Telekinesis and Anthroponomics: Futurology Digest No. 28

Can we lift cars off the ground with the power of thought? Is it possible to live long with cancer? What will the states of the future look like?

Topic of the week: how futurologists see the future

At the Open Innovations forum, the chairman of the board of directors of the Russian Investments group of companies, Kirill Ignatiev, said that in the XNUMXst century, viral and microbiological threats will become a global problem. However, humanity will quickly defeat new diseases thanks to the capabilities of supercomputers and advances in medicine. Ignatiev is confident that vaccines will become personalized, and digital twins will be used to test them. Among other challenges that humanity will face, the futurist named climate change, the destruction of an established economic system, as well as war.

According to Ignatiev, in the 2030s, states will abandon borders, oil will cease to be a resource of prime necessity, and chips and sensors will begin to collect more information about the human condition. In the 2050s, fusion energy will become available, and instead of the economy, anthroponomics will appear, based on the comforts and desires of ordinary people. By the end of the century, terrorism and wars will stop, and genetic engineering will save humanity from cancer.

Researcher Gerd Leonhard believes that by the 2030s humanity needs to create laws that regulate the field of technology. This is the only way to make sure that new developments will be used for good purposes and will not become weapons in wars. Leonhard also predicts that in the future, digital currencies will become the basis of the economy, and the world Central Bank will begin to monitor the global financial system. Thanks to automation, the working day will be reduced to two or three hours, while wages will remain at the same level. The futurist is sure that technology will allow humanity to create the world it wants, the main thing is to choose.

American futurist Scott Smith believes that in the future the world will become more fragmented, states will unite into four rival groups: America, the EU, Asia and Africa. All sectors of the economy will become carbon neutral, and companies will become socially responsible. Society will reconsider its relationship with the state, and the government will turn into a platform that provides various services to the population. The identity of people will become more complex, virtual and augmented reality will play a special role in this. The futurist believes that all this will cause serious psychological disorders, because it will be difficult for a person to understand who he really is.

Article of the Week: In the future, people will learn to live with cancer

All multicellular organisms have faced cancer for two billion years, but in the course of evolution, nature has learned to limit the spread of cancer cells. One of the defense mechanisms is the TP53 gene, which encodes the p53 protein. It can be found in the blood of animals and humans. This protein “makes sure” that cells with damaged DNA do not appear in the body. If he finds them, he immediately destroys them. Thanks to TP53, large animals with many cells, such as elephants, are no more prone to cancer than cats. Moreover, the larger the animal, the more often genes that suppress tumors and metastases are found in its DNA.

Another example is crested cacti, which do not grow up, but in breadth, which makes them look like a fan. This is also a way to fight mutations: continuously dividing cells are “locked” in separate outgrowths and do not interfere with the life of the plant as a whole. Inspired by cacti, scientists have developed adaptive cell therapy. Its goal is to prevent the tumor from growing, but also not to destroy it completely. This treatment is currently undergoing clinical trials. At the first stage, the size of the tumor is reduced with chemotherapy to such a size that it does not interfere with the patient’s normal life. Doctors then only intervene if the cancer cells start dividing too quickly again and spread throughout the body.

The disadvantage of traditional chemotherapy is that doctors act on the tumor immediately with large doses of medications. As a result, weak cells die, and strong ones adapt, and the treatment stops working. In the case of adaptive therapy, doctors use low concentrations of active substances, so different types of cells remain in the body and none of them becomes dominant.

Photo: Aeon

Futuristic architecture: a technological museum with a promenade loop

Architectural studio Powerhouse Company designed the Technology Museum in the Chinese city of Chengdu. An observation deck-promenade was built around the building, which in its shape resembles a Mobius strip. The maximum height of the walkway is 25 m, the length is 698 m. The surface is covered with rubberized asphalt, which is usually used in sports fields and stadiums, so the promenade is suitable for jogging.

Photo: Powerhouse Company

Question of the week: is it possible to develop telekinesis with the help of implants?

The journalists of the Gizmodo edition interviewed experts and found out that it is possible, but with reservations. As University of Washington professor Andrea Stocco pointed out, if we call telekinesis the ability to lift a car with the power of thought, then this is beyond the scope of physics. People are unlikely to learn how to do this even with the most powerful neural interfaces. But people will be able to control exoskeletons, prostheses or industrial robots by communicating with them through the brain. Already, scientists are experimenting with similar technologies, but so far all devices look a little awkward. Bradley Wojtek, a professor at the University of California at San Diego, also warned of another difficulty: in order to control processes with the power of thought, a person must quickly switch his attention. In addition, it is still difficult for computers to capture and correctly interpret brain signals, so commercial implants for telekinesis will not appear soon.

One line

• NASA is developing a system that will save the Earth from asteroids.
• Chinese scientists have printed electronic chips that can be charged with radio waves.
• Wars in space would be very slow.
• Genome editing restored vision in blind mice.

What to see

Interview of Bill Gates, which he gave as part of the GeekWire Summit forum. He talks about the lessons of the pandemic and also reflects on what the world will be like in the future. Gates is confident that people will become kinder and more tolerant of each other, and will start doing more charity work. He also believes advances in medicine and new technologies will make it possible to treat cancer and rare genetic diseases. However, he warns that if humanity does not seriously fight global warming, our bright future will be in jeopardy.

What to read

A CNet longread about how science fiction writers talk about dreams in the future. According to the writers, we will sleep longer, whole decades or centuries – that’s how long the flight to the most distant planets lasts. Some authors are sure that people, on the contrary, will not sleep at all, and new technologies will allow them to “recharge” with energy in just a few seconds.

What to listen

Release of the Future Tense podcast about cryonics. In this episode, host Anthony Fannel discusses this technology with its supporters and detractors, as well as trying to figure out if cryonics has a future.

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