Technology

Predictions: What Earth Will Be Like 100 Years in the Future

Published

7 years ago

August 16, 2016

Jeff Desjardins

Predicting the future can be a fool’s errand.

Need proof? Just look at our previous post showing a timeline of failed tech predictions by some of the biggest names in business, academia, and technology over the last two centuries.

Experts not only get it wrong – they get it embarrassingly wrong.

The Earth 100 Years in the Future

So why predict the future? Because it’s fun and it helps us critically think about how to take advantage of future investment and business opportunities.

In the case of today’s infographic from Futurism, the predictions are courtesy of a team of “futurists, architects, technological forecasters, and sociological soothsayers” that were hired by Samsung to look at what life may be like in the year 2116.

We’re happy that we’re not on the hook for any of these.

Predictions: What the Earth Will Be Like 100 Years in the Future

The full publication containing all predictions can be found here.

The types of predictions fall into three main categories:

Future Living
The report predicts that homes of the future will be be 3D-printed by swarms of drones, and that cities will take completely different shapes than what we are used to. Cities in the future will use stronger materials such as carbon nanotubes that will allow us to build skyscrapers that are unlike anything we’ve seen. On land they will be taller and stronger, but we will also be able to build cities underwater and underground, or in arcologies (architectural ecologies) that will dwarf today’s tallest structures.

Science and Research
The fusion of humans and machines will blur the lines of what is human and what is not.

(As a side note: Futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts that we have no option but to do this. He says that by 2045 “the pace of change will be so astonishingly quick that we won’t be able to keep up, unless we enhance our own intelligence by merging with the intelligent machines we are creating”.)

Medicine and Aging
In 100 years, much of healthcare will take place in our own homes. Walk-in medical capsules or pods capable of multispectral scanning will constantly assess our bodies for disease or damage.

Leisure and Travel
There will be a rise of a “nomadic and rootless” culture as private sub-orbital spaceflight blurs the lines between nations. 3D-printed homes may be folded up and moved to new locations.

Space Travel
Humans will become an multiplanetary species, using new propulsion technology to explore the solar system with manned flight.

Related Topics:tech predictions future 100 years kurzweil

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Space

Who Owns the Most Satellites?

Despite Starlink’s dominance in the industry, the company is set to face intense competition in the coming years.

Published

1 day ago

September 23, 2023

Bruno Venditti

Who Owns the Most Satellites?

Nearly 7,000 satellites orbit the Earth, serving vital functions such as communication, navigation, and scientific research.

In 2022 alone, more than 150 launches took place, sending new instruments into space, with many more expected over the next decade.

But who owns these objects? In this graphic, we utilize data from the Union of Concerned Scientists to highlight the leaders in satellite technology.

SpaceX’s Dominance in Space

SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, is unquestionably the industry leader, currently operating the largest fleet of satellites in orbit—about 50% of the global total.

The company has already completed 62 missions this year, surpassing any other company or nation, and operates thousands of internet-beaming Starlink spacecraft that provide global internet connectivity.

Starlink customers receive a small satellite dish that self-orients itself to align with Starlink’s low-Earth-orbit satellites.

Owner	Total	Share	Country
SpaceX	3,395	50%	USA
OneWeb Satellites	502	7%	UK
Chinese Government	369	5%	China
U.S. Government	306	4%	USA
Planet Labs, Inc.	195	3%	USA
Russian Federation	137	2%	Russia
Spire Global Inc.	127	2%	USA
Swarm Technologies	84	1%	USA
Iridium Communications, Inc.	75	1%	USA
Other	1,528	23%

Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

In second place is a lesser-known company, British OneWeb Satellites. The company, headquartered in London, counts the UK government among its investors and provides high-speed internet services to governments, businesses, and communities.

Like many other satellite operators, OneWeb relies on SpaceX to launch its satellites.

Despite Starlink’s dominance in the industry, the company is set to face intense competition in the coming years. Amazon’s Project Kuiper plans to deploy 3,236 satellites by 2029 to compete with SpaceX’s network. The first of the fleet could launch as early as 2024.

The Rise of China’s Space Program

After the top private companies, governments also own a significant portion of satellites orbiting the Earth. The U.S. remains the leader in total satellites, when adding those owned by both companies and government agencies together.

American expenditures on space programs reached $62 billion in 2022, five times more than the second one, China.

China, however, has sped up its space program over the last 20 years and currently has the highest number of satellites in orbit belonging directly to government agencies. Most of these are used for Earth observation, communications, defense, and technology development.

Satellite Demand to Rise Over the Decade

Despite the internet being taken for granted in major metropolitan areas and developed countries, one out of every three people worldwide has never used the web.

Furthermore, the increasing demand for data and the emergence of new, more cost-effective satellite technologies are expected to present significant opportunities for private space companies.

In this context, satellite demand is projected to quadruple over the next decade.