Top 10 questions about the future that humanity is concerned about

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The future of humanity is a topic that worries most people around the world. After all, this is what we and our children will have to live with in the coming decades. Outstanding contemporary scientists answer the main questions about what lies ahead.

1. Will humanity be able to find a new home outside the Earth?

Martin Rees English cosmologist and astrophysicist

I am sure there is nothing good about striving to leave Earth. It would be much more useful if we concentrated on solving the world's problems here on our planet. However, there are already prerequisites for the fact that in the next century there will be groups of adventurers who will attempt to populate Mars and other parts of the solar system through private investment. This is how the posthuman era begins.

2. When and where can we find alien life?

Carol Cleland Professor of Philosophy and Co-Investigator at the Center for Astrobiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder

If there is still microbial life on Mars, we will probably find it within the next 20 years. But this is on condition that in form it will be quite similar to the earthly one. If alien life is significantly different from what we are used to dealing with, finding it, of course, will be much more difficult. In addition, it is likely that the life remaining on the Red Planet is located in places that are difficult for our robots to reach. Saturn's moon Titan is arguably the most promising location in the solar system. This moon is rich in organic molecules, but lacks liquid water and is known for extremely low temperatures. If there is life, then it will be significantly different from the earthly one.

3. Will scientists one day be able to replace all the tissues of our body with artificial ones?

Robert Langer Professor of the David Koch Institute at MIT

In 1995, my colleague and I already wrote an article about a breakthrough in the creation of artificial tissues, organs and even electronics that could allow blind people to gain sight. At the moment, all this has already been implemented in the form of real products. So it is quite possible that in the coming centuries we will be able to learn to replace any tissue in the human body with an identical or similar pattern. At the moment, the greatest difficulty for us is the creation and regeneration of brain tissue, which are not so well studied.

4. Are there any chances that humanity will survive the next 500 years?

Carlton Caves Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of New Mexico

I'm sure the chances of survival for Homo sapiens are pretty high. Even the most ambitious threats - an ecological catastrophe or a nuclear war - will not be catastrophic enough to destroy humanity completely.

5. Will understanding the human brain change criminal law?

Patricia Churchland Professor of Philosophy and Neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego

Many would agree that our brain is a causal apparatus that adapts depending on previous events. Even if we could figure out the prerequisites for serial rapists, they would simply be prohibited from moving freely, as they are prone to crime. If we, for example, were to decide that a certain Boston priest who tried to seduce 130 children “is not to blame for having such brains, so he can be free,” the result, of course, would be lynching. This rough "justice" cannot be found in criminal justice.

6. Will we ever understand the nature of consciousness?

Christoph Koch President and CSO of the Allen Institute for the Study of the Brain

Many mystics, philosophers and just talkers are struggling to talk about the impossibility of comprehending the true nature of consciousness. I propose to treat such defeatist statements as unwarranted. There are many reasons to believe that very soon humanity will come to a quantitative, naturalized and predictive understanding of consciousness and its place in the world.

7. Is sex getting old?

Henry Greeley Director of the Center for Law and Biosciences at Stanford University

Sex won't get old. But people are likely to become less likely to have sex for the purpose of conceiving. In the next 20-40 years, scientists will learn how to easily carry out pre-implantation genetic diagnostics of embryos or light genome modification. Therefore, the ability to pre-edit embryos may supplant the traditional method of conception.

8. Will humanity be able to live on the planet without destroying it?

Pamela Ronald Emeritus Professor of the Genome Center and Department of Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis

Of course. And it's pretty simple if you do the following: reduce meat consumption, grain and household waste. Leverage advanced grain technology and educate consumers about the challenges faced by farmers in many countries. Increase funding for the agricultural sector and focus on promoting the socio-economic and environmental aspects of agriculture.

9. Will we understand what dark matter is?

Lisa Randall theoretical physicist and cosmologist at Harvard University

The answer to this question, oddly enough, depends on what dark matter turns out to be. Some of its forms can be calculated due to the smallest contacts with an ordinary substance, and the rest of the time they will be elusive. Others can be detected by their effect on huge structures like galaxies. We will be able to find out new details only in the process of observations and experiments. But the outcome is difficult to predict.

10. Will a cure for Alzheimer's disease be found?

Reisa Sperling Professor of Neurology at Harvard School of Medicine

It may not be a cure per se, but I really hope that in the next decade we will find a worthy remedy that can modify Alzheimer's disease. Huge resources are now being devoted to the possibility of preventing the disease before the first symptoms appear. After all, if it is possible to delay dementia for 5-10 years, then many elderly people will be able to end their lives dancing ballet, and not in a nursing home.