From building cities on Mars to the extinction of chocolate, these are 9 events that will
happen before 2050. 9. Colonization of Mars
No, we’re not talking about an upcoming sci-fi blockbuster – the colonization of
Mars is a real possibility in the foreseeable future. Conditions on the surface of Mars are closer
to the conditions on Earth in terms of temperature and sunlight than on any other planet or moon. However, the surface is not hospitable to
humans or most known life forms due to the radiation, extremely low air pressure, and
an atmosphere with only 0.1% oxygen. This means that human survival on Mars would
require living in artificial environments with complex life-support measures. While NASA has said that the idea of making
the surface of Mars habitable in the near future is not realistic, billionaire SpaceX
owner Elon Musk disagrees. Musk is currently funding and developing a
series of Mars-bound cargo flights set to launch as early as 2022, followed by the first
crewed flight to Mars in 2024. During the first phase, the goal will be to
launch several spacecrafts to transport and assemble a methane and oxygen propellant plant
and build up a base in preparation for an expanded surface presence. It's all with an eye toward the ultimate goal
of getting humans to Mars by the 2030s. According to Musk, it could take anywhere
between 40 and 100 years to ship enough people over to Mars to populate a city with one million
inhabitant, so what do you say - would you want to be one of the first people to leave
Earth and move to Mars? Let us know in the comment section below! 8. Technological singularity
The technological singularity is the hypothesis that the invention of artificial super-intelligence
will trigger rampant technological growth, resulting in unimaginable changes to human
civilization. According to this hypothesis, an upgradable
intelligent agent, such as a computer running software-based artificial general intelligence,
would enter a "runaway reaction" of self-improvement cycles, with each new and more intelligent
generation appearing more and more rapidly, causing an intelligence explosion and resulting
in a powerful super-intelligence that would ultimately surpass all human intelligence. In the 2010s, prominent public figures such
as late English theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking expressed concern that full artificial
intelligence could result in human extinction. In March 2017 interview with The Times magazine,
Hawking said that an AI apocalypse was impending and the creation of some form of world government
would be necessary to control the technology. He also expressed his concern about the impact
AI would have on middle-class jobs and even called for a complete ban on the development
of AI agents for military use. In his book The Singularity Is Near, American
futurist and director of engineering at Google Ray Kurzweil, predicts that by the year 2045,
AI will have surpassed human beings as the smartest and most capable life forms on the
planet and machines will have attained equal legal status with organic humans, who may
even become a minority on Earth. 7. Nuclear fusion
In nuclear physics, nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined
to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles - neutrons or protons. Fusion was accomplished in 1951 with the Greenhouse
Item nuclear test, while nuclear fusion on a large scale in an explosion was first carried
out on November 1, 1952, in the Ivy Mike hydrogen bomb test. One of the biggest challenges of fusion energy
has been sustaining the right amount of heat required to produce meaningful amounts of
fusion power from plasma and no one has yet managed to build a commercial fusion reactor. However, a team of researchers from MTI has
reported that, with adequate federal funding, a prototype nuclear fusion reactor could be
tested within 30 to 40 years. Over the last few years, scientists at MIT
and around the world have made significant progress toward developing ways to break up
the tidal waves of heated plasma and reduce the escape of heat from charged gas. China has also made advances in planning for
an experimental fusion power station called China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor that
would start in 2020, while the European Union and Japan are currently building a powerful
machine designed to harness the energy of fusion called JT-60SA. In other words, we are close to achieving
a system of unlimited clear energy that could finally solve all global warming issues. Before we move on with our list, go ahead
and subscribe to our channel so you don’t miss out on any of our upcoming videos! 6. Interstellar exploration
Until recently, interstellar travel was nothing more than a theoretical possibility. However, the exploration of other star systems
may become reality sooner than you think. Russian entrepreneur and physicist Yuri Milner
is currently funding the development of a fleet of light sail spacecraft named StarChip
that will be capable of making the journey to the Alpha Centauri star system 4.37 light-years
away. A flyby mission has been proposed to Proxima
Centauri b, an Earth-sized exoplanet in the habitable zone of its host star, Proxima Centauri,
in the Alpha Centauri system. At a speed between 15% and 20% of the speed
of light, it would take between twenty and thirty years to complete the journey, and
approximately four years for a return message from the starship to Earth. According to Milner, the fleet would have
about 1000 spacecraft and each one would be a very small centimeter-sized vehicle weighing
a few grams. He estimates the first fleet could launch
by around 2036. 5. Ice-free Arctic
The loss of Arctic sea ice is one of the clearest signs of human-caused climate change and so
far the Arctic Ocean has melted to its lowest extent ever recorded since satellites began
measuring it in 1979. To make matters worse, the region’s climate
has seen temperatures increase at more than twice the rate of the rest of the world. This means that ice-free Arctic may happen
much sooner than predicted so far. Sea ice is quite sensitive to temperature
because it’s so thin. And as temperatures warm, it gets thinner. The thinner the ice, the higher the chances
that summer melt will be enough to remove the ice, so unless the global community drastically
lowers emissions of greenhouse gases to keep global warming below the Paris Climate Agreement
threshold, ice-free summers in the Arctic are going to become common during our lifetimes. An ice-free Arctic Ocean is often defined
as having less than 1 million square kilometers of sea ice and if this happens, it would dramatically
affect global weather patterns and increase the magnitude and frequency of storms. The Arctic marine ecosystem would also be
altered, with the added sunlight affecting the Arctic Ocean food web and melting the
ice bed on which animals like polar bears and walrus hunt for food. 4. 99942 Apophis asteroid threat
Before global warming brings humanity on the verge of extinction, a giant rock from outer
space might wipe us all out. While you’re watching this video, asteroid
the size of a small mountain called 99942 Apophis is hurtling towards Earth through
space and there’s a probability it will hit Earth on April 13, 2029. Discovered in June 2004 asteroid Apophis is
about 370 meters in diameter and if it does make impact with our planet, its explosive
power would create the most powerful earthquake on record. It is estimated that Apophis would make atmospheric
entry with 750 megatons of kinetic energy. For comparison’s sake, the biggest hydrogen
bomb ever exploded, the Tsar Bomba, was around 57 megatons while the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa
volcano was the equivalent of roughly 200 megatons. Using computer simulation, scientists have
estimated that the hypothetical impact of Apophis in countries such as Colombia and
Venezuela, which are in the path of risk, could have more than 10 million casualties. However, the exact location of the impact
would be known weeks or even months in advance, allowing any nearby inhabited areas to be
completely evacuated and significantly decreasing the potential loss of life. However, if the asteroid hits Atlantic or
Pacific oceans, it would produce a tsunami with a potential destructive of roughly 1,000
kilometers for most of North America, Brazil and Africa, 3,000 kilometers for Japan and
4,500 kilometers for Hawaii. 3. Chocolate extinction
Bad news for all of you chocolate lovers out there: your favorite food may actually become
extinct in a few decades. Cacao plants are increasingly victims of fungal
disease and climate change and back in 2010, the spread of witch’s broom, frosty pod,
and other fungal disease have essentially destroyed cacao trees in Central America,
their original natural habitat. Scientists are worried that these fungal diseases
could jump to other parts of the world and completely wipe out the precious chocolate-producing
plant. The biggest problem is that cacao plants are
quite sensitive and need very specific conditions, such as uniform temperatures, high humidity,
abundant rain, nitrogen-rich soil, and protection from the wind. These conditions currently exist only in Côte
d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Indonesia, which leaves the world's chocolate supply vulnerable to
even small changes in climate. In fact, climate models predict that by the
year 2050 a 3.8°F or 2.1°C increase in temperatures and drier conditions will occur in these areas
and may further shrink the possible cacao growing areas. These trends suggest that chocolate may actually
become extinct unless something is done about climate change. But what if don’t manage to reverse climate
change? Can anything else be done to save chocolate? Well, Mars, Inc. may have the solution. Not only has the company pledged to reduce
its carbon emissions, it is also working with external scientists to develop genetically-modified
cacao plants that can resist fungal diseases and live in a broader set of conditions. While the thought of eating GMO chocolate
may be a bit scary for some people, it’s still a better option than living in a world
without any kind of chocolate, right? 2. Antibiotics stop working
According to a major 2016 UK study, urgent action is needed to control the use of antibiotics
before they stop working and leave a number of major conditions untreatable. Resistance to antibiotics is growing at such
an alarming rate that they risk losing effectiveness entirely, which means that medical procedures
such as caesarean sections, joint replacements and chemotherapy could soon become too dangerous
to perform and unless serious action is taken soon, drug resistant infections will kill
10 million people a year by 2050! Drug resistant infections are thought to be
growing due to over-use of medicine such as antibiotics and anti-fungus treatments to
treat minor conditions such as the common cold. With overuse, resistance to the drugs builds
up and some conditions become incurable. Research has also suggested that antibiotic
use in pig farming is common as poor living conditions mean such treatment is necessary
to prevent infections spreading between livestock and that this passes down to humans through
pork consumption, increasing resistance levels further. In the UK, 45% of all antibiotics are given
to livestock. The study estimates that without action now,
the cost of the antibiotic failure will be $100 trillion between before 2050 and antimicrobial
resistance might soon become a greater threat to mankind than cancer currently is. 1. New countries
Situations and circumstances keep changing, but conflicts rarely end. Unfortunately, in most cases, it is war that
ultimately leads to the division of borders and fights for independence have been ongoing
for a long time in many parts of the world. As a result, the world may see the formation
of new countries and borders in the near future. Over the next decade or so, a good number
of regions may get the chance to go their own way and forge new states. While we can’t say anything for sure, East
and West Libya, Unified Korea, The Shetlands and Orkney, The United States of Europe, and
Somaliland are five new countries most likely to emerge by 2026. Ever since Gaddafi was overthrown, Libya has
veered between extreme visions of what it should be. Multiple self-declared governments emerged,
each claiming to be the legitimate one. Amid all this chaos, East and West Libya have
begun to pull apart from one another and it looks extremely likely that they will split
into separate states. While the idea that South Korea might one
day reunify with North Korea seems like fantasy, it may not be as unlikely as you think. In fact, reunification is the official government
policy in both North and South Korea. However, the costs of reunification would
be enormous and South Korea would have to pay $1 trillion just to stop a reunified Korea
from instantly collapsing. With a combined population of less than 70,000,
the Scottish islands of The Shetlands, Orkney, and the Outer Hebrides might seem like the
last places on Earth to fight for statehood. But with the threat of Scotland seceding from
the UK, plans have been drawn up to potentially create three new microstates, or one federated
collection of island states. The reasons for this is that many islanders
feel more connection to Scandinavia than Scotland and also tend to be much more pro-UK than
Scots. As for the United States of Europe, many experts
have warned that the EU simply can’t continue to function in its current form, so either
closer integration is needed, or a return to the days when the EU was merely a trading
bloc. Given how interdependent many of mainland
Europe’s economies are, an even closer unification of European countries in the near future seems
like a more plausible alternative. Finally, the self-declared state of Somaliland
might become internationally recognized in the next few decades. Somaliland is one of three entities making
up modern day Somalia that declared its independence way back in 1991. In the 25 years since, it has run free elections,
kept at peace, created its own currency, and developed economically, and yet not a single
country has ever recognized its existence. Despite this, Somaliland has a strong claim
to statehood. It does business with the US, EU, UN and Arab
League. It also has its own army and controls its
borders, so it might not be long until Somaliland gets the recognition it seeks. "Which of these events do you think is most
likely to happen in your lifetime? Leave your comments down below and subscribe
to our channel right now for more incredible videos!
