Earth gets its first Skycycle, armed forces going cyborg, world subway construction underway, increased individual isolation, development of Mars and the Moon

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CONTENTS of 2082 AD-2183 AD: The virtual telepathy of the shush net emerges; active electro-chemical mind alteration is becoming common; heavy commercialization of space is proceeding; historical stress levels on average citizens (as well as mass species extinctions due to growing human numbers squeezing out other lifeforms) are both peaking now

This page last updated on or about 10-19-05
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2100-2150 sub trends and detours; Earth gets its first Skycycle, armed forces going cyborg, world subway construction underway, increased individual isolation, development of Mars and the Moon

A solar collector/mirror array is constructed in near orbit around the Sun to support flexible long term use of solar sail transport inside and outside the solar system. Later enhancements to the system will add high powered lasers fed by solar power to increase carrying capacity and acceleration within the system.

Military combat forces are becoming dominated by robots and cyborgs during this period.

The first Terran Skycycle goes into operation (a 65 mile long tumbling structure in orbit which accepts a craft either in the high atmosphere or low orbital space, then disgorges that craft around 30 minutes later into the opposite environment; Skycycles are variations on rotating skyhooks).

Rotating skyhooks are described in "Space, Inc." by Tom Logsdon, 1988, Crown Publishers
Carbon fibers might provide the materials needed to build space elevators, as well as replace the metal conductors currently used to distribute electricity worldwide. These fibers would be based on fullerene nanotubes.

-- Technology Review - Wires of Wonder by David Rotman; March 2001; Q&A with Richard E. Smalley

It's becoming increasingly rare to encounter another real human being either physically or online-- and difficult to tell the difference between virtual people and real ones too, in any case. Virtual employees are used everywhere, and real people increasingly spend their free time in VR and work at jobs requiring little or no direct contact with other real people. The physical landscapes of cities on Earth often appear virtually deserted, for these reasons and others.

Some experts expect many software entities to become sufficiently human-like by 2020 so that living human beings begin entering into relationships of various kinds with them-- percieving the software-driven responses by way of a multitude of different sensory means with one consequence being the software personalities seem to be friends, teachers, or even lovers to them.

-- ABCNEWS.com: Man and Machine Blur in Next Millennium By John Lang, Scripps Howard News Service, October 27 1999

The first sections of the new highspeed global subway are completed. The largely undersea/underground subway circles the Arctic ocean shallows, with major branches descending south to link all the major population densities on the planet. You'd expect that this major transport network on Earth would be one of the few remaining places human beings might encounter other human beings face-to-face-- but it doesn't work that way. Passengers are highly insulated from one another for a variety of modern reasons; so much so that it entails considerable difficulty for any two persons to manage to ride together in close proximity and direct physical contact. Practically all the more advanced services on the planet automatically isolate individuals in a way similar to this now-- in large part for their own protection and convenience, as well as overall efficiency. Many citizens of less developed states, still accustomed to a higher degree of physical human interaction, find this growing global trend discomforting.

The industrial complex on the Moon is expanding rapidly to support all other space development efforts, as well as mine and refine the highly valuable fusion fuel helium-3. The Mars/Phobos base is also booming. Small outposts and operations exist on a number of important asteroids now.

-- "Mining the moon" by Marcus Chown, 12-24-98, New Scientist

Intensive small scale terra-forming operations are beginning in narrow canyons on Mars.

It's unlikely even microbes are living on the surface of Mars in 2001. The first human explorers/colonists will require sealed greenhouses complete with artificial heat for food production.
Once an area on Mars has been suitably warmed to temperatures just below freezing for the long term, the microorganism Chroococcidiopsis might be introduced there to aid in the terraforming of the planet, a piece at a time. Chroococcidiopsis is a hardy cyanobacteria which can survive under a wide range of conditions, including the icy wastes of Antarctica.
Genetic engineering may enable a more robust version of Chroococcidiopsis, thereby reducing the temperature to which a given region must be raised prior to introduction. One scientist quoted in the article doesn't expect any level of Mars terraforming to begin during the lifetime of anyone living today.

-- Greening of the Red Planet from NASA's Astrobiology Institute, January 26, 2001, Dr. Tony Phillips, Bryan Walls, Steve Roy, and Ron Koczor all contributed to this article in some way

Another major radio-telescope installation is built near the asteroid belt to work in conjunction with the station in Mercury's shadow.

A government research project begins probing deep space with exotic particle beams in a survey for any and all "cosmic strings" and "dark matter' structures of consequence within dozens of lightyears of Earth (we expect collisions of the particles with dark matter to be detectable to various of our instruments). This survey of 'Near' dark matter is considered important for reasons of future space exploration planning, possible military defense, potential commercial exploitation, and more.

Sources include EurekAlert! ["http://www.eurekalert.org/news.pub.html"] (on or about 2-25-98), reporting the dark matter speculations and others of supercomputer "Garching T3E"

-- "Argentine Observatory To Seek Powerful Cosmic Rays" By Jason Webb, Yahoo/Reuters, 3-19-99

New technologies are now enabling people to enjoy 'ancestral memories'-- in the form of simulated personalities of ancestors like parents and grandparents if preferred-- based on all available data about the subjects, and given 'life' by way of a highly sophisticated expert system shell. Personalities based on other people may also be utilized-- for example, a pseudo Thomas Jefferson could be created as a consultant for an admirer of the Founding Fathers of USAmerica (simulations of famous and infamous personalities of the past and present prove far more popular than memories from actual ancestors).

-- "Software lets you 'talk' to Einstein" by Sean Hargrave, Computers, INNOVATION, The Sunday Times, Times Newspapers Ltd., June 13 1999, http://tsms7.tsms.co.uk/

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