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2045 timeline contents 2045 - Humans are becoming intimately merged with machines | The Chūō Shinkansen high speed maglev route is complete | Gulf Coast cities are being abandoned due to super hurricanes 2045-2049 - China transitions towards a democracy | Major extinctions of animal and plant life
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2045 Humans are becoming intimately merged with machines In some fields, the pace of technology has become so fast that humans can no longer comprehend it without augmenting their own intelligence. This is particularly true of computing, nanotechnology, medicine and neuroscience, all of which have seen exponential progress.* The typical home PC of today has an integrated AI system equivalent to over a billion human brains.* This machine can think for itself, communicate with its user and suggest new ideas in ways that surpass even the greatest minds on Earth. Due to the flood of data being exchanged on the Internet and elsewhere, these computers receive literally millions of emails and other communications each day. The only way for a user to interpret this avalanche of information is to merge their consciousness with the machine. A growing segment of society is now turning to on-person hardware to achieve this. The most advanced method involves the use of microscopic, wireless, implantable devices linking neural activity directly to electronic circuitry. These "nanobots" have already been used in full immersion VR and certain medical procedures. The latest versions are capable of marrying AI with human intelligence in ways that combine the best aspects of both. No monitor or projector of any kind is required for the latest generation of computers. The nanobots can instead produce a virtual image of the screen which is augmented in the user's field of vision.
This operating system is controlled by their thoughts - and those of the AI - running at speeds vastly greater than a real time physical version would allow. Many individual actions can be performed at once, thanks to the robust wireless connections between the nanobots and neurons. If necessary, the user's entire sensory experience can be instantly shifted to a full immersion virtual reality. This is a popular choice for gaming and entertainment, but also has many practical applications in the world of business. Meetings and conferences can be hastily scheduled between vast numbers of participants from around the globe - sometimes with barely a few second's notice - and lasting only a few seconds in duration. Communicating at this speed is no longer possible using conventional means, which is creating an enormous divide between those who have the technology and those who don't. For many people, nanobot implants are becoming permanent and essential - rather than temporary and optional - due to the bewildering speed and level of information now being encountered in day-to-day situations together with the explosive growth of AI. Military personnel, scientists and medical staff were among the first to take advantage of them, but mainstream society is now following. People are merging with machines in various other ways, too. Nanobots can boost immune systems, for example - helping to exterminate pathogens. They can also regulate blood pressure, or repair some of the damage caused by the ageing process, or accelerate the healing of wounds. Cybernetic organs are now available that almost never fail and can filter deadly poisons. Brain-computer interfaces are increasingly used in middle class homes to open doors, control lighting and operate everyday appliances. The most extreme cases of enhancement involve people opting for "decentralised" circulatory systems - along with a form of synthetic blood - reducing physical vulnerability still further. This particular option is still only available to the rich, as it involves a highly complicated procedure that radically alters their internal anatomy. The end result is that a person can survive multiple gunshot wounds or other damage relatively easily. A number of politicians and other famous people are taking advantage of this. It is also popular with gangland bosses and career criminals. The line between man and machine is starting to blur. Later this century, there will no longer be a clear distinction.
The Chūō Shinkansen high speed maglev route is complete Tokyo and Osaka are now connected by a direct high-speed maglev route - the Chūō Shinkansen. This megaproject began construction in 2014, at a cost of over 9 trillion yen ($115bn). By 2027, the first trains were running between Tokyo and Nagoya,* and by 2045 the route has been extended to Osaka,** with trains travelling beneath the Japanese Alps (Akaishi Mountains). The first generation of these vehicles reached 313 mph (505 km/h), but newer and even faster designs are now in use.
Gulf Coast cities are being abandoned due to super hurricanes The growing concentration of atmospheric CO2 has led to rising sea levels, a warming of coastal waters and a more volatile climate system. In the Gulf of Mexico, a new category of "super hurricane" has emerged. This is becoming a regular occurrence by now. These extreme weather events are nightmarish in scale and intensity. At their peak, winds of nearly 200mph bring untold devastation. Trees are uprooted and hurled like matchsticks, while skyscrapers visibly sway. Storm surges and flash floods travel up rivers with surreal speed, overwhelming defences and bringing waves tens of metres high. Damage from these various disasters has run into hundreds of billions of dollars. A number of Gulf cities are being permanently abandoned during this time, including Houston and New Orleans.**
2045-2049 China transitions towards a democracy Faced with growing social unrest, China transitions towards a Russian-style democracy. The ongoing internet/IT revolution and the resulting decentralisation of communication has brought down many of its former barriers.
Major extinctions of animal and plant life By the end of this decade, many well-known animal species are going extinct, or else have declined in such huge numbers that only those in captivity now exist. Off the eastern coast of Australia one of the world's most beautiful natural wonders - the Great Barrier Reef - has been virtually destroyed by climate change, with less than 2% of coral remaining.* Rising levels of greenhouse gases have made the water too acidic for calcium-based organisms to grow.* Most of the colourful fish for which the reef is famous have also disappeared. On land, more than 50% of the continent's 400 butterfly species have died out, as well as numerous reptiles including Boyd's forest dragon, a rare and colourful lizard. In Europe, an astonishing 50% of amphibians have disappeared due to pollution, disease and loss of habitat caused by climate change. This includes many previously common species of frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians.* On the same continent, more than 20% of bird species have been lost, and around 15% of plants. In South Africa's Kruger national park, a major conservation area, nearly 60% of the species under its protection have been lost. In the same region, 35% of proteaceae flowering plants have disappeared including the national flower, the King Protea.* In South America, nearly half of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed, with more than 2,000 native tree species becoming extinct. In Mexico, nearly 30% of animal species are either extinct, or critically endangered. In Southeast Asia, the Indian elephant is on the brink of extinction. Once a common sight in this part of the world, it has declined in huge numbers due to poaching for the ivory of its tusks, loss of habitat, and human conflict. In the Arctic, nearly 70% of polar bears have disappeared due to the shrinking of summer ice caused by global warming. By 2080 they will disappear from Greenland entirely, and from the northern Canadian coast, leaving only dwindling numbers in the interior Arctic archipelago. Many other well-known species of fish, bird and mammal become critically endangered around this time. This period is often referred to as the Holocene extinction event. As a direct result of human influences, the rate of species extinctions this century is between 100 and 1000 times the natural "background" or average extinction rates in the evolutionary time scale of Earth.
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References 1 Singularity is Near - SIN graph - Exponential Growth of Computing,
Singularity.com 2 The Singularity is Near, by Ray Kurzweil (2005) 3 See 2027. 4 Chūō Shinkansen, Wikipedia: 5 Japan Flashes Green Signal for Maglev Train Line, Environment News Service: 6 What
will climate change do to our planet?, Times Online: 7 Six Degrees, by Mark Lynas. Amazon.co.uk: 8 Acidic
seas may kill 98% of world's reefs by 2050, Guardian.co.uk: 9 Acidic oceans threaten sea life, BBC: 10 Half of Europe's amphibians could be extinct by 2050, Telegraph.co.uk: 11 Climate threat: What species are at risk? BBC.co.uk:
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