Vladivostok in the Russian Far East will be the first American city in the old world.
American special forces scouting out the new American/Chinese border will discover the Almas, descendents of the Neanderthal.
The sasquatch will be discovered when an adolescent male is captured 'shoplifting' fruit from an outdoor market.
Superstring experiments will reveal that superstrings are made up of even smaller 'things'.
Pan troglodytes and P. paniscus will be joined by two new species, P. Schweinfurthii and P. leomorti (the lion killing chimpanzee).
The greater panda will be declared a domesticated animal.
A domesticated sub-species of the plains zebra will be acknowledged by the zoological community. It will take the place of motor vehicles throughout the Tsetse fly zone and lead to greater prosperity in the region.
I've got tons more, but these should do for now. :)
A treatment will become available to extend the lifespans of dogs and cats by many decades.
At least one large technology firm (IBM?) will "appoint" an AI to a high-ranking corporate position, largely as a marketing ploy for their own brand of AI products.
India's manned mission to Venus will discover traces of a dead civilization.
The first real-life superheroes and villains will make an appearance, early adopters of experimental genetic and cybernetic enhancements.
Memory backups will become available as a treatment for brain injury.
The people who saw the most change in their lives were those born in the 1870s. Consider that Winston Churchill, born in 1874, took part in cavalry charges as a young officer in the British Army, and in deployment of the hydrogen bomb during his second term as Prime Minister.
If we live to see things like utility fog or true general AI, we'll see more significant changes even than those born in the 1870s did. Churchill would have loved the iPod -- a tiny device capable of holding hours upon hours of music or approximately 80,000 books!
Traces of ancient civilization on Venus? Maybe in orbit. But any remnants of civilization (or even life) on the surface of the planet would have been wiped out long ago by heat sufficient to melt led and a steady downpour of sulfuric acid.
We'll have flying cars as soon as we have effective self-piloted cars.
Y'all feel free to drop by The Speculist any time. We talk about this kind of stuff every day!
Can't agree, Bob. I think those are mostly differences in kind. You are taking for granted universal indoor plumbing; virtually no such thing as hunger in the west; sexual equality; total electronic connectedness for most people, all the time, everywhere; the advances in medicine; space travel and, of course, Paris Hilton.
7.10.2007 7:58pm
Commenting on Dean's World is a privilege, not a right. Dean is your host, you are his guest, and you should behave in that fashion. Dean is not your babysitter, nor is he your punching bag. Please remember this. In general, you are free to disagree with anyone on any subject you wish, but abusive behavior will not be tolerated.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.
What I'm waiting for is what the babies born in the internet age will think up!
Vladivostok in the Russian Far East will be the first American city in the old world.
American special forces scouting out the new American/Chinese border will discover the Almas, descendents of the Neanderthal.
The sasquatch will be discovered when an adolescent male is captured 'shoplifting' fruit from an outdoor market.
Superstring experiments will reveal that superstrings are made up of even smaller 'things'.
Pan troglodytes and P. paniscus will be joined by two new species, P. Schweinfurthii and P. leomorti (the lion killing chimpanzee).
The greater panda will be declared a domesticated animal.
A domesticated sub-species of the plains zebra will be acknowledged by the zoological community. It will take the place of motor vehicles throughout the Tsetse fly zone and lead to greater prosperity in the region.
I've got tons more, but these should do for now. :)
Sex drove the Internet, and is likely to drive robotics as well.
A treatment will become available to extend the lifespans of dogs and cats by many decades.
At least one large technology firm (IBM?) will "appoint" an AI to a high-ranking corporate position, largely as a marketing ploy for their own brand of AI products.
India's manned mission to Venus will discover traces of a dead civilization.
The first real-life superheroes and villains will make an appearance, early adopters of experimental genetic and cybernetic enhancements.
Memory backups will become available as a treatment for brain injury.
We will not have flying cars.
Us? We're fighting for a distant second place.
Sex bots are great idea, as much as we'll pay for amusment, paticularly the naughty kind. Robot sex ahoy!
Did I seem too enthusiastic for a married man?
Traces of ancient civilization on Venus? Maybe in orbit. But any remnants of civilization (or even life) on the surface of the planet would have been wiped out long ago by heat sufficient to melt led and a steady downpour of sulfuric acid.
We'll have flying cars as soon as we have effective self-piloted cars.
Y'all feel free to drop by The Speculist any time. We talk about this kind of stuff every day!
But the next generation saw the sexual revolution, the collapse of Communism, the rise of computers and the Internet...
Then its Chelsea's turn starting 2024.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.