 |
|||
|
|||
 |
 |
||||||||
|
2080 Some humans are becoming more non-biological than biological Today, the average citizen has access to a wide array of biotechnology implants and personal medical devices. These include fully artificial organs that never fail, bionic eyes and ears providing Superman-like senses, nanoscale brain interfaces which greatly augment the wearer's intelligence, synthetic blood and bodily fluids which can filter deadly toxins and provide hours' worth of oxygen in a single breath. Some of the more adventurous citizens are undergoing voluntary amputations to gain prosthetic arms and legs which boost strength and agility by orders of magnitude. There is even a form of artificial skin based on nanotech (which can be used to give the appearance of natural skin when applied to metallic limbs). These various upgrades have become available in a series of gradual, incremental steps over preceding decades – such that today, they are pretty much taken for granted. They are now being utilised by a wide sector of society, with even those in developing countries having access to at least some of the available upgrades due to exponential trends in price performance. If a fully upgraded person of the 2080s were to travel back in time a century and be integrated into the population, they would be superior in every way imaginable. They could run faster than the greatest athletes of the time, leaping and bounding tremendous distances; they could survive multiple gunshot wounds; they could cope with some of the most hostile environments on Earth without too much trouble. Intellectually, they would put the likes of Albert Einstein and William Shakespeare to shame – thanks to the hyperfast AI merged directly with their brain.
Construction
of a transatlantic tunnel is underway Carbon nanotubes, along with powerful geo-sensing devices, have been paramount in the structure's design – these can self-adjust in the event of undersea earthquakes, for example. Also noteworthy is that the train cars operate in a complete vacuum. This eliminates air friction, allowing hypersonic speeds to be reached. The cost of this project is in the region of $88-175bn.*
Polar bears face extinction Between 2000 and 2050, polar bear numbers dropped by 70 percent, due to the shrinking of ice sheets caused by global warming. By 2080, they have disappeared from Greenland entirely - and from the northern Canadian coast - leaving only dwindling numbers in the interior Arctic archipelago.* Of the few which remain, ice breaking up earlier in the year means they are forced ashore before they have time to build up sufficient fat stores. Others are forced to swim huge distances, which exhausts them, leading to drowning. The effects of global warming have led to thinner, stressed bears, decreased reproduction, and lower juvenile survival rates.
One in five lizard species are extinct The ongoing mass extinction is beginning to claim many exotic and well-known lizards. One in five species are now extinct as a result of global warming. Lizards are forced to spend more and more time resting and regulating their body temperature, which leaves them unable to spend sufficient time foraging for food.*
Deadly heatwaves plague Europe; traditional agriculture is decimated Heatwaves greater than that seen in 2003 have become annual occurrences by this time.* In the peak of summer, temperatures in major cities such as London and Paris reach over 40°C. In some of the more southerly parts of the continent, temperatures of over 50°C are reported. Thousands are dying of heat exhaustion. Forest fires rage in many places* while prolonged, ongoing droughts are causing many rivers to run permanently dry. Spain, Italy and the Balkans are turning into desert nations, with climates similar to North Africa. This period effectively marks the end of traditional agriculture for many EU countries, and sees the establishment of whole new farming systems based on carefully controlled indoor environments. In the short term, this causes tremendous social and economic disruption, but in the longer term is conducive to the betterment of humanity.
The
USA cedes territory to Mexico During the late 21st century, however, its territorial integrity was being challenged once again. By the early 2080s, four of its fifty states had been ceded to Mexico.* What led to this astonishing development?
Most historians would agree it began in the 2030s. America's shrinking labour supply during this time led to the introduction of laws encouraging a massive influx of immigrants. These came from all over the world - but a substantial portion came from Mexico due to its geographical proximity and strong cultural ties. Although many different ethnic groups would arrive, the Mexicans would behave differently. It was this, combined with Mexico's growing economic strength, that would lead to a slow but gradual shift in the balance of North American power.* The various immigrant groups from around the world became culturally integrated with the USA. They fragmented and settled around the country, without overwhelming any region or state. The immigrants from Mexico behaved differently, however. Many became integrated with the USA - but unlike the other groups, they would always be in close proximity to their homelands. With most settling in California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico, they were never more than a short journey from the border. This fostered a growing intermingling of cultures in the southwestern states. Over time, the social and economic links of the Mexican immigrants began to predominate, to such an extent that they almost represented an extension of their homeland into the United States. These lands had once been Mexican anyway - before the territory was taken by the US in the 19th century - so they already held many characteristics of Mexican society and culture. As the decades rolled by, with more and more immigrants pouring into the country, this influence shifted ever northward. By the middle of the century, states that had been 25% Mexican were now over 50% Mexican, while states which had been 50% Mexican were now almost entirely occupied by Mexicans.* Climate change was now an added factor, driving large numbers from the southern parts of Mexico to head north, where food and water was more readily available. This wave of immigration solved the labour supply issue, and contributed to a period of economic boom in the USA. At the same time, however, a number of radical new technologies were in development: technologies that would lead to a socio-political crisis in later years. Chief amongst these was the growth of robotics. A range of highly versatile machines had already been in military use since the 2030s. These began spreading to consumer markets. By the 2060s, they were becoming sufficiently powerful, intelligent and numerous to make vast numbers of civilian jobs redundant. This greatly reduced the need for immigration. Millions of workers were now permanently displaced, without the skills to move into robotics support or maintenance. Their previous roles were now being handled by machines that were not only cheaper, but also faster and more productive than any human. Manufacturing, mining, building and construction trades, mechanical work, maintenance and a host of other roles were being dominated by robots.
Unemployment began to soar, exacerbated by advances in longevity which meant that workers were now remaining active longer than ever before. This combination of increased labour pool and redundant workers meant that immigration into America had become a problem rather than a solution. The US government began limiting its intake of immigrants and addressing the economic imbalance. This would prove disastrous for the poor and working class, however: especially those in the borderlands. By the 2070s, Mexico was emerging as a major regional power. It now had a balanced and mature economy ranked eighth in the world, along with a stable population, a relatively high standard of living, and growing military power. Mexican nationalism had already been on the rise. Combined with the turmoil now unfolding in the southwestern USA (including the forced repatriation of many immigrants), this began spilling into outright anti-Americanism. Tensions continued to grow. A critical mass had been reached, with most of the immigrants regarding themselves as a separate entity within the USA - linked to and part of Mexico itself, but under foreign domination. An annexation movement began to arise. Army troops on both sides began to mobilise and patrol the border. American citizens viewed the radicalisation of the south with increasing fear. Long, drawn-out political battles ensued between Washington and Mexico City. Both sides made it clear that neither desired war. It also became clear that the Mexican president - in effect - was negotiating on behalf of American citizens of Mexican origin within the United States. The recognition of a distinct nation living within the USA appeared inevitable, with no chance of a return to the status quo. By the early 2080s, following years of negotiations, the matter was finally settled. The country of Mexico had been expanded to include California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas: effectively reclaiming its 19th century territory.
Hyper-intelligent
computers
Androids
are entering law enforcement The presence of these machines is freeing-up a tremendous amount of time for human officers. They are also being used in crowd control and riot situations. With its inhuman strength and speed, a single android is highly intimidating and can easily take on dozens of people if necessary. Special controls are featured in their programming, however, to prevent the use of excessive force.
Five-year survival rates for brain tumours are reaching 100% In the 21st century, however, detection and treatment methods improved greatly with nano-robotics, gene therapy and technologies able to scan, analyse and run emulations of complete brains in astonishing detail. Alongside this was the gradual emergence of "transhumans", who began utilising permanent implants in their brains and bodies, alerting them to the first signs of danger. Towards the end of this century, five-year survival rates for brain cancer are approaching 100% in many countries, the US being among the first.**
Global
currency All but the most impoverished societies are now cashless. For the typical citizen of today, transactions take place without any need for physical coinage, notes or cards, instead being achieved by on-person nanotech. A large portion of the world's GDP now comes from goods and services produced entirely online, often within highly sophisticated virtual environments. Full immersion VR is impacting on real world commerce, as more and more people become willing to utilise the necessary bio-implants. Many people today invest more time and money in their virtual home than they do in their actual, physical home. This is especially true of those living in China, India and Japan - where cities are so dense, overcrowded and expensive that many residents are forced to live in pod-like structures, cubicles or shared rooms. The online world offers a welcome escape from this stressful way of life. Indistinguishable from reality, a person's virtual home can appear as a gigantic mansion, in exotic and beautiful surroundings, decorated in whatever style the occupant desires, with many luxurious items of furniture. Being entirely digital, these can be bought for a fraction of the cost of their real world counterparts.
Macro-scale
teleportation is achieved
Manned
exploration of the Jovian system At least one expedition to the gas giant has been attempted by now. This is a privately funded venture, with only a small number of crew onboard, and succeeds in rendezvousing with a moon of Jupiter* in addition to orbitting the planet itself.
|
||||||||
 |
||||||||
Share |
||
|
References 1 TransAtlantic
MagLev, popsci.com: 2 Earth's Endangered Creatures - Polar Bear Facts, earthsendangered.com: 3 Climate change link to lizard extinction, BBC: 4 Background: Britain's heatwave plan, guardian.co.uk: 5 2003 European heatwave, Wikipedia: 6 The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century, George Friedman: 7 Based on current rates of technological progress, desktop PCs will reach the computational power of the human brain in 2020 - and continue to double in power every year after that. By 2053, they will be equivalent to the entire human race. By 2057, they will be equivalent to all brains in history. By 2083, a single desktop computer will match the raw intelligence of 9,223,372,037,000,000,000 human brains - or the same as a billion Earth civilisations. 8 Robots on the beat by 2084, ZDNet: 9 Browse the SEER Cancer Statistics Review 1975-2009 (Vintage 2009 Populations), National Cancer Institute: 10 Brain cancer survival statistics, Cancer Research UK: 11 The limits of visual acuity for the human eye are objects measuring 50 µm (micrometers) in diameter. A grain of sand contains about 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms. This may sound like a huge number - but exponential increases in computer power will lead to machines that are trillions of trillions of times more powerful and sophisticated than today. If we can teleport individual particles in 2009 - and complex molecules in 2038 - then macro-scale objects might be teleported by the 2080s. 12 Ion engine could one day power 39-day trips to Mars, newscientist.com: 13 This will likely be Callisto, due to its relatively low radiation dose. It is the outermost of the four Galilean moons, orbitting at a distance of approximately 1,880,000 km (26 times the 71,398 km radius of Jupiter itself). This is significantly larger than the orbital radius - 1,070,000 km - of the next-closest Galilean satellite, Ganymede.
|
||
|
||
|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
Follow us »
|
 |
|
|
Latest prediction »
Latest blog »
|
|
|
|
|
Visit our forum »
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|