© Mark Ollig
We have just begun 2021, yet folks are trying to foretell what the next 100 years will reveal.
In case you are planning your calendar, Jan. 1, 2121, will occur on a Wednesday.
“We are already testing quantum key distribution from space to land instantaneously, near-light speed. The future [communications infrastructure] will not use cell towers or fiber optic cables,” predicts futurist book author Scott Amyx about the next 100 years.
He also feels the next 100 years will be the era of quantum computers.
“In a given day, we can weave in and out of multiple virtual worlds via immersive VR (virtual reality) and mixed reality with direct pathway to neurons using a combination of VR contacts and semi and invasive brain computer interface,” Amyx states.
Global futurist Rohit Talwar says human lifespans will reach 150 years, giving us “plenty of time to try our hand at everything we’d like to do.”
We have heard predictions about computer chips implanted in people for decades, and this will be the case 100 years from now, per Alexander Lopatine, a managing director with Fintech, who believes, “Everybody will have a computer chip installed immediately at birth.”
Humans living 100 years from now will have Artificial Intelligence (AI) sensor implants for advanced health monitoring, analytics, learning assistance, and more, predicts Chris Nielsen, founder of the technology company Levatast.
“Sensors as small as blood cells will travel the body’s bloodstream, identifying health risks and reporting them automatically for preventative care,” he said.
Today, this technology is being worked on and will undoubtedly become a regularly used diagnostic tool in humans within the next 100 years.
By 2121, we will have colonized other celestial bodies, as our technology will have established significantly improved and efficient space transport systems.
Within 100 years, many permanent human colonies will be living and working on the moon.
By 2121, humans will also have permanent bases operating on Mars.
Today, according to NASA, its Artemis program will send humans back to the moon by 2024.
NASA plans on a moon base for staging flights to Mars, with astronauts walking on the Martian surface by the mid-2030s.
SpaceX, founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, is currently testing a spacecraft named Starship, which reportedly holds up to 100 people.
Musk says starships will colonize the moon, Mars, and other celestial destinations.
In 100 years, the Moon and Mars will become regularly-used staging bases for missions further into the solar system.
I anticipate within 100 years, we will send astronauts to explore the mysteries in the ocean waters under Europa’s ice sheets.
Before humans visit Europa, NASA has proposed a robotic spacecraft landing called the Europa Lander mission, with a tentative launch in 2027.
Information about Europa’s ocean is on NASA’s webpage at https://europa.nasa.gov/europa/ocean.
Of course, what would the year 2121 be without our robotic companions?
How about robotic replicas of ourselves?
Some futurists say in 100 years, a person will have several robot clones.
A human will instruct their robotic clones to complete specific tasks.
Of course, we need to heed past warnings about robots.
“Rossum’s Universal Robots,” was a play written by Czech writer, novelist, and journalist Karel Capek, and presented before the public in 1921.
Rossum’s Universal Robots is the factory’s name where artificial people or automatons, called “robots,” are being built.
The word robot or robotics, comes from the Czech word “robota,” meaning “forced labor” or “servitude.”
Toward the end of the play, the robot named Radius, who led the successful revolution against the humans, climbs atop a balcony railing and declares in measured tones to the other robots in the factory, “Robots of the world! The power of man has fallen! A new world has arisen: the Rule of the Robots! March!”
Scary.
Hopefully, robots in 2121 won’t attempt to take over the planet.
I have suggested in previous columns that future robots be equipped with an easily accessible off-switch.
“With advances in the efficiency of solar cells, it is likely that this free energy source will be used to create sub-aquatic human communities, breathing the oxygen they create and fueling their electrical needs through the act of hydrogen creation below the waves,” states an article in Future Living Report.
Not everyone with a view of the sea will be living below the waves.
Another prediction visualizes floating cities constructed atop the oceans all over the world.
By 2121, folks will be vacationing in Earth-orbiting hotels with a view that will be out of this world.
While it is fun looking ahead, I agree we need to get through 2021 with the hope of soon returning to a non-pandemic way of life.
In the meantime, continue to stay safe out there.
 |
| (Above clip art image right-to-use fee paid) |