We often talk about evolution as a process that ended many centuries ago. But human development does not stand still and keeps pace with the development of modern technologies - our body adjusts to the rapidly changing world. Genetic scientists, doctors, anthropologists and sociologists say that in a century the human body will become more perfect, more enduring, all five senses will become more acute. So, what changes in the body are prophesied to us?
1. Flexible body
Neurologist Dean Burnett believes that evolution will lead to the fact that our bone tissue will be almost 50% replaced by cartilage. Why? In the conditions of technogenic development, the body will adapt to the potential danger: global urbanization, an abundance of technology, a high risk of injury - all will lead to the fact that the body "abandons" the hard, inflexible and brittle bones.
2. Where are my teeth ?
One of the strangest theories of Gareth Fraser, a biologist at the University of Sheffield, believes that in the distant future, human teeth will begin to "fuse" together, creating more practical and functional plates - instead of two rows of teeth, the person of the future will have a kind of flat beak. Compliments about a charming smile will take a different form, and the phrase "If you want to be in time, don't click your beak" will take on a non-figurative meaning.
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3. High growth
Over the past 100 years, people have become taller: the average height of a man in the time of Peter I was 1 m 63 cm, in tsarist pre-revolutionary Russia - 1 m 70 cm, now - 1 m 82 cm. I wonder how tall the basketball players of the future will be?
4. Lung volume
The lung volume will increase 1.5-2 times so that a person can consume oxygen in conditions of deficiency (for example, while walking on Mars) or in conditions of thin air (for example, on the 2000 floor of a skyscraper). Natural evolution will increase lungs or genetic engineering is an open question.
5. Thin long fingers
One of the first metamorphoses of the body: even now the fingers of modern children are becoming longer, dexterous and flexible, adjusting to touchscreens, touch screens of gadgets and joysticks.
6. Information processing
The world of new technologies requires the processing of more and more information, so the human brain will begin to activate hidden capabilities, will allow not only to memorize a larger amount of information, but also to store it for much longer. True, there is a high risk of progression of psychopathological conditions, but this is only at an early stage of new evolution.
7. Vision, speech and hearing
Scientists predict that genetic diseases will gradually disappear, so the NEXT generation will not suffer from congenital deafness, dumbness and blindness. Remember the evolution of hearing aids? Our great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers simply shouted in their ears, grandmothers and grandfathers had huge tin cones, their parents had small boxes, and now it is enough to insert an inconspicuous apparatus a little larger than a bean into the ear. A group of German scientists have already created artificial eyes that allow you to see light and darkness, and now they are working on an invention that helps distinguish not only shapes, but also colors.
8. Allergy
Genetic improvement sometimes has the opposite effect - a strong immune system becomes "bored", and it begins to react to the most harmless substances or harmless bacteria, and from this new diseases appear.
9. Late puberty
Doctor of evolutionary anthropology and researcher at the Keidell Institute of the Brain says that from a sharp puberty and an uncontrolled release of sex hormones, the body ages faster, which means that the lifespan is shortened. The future world will require not emotions, but cold calculation (remember, about the brain-computer), so there will be less and less acceleration.
10. Am I fat?
The modern disappointing trend is unhealthy obesity, which was provoked by fast food malnutrition and a surge in endocrine system diseases. Looking at the trendy clothing lines of the last 50 years, one gets the impression that plus-size models will soon become plus-plus-plus-size, and 42 sizes will be worn by first-graders.
11. I am a robot
Futurologist Ian Pearson (by the way, his name is hidden behind the assumptions that the whole world openly laughs at when he hears the phrase "British scientists have proved …") suggests that the human brain can be connected to a computer to make it work faster for several decades.
12. Genetic engineering
If we end up colonizing another planet, we will need to genetically modify our cells in order to survive. In theory, genetically reprogrammed cells can regenerate even after radiation damage in the event of a nuclear disaster. So says Juan Henriquez, director and founder of the Harvard Business School.
13. There will be no genetic diseases
Juan Henriquez argues that genetic engineering will eliminate almost all genetic diseases and correct the human genome. The main thing is that the doctors of the future do not imagine themselves as creators and do not repeat the experience of Eduard Wirts - Enriquez did not say this, this is a small excursion into the past, without which there would be no future.
14. A pool of memory
Harry Potter wand and magic bowl are not needed. Your own memories can be loaded into a new body! Juan Henriquez, known to us, hints that similar experiments are already being carried out on mice at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
15. He's a chameleon
Remember the cartoon about the adventures of Alisa Selezneva and the phrase of the Indicator seller: “Do you want me to knock him? It will turn purple speckled! The future is not far off! Scientists of the future see an evolutionary advantage in the ability to change skin color to convey a mood or some other message. I wonder if the chromatophores in the skin will be the result of genetic experiments or natural mutation?
16. Adaptation to high temperatures
Global warming is not the best prospect for a comfortable life, so the human body will look for ways to adapt. As temperatures rise, people will learn to adapt to the inevitable heat, according to climatologist Matthew Huber. A rapidly warming planet is just one of 30 things that scientists believe will happen if the planet's population increases.
17. Forever young
The progress achieved by the technologies of rejuvenation and plastic surgery will allow to bypass "ugly aging" and preserve youth: a woman in 50-60 years old will look 30-40 years old today. Don't want to wait 200 years? Start now to look after your health, eat right and take care of your skin.
18. Is immortality a gift or a punishment?
Breakthroughs in genetics, biotechnology and artificial intelligence will expand human potential and enable humanity to conquer death. AI already scares even its developers, but if we assume that now, along with artificial organs, there is an artificial brain with eternal neurons? Already in 1976, A. Azimov's story "A Bicentennial Man" began to stir up the minds of scientists, so will fantasy become a reality? True, the main character, instead of eternal life, nevertheless chose death next to his aging beloved.
19. Let not forever, but …
If, nevertheless, Mother Nature does not give humanity a chance for eternal life, we are fully promised to enjoy the sun for 200 years (perhaps sitting on a bench on Mars).
20. Did you just think about it or our robot cat dog?
Synthetic telepathy is likely to be possible. The University of California received a development grant long ago, but the research results are being kept under wraps. As the saying goes, if we learn to read the minds of dogs, we will lose our last friends.
Turning on the imagination
If you are bored on a warm summer evening, try to draw a portrait of a person in the near future, for example: a 40-year-old girl (remember about late puberty?), An average height of 2 m 50 cm, a slender woman weighing 220 kg, instead of a snow-white shy smile - a flat beak, long thin fingers (at least 20 cm), perfect hearing, the brain processes up to 1000 terabytes per minute and even remembers its development in the mother's womb (oh, in a test tube! - do not forget about genetic engineering), with perfect elastic, even green skin without wrinkles, which turns orange from the nerves (what are the nerves of a woman of the new generation? See item 10), who loves to lie on the beach at + 200 ° C (Mars is mastered, the vouchers are “burning” like the planet itself), who reads thoughts and lives forever! Dream!
Author: Mary Symon