Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Brilliant Minds Forecast the Next 50 Years





What will be the biggest breakthrough of the next 50 years? As part of our 50th anniversary celebrations we asked over 70 of the world's most brilliant scientists for their ideas.

In coming decades will we: discover that we are not alone in the universe? Unravel the physiological basis for consciousness? Routinely have false memories implanted in our minds? Begin to evolve in new directions? And will physicists finally hit upon a universal theory of everything? In fact, if the revelations of the last 50 years are anything to go on - the internet and the human genome for example - we probably have not even thought up the exciting advances that lay ahead of us.


I admit: I haven't read all of this yet, so this post is a reminder to myself as much as it is blog fodder.

Happy holiday, everybody.

5 comments:

Chris said...

Yeah fairly standard. The megarich will live longer, have smarter babies, more gadgets, get to vacation in space etc etc. The other 99.99 percent of the population will lead lives of misery and squalor and long for the release of death.

Mac said...

The other 99.99 percent of the population will lead lives of misery and squalor and long for the release of death.

I have the feeling they'll get what they're longing for.

platts42 said...

None of it will happen.

The Jesusites won't let it happen.

Think retroscience.

Michael said...

Anyone remember the name of that statistics prof who heads the list of correct predictions by predicting that very little will change?

Mac said...

None of it will happen.

The Jesusites won't let it happen.


Part of me sees the fuckwits winning; another part sees them utterly silenced. So I suspect the truth is somewhere between the two extremes. (Although lately I've tended toward the pessimistic side.)