Much of the technology that we have today would've been inconceivable a century ago.

But as history has continuously shown, things that were once thought impossible can become

an everyday reality.

So, what sorts of amazing tech could await us in our near future?

This is Unveiled and today we're answering the extraordinary question; What will happen

before the year 2120?

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Generally speaking, the technology that's available to us increases year on year at

an exponential rate… which makes sense for the most part because technological innovation

usually occurs via the technology made possible during the previous round of innovation.

So, the better our tech becomes, the better we are at creating newer and even more innovative

products… with some market estimates even claiming that computers in just ten years'

time could be 1,000 times more advanced than what we currently have.

In October 2019, Google announced that one of its quantum computers had achieved “Quantum

Supremacy” by solving a particular equation - one that would take a traditional computer

over 10,000 years to complete - in less than three-and-a-half minutes.

The practical applications of the achievement aren't yet known, and it's still thought

that we're a long way from everyday quantum computing.

But when you consider that the computer in general is only a few decades old and yet

today millions of people own handheld smart devices millions of times more powerful than

what NASA had available at the time of the moon landing… it's clear that in the next

100 years a lot can change and will change.

So, what should we be expecting?

For one, our health and longevity is set to improve… with a growing focus on CRISPR

technology to enhance our survivability.

Gene editing is already here, being used for a variety of forward-thinking projects like

attempts to remove malaria from mosquitoes; to create super plants that are resistant

to insects and disease; and even to treating blindness in some animals.

But, similar CRISPR uses have also started to emerge directly involving humans.

A bid by the University of Pennsylvania to treat cancer patients via CRISPR tech has

already made headlines, while there have also been reports of gene editing being used in

the UK to successfully remove cancer in at least one case.

The approach is still very much in its infancy, but it is representative of a general push

to “take back control” against all diseases that threaten the human body - to beat them

before we even develop them - especially at a time when antimicrobial resistance is considered

a major threat to life.

The ongoing (and intensifying) ethical debate surrounding “designer babies” shows that

there is also a darker aspect to a prospective future world where gene editing is the norm,

however.

As with most advancing technologies, there will also be a moral balance to be struck.

It's an issue affecting other near-future tech aiming not only to make us healthier,

but to make us smarter, too.

Elon Musk has already revealed his plans for NeuraLink, an implantable brain machine interface

that will allow humans to think and process faster than ever before by connecting their

brain to a type of computer - with plans to test the device inside a sample of humans

slated for the early 2020s.

On a simple level, if AI brain implants work and take off, they'd be a major first step

in artificially increasing our own mental capacities and abilities.

More specifically, though, they could usher in the age of telepathy.

Futurist Ian Pearson believes the likelihood of this happening by at least 2100 is “ten

out of ten”, while there's a growing general consensus that synthetic telepathy is no longer

pure science fiction, but actually a fast-approaching, real world possibility.

For those backing telepathy tech, we could soon be making literal “mental notes”

to ping backwards and forwards between ourselves - as simply as sending messages online - as

our brains more closely merge with our devices.

Again, there's a dark side wherein telepathy renders traditional means of communication

(like face-to-face conversation) redundant… and where everyone's brains become vulnerable

to digital hacks and security breaches… but there's also an argument that this level

of development is actually necessary for the human race so that it can keep up with the

potential capabilities of artificial intelligence.

Unsurprisingly, AI is set to have a massive impact on the next century.

Using advances like the Google quantum computer as a starting point - where traditional computer

“processing” is replaced by seamless, millisecond transitions - in a century the

gap between artificial and organic could well have significantly closed.

For decades the Turing Test has been held as the ultimate obstacle for an AI, but now

more and more computers are reportedly passing it and there's a new endpoint in sight - the

AI Singularity.

The AI Singularity is the concept that artificial intelligence will one day come to a point

where it is able to consistently create better and more intelligent versions of itself, without

the need for human input, creating an irreversible technological boom that's truly impossible

to stop.

For the US inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil, it's something that could occur as soon

as 2045, when he believes robots may even be indistinguishable from humans in some cases.

The positives?

With AI to assist us in everyday tasks, we'd be reaching levels of efficiency never before

possible… and with the prospect of AI essentially inventing itself, actual human beings would

be left with more time and opportunity for other pursuits.

The negatives?

Well, “the rise of the robots” is a popular theme in dystopian science fiction for a reason…

Here's another facet of future life where achieving a balance is key.

But whether the robots rise up to help or hinder us, the next 100 years look set to

be dominated by other environmental concerns as well.

Fears surrounding climate change and global warming have taken hold within the last few

decades, with various national governments making pledges and setting deadlines for when

they hope to be carbon neutral (or even carbon negative).

In 2019, for example, the British government committed to “Net Zero” carbon emissions

by 2050.

We'll know by 2120 whether targets like these were met, but if nothing changes then

scientists are promising a bleak outlook.

According to NASA measurements, the average global temperature has increased by 0.8 degrees

Celsius since 1880 - but the majority of that increase has happened since 1975.

For climatologists, the concern is that this quicker increase will continue into the next

century until the temperature becomes unmanageable or even un-survivable.

In general, the planet could look very different within the next 100 years.

Thanks to melting ice caps, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration foresees

a sea level rise of at least 0.3 metres by the end of the century.

Meanwhile, a 2019 study by scientists at the University of Bristol claims sea levels could

rise by as much as two metres by 2100.

The estimates do vary, but most projections warn of the water increase causing major disruption

- particularly in coastal regions like the US state of Florida, for example, which according

to some estimates has a 100% chance of being flooded by sea surges within the next 100

to 150 years.

According to 2019 analysis conducted by 24/7 Wall Street, many other parts of the US alone

are expected to experience mass flooding within a century, including parts of New England,

Georgia and Texas.

Right now, around 71 percent of Earth's surface is covered in water, but if the most

severe projections are met then that figure is set to change - turning our planet into

a slightly bluer place as the oceans reach further and further inland.

For some, the potential changes to our environment could even necessitate fleeing from Earth

entirely.

With or without an ecological crisis, though, space travel is another aspect of our lives

set for significant progress over the next few generations.

And proposed missions to Mars are among the most exciting initiatives in front of us.

If targets laid out by various space agencies (including NASA) and private aerospace firms

come to fruition, then by 2120 we should have built a permanent base on the Red Planet.

The European Space Agency and the Chinese National Space Administration both reportedly

plan on going to Mars somewhere between 2040 and 2060, although the head of SpaceX Elon

Musk hopes to have a permanent Martian Base (called Mars Base Alpha) by as soon as 2028.

Meanwhile, NASA's Artemis Program aims to begin setting up a permanent base on the moon

by 2028, and both Russia's Roscosmos and Japan's JAXA reportedly plan to begin building

on the lunar surface by 2030.

If those earliest goals are met, then really the moon and Mars could even be old news in

100 years' time, as humanity becomes inspired by its past achievements and starts to look

further and further out into the solar system.

Just as parts of our everyday lives may have been unthinkable to those living in 1920,

we're set to see all manner of change play out over the next century.

From technological innovations to ecological challenges, Earth will be a very different

place.

So different, in fact, that humanity may well have branched away from this planet in an

accelerated quest to explore others.

And that's what could happen before 2120.

What do you think?

Is there anything we missed?

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