Future Now
The IFTF Blog
Future of science and technology workshop: Filling in the timeline
What things haven't we talked about yet that we should include to fill in the gaps?
2015: Product-centered education-- needn't be bad, but needs to be done well (KD)
2015: Robotics for elder care (JL)
2015: Cheap solar + water purification sweeps the world. Can't separate drinking water from sewage; this then allows economic surge, good demographic changes (LS) [Not necessarily electric; can be passive]
2018: U.S. invades Canada, for the oil (BR)
2020: Robotics and impacts on exloration, warfare, and remediation (MB)
2020: Human bodies go like cars now: all of our vital signs are read out (phenotypic axis), genotypes are fully understood (LS)
2020: States use populations as bioresources; consequences for political discourse (JR)
2020: Change priorities off fear (as many people die from cigarettes in 3 days as died in 9/11) (VS)
2020: How do you deal with municipal services, repairs, garbage removal as population density goes down (VS)
2020: Space travel: near earth tourist infrastructure can handle up to 100k people in space (LS)
2025: Science becomes scientific: it's not as data-driven as it should be (DT)
2030: Capitalism declines because of too much information (JL)
2030: Tar sands and syn fuel become economically viable; consequence is giant jump in carbon (SS)
2030: Discover that some ecosystems services are not substitutable (SS)
2035: Technology will be utilized to create mass impressions of miracles, lead to "faith culture" (VS)
2035: Engineered faith gene unleashed by fundamentalists (JL)
2040: Devolution of the USA (JL)
2040: Geoengineering appears feasible (e.g., ocean seeding), but has unintended side effects (SS)
2050: Divergence of "humanity" driven by genetic alteration (designer children); IT augmentation leading to transhuman/posthuman future; engineering cyborgs [today there are goldfish cyborgs] (LS)
2050: The end of nature: When you can produce nature in a test tube, it's no longer natural (JR)
2055: Population separation transforms transport infrastructure (MB)