One of many relevant in
"Past predictions about the future that were way, way off"
was this one
"The Martian Chronicler falls short
Responsible for dozens upon dozens of short stories, as well as classic
novels like Fahrenheit 451 and several film adaptations and
inspirations, Ray Bradbury made science fiction cool, or at least
mainstream. The average reader may not be familiar with his classic
dystopian stories such as "There Will Come Soft Rains" or "The Veldt,"
but have probably heard of The Butterfly Effect (loosely inspired by his
story "A Sound of Thunder") as well as his disquieting Disney adaptation
Something Wicked This Way Comes. Then there's his highly influential
sci-fi saga The Martian Chronicles, which document colonial life on the
planet Mars (not on Bruno or Veronica, just to clarify).
Speaking of which, Bradbury's often terrifying and prescient
conceptualization of the future sometimes got a little bit ahead of
itself. Back in 1950, the prolific author predicted that nuclear war
would force us onto Mars by the 2000s. Fortunately, we were too busy
"drinking beer and watching soap operas," to quote Mr. Bradbury, to make
the colonization of Mars happen. Hey, at least we launched that rover
thingy, right?
Colonization technology may be in its infancy, but NASA and other
high-tech companies are working on landing humans on the red planet.
Bradbury's futurism, if a tad optimistic, continues to inspire future
generations to reach for the stars and the red planet, if they're not
wasting their life reaching for craft ales and viral cat videos,
instead. Thanks, Ray."
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http://www.grunge.com/47611/past-predictions-future-way-way/
also (with some decent graphics),
"Popular Science pops off
from
visualoop.com
Vintage Infographic The Spaceman (c. 1920)
Throughout its 144-year history, Popular Science spent the majority of
its time covering interesting topics from the world of science and
technology. The long-running magazine has also, on numerous occasions,
peered into the future — with limited degrees of success.
Back in 1963, Pop Sci ran a feature about "Tomorrow's Man." The two
doctors that wrote it seemed to think the future human, with its
adaptable body type, was ready for some major hardware upgrades. Looking
like a reject from a Borg/Pulp Fiction gimp cosplay crossover, the
Tomorrow Man is decked out in a cybernetic flight helmet with goggles
and a breathing tube. He rides his atomic tricycle to victory over the
world of common sense (and good taste), armed with his "atom chaser" and
video antennas, solar light replicator (what exactly happens to the sun
in this future?), atomic jet pack, and a kooky "digital computer"
strapped to his side — at least that came true. To be honest, we're
looking more like the Tusken Raider of tomorrow.
Even better, apparently their prediction was made before the days of
Radiation is bad, mmmkay?, so the future human is decked out in atomic
and gamma-powered gear. Basically, our future selves are either on the
verge of species-wide cancer epidemic or about to turn into the
Incredible Hulk."
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