory that southern Africa is the true cradle of mankind.

In South America (Peru, Bolivia, Mexico), there is rumoured and told by the local people that there is a network of subterranean tunnels running possibly parallelesque along the Andes, connecting the ancient cities. It may have been built by giants (white men with beards and/or large heads and eyes) who settled in ancient time and were driven underground, or "ant people" that have apparently rescued the Hopi Indians time and again. Treasure hunters, Atlantis and Lemurian (Mu) theorists (believing there is a network that originated from the holy Atlantis), intrepid explorers, cavers, and mystics have searched for these places. Granted, it is very difficult terrain. On the rare occasion, one of them or wayward travellers, usually accidentally, will return with strange stories (of another world). Generally, anyone who spends a long spell in the South Americas have a few strange tales!

Swap Painful People for Peaceful Productive Trees

If the nastiest and greediest 50% (irrespective of demographics) of the world's population suddenly turned into trees (working on that one), the cities would turn into forests, the oppressed would be free (instead of abused), the starving would have food, the wild would have homes, and the world would be saved from certain enviromental doom! Yey! Sure, some remaining people would be sad, but they would get distracted by something rare, beautiful and liberated and recover. I'm just going to one of my happy fairytale places here.

Clairvoyant Computers

If we combined what we are learning about energy, possibility, probability, and dimensional space time (particularly on the smaller scale) etc from quantum physics and mechanics with what we are learning from neuroscience (particularly in microbiology) we could discover all kinds of interesting things physiologically. It could be most beneficial medically as well as understanding our mind's relationship with the universe. I personally think it would lead to whole new scientific fields. It may definitely lead to new knowledge and technologies that revolutionise our current world.
If we applied that knowledge into useful technology, a computer that you can think at would be a little more possible. One of the problems facing mind reading computers is that every person's mind is configured differently to other people's minds. However, that can be an asset rather then a draw back. When a new person is using a new computer, they could program it to recognise their personal brain print with the basic alphabet and numbers, sort of like choosing the configuration of your personal home page. Any new users could do the same. It could be used for security purposes. After all, who else has your personal brain print. As well as being useful for all sorts of tasks, it could greatly benefit people who have difficulty using computers, such as quadriplegics.
That's a musing, however, I really do think if quantum physics knowledge was combined with knowledge about neurological impulses of the brain, some useful understanding could occur, and if tested and applied, could be most beneficial. I need to do more research to more clearly express what I'm trying to say.