Category: The Future

Limited Time Left on Earth – Stephen Hawking’s Prediction for Humanity

Even though scientists have considered the possibility of humans being able to live on another planet, most of our space exploration to this point has been to satisfy our immense curiosity. Is it possible, however, that the survival of our species will rely on us finding a home outside of Earth? World renowned, and greatly respected, scientist Stephen Hawking has recently expressed this exact concern. He has publicly stated that humanity will be unable to continue living on this ‘fragile’ planet for more than another 1000 years.

Hawking, who made this announcement at the Oxford Union, said that his conclusion was based on several contributing factors. These include: overpopulation, a growing resistance to antibiotics which will possibly cause worldwide pandemics, habitat destruction and what seems to be our most unnecessary human compulsion – war. Nuclear and autonomous weapons are sources of widespread, uncontrollable destruction, and even the creators of many new weapons are unaware of the full extent of the damage that their designs may have on the Earth.

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Koca Vehbi / Shutterstock.com

As an intelligent species we have also taken steps towards creating artificial lifeforms, in our own image. The consequence of this to humanity has been predicted in many science fiction films and books, and is now becoming a high possibility. This is the fact that our artificial intelligence is so advanced that they may turn on the humans that created them. If this ever happened, due to their combined intellect, strength and longevity, robots would be a force that humans would be unable to control after letting loose on the earth.

The reasons that the scientist based his beliefs on are not just those controlled by humanity, but also a factor outside of our planet. This would be a possible result of actually making contact with extra-terrestrial beings. We have no idea whether they will be friend or foe, and how destructive they might be to our species and planet once we have approached them. Hawking’s scientific opinion is that they will be either the best thing, or the worst that has ever happened to us. Many other scientists also share the view that any alien species that is able to communicate with us may either surpass us in intellect, and therefore uninterested in us for more than experimental purposes, or may be violent and determined to attack Earth rather than befriend those on it.

Based on his certainty that our planet will soon be inhabitable, Hawking has taken steps towards finding humanity a future possible home. He advises ‘remember to look up at the stars, and not down at your feet,’ and is one of the major investors in the Breakthrough Starshot program currently exploring our nearest star system. Stephen also urges us to continue to enjoy our life on earth as ‘2016 is a great time to be alive.’ Even though there are many that disagree with his thoughts about the future of mankind on the planet, it would be hard not to agree with his belief that we are certainly living in an exciting era.

Devastation to Determination – Using Storms for Energy

Increasing technology not only provides us with ways of doing things that we were previously unable to do, but also gives us the ability to turn natural, unavoidable disasters into a source of clean energy. Taking into considering the typhoons which plague his country Japanese engineer, Atsushi Shimizu, and his team have designed a wind turbine that is capable of harvesting energy from the power that they generate.

38ebe21400000578-3813817-image-a-6_1475159798050These large storms are created in regions of low atmospheric pressure, with winds which can exceed 85 mph. Japan has been using European designed wind turbines which have been proven to be incapable of withstanding the force behind the typhoons, and many of them are destroyed by the winds. Shimizu’s eggbeater shaped turbine has been specifically designed to withstand these conditions with two vital changes to the traditional design.

The first thing needed was to ensure that the machine would be able to handle Japan’s unpredictable wind patterns, which the team was able to do by installing an omnidirectional vertical axis. The Magnus effect, which is the sideways force that causes a spinning object to deviate from a straight path, was also added to the design. This combination significantly increases the level of control extended over the turbines blades, and the centre rod can be tightened to adjust their speed ensuring that they won’t be able to spin out of control during a storm.

Shimizu has estimated that the kinetic energy produced by a single typhoon would be able to power his country for about 50 years, if they were able to harvest it. Turning a natural disaster into a source of energy is an amazing opportunity, and would be the solution to the energy problem that Japan now faces. The country’s plan had been for 60% of their energy supply to be from nuclear power by 2100. However, a tsunami which hit them in 2011 caused three nuclear meltdowns, and resulted in the reconsideration of this energy source.

Japan is currently importing about 80% of its energy, and there is also a significant increase in its usage of solar power. Shimizu is convinced that the large amount of wind power available in the country would be significantly more beneficial once harvested. His team has installed their first prototype in Okinawa and are currently waiting for a typhoon to test its power. With at least six typhoons hitting the country in the past year it is safe to say that the wait won’t be long, and the engineer is likely to see his dream of changing the country’s future with a single turbine coming true sooner rather than later.

Airbus’ Advances in Automobiles – In Air Taxi Service

Futuristic movies and books have featured flying vehicles for many years, and technology has finally caught up with the human imagination. Companies are now designing cars that will take to the skies to provide us with commuting options. In February 2016, Airbus advanced on a project with a mission to solve the ever increasing traffic in urban areas. They aim to do this by creating the world’s first approved ‘air taxi,’ which will operate on a system similar to ordering an Uber, using a smartphone.

qq%e5%9b%be%e7%89%8720130926215459seProject Vahana, as the undertaking has been named, currently faces many challenges. These include air traffic management hurdles, as well as structural requirements for such a vehicle. Spokespersons for Airbus have said that their aim is to work with several other companies in order to overcome these obstacles. They have already begun to take into consideration the regulations that the Federal Aviation Administration will be putting into place, in order to approve the use of flying vehicles.

With urban congestion predicted to increase by at least 10% by 2030, the company believe that millions of their innovative cars will be needed worldwide as a result. They have already designed and begun to build their first prototype. This VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) will operate similarly to a helicopter. Even though it will be equipped with self-piloting technology, the vehicle will be introduced with human behind the wheel, until the approval to have autonomous flight has been granted. Sense-and-avoid technology is relatively new in vehicles, and needs to be further tested in those that are airborne before they can be declared safe for public use. Currently drones, even though able to fly themselves, are not allowed to be in open air space without being monitored remotely by a human and the technology used to power larger vehicles is very similar.

1-7uumga9vvrsjrw80q-z20a-0In addition to the pilot, the expectation is that the vehicle will at first be able to carry a single passenger. A testing contract has been granted to the company and they have chosen to have their first trial flights in Singapore. Airbus has said that their aim is to begin testing their prototype by the end of 2017. They are well on their way to meeting this target, after which they plan to introduce the vehicles to commuters by 2020. They are confident that this will be the biggest solution to the current traffic problem that the world is experiencing.

Airbus is not the only company with this futuristic ambition, however, and their competitors are already working on similar designs. Google and Uber are just two of the others that have announced plans to release air commuting vehicles. Regardless of which company is able to release their design first, the only thing we can be sure of is that the future has already become the present.

Solar Panels – Using Light to Create Water

Our planet is approximately 70% water; even so, statistics show that in excess of 600 million people do not have access to a clean drinking source. Recently, there has been a worldwide effort to provide poverty stricken countries with this vital component of life. With natural water sources being constantly polluted and expensive to clean, organisations have been trying to find additional ways of coming up with pure water.

Zero Mass Water, a company with the aim of making unpolluted water accessible to all, has invented solar technology which ‘produces, delivers, and mineralises clean, fresh drinking water to a tap.’ The unit which they have created, Source, can be installed in just 20 minutes either on the ground or on a roof. It is also able to produce this water without tapping into a natural supply. How is this possible and what are the effects that this unit might be having on these poorer countries?

shutterstock_104759201The unit is made from a special type of material, designed by the company, which is able to absorb water from the air. Its solar panels are then able to harvest the energy from the sun to heat the liquid enough to turn it into steam. This evaporation is the way in which the water is purified. It is then run through a mineral block, adding beneficial nutrients and improving the taste.

Each device is able to produce 5 litres of water daily, with a storage capacity of up to 30 litres. The company has started to install the panels in rescue camps, and poorer communities, and countries such as Ecuador, Mexico and Jordan are now benefiting from clean water. This in turn has dramatically reduced illnesses and deaths, caused from unclean drinking water or dehydration.

The panels have not been reserved for these countries only, however, and are being made available in other areas. In first world countries many people are drinking bottled water or using filters, which are both an ongoing source of expense. The minerals in bottled water are beneficial to the body, and Source is able to infuse these into what will be a cheaper water source in the long run.

In addition, countries that experience drought during the hotter months of the year would now be able to access water during this time. People are forced to store water in tanks, which can be very unhygienic and a breeding ground for certain insects, such as mosquitos. This technology would not only be beneficial to individuals, but many industries (such as farming) would be able to increase production during normally slow periods. This would increase both individual profits and the overall economy.

Zero Mass Water continues to improve on their technology, and is aiming to make larger units which can store more water. This will increase both their humanitarian movement and their appeal to larger industries, in the near future.

Gene Therapy – Improving the Quality of Human Life

The human body is relatively frail, it breaks down as we age and is susceptible to a wide range of ailments. Gene therapy is one of the methods which has been developed with the intention of making our bodies more efficient. It achieves this by replacing malfunctioning genes in our cells, and the new ones are introduced to the system to take the place of those that are no longer serving us.

shutterstock_430593091There are two types of gene therapy. The first is known as in-body therapy, where researchers transport new cells within our bloodstream by using viruses. These organisms facilitate the reproduction of the cells as they are naturally designed to replicate. The first attempts at in-body therapy used the virus that causes the common cold, but scientists found that this wasn’t very effective because of the automatic immunity the body develops against it. A genetically modified adeno-associated virus has replaced this, as it is not known to cause any reaction in humans.

Out-of-the-body gene therapy involves removing the blood or bone marrow of a patient and separating immature cells. A modified gene is then added to these and they are reintroduced into the patient’s bloodstream by injection. The cells automatically go to the bone marrow where they mature and multiply, eventually replacing the defective ones. Doctors are working on refining this process in order to be able to replace all of an individual’s bone marrow or bloodstream. This would then enable them to treat diseases which affect the entire body, such as sickle cell.

shutterstock_187264688Gene therapy will introduce one of its greatest achievements to the market in 2017. A cure developed for blindness, caused by the condition hereditary retinal dystrophies, is in its final stages of being approved by the FDA. The procedure works by directly targeting the hereditary mutation which is the cause of blindness. New cells will be injected into the patient in a 45 minute surgery. Within thirty days it is expected that the majority of sufferers will experience vision improvements.

Made by Spark-Therapeutics, the product is currently known as SPK-RPE65. One of the obstacles that the company had to overcome in their development was to ensure that patients would not have an immune reaction to the treatment. This scenario has been the cause of at least one death in the past, when gene therapy was first introduced. There is still much speculation about how the product will be received, but Sparks-Therapeutics is confident that it will be met positively. In the company’s initial tests 27 out of 29 patients experienced a noticeable change in their ability to see, without any observed side effects. This product is expected to provide new insight into gene therapy altogether.

Breakthrough Initiatives – Upgrading the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life

The overwhelming size and age of the Universe are both indications that earthlings should not be the only living creatures within it. Human exploration has already shown that there are a large amount of habitable planets in other galaxies. Scientists believe that our limited technology is the main reason that we have not been able to access these other intelligent beings in their star systems. They constantly aim at improving space technology so that we will be able to make contact with aliens sooner rather than later.

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lev radin / Shutterstock.com

In 2015, Julia and Yuri Milner, in collaboration with astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, formed the Breakthrough Initiatives Program. Its aims are to ‘explore the Universe, seek scientific evidence of life beyond Earth and encourage public debate from a planetary perspective.’ The program consists of three main areas which are simultaneously being developed:

Breakthrough Listen – This is a comprehensive search of the universe, using telescopes and other space exploration devices, which aims at locating the slightest possible artificial radio and/or optical signals. The study currently includes the 100 nearest galaxies to ours, 1,000,000 stars and the plane and centre of our galaxy, the Solar System. The public will have access to all that is observed, as the Breakthrough Initiatives designers believe that space exploration should include the entire world.

The National Astronomical Observatories of China has recently formed a partnership with Breakthrough and this has allowed the world’s largest telescope, FAST, to join others which are already a part of the project, including the Green Bank Telescope in the USA and the Parkes Observatory in Australia.

shutterstock_356797187Breakthrough Message – A competition with the top prize of $1,000,000 has been announced for individuals, or groups, to design a complete message about life on our planet and its people. This should be made with the intention of communicating with any extra-terrestrials that might be found. The public is included in order to create awareness of the mission, and get the general outlook behind space exploration.

Breakthrough Starshot – This branch of the program is in charge of producing technology which will be able to facilitate our expansion. The main aim is enable an unmanned flight to our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, within the next 25-30 years. It is believed that the craft would need to travel at 20% the speed of light in order to get there, and would be transporting Nano craft space robots on its initial voyage.

As our search for aliens continues, the likelihood of projects like the Breakthrough Initiatives arising continues, and with it the possibility of finding them increases.