Going to Mars, nuclear energy, jetpacks, and disintegrator rays are only some of the predictions for this year. Decades ago, many futurists, government agencies, and other parties cast their crazy predictions.
Some of them were extremely optimistic, but others managed to foresee the future quite well. Academics and scientists had many wild guesses.
Read on to find out more about the crazy predictions that have come true this year. Let’s start!
Invisible Computers
Many scientists predicted that, by this year, computers would be invisible. This holds true – many of us use our smartphones, while cables and keyboards become less and less popular.
Smart homes, smartphones, and many other devices live up to this expectation. Scientist Kurzweil predicted that we would have display technologies, and computers integrated into clothing jewelry, tables, chairs, and more.
He was not far from the truth. While he expected image projection directly in the human’s retina, we are coming in close with this one: Google Glass. He estimated that we would have the technology necessary that is capable of monitoring our health without having to undergo invasive procedures.
Some smart lenses are being tested right now that aim to measure glucose levels in tears that help people suffering from diabetes.
Tracking
Privacy was predicted to be a significant issue from a long time ago, and it is not so surprising that this crazy prediction came true. It is now not only a social issue but also has a political implication. The smartphones track our locations, our TV watches us, and web browsers collect cookies and our digital footprint.
According to a Pew Research Center study, more than 80% of the adults state that the risks of personal data collection are far more important than the benefits.
Personal Companions
Back in 1999, Bill Gates discussed the concept of personal companions. He estimated that we would have personal devices that will connect and sync all other devices around us, permitting data exchanges at home and in the office.
He estimated that these personal companions would allow us to check notifications, read email, and access all the information we need. Bill Gates wrote that we could tell these innovative devices what recipes we’d like to prepare, showing us a list of ingredients, and we can go pick them up at the store.
Perhaps needless to point it out, Bill Gates discussed the smart assistants more than 20 years ago. Although Alexa does not read and sort our emails, he was not too far-fetched.
The Internet comes with numerous smart technologies, such as Google Assistant, Siri, and Amazon Alexa, that can exchange data with other devices and can respond to our vocal commands.
Brexit
Back in 1997, it was forecasted that Boris Johnson would lead Brexit in 2020. The journalists of the Independent, a British news organization, wrote at the time that he would renegotiate the membership of Britain within Europe.
This crazy prediction came quite close. Johnson became a prime minister, and in December, he decided to “get the Brexit done”.
Going To Mars
Back in 1996, a report published by Space Studies Board of NASA stated that there would be human exploratory missions to Mars and the moon within the next 25 years, predicting that we will get to Mars by 2018.
Their vision is not entirely true, as we haven’t managed to send any humans to Mars, but we can take pride in our eight unmanned spacecraft landing on Mars so far.
Global Warming
When it comes to temperature prediction, they usually have a more extended range. In 1995, a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that the global surface temperature would rise by 3.6 degrees F by 2100. With another 80 years to go, we are still on track.
This is because the temperature already rose by 1 degree F since the mid-1990s. The global sea level increased by more than 3 inches.
Summary
All in all, this concludes our list of crazy predictions that have come true this year. Back then, these ideas might be seen as quite controversial, but they do not seem so far-fetched anymore.