9th May 2024

2032 – The Strait of Messina Bridge is completed

A long-stalled bridge between Sicily and mainland Italy is finally completed in 2032.

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3rd May 2024

2029 – A quantum computer with 1 million qubits

The world's first utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer becomes operational in 2029. This machine is able to perform a variety of useful tasks, beyond the reach of classical supercomputers.

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22nd April 2024

2049 – Neptune Odyssey makes orbital insertion

Neptune Odyssey is one of several missions to the "ice giants" of the Solar System in the mid-21st century.

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18th April 2024

2058 – Tianwen-5 arrives at Neptune

Tianwen-5 is the fifth in a long-running series of space probes developed by China's national space agency.

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17th April 2024

2045 – Tianwen-4 flyby of Uranus

Tianwen-4 is the fourth in a series of robotic space probes developed by the China National Space Administration.

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28th March 2024

2050 – Economic power has shifted from West to East

By 2050, the global economic landscape has undergone a transformative shift, the balance of power moving decidedly in favour of the East.

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3rd March 2024

2045 – 10% of crop production is from vertical farming

For many years, vertical farming remained a niche and extremely tiny segment of the overall food market. By 2045, however, it has grown into an industry worth nearly half a trillion dollars.

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10th February 2024

2026 – A quantum computer with 10,000+ qubits

In 2026, the world's first quantum computer to surpass 10,000 qubits is deployed, which includes 100 logical qubits for reducing error rates.

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17th January 2024

2047 – South Korea's "mega chip cluster" is completed

In 2047, South Korea realises a long-term plan to build 16 semiconductor production fabs, forming the largest cluster of its kind in the world.

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14th January 2024

2027 – Artemis III crewed mission to the lunar surface

Artemis III, a pivotal mission in NASA's Artemis program, marks a historic return of humans to the Moon. This includes the first woman to set foot on the lunar surface.

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14th January 2024

2025 – First crewed flight of NASA's Orion spacecraft

[Moved from 2024 to 2025, based on a new reference]

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1st January 2024

2024 – A pivotal year for elections

2024 is an unusually busy year for national elections, with more than 70 being held around the globe. Concerns are raised over the widespread proliferation of generative AI in political campaigns.

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30th December 2023

2024 – Chang'e 6 lunar sample return mission

Chang'e 6, launched in May 2024, is a Chinese robotic lunar explorer. It attempts to obtain the first ever rock and soil samples from the far side of the Moon and return them to Earth.

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29th December 2023

2024 – The first AI-generated news anchors on U.S. television

Channel 1, developed by a startup in Los Angeles, is a global news network using generative AI. In addition to featuring entirely computer-generated anchors and reporters, it offers personalised content.

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29th December 2023

2024 – Gemini Ultra is released by Google

Gemini Ultra is a multimodal large language model (LLM) developed by Google DeepMind, which is claimed to outperform ChatGPT across a wide range of tasks.

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28th December 2023

2024 – Steamboat Willie enters the public domain

A milestone in copyright law occurs on 1st January 2024, when Disney's 'Steamboat Willie' enters the public domain.

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22nd December 2023

2023

A summary of notable events in 2023 – various new entries added.

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5th December 2023

2,400,000,000 AD – The Large Magellanic Cloud is merging with the Milky Way galaxy

The largest of the Milky Way's dwarf satellites is now colliding and merging with our galaxy, disrupting both its structure and the activity of the supermassive black hole at its centre.

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26th November 2023

2030 – China's nuclear stockpile exceeds 1,000

During the late 2010s, China began to significantly ramp up its stockpile of nuclear weapons. By 2030, it has amassed over 1,000 warheads.

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