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2060-2100 Global political and economic systems are in a period of immense transition Much of the world in the 2060s has moved into a rapidly degrading geopolitical situation. Driving this crisis is the seemingly unending stream of climate refugees attempting to cross national borders.** Throughout this period, increasing numbers of equatorial countries are reclassified as failed states, with collapsed governments and directionless populations. Civil war is becoming common in many regions as a result.** For many of the countries adjacent to these equatorial regions, this is leading to severe political and social strife, as desperate measures are introduced to either keep refugees out or try to adjust.* This is a particular problem between Europe and Africa. The Mediterranean has become highly militarised - with Italy, Spain and Greece especially hard hit, resulting in hardline, nationalistic governments coming to power. Many European countries are in political deadlock over food and water sharing. At the other end of Africa, the previously stable country of South Africa is being overrun by refugees from Botswana, which has been almost entirely consumed by desertification.* Similar problems are proliferating in Asia as well. Bangladesh is slowly being emptied of its populace, with many fleeing to neighbouring India. The latter, however, is unable to support this surge. As a result, vast shantytowns have formed along the Bangladesh-India border, home to many millions of people. Lawless, overcrowded, and with disease epidemics spreading rapidly, this region has become one of the most dangerous in the world.* China too is facing a political crisis as divisions grow between coastal areas and the eastern plateaus. The country's population has fallen into steady decline as many people move northward to more stable climates.* Russia is now negotiating with Beijing to stem this tide of Chinese refugees, further dividing the region. Meanwhile, much of the Middle East has been reduced to a wasteland of anarchy, with only a few semi-stable countries remaining.*
North America has seen a dramatic shift in power. The United States and Canada have established a system whereby American citizens are employed temporarily in Canada - similar to the Mexican-American bracero program utilised over a century ago. This is due to both America's disastrous economic situation and Canada's ongoing rise* as a superpower. In any case, large numbers of Americans are moving to Canada permanently whether legal or not. This is creating a great deal of friction between the two countries. Canada's rise has prompted some to call for more aggressive action by the United States, possibly even war. Though not widely supported, the situation is exacerbated by growing violence originating in American enclaves throughout Canada. At the southern border, the situation is much more pressing. A massive flow of immigrants from the Central American countries, but primarily Mexico, is entering the United States, radically shifting the demographics of southern states. This is encouraged to a certain extent, in response to the loss of American labour to Canada. However, the loss of jobs through mechanisation and the limited regional food production is now forcing American authorities to close off the flow of immigration, leaving a large population of Mexican Americans displaced. The fact that the majority of these people are stuck in the southwest only makes the situation worse. This area is now one of the most destitute in the country, with food and water rationing required almost permanently. Combined with often violent methods used to seal off the border, deep regional and cultural divides are erupting in the United States, the likes of which have not been seen since the Civil War.** American anti-immigration has grown in response, and by now has reached extreme levels. Previously confined to the more radical ends of the Republican Party, numerous off-shoots have sprung up, with new parties supporting extreme nationalistic and neo-fascist ideals. In light of the turmoil America is experiencing, some of these groups in recent elections have come closer to the presidency than any third party has before. South America is in even worse shape. Though Brazil and Argentina have managed to retain a degree of stability, the mountainous northwestern countries are facing collapse through extreme drought. Some - like Peru and Bolivia - have degraded into a set of armed camps, each protecting their own respective water supply.** Because of geographic barriers, the vast majority of refugees move northward. However, endless droughts and civil wars found throughout Central America mean that only a small portion of these people actually make it to higher latitudes.* Many of the islands in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean have been completely abandoned. Most of the survivors have moved to Australia.* Several new political organisations have formed out of the remaining island nations, attempting to get their voice heard on the world stage. On Papua New Guinea, shifting populations have led to hundreds of unique languages and cultures dying out. Geopolitical power has seen a drastic restructuring on a global scale. With the United States focusing on its own internal problems, and China and India having stalled in the face of deteriorating environmental conditions, a new group of countries is emerging to take over. The most prominent are those few nations who have actually benefited from climate change - such as Canada, Russia, Iceland and the Scandinavian countries.** These nations are developing into relatively prosperous eco-technological societies, with some even able to accommodate significant numbers of incoming refugees. The United Kingdom,* New Zealand* and Japan* have managed to stabilise by cutting themselves off from the mainland completely and becoming self-sufficient.
In the harder-hit regions, countries that have been able to adapt have found themselves in new positions of power. Mexico, for example, has attained some degree of stability thanks to mass deployment of desalination technology and the use of salt-tolerant biofuels. This is largely thanks to American efforts in earlier decades to control and stabilise Latin America and, by extension, its southern border. Turkey is another example, having escaped the worst of peak oil relatively unscathed due to its large oil and natural gas reserves.* It is now a major regional power, sealing off its borders and hiding behind a shield of nuclear weapons. In many cases, countries have been split into both stable and chaotic regions. Examples of collapsed regions include southern Mexico, southern Italy, and northern India. As a result of all this change, and the collapse of many of their members, organisations such as the UN and NATO have either disappeared entirely, or lost all of their influence. New coalitions are forming based around the rapidly evolving power structure. While geopolitics has evolved immensely, political practice is undergoing its own revolution. The children and grandchildren of the Baby Boomers are now entirely in control of the political and economic systems, and it is obvious that neither system is functional. Being born in a rapidly degrading world, most of these new world leaders are openly acknowledging the failure of older methods, and are actively seeking a new path forward. The traditional growth economy - still clung to in the 2050s - is finally abandoned during this period, though the transition is long and difficult.** The emergence of the new regional powers to the north - for now seemingly immune to the worst effects of climate change - is creating a more cooperative international community in this part of the world. For the remainder of this century, the world enters into a vast mobilisation of green technology and geo-engineering in the face of disastrous climate change. In terms of scale and effort, it is greater than the industrial output seen during the World Wars, and involves an unprecedented degree of government intervention, in ways that would have been politically impossible in the past.* As the World Wars had proved, resistance to such action quickly evaporates in a life or death situation. Humanity from the 2060s onward is in survival mode. The growth of AI and robotics - in parallel with bio- and nanotechnology - is offering some hope, making the crisis more manageable than it would otherwise have been.* Human-like AI, previously confined to more strategic and planning roles, is now shifting into more direct control of the world's governments and corporations. With vastly greater capacities for foresight and detail, while lacking human emotions or prejudices, these artificial beings prove an integral part of the adaptation effort.* As well as coordination, they are also used to develop new technologies and to model future climate patterns (along with their social/demographic effects) to ultra-high levels of accuracy. The soaring influence of AI causes public concern early on, many people still viewing such entities with suspicion. However, the more immediate threat of climate change soon overshadows this fear. The fact that humans are upgrading and merging in various ways with AI has made the average person more receptive to their existence than before. Indeed, global warming is offering a path towards wider acceptance of AI in general, now that they are needed in order to sustain civilisation. By the end of this century, their influence will have surpassed humanity's. Altogether, the new stock of politicians, the emergence of strong AI, the changing geopolitical map, and the sheer difficulty of overcoming the climate crisis, are mobilising whichever countries are able to do so to both address the immediate concerns of global warming and to fix the root underlying problems in the political and economic system. Generally, there are two responses over this period.* The first is the old economy trying to apply traditional mechanisms and assumptions in order to adapt some new form of capitalism to the world. This stance, taken mainly by the old corporate interests, and the more endangered governments, attempts to leverage existing political and market action to try and combat the looming threat of climate catastrophe. The second response is a more radical departure from traditional thinking, looking to reshape the basic fabric of society. This stance - taken by the younger generations, more dynamic corporations, relatively stable governments, and vast majority of AI programs - focuses on long term action and shifting to an entirely new type of economic paradigm. The first proves to be the dominant response in the early years of this transition, as most countries do not have sufficient energy or resources to address both the immediate effects and underlying causes. Many still incorrectly believe that older economic models could continue if only they were decoupled from CO2 emissions. For now though, a government-regulated, World War II-scale industrial mobilisation proves the best at addressing such a rapidly growing problem in the short-term.* Efforts to address global warming had of course been pursued since the beginning of the century. These measures proved to be woefully inadequate. Now however, action is stepped up by an order of magnitude. Since human CO2 output has dropped to insignificant levels, work is now directed towards geo-engineering to reverse the damage done by emissions in earlier decades and centuries.*
The survival response to global warming is originally confined to the more stable countries, but quickly follows in almost every other country that can. Because of the huge time lag between deployment of clean energy and a slowdown in warming, the carbon itself must be addressed.** A variety of methods are used. Carbon sequestration, which began to get underway in the late 2020s, is now deployed on scales large enough to remove billions of tonnes of CO2 each year.* This is often done in conjunction with food production, offering a controlled supply of CO2 gas for plants.* In addition to removing carbon, some geoengineering techniques are undertaken that directly address the temperature rise, but not the CO2 level itself. The most common is painting roofs or large open spaces white, thereby reflecting more sunlight and lowering temperature (darker colours absorb more heat). Other more radical methods are employed. One involves seeding marine stratocumulus clouds with water droplets or nanotechnology particles, making them more reflective to incoming light. Another emulates the cooling effect of volcanic eruptions through the deliberate release of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere. This is so potent that a single kilogram has the potential to offset several hundred thousand kilograms of CO2.* These approaches caused much debate in earlier decades, due to unpredictability about effects on rainfall.* The science has since improved, however, while simulations provided by quantum computers have removed any lingering uncertainty over the best methods and locations to use. Other problems are tackled. Ocean acidification is now wreaking havoc on marine environments, with potentially deadly results. The gradual disappearance of algae, for example, threatens a significant loss in oxygen production,* while fishing has become almost non-existent. One answer to this is the introduction of ground-up olivine rock into certain areas of the ocean, which binds to carbonic acid to form bicarbonate. This actually fertilises coral while reducing overall acidification.* Lime is also used in a similar way, on a large enough scale that it actually reverts some parts of the ocean into carbon sinks.* Along with natural means, artificial substances and synthetic organisms together with nanotech are utilised to even greater effect. Despite this, the sheer scale and speed of the problem means that it will be decades before humanity gains full control over the situation. As the equatorial regions are gradually depopulated, the more stable northerly nations are moving in to develop land for renewable energy and carbon sequestration projects, as well as resource recovery. Farmland is also taken advantage of, though with controversy over whether doing so actually benefits the remaining local population.* Along with mining of asteroids and the Moon, fresh metal and mineral supplies are now becoming available on Earth, thanks to advances in nanotechnology which enable machines to perfectly separate each individual substance out of a rock sample. Phosphorus reserves, for example, are secure now, since even the abundant low quality sources can be mined. Recycling is expanded yet further during this period, reaching 100% in some countries,* once again thanks to nanotechnology. Entire cities, abandoned due to climate change, can in a sense be "recycled" via swarms of automated robots programmed to extract and process useful materials from decaying infrastructure. Landfill sites are particularly rich in this regard.* An additional factor in the easing of resource scarcity is, of course, the collapse in economic demand as the old "growth" paradigm finally grinds to a halt.**
As this effort continues, the second response to the disruption - which supports an entirely new and different kind of socio-economic system - begins to take hold.* Though it had a slower start than the more traditional approach, by the final decades of the 21st century this second view inevitably comes to dominate. The older model proves again and again unable to yield a sufficient long term solution, despite the ruling elite doing everything in its power to maintain the status quo. Many countries have to endure violent revolutions and periods of semi-anarchy before genuine progress is made, but a new zeitgeist begins to solidify, aided by the spread of information technology. Though not yet advanced enough to wholly reverse climate change, humanity is able to establish an equilibrium, preventing a worst case scenario and avoiding a collapse of civilisation. Meanwhile, the refugee problem eases during the 2080s, since most have either reached their destination or died trying. With those nations able to save themselves having already done so, and with few nations left to fail, the world enters into a kind of chaotic peace; humans confined to stable northern enclaves amid a ruined and devastated environment. With this relative stability, the final transition unfolds. Efforts to assign blame for the catastrophe mark this period, with surviving corporate and political figures targeted by members of the younger generations. Most of the worst affected countries see the original industrial nations as the source of their misery. Those which have maintained a coherent government demand to be compensated. As debates rage over a permanent solution to future progress, many call for drastic reform of the global monetary system, or even the elimination of money itself. It is clear that the economy must be based on physical or human capital, rather than assumed value. GDP is gradually dropped as a measure of a nation's wealth, replaced by more genuine markers of human well-being and success. One such model adds life expectancy to overall life satisfaction and divides the result by the ecological footprint, giving an idea of the current generation's quality of life and its effect on the quality of their children's lives.* Artificial intelligence now takes on even more advanced roles - fully controlling the guidance of farming, mining, manufacturing and energy production in order to maximise efficiency and minimise environmental risks.* The end result of the first response was a form of steady state economics* in the developed world. In light of material constraints and increasing automation, people were buying less, working less and paying less. The effects of this transition are now causing a shift in focus - away from materialism, to more altruistic concepts of family, community and creativity. This is undermining the older established view that money and individual success are vital for happiness.** People have more leisure time and consume far fewer resources. Technology is helping this trend in myriad ways. Virtual reality, for example, allows people to use goods and services that have little or no impact on the real world. Governments are beginning to establish limits on inequality, recognising the drain it has on society,** made clear by AI and quantum computers running simulations and forecasts in precise demographic detail. The basic necessities of life are becoming a shared commons. Crime, poverty and other social problems are gradually being reduced as a result. The world is far from a utopia, of course. Global warming and sea levels remain a significant threat,* and progress does not occur at the same speed everywhere, or in the same way, due to the differing cultures around the world. There are still many challenges to overcome, but civilisation as a whole is proving more adaptable and innovative than it once was - thanks to the ongoing march of science, which is greatly expanding humanity's intellectual and educational base. This transition will continue into the 22nd century, culminating in a true model of sustainability.*
2060 Flood
barriers are erected in New York
Tropical cyclones are wreaking havoc in the Mediterranean By 2060, however, normal weather patterns around the world are evolving drastically as a result of climate change. With global temperatures over 3°C (5.5°F) above the 20th century average, the Mediterranean Sea is now home to a prolific hurricane basin.** Warming seawater, combined with increasingly common low pressure systems, is turning the region into an ideal incubator for tropical cyclones. These are now devastating coastal communities throughout the southern coast of Europe and the northern coast of Africa. These areas were already facing collapse due to heatwaves, chronic drought and sea level rise. Most of Venice has been abandoned, after failed attempts to save it from sinking.** Cities such as Athens, Barcelona, Tripoli, Tunis and Alexandria will soon be following.
Global
extinction rates are peaking
An
aging population However, birth rates stayed low throughout the first half and into the second half of the century, whilst longevity was extending through better medicine, gene therapy, nanotechnology, improved lifestyles and so on. This meant that the ratio of young to old began to shrink dramatically. By 2060 there are 50m fewer workers and 67m more seniors, so the ratio is changed to one in three. In other words, only two working-age people to support each senior. This has impacted hugely on government budgets, leading to a radical overhaul of social welfare. A similar pattern has emerged in other parts of the world. Japan has faced the biggest change of all, with 40% of its population now aged over 65, double the figure in 2006.
Helium-3 mining on the Moon
Technology has transformed modern education Schools and classrooms as people from the 20th century would know them have largely disappeared by 2060. Networking has replaced in-person learning for the vast majority of students, who now take part in decentralised, online and virtual classes. Strong AI has supplanted most of the roles that were formerly held by human teachers. These artificial instructors have instant access to vast repositories of data and knowledge, greatly expanding the horizons of learning environments. Students are exposed to a much wider variety of culture and ideas, since classes are no longer limited by geographical proximity. Connectivity allows young people with similar interests and abilities to learn together and be optimally matched in terms of personality types. Universal translators have removed any language barriers such international classrooms would have experienced in the past. Full immersion virtual reality allows modern "schools" to exist as purely online institutions, with a seemingly infinite variety of classes and subjects. These can be experienced through self-guiding neural implants – or more commonly, by simply wearing an external device like a headset or visor. Free software and the negligible cost of hardware have brought unprecedented levels of education to Third World countries. The lack of required physical infrastructure and reduced need to pay teachers* has given even the poorest neighbourhoods access to a range of study far beyond anything seen in the past. While schools and colleges still exist in the physical world, these are declining in number and have been heavily influenced by information technology. Instead of paper or textbooks, students make use of portable tablet devices with essentially limitless power and bandwidth, again at negligible cost. As a consequence, global illiteracy has fallen below 1%.**
As well as technology, the process of education itself has evolved to meet the changing needs of society. With the continuing trend of mechanisation, the bulk of manufacturing and physical labour has been relegated to machines. Even many white collar jobs have disappeared thanks to the emergence of strong AI. As a result, human work is increasingly confined to subjective, abstract and/or creative professions – such as science, art, design, law, etc. This has turned high education into an absolute necessity in many countries. Methods for teaching students have changed in response. In the past, most systems of education consisted of a set period of time that people would move through school. The grades they received played a large role in determining what opportunities they would have later in life. Regardless of how well students did in school, and regardless of whether they even understood the material, they would all complete their education at roughly the same time with whatever skill level they had managed to acquire. Now, this method has been reversed.* In the most developed countries, semester-based learning has been replaced with a go-at-your-own-pace style of learning. The proliferation of virtual teachers has made it possible for a person's education to be exactly tailored to their own learning abilities and interests. This avoids the issue of exceptional students being held back, and struggling students being left behind. The overall result is that time spent in school has become variable, while the level of knowledge and skill one gets out of school has been given a floor. The physical (and virtual) classroom environment itself has also changed. It is common now to have a single class be taught by more than one teacher, allowing them to play off their individual strengths and give students a broader base of information. Teaching is much more reciprocal, with students learning from teachers, learning from other students, or even imparting their own knowledge back onto the teacher. Also, the classic lecture environment has been replaced by a more hands-on approach. Much more of schooling involves practical application with teachers demonstrating exactly how their material can be used in the real world. Technology is bringing further innovations to education. A profound and world-altering paradigm – referred to in earlier decades as the 'Singularity' – appears to be on the cusp of emerging. For increasing numbers of people, direct merger of their brain with cloud-based, non-biological artificial intelligence* has become necessary in order to keep up with the truly staggering amount of new information appearing each day.* These upgrades are having a significant impact on the process of learning. Personal AI can guide a person's educational progression using detailed knowledge of their brain structure and learning abilities. By the end of the century, this method of assisted learning will evolve into a system of downloads, with new skills and facts seamlessly inserted directly into a person's brain. This will ultimately lead to the end of education in the traditional sense, with a new species of transhuman emerging based on automatic, instantaneous accumulation of knowledge and vastly amplified intelligence.
Halley's
Comet returns
The country's ethnic makeup has changed dramatically over the last 50 years, becoming far more diverse and geographically integrated. In particular, black and Asian persons in the most affluent areas have greatly increased.* London has become a true mega-city. Its urban population (in the continuous built-up area surrounding the city) has swelled to almost 12m, while its total metropolitan area now encompasses the entire southern half of England. An extensive network of high-speed rail joins its various satellite cities. Other infrastructure being planned includes a series of tunnels spanning the Irish Sea.*
Nanofabricators
are a mainstream consumer product* In appearance, they resemble a combined washing machine/microwave oven. Raw materials are purchased separately and can be loaded in solid, liquid or powder form. An interior compartment is accessed via a small hatch, where objects are constructed atom-by-atom. The process takes a matter of minutes and the assembled items can be used immediately. New schematics can be accessed from the web and programmed into the machine.
IT's share of the US economy reaches 20% Even during periods of economic crisis, information technology has continued to improve with consistent growth for over a century.*By 2100, over a quarter of the US economy will be based on IT.
Longevity treatments that can halt aging By the middle of this decade, treatments are becoming available to the general public which can effectively halt the aging process altogether. This landmark in the field of gerontology was actually achieved some two decades earlier in the laboratory but faced extensive testing, clinical trials, government legislation and lobbying by pharmaceuticals. This delayed its introduction considerably. Rather than being a single process, aging was found to be caused by seven key types of damage.* 1. Junk
- inside cells Various combinations of drugs were developed in order to combat these types of damage. In 2010, it was possible to slow aging by only two months per year. Over the subsequent decades, however, the "actuarial escape velocity" of twelve months per year was eventually reached. Exponential progress was made thanks to the growth of information technology in medicine, combined with advances in nanotechnology which led to ever smaller and more sophisticated procedures. Debates rage over the morality of this treatment and its consequences for the world's population (especially from conservatives and religious institutions), but there is generally strong support from the public. It is expensive initially and regarded as a luxury - in the same way that plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures were viewed in earlier decades. For now, only celebrities and the rich can take advantage of it. However, the massive amount of public interest leads to intense competition between pharmaceutical firms, eventually driving down costs. Further refinement makes it possible not only to halt the aging process, but to actually reverse it. Later this century, even people over 100 begin to appear physically indistinguishable from those in their 30s.
Self-assembling
buildings made entirely from nanotech Now, even construction companies are being affected. By the middle of this decade, it's becoming possible to build entire homes and offices using nanotechnology alone. For a typical square or rectangular plot of land, this takes the form of self-assembling machinery, based around a scaffold system that initially resembles a giant, four poster bed. Vertical columns, one in each corner of the site, support a platform that gradually rises from the ground, adding successive layers of material beneath it. The columns rise in tandem with the platform, whilst also relaying material, until the building is finally topped out. In effect, these machines are like substantially bigger versions of 3D printers and nanofabricators. For some of the more "unique" building designs or features, traditional methods of construction and engineering are still incorporated. Even these will eventually be replaced by self-assemblers as the technology advances further. Atom by atom, these intelligent machines lay the foundations, core, framework, flooring, electrics, doors and other components - while robots inspect the interior, perform safety checks and make adjustments where necessary. By the 2070s, even skyscrapers and other tall structures can be erected using this method. The process is so rapid, it takes a matter of weeks from groundwork to final completion - or days, in some cases. Humans are rarely if ever needed on site.
Invisibility
suits are in military use Breakthroughs in earlier decades showed that objects utilising metamaterials could be made invisible to microwave radiation. This was followed some years later by infrared radiation, until eventually all the frequencies of visible light on the spectrum could be filtered. When combined with advances in nanotech, this made it possible to produce lightweight fabrics that could bend light in three dimensions. A complex "mosaic" of nano-implants is embedded into the suit. These mosaics are stacked in layers: one for each frequency of the visible light spectrum. The effect is similar to that of a river flowing around a boulder. Light flows around the suit, before continuing in a straight line towards the onlooker. The layers are so thin, and the implants so small, that the fabrics offer the wearer complete freedom of movement and flexibility. These suits are expensive, however, and are used mainly by special forces in covert operations. The only obvious vulnerability is when the suits are used in heavy rain, or if crossing a body of water.
Cloaking
device active: Light is deflected around the object, causing
it to be invisible.
Cloaking
device deactivated: Light is reflected and absorbed, causing
it to be visible.
Insurance
crisis
The first generation of antimatter-powered spacecraft is emerging As the early years of the 21st century unfolded there was a perception among many that this trend would continue. A number of setbacks reinforced this view – such as the retirement of the Space Shuttle, the cancellation of NASA's Constellation program and the relative lack of excitement around the International Space Station, along with an emerging financial crisis. In reality, however, great strides were being made in a number of areas. For a start, information technology was growing at an exponential rate; a pattern that had remained consistent for many decades and showed little sign of slowing down. Computer processing power, memory, data storage, bandwidth and a host of other measures were doubling in performance every 12-18 months, whilst declining dramatically in cost. This greatly accelerated the pace of research and development, as knowledge could be shared quickly and easily around the world. Billions of people gained access to the World Wide Web, fostering education and innovation on an unprecedented scale.** Previously restricted to government agencies, space began to open up, becoming commercialised and industrialised. Entrepreneurial efforts by wealthy individuals led to a thriving market for space tourism,* while crowdfunding and other creative options gave rise to many smaller-scale enterprises. The emergence of new players such as China and India further helped in reinvigorating space research. As the decades passed, a new generation of rockets was developed. Materials based on nanotechnology enabled stronger, lighter and cheaper spacecraft. Artificial intelligence was another byproduct of the information revolution, enabling systems to effectively design themselves.* By the middle of the century, launch costs had been reduced by orders of magnitude.* Alongside all of this, many important breakthroughs were made in the understanding of scientific processes and physical phenomena. Among the most significant of these was in antimatter production and confinement. In 2010, particles of antimatter were trapped for the first time at CERN in Geneva. Researchers produced, trapped and then released a few dozen atoms of antihydrogen for around two-tenths of a second.* The following year, this feat was achieved again but for 17 minutes – nearly four orders of magnitude longer than before.*
With stupendously high energy density (roughly 10 billion times more powerful than chemical reactions such as hydrogen and oxygen combustion),* antimatter held potential as the ultimate source of spacecraft propulsion. Unfortunately, it was extraordinarily difficult and expensive to produce, with a few grams costing trillions of dollars* and total production from 1950 to 2010 being just 10 nanograms. However, scientific and technological progress in the early-mid 21st century was occurring at an exponential rate.* Anti-proton production began to increase substantially, aided by ever-more sophisticated models and simulations, together with AI programs that were beginning to match – and even exceed – human intelligence.** This happened in parallel with rapid advances in engine design, materials science and fusion power. By the late 2060s, the first prototype antimatter-powered spacecraft is demonstrated.* The "fuel" for this vessel consists of tiny pellets containing deuterium and tritium – heavy isotopes of hydrogen with one or two neutrons, respectively, in their nuclei (hydrogen normally has no neutrons). Inside each pellet, this fuel is surrounded by uranium. A beam of anti-protons, with an electrical charge of minus-1, is then fired at the pellets. When the anti-protons collide with the uranium nuclei, they annihilate, generating vast amounts of energy which triggers fusion reactions in the fuel. This provides thrust via magnetic confinement and a magnetic nozzle. Using this propulsion system, a trip to Jupiter can be achieved in just four months, using 1.16 grams of anti-protons. By the 2080s, a number of manned missions are being conducted. Further advances in antimatter and ship designs will pave the way for interstellar travel in the 22nd and 23rd centuries.
Male
and female salaries are reaching parity Other factors have been responsible for this shift in focus – such as the terrifying depletion of natural resources, which has forced a radical change of priorities. Widespread use of AI in neutral, passive, consultative roles is also helping to strengthen cooperation by providing more "logical" solutions to global problems.
A
major landmark in the world of athletics* A new breed of "super athlete" emerges, as the authorities begin to legalise certain implants, drugs and muscle-enhancing devices. There is talk of splitting the games into three separate events - the Paralympics for those with disabilities; a "classic" group for natural, unenhanced athletes; and a third "cyber" category for those with biotechnology enhancements. The Paralympics will eventually disappear altogether as literally all physical and visual disabilities are overcome.
100th
anniversary of Apollo 11 By this date, the Apollo 11 landing site has been turned into a UNESCO world heritage site and tourist destination. Visitors can walk around the lunar module and see the famous flag and footprints left by the astronauts. With no atmospheric conditions, these have been perfectly preserved - exactly as they were on the day.*
The U.S. population reaches half a billion*
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References 1 Royal Society Special Issue on Global Warming Details 'Hellish Vision' of 7°F (4°C) World — Which We May Face in the 2060s!, Climate Progress: 2 Don't Panic: Earth's Nine Threats to Humanity, Bloomberg: 3 The God Species, by Mark Lynas: 4 Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, by Eric Drexler: 5 Grey goo, Wikipedia: 6 Peter Joseph Radio Lecture "A Profile of Collapse", The Zeitgeist Movement ]: 7 Major migration challenge by 2060, experts warn, The Telegraph: 8 Where will they go when the Sea rises?, New Scientist: 9 In Northern Africa, Climate Change Could Make A Current Refugee Crisis Even Worse, Climate Progress: 10 Climate change will lead to civil wars in Africa, says research, The Telegraph: 11 The Geopolitics of Climate Change, Gwynne Dyer: 12 "Even at the coarse resolution of a computer model grid, Botswana's fate is clear - the entire country is covered by 'active' dunes after about 2070." 13 2084: An Oral History of the Great Warming, by James Powell: 14 Glaciers in Southwest China Feel the Brunt of Climate Change, Science Daily: 15 See 2035. 16 Could global warming turn Canada into a superpower?, CTV News: 17 The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century, by George Friedman: 18 See 2082. 19 2084: An Oral History of the Great Warming, by James Powell: 20 Catastrophic Drought Looms for Capital City of Bolivia, Science Daily: 21 Climate Migration in Latin America: A Future 'Flood of Refugees' to the North?, Council on Hemispheric Affairs: 22 To Escape Rising Seas, Maldives President May Move His Entire Island Nation to Australia, Tree Hugger: 23 Surviving in a warmer world, New Scientist: 24 See 2035-2040. 25 See 2056. 26 Refugees Join List of Climate-Change Issues, New York Times: 27 Climate Wars: The Fight for Survival as the World Overheats, by Gwynne Dyer: 28 See 2023. 29 Life after the end of economic growth, The Guardian: 30 The Great Disruption: Why the Climate Crisis Will Bring On the End of Shopping and the Birth of a New World, by Paul Gilding: 31 Why Climate Change Will Make You Love Government, AlterNet: 32 The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, by Ray Kurzweil: 33 The Age of Virtuous Machines, KurzweilAI: 34 The Great Disruption: Why the Climate Crisis Will Bring On the End of Shopping and the Birth of a New World, by Paul Gilding: 35 The full global warming solution: How the world can stabilize at 350 to 450 ppm, Climate Progress: 36 Data sources for graph - 37 Bombshell: You Can't Slow Projected Warming With Gas, You Need 'Rapid and Massive Deployment' of Zero-Carbon Power, Think Progress: 38 Low-carbon technologies 'no quick-fix', say researchers, Institute of Physics: 39 Carbon Mitigation Initiative: Stabilization Wedges Introduction, Princeton University: 40 The business of cooling the planet, CNN Money: 41 The Geoengineering Option, Foreign Affairs (subscription required to access full article): 42 Scientists warn geoengineering may disrupt rainfall, Reuters: 43 A stunning year in climate science reveals that human civilization is on the precipice, Think Progress: 44 Geoengineering potential of artificially enhanced silicate weathering of olivine, PNAS: 45 The God Species, by Mark Lynas: 46 The New Colonialism: Foreign Investors Snap Up African Farmland, Spiegel Online: 47 Welsh recycling rates hit 48%, The Guardian: 48 Why landfill mining could be the next big thing, The Guardian: 49 The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality, by Richard Heinberg: 50 S&P: 60% of countries will be bankrupt within 50 years, Raw Story: 51 The Great Disruption: Why the Climate Crisis Will Bring On the End of Shopping and the Birth of a New World, by Paul Gilding: 52 Happy Planet Index: 53 Technology, The Venus Project: 54 Steady state economy, Wikipedia: 55 The High Price of Materialism, MIT Press: 56 Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness, TED: 57 Why economic inequality leads to collapse, The Guardian: 58 The Evidence in Detail, The Equality Trust: 59 Sea Level Rise: It Could Be Worse Than We Think, Climate Progress: 60 Zeitgeist: Moving Forward: 61 "Much of Lower Manhattan could be submerging as frequently as every
five years, making whole zones economically unviable." 62 Saving
New York, YouTube.com: 63 Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet, by Mark Lynas: 64 Warming may bring hurricanes to Mediterranean, Reuters: 65 Climate change could swamp Venice's flood defence, New Scientist: 66 Moses won't save Venice says mayor, Italy Magazine: 67 Tropical habitat loss threatens mass extinction akin to fall of the
dinosaurs, Columbia University: 68 Moon mine 'could start in 50 years', BBC: 69 Given Tablets but No Teachers, Ethiopian Children Teach Themselves, Technology Review: 70 World illiteracy, 1970-2015, Wikipedia: 71 Literacy and Education Data for the school year ending in 2010, UNESCO: 72 Year 2060: Education Predictions, Khan Academy: 73 Neural implant enhances brain function in monkeys, study finds, The Verge: 74 See 2083. 75 Graph extrapolated to 2061, using data from page 75 (figure 11.1) of: 76 Britain's population timebomb: By 2060 there'll be just two workers
for every pensioner, London Evening Standard: 77 UK in 2051 to be ‘significantly more diverse’, University
of Leeds: 78 Irish Sea Tunnel, Wikipedia: 79 Timeline of Trends & Events - 1750 to 2100, socialtechnologies.com: 80 Singularity is Near - SIN Graph - IT's share of the economy,
Singularity.com: 81 Aubrey de Grey - In Pursuit of Longevity, YouTube: 82 Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, K. Eric Drexler: 83 Physics
of the Impossible, by Michio Kaku: 84 Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet, by Mark Lynas: 85 Project Daedalus, Wikipedia: 86 See 2020. 87 Peter Diamandis on Moore's Law and Changing the World, Future Timeline Blog: 88 Space Tourism Is Here! Wealthy Adventurers Wanted, The New York Times: 89 The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, by Ray Kurzweil: 90 "By 2040, it's expected to cost only tens of dollars per pound to launch humans or cargo to space; today, it costs as much as $10,000 per pound." 91 Upping the Anti: CERN Physicists Trap Antimatter Atoms for the First Time, Scientific American: 92 CERN scientists confine antihydrogen atoms for 1000 seconds, PhysOrg: 93 Artist's concept of Antimatter propulsion system, NASA: 94 Antimatter and Fusion Drives Could Power Future Spaceships, Space.com: 95 The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, by Ray Kurzweil: 96 See 2029. 97 See 2053. 98 We have taken this reference as meaning 55 years from now – i.e. 55 + 2012 = 2067. 99 Men's 100 metres world record progression, Wikipedia: 100 The Big Question: As the 100m world record falls again, how much faster
can humans run?, Independent.co.uk: 101 Moon Museum: New Race to Save Space Relics, Space.com: 102 Population Projections, US Census Bureau: 103 The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century, George Friedman: 104 See 2082.
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