Let’s face it… Between the pandemic and the heightening inter-regional political tensions and threats of nuclear warfare, our world is a scary place to live at the moment. If that wasn’t sad enough, many nations are now plunged into economic recessions, with businesses collapsing in record numbers. The result? There has been a rise in the rate of depression and suicides globally. The bottom line – things are not quite looking so good right now. The natural world isn’t sparing us, either. There are rising concerns about climate change, deforestation, and pollution, to mention a few. But it’s not all doom and gloom. There appear to be flickerings of light at the end of the tunnel. In a world where the news gives us legitimate reasons to be worried, fearful, and anxious, why don’t we flip the script and examine some reasons to be optimistic about the future? 

 Batteries

 Imagine you lived in a world where batteries could last for several lifetimes without needing a charge. Wouldn’t that make life a whole lot easier? That would mean you can carry on gossiping with your buddy on your phone for days without needing to pause to charge your phone. Sudden-dead TV remotes have become a thing of the past. And if you had an electric car? That would make commuting incredibly convenient, if not affordable. Think again if you reckoned that such could only be found in sci-fi novels. Mya Le Thai, a doctoral student at UC Irvine, has discovered a battery that can last up to four hundred years! Yes, you heard that right – four hundred years. Remember that the world had no electricity, newspapers, or cars four hundred years ago to give you an idea of how long that period is. Following Mya Le Thai’s mind-blowing discovery, researchers are excited about the possibilities in the future. Apart from the apparent practical utility of her discovery, the environment also has much to benefit from. Right now, our lithium-ion batteries are a significant cause of pollution. This is because they contain toxic metals which can leach out of landfills and contaminate water bodies. For this reason, Mya Le Thai’s ‘gold nanowires’ couldn’t have come at a much better time!

Now, imagine the battery-free, light-powered pacemakers! Sounds cool? They are almost here! Read more: Science Daily

 Artificial Intelligence

There’s just something so exciting about artificial intelligence (AI), isn’t there? Even if we don’t yet have self-aware and fully autonomous robots, AI is being utilized for self-driving cars, cybersecurity, e-commerce, and so on. But that’s only the beginning. Let’s take a look at health care, for example. We expect that by using carefully designed algorithms, AI will take center stage in the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses. It’s projected that we’ll even have robots doing all surgeries. How cool is that? How about law enforcement? We believe that intelligent robots might one day act as police. Armed with facial recognition tech and a secure database of all citizens, they could make for a very efficient police force. But the takeover will go beyond healthcare and law enforcement. Every aspect of society will feel the change. We’ll have robot servers, teachers, and fitness instructors. Life as we know it will change for the better… unless they turn against us. Actually, scratch that. Let’s not give them any ideas.

AI could train your dog how to sit. Read more: New Scientist

 Anti-aging

 Finally, science seems to be making gigantic strides in its quest to reverse aging and its effects. We all love the older members of our communities, and we want them to continue to share their wisdom and tell us lovely stories by the fireplace. That’s why anti-aging research can hold the key to stretching those valuable moments with our loved ones. We’ve seen that aging is associated with increased dependence on others for personal care and an increased likelihood of suffering and disease. Most debilitating illnesses, such as cataracts, osteoporosis, heart disease, and cancers, are primarily found among the elderly. This is because, on a cellular level, our bodies take on significant wear and tear over time.

For this reason, a reversal in the aging process holds much promise. It would not only lead to a reduction in the incidence of many common illnesses and improve the level of health and independence of a large portion of society. Since aging is a complex process involving several interrelated biological mechanisms, researchers worldwide are employing different approaches to tackle it definitively. Right now, science has found a way to reverse aging skin cells by thirty years (read more: Live Science). Perhaps one day soon, we’ll be able to play squash with our great grannies! We seem to be on the right track… 

Live forever or die trying: the latest research on anti-aging. Read more: BioSpace

The scientific advances listed above are just some of the breakthroughs we expect to see in our world in the next thirty to hundred years. Are they certain to occur? We’ll be naive to categorically state so because history teaches us otherwise. Science can be tricky, and as with most other aspects of life, the future depends on our actions today. Should we fixate on the potential challenges or drawbacks or be optimistic? I believe we owe it to the world to do the latter. The future is bright, and if we live long enough, we could one day look at the world around us and find that the things we read about in sci-fi novels have become a reality. 

 Written by Laolu Ogundele