Scientists say that our life in future more comfortable and simple by 2050

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Презентация на тему: » Life in the future Citizens 2050. Short plan 1.People and relationships in the future 2.Education and medicine in the year 2050 3.Space exploration and.» — Транскрипт:

1 Life in the future Citizens 2050

2 Short plan 1.People and relationships in the future 2.Education and medicine in the year Space exploration and travel on other planets 4.Travel on our own planet 5.Damaging the environment 6.The future of Cyberspace

3 People and relationships in the year 2050 I think that friendship – one of the most important human relationships – will have changed dramatically. The worlds getting quicker all the time and we have no time for talking. Because of computers, which will have become absolutely essential by 2050 we will have little real human contact. Even now many people make friend through the Internet because they havent them in reality.

4 We will be living faster, but will we be living better? Not long ago people believed that in the future we would work less, have more free time, and be more relaxed. But today we work harder, work longer hours, and are more stressed than 10 years ago. We walk faster, talk faster, and sleep less then previous generations. And although were obsessed with machines which save us time, we have less free time than our parents had. Were always trying to do more things in less time and, as a result, our lives are more stressful. So, if we dont slow down, we wont live as long as our parents. For most people, faster doesnt mean better

5 Education in 2050 Education will have changed a lot too. Perhaps there will be no more real schools in the future, so we will study near our computers – virtual teachers will be giving the lessons from the computer screen. What is more, certain abilities, like mental arithmetic, wont be necessary since there will be computer programs for most calculations.

6 Medicine in 2050 I think a lot of diseases will be cured in the future. If scientists manage to find a cure for cancer and AIDS, we will have a much healthier society. On the other hand, new diseases will have appeared – its going to be a balance. There always will be.

7 Space exploration and travel on other planets Space exploration will become increasingly popular. Maybe we will be flying off for a holiday on the other planets like Mars or Venus. To be honest, I dont think space travel is going to happen for a lot longer

8 Check your knowledge What have scientists discovered on the moon? a) air b) ice c) oxygen In what year will commercial flights probably start? a) 2008 b) 2012 c) 2025 What company is going to build a lunar hotel? a) Hilton b) Holiday Inn c) Hyatt What is a Japanese company planning to build? a) a sport centre b) a golf course c) a hotel How will people get oxygen to breathe? a) from rocks b) from Earth c) from ice How will you able to communicate with Earth? a) by mobile phone b) by radio c) by Internet

9 Travel on our own planet I think by the year 2050 travel on our own planet will have changed a lot. People will travel more, transport will become faster and cheaper. In my opinion, everyone will have personal car, plane, shuttle or something like this. What is more, because of problem with fossil fuels we might see more solar-powered cars, electric trains, different forms of transport – it will have replaced the cars we use nowadays. On the other hand, if there are many more people traveling around, it will be overcrowded in cities.

10 Damaging the environment By the year 2050 we will have started using cleaner forms of energy and environmentally-friendly cars. In addition, we will have discovered a way to get rid of rubbish without damaging the environment. On the other hand, there will be fewer wild animals and, because of too many kinds of machines, the rivers, lakes and seas will have become too dirty to swim in. By the year 2050 we will have started using cleaner forms of energy and environmentally-friendly cars. In addition, we will have discovered a way to get rid of rubbish without damaging the environment. On the other hand, there will be fewer wild animals and, because of too many kinds of machines, the rivers, lakes and seas will have become too dirty to swim in.

11 The future of Cyberspace In the last 30 years, the Internet has grown dramatically. In 1983, there were only 200 computers connected to the Internet; now there are around 50 million and this growth is clearly going to continue.

12 Some experts are pessimistic about the future. One worry is the activities of cybercriminals. Even now, young hackers can get into the computers of banks and governments. In the future, cyberterrorists may attack the worlds computers, cause chaos, and make planes and trains crash. However, many people are optimistic about the future of the Internet. Already, users can buy books, find out about holiday offers, book tickets, and get all sorts of information from the Internet. They also believe that we will get entertainment from the Net and that television will probably disappear. Some experts are pessimistic about the future. One worry is the activities of cybercriminals. Even now, young hackers can get into the computers of banks and governments. In the future, cyberterrorists may attack the worlds computers, cause chaos, and make planes and trains crash. However, many people are optimistic about the future of the Internet. Already, users can buy books, find out about holiday offers, book tickets, and get all sorts of information from the Internet. They also believe that we will get entertainment from the Net and that television will probably disappear.

13 Virtual reality Some specialists see our future in virtual reality – the use of computers with sounds and images that make you feel as if you are in a real situation. Moreover, people will be living and working in virtual offices, shop in virtual supermarkets, and we will even study in virtual schools.

Life in 2050: A Look at the Homes of the Future

Welcome back to the «Life in 2050» series! So far, we’ve looked at how ongoing developments in science, technology, and geopolitics will be reflected in terms of warfare and the economy. Today, we are shifting gears a little and looking at how the turbulence of this century will affect the way people live from day to day.

As noted in the previous two installments, changes in the 21 st century will be driven by two major factors. These include the disruption caused by rapidly accelerating technological progress, and the disruption caused by rising global temperatures, and the environmental impact this will have (aka. Climate Change).

These factors will be pulling the world in opposite directions, and simultaneously at that. Rising seas, hotter summers, wetter winters, increased flooding, drought, pandemics, desertification, and shrinking supplies of freshwater will likely lead to all kinds of scarcity, humanitarian crises, and increased levels of mortality.

Meanwhile, technological advances in terms of renewable energy, fusion power, materials science, blockchains, smart technology, additive manufacturing (3D printing), commercial space exploration, and biotechnology are set to lead to a new era of abundance in terms of energy, wealth, health, and new resources.

In an age where Climate Change and technological change will essentially be competing for control of our future, the challenge will be how to leverage one to address the other. All told, there are four areas where this will really come into play:

The growth of cities

As we addressed in the second installment, the global population is projected to grow considerably by 2050. In fact, according to the «World Population Prospects 2019» report compiled by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the global census rolls will account for about 9.74 billion people by mid-century.

Furthermore, a 2020 report by the International Institute for Environment and Development estimates that by 2050, roughly 68% of the population will live in urban centers. That works out to 6.6 billion people, or an increase of 2.2 billion from today. You might say that almost all of the population growth between now and 2050 will happen in cities.

This will result in an increased demand for housing, electricity, water, food, basic services, education, transport, and medical services in these places. The infrastructure and resources needed to meet this demand will place added stress on the surrounding environments, which are already heavily stressed as it is.

Urban expansion means that more land needs to be cleared to build infrastructure, more water needs to be diverted for utilities, more electricity needs to be generated, and more agricultural land needs to be set aside for growing food.

As a result, cities in 2050 will be built (or rebuilt) to provide for the basic needs of their populations in ways that absolutely must be sustainable. This means finding ways to do more with less, not to mention eliminating waste as much as possible. All of this will be possible through the art of.

«Smart» living

The idea of «smart homes» is one that has really taken off in the past decade. The concept builds on the idea of «smartphones» and other such devices, which are accessible anywhere there is an internet connection. In the case of smart homes, a person will have access to everything in their home (appliances, devices, utilities, etc.) through Bluetooth and wireless internet.

In the future, this will extend to the point where the «Internet of Things» (IoT) becomes a reality. This concept refers to the way in which the digital world and real world will become intertwined like never before. On the one hand, this will be driven by the trillions of devices, sensors, and geotags that connect countless points in the real world to the internet.

On the other, people’s experience of the real world will be increasingly mediated through augmented reality, virtual reality (AR/VR), and the help of artificial intelligence. On top of that, the ability to connect with just about anyone and everything will revolutionize the way we live. And strangely enough, many of us have had a preview of this due to the recent pandemic.

For one thing, people in 2050 will be used to being able to have just about everything delivered to their doorstep. Door-to-door delivery services will likely become increasingly automated and involve smart cars, shuttle pods that drive around on their own tracks, and aerial drones.

Similarly, just about everything will be doable from the comfort of home, especially when it comes to working. Home offices with high-speed internet will become the norm, meetings will be virtual, and traveling for the sake of business or attending conferences will be largely unheard of.

Even education will take place in the home or within individual apartment blocks and tenements. Similar to distance education, children will log in to virtual classrooms where they are guided (with the help of a teacher or AI) through various lessons. Haptics will provide the sensation of «hands-on» education, eliminating the need to be physically in a classroom.

An explosion in the use of household robots is also projected to take place by 2050. These could take the form of mobile units or next-generation appliances that are integrated directly into a room. These robots will be able to handle everything from regular household maintenance, cleaning, preparing food, and other such tasks.

Moreover, the concept of the «smart home» will achieve literal proportions. Household AI ‘managers’ are sure to become a common feature of future homes, connected to all your devices, running your household robots and your appliances, and monitor your habits to ensure that you are remaining within your budget.

Distributed systems

Another interesting change is the way in which energy, money, goods and services, and even politics and administration will be distributed in the coming years. Whereas the industrial revolution brought about greater centralization of work and economics that is still in use to this day, the world of tomorrow will be almost entirely decentralized.

For example, in the previous installment, we looked at how increased reliance on renewable energy will affect the global economy. Given that the majority of demand for electricity will still be coming from urban centers, the shift will be visible in terms of how and where power is generated. In short, energy concerns of the future will be moving away from the centralized grids and become more localized.

Today, the infrastructure for providing electricity (aka. the electrical grid) consists of the following connected elements:

The term «grid» is fitting because the electricity is generated in a central place, then routed through a gridlike network to where it is needed. In contrast, by 2050, cities will have distributed power stations that run on solar, wind, piezoelectric, geothermal, biomass, and other «green» sources of energy.

These localized centers will provide power for a specific area, and large buildings are likely to provide their own power using built-in solar arrays, turbines, and biofuel generators. However, power grids will not disappear, as the development of fusion power and Tokamak reactors will still require distribution centers and nodes.

The proliferation of wireless internet, satellite internet, and blockchain technology will also mean people can connect anywhere at any time. As a result, politics could look more like «town hall meetings» that will be virtual events that far more people will be able to participate in. In the same way that video conferencing will mean that most business is conducted virtually, local politics will also be affected.

Green megacities

Due to the ongoing loss of arable land, cities will also become greener spaces, where architecture and ecology come together for the sake of healthy living. This concept, known as «arcology,» was coined in 1969 by architect Paolo Soleri, who proposed the concept as a means of addressing urban sprawl and the consequent destruction of green spaces.

In designs featuring arcology, agricultural operations and green spaces co-existed alongside residential and commercial centers, and space was to be used more creatively. Whereas most cities are two-dimensional, with individual highrises dotting the landscape (or clustered in the central business districts), arcologies are three-dimensional and built into the surrounding environment.

This thinking has become revitalized since the turn of the century, thanks to the escalating problem of climate change. Today, there are countless architectural firms and design studios that specialize in the creation of urban spaces that are reminiscent of the principles of arcology or similarly governed by the same principles of efficiency and sustainability.

Common features include urban farming, where local residents tend to community gardens, vertical farms, hydroponics, insect farms (high-protein!), and aquaponics (where plants and fish live symbiotically, and both are a source of nutrients). These operations will be helped along with the development of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and microbial engineering.

To prevent stress on the existing water supply, most of what is needed for irrigation will come from rainwater capture, grey-water recycling, and water reclamation units. It’s also a safe bet that by 2050, many homes and domiciles will have a 3D food printer dedicated to manufacturing nutritious meals tailored to specific tastes and dietary requirements.

Another recent innovation is carbon capture, which city planners are incorporating into modern urban development plans for the sake of combating climate change and urban pollution. While foliage has always been a means of cleaning city air, future cities may include large numbers of artificial trees, bioreactor facilities, and carbon-absorbing structures built right into their facades.

As an added bonus, carbon dioxide that is scrubbed from the air can be easily converted into biofuels using Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECSS) technology. Buildings equipped with a carbon capture apparatus will therefore be able to create biofuel, perhaps as a backup power source, but also as a local supply of fuel for vehicles that still run on biodiesel.

Powering it all will be a number of renewable energy sources, such as the aforementioned solar arrays, vertical wind turbines, piezoelectric surfaces, and heat-exchange technology (for the sake of climate control). Each building that contains multiple dwellings is likely to be its own grow-op, power plant, and fuel station, providing the basic necessities of life locally.

Crystal Island: This arcology was proposed by Norman Foster, founder of the architecture firm Foster and Partners. True to its name, Crystal Island would be a tall, spire-like compression structure that would appear crystalline. The entire structure would be wrapped in a breathable «second skin» that would be sealed in winter to prevent heat loss and opened in summer to cool the interior.

The planned arcology was to be integrated into Nagatinskaya Poyma Park in central Moscow. Standing 1,476 ft (450 m) high and containing 27 million ft² (2.5 million m²) of floor space, it would have been the largest structure on Earth. Construction was postponed in 2009 due to the global economic crisis and has remained in limbo since.

Masdar City: Named after the design firm building it, Masdar City is a planned project for the city of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Also designed by Foster and Partners, the city will be a hub for clean energy companies as well as the location of the International Renewable Energy Agency’s (IRENA) headquarters.

Based on the goal of a carbon-neutrality, Masdar is powered by a combination of solar energy, wind power, and all lighting and water are controlled by movement sensors to reduce consumption. Much of the city’s water is rainwater or captured by condensers, and up to 80% of wastewater will be recycled and reused as many times as possible.

As of 2016, the city’s official website reported that 2,000 people are employed in the city and that only 300 students reside there. However, expansion is expected to continue until it reaches its planned capacity of 50,000 residents, 1,500 businesses, and 60,000 workers making the daily commute.

Cities at sea

In an age of climate change, many designers have incorporated rising sea levels and the loss of coastlines into their arcological concepts. A number of designs have been proposed already, examples of which include:

Boston Arcology: Also known as BOA, this concept for a sustainable megastructure in Boston Harbor was conceived by Kevin Schopfer. Designed in the shape of a rectangle with crisscrossing structures in its interior, this city would house 15,000 people and include hotels, offices, retail spaces, museums, and a city hall.

Consistent with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, it would draw its power from a combination of solar, wind, and other renewables and would serve as an expansion of the city without adding to the environmental impact of urban sprawl.

Lilypad City: Otherwise known as just Lilypad, this concept for a floating city was proposed by Vincent Callebaut. Essentially, Callebaut anticipated that rising sea levels and disappearing coastlines would give rise to a new phenomenon known as «climate refugees.» As coastal cities sink into the ocean in this century, people will need to be relocated to new facilities.

Hence the Lilypad concept, a completely self-sufficient floating city that could accommodate up to 50,000 people. Power would be provided through a combination of solar, wind, tidal, and biomass, while the entire structure is able to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere through a titanium dioxide outer skin.

New Orleans Arcology Habitat: Located off the coast of New Orleans, where the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico, the NOAH concept was another design proposed by Kevin Schopfer (the same architect who thought up BOA). The design was largely inspired by Hurricane Katrina and the understanding that recurring storm activity in the region is only going to get more severe.

«The first challenge is to overcome both the physical and psychological damages of recurring severe weather patterns,» they wrote. «Though re-population has begun, the need to provide a stabilized and safe environment is paramount to a long-term recovery and economic well-being of New Orleans.»

Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid: This megastructure (aka. the TRY 2004 Pyramid) was proposed by Shimizu Corporation in 2004 as a solution to Tokyo’s problem of overpopulation. Inspired by the Great Pyramid of Giza, the structure would be built in Tokyo Bay, measure 6,575 feet (over 2000 m) high, and house 1 million people.

However, the design relies entirely on the future availability of super-materials (such as carbon nanotubes). This is due to the weight of the pyramid, which would be the largest structure ever built and exceed the stress tolerances of existing building materials. While the original plan was to commence construction by 2030, Shimizu remained determined to complete it by 2110.

Summary

As the 21st century unfolds, the world will be forced to suffer through two major opposing phenomena. Technological development will continue to accelerate, with serious implications for the way we live, work, play, and even eat. At the same time, climate change will be ramping up, causing severe disruptions to the very natural systems humans are dependent on for their survival.

Luckily, there’s an upside to this mess of contradictions. While rising tides and increased drought, storms, wildfires, etc., will be a humanitarian nightmare, they will also pressure us to find solutions. And while the rapid advance of technology will be a constant source of stress, it will also bring about innovation that addresses environmental problems.

It will be a strange time, where the entire world will be caught between surviving and thriving, scarcity and abundance, recession and growth. Nevertheless, the potential for positive change is there and could lead to a whole new era of better living and sustainability.

English Grammar Exercises for B1- Future perfect and future continuous

1. Read the predictions made by Eloise James, a leading campaigner for environmental change. Choose the correct answer.

What does the future hold?

By 2050:

1 many people will have lived / will be living on the moon.

2 the polar ice-caps will be melting / will have melted completely.

3 the temperature on Earth will be rising / will have risen to 40 °C all year round.

4 all marine life will be dying / will have died.

5 We will be eating / will have eaten only processed food.

6 the world population will have increased / will be increasing to 30 billion.

Answer

1 will be living 2 will have melted

3 will have rise 4 will have died

5 will be eating 6 will have increased

2. Complete the text about the future with the future perfect or the future continuous form of the verbs in brackets.

Life in 2050

By 2050, technology will have taken over our lives and there will be no reason for us to leave our houses.

We 1………………… (do) all our shopping on the Internet and instead of visiting friends we 2………………… (chat) to them via our webcams. Many people 3………………… (work) from home in the future too, so cars will no longer be necessary. As for our houses themselves, they 4………………… (grow) in size to incorporate giant solar panels. People 5………………… (throw away) their ovens and kitchen utensils, and robots 6………………… (cook) the family meals.

In 2050, everybody 7………………… (go) to exercise groups in their area to keep fit. The price of beauty treatments 8………………… (fall), so everybody 9………………… (look) good!

Answer

1 ’ll / will be doing 2 ’ll / will be chatting

3 will be working 4 ’ll / will have grown

5 will have thrown away 6 will be cooking

7 will be going 8 will have fallen

Топик по английскому «Жизнь в будущем» (Future Life)

Can you imagine what our lives will be like in the year 2050? Perhaps you will be flying off for a holiday on the moon, or maybe you will be taking your dog for a walk in the virtual reality.

People will make friends through the Internet. What is more, a large number of people will even come across their future husbands or wives in this way! Computers will have become absolutely essential by 2050. Even now, some people describe them as their best friend! Others, however, say that we will become much more isolated from each other because we will have little real human contact.

Education will have changed a lot too. As more and more children will be using computers in schools, certain abilities, such as mental arithmetic will not be necessary since there will be computer programs. Even writing by hand will have become a thing of the past.

According to the survey, home life will be better. Most people believe that by 2050 robots will be doing the housework and we will be eating ready-made food. A lot of people think that we might only cook for fun in the future.

Space exploration will become increasingly popular. Fifty per cent of the people we talked to believe that man will regularly visit Mars. They also believe that travel on our own planet will probably change. Almost everyone thinks that there will be no cars in the city centers. Some even think that environmentally-friendly electric or solar-powered cars will have replaced the cars we use nowadays. Pollution is something that seems to worry many people. Some fear that it will continue to get worse, and that our planet will become impossible to live on. Others even foresee that one day we’ll have to pay for clean air just like we do now for clean water.

On the other hand, people seem to be quite optimistic about the benefits of genetic engineering, as they think scientists will use it to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS. If scientists manage to find a cure for these, we’ll have a much healthier society. Some people worry about the future, while others are full of hope and enthusiasm. No matter how dark or bright it may seem, it is up to us to look after our planet and try to make it a better place to live.

Жизнь в будущем

Можете ли вы себе представить, кокой будет наша жизнь в 2050 году? Возможно, вы будете летать в отпуск на Луну, или, может быть, вы будете выводить собаку на прогулку в виртуальной реальности.

Мы недавно провели опрос 1000 человек из разных стран чтобы выяснить, что они думают о жизни в будущем. Результаты явно показывают наши надежды и страхи. Опрос показывает, что дружба – одно из самых важных человеческих отношений — резко изменится. Люди будут дружить через Интернет. Более того, большое количество людей будут находить своих будущих мужей или жен таким образом! Компьютеры станут абсолютно необходимыми к 2050 году и даже сейчас, некоторые люди описывают их как лучших друзей! Другие, однако, говорят, что мы станем гораздо более изолированы друг от друга, потому что у нас будет мало реальных человеческих контактов.

Образование тоже сильно измениться тоже. Поскольку все больше и больше детей будут использовать компьютеры в школах, некоторые способности, такие как счет, в уме не будут необходимыми, так как будут компьютерные программы. Даже письмо вручную уйдёт в прошлое.

По данным опроса, быт будет лучше. Большинство людей считают, что к 2050 году роботы будут делать всю работу по дому, и мы будем есть готовую еду. Многие люди думают, что мы будем только для удовольствия в будущем.

Освоение космоса будет становиться все более популярным. Пятьдесят процентов людей, которых мы опросили, сказали что человек будет регулярно посещать Марс. Они также считают, что путешествия по нашей собственной планете изменятся. Почти все считают, что не будет никаких автомобилей в городских центрах. Некоторые даже думают, что экологически чистые электрические или на солнечных батареях автомобили заменят автомобили, которые мы используем в настоящее время. Загрязнение является проблемой, которая волнуют многих людей. Некоторые опасаются, что оно будет продолжать ухудшаться, и что наша планета станет невозможной для жизни. Другие даже предвидят, что в один прекрасный день нам придется платить за чистый воздух, как мы делаем сейчас для чистой воды.

С другой стороны, люди, кажется, вполне оптимистично оценивают преимущества генной инженерии. Она будет использовать для лечения таких заболеваний, как рак и СПИД. Если ученым удается найти лекарство для них, мы будем иметь более здоровое общество. Некоторые люди беспокоятся о будущем, а другие полны надежд и энтузиазма. Независимо от того, насколько темным или ярким оно нам кажется, многое зависит от нас. Мы должны заботиться о нашей планете и попытаться сделать её лучшим местом для жизни.

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Robots, drones and virtual reality will be commonplace by 2050 say scientists and futurists

science

ROBOTS, flying cars, space sports and a volatile* environment — these are just some of the predictions science and technology experts and dedicated futurists* are imagining for Earth by the middle of this century.

While 2050 is still 33 years away, at the current rate of technological development things are going to look very different when we get there.

The biggest innovations* expected to change our way of life are artificial intelligence* and machine learning, said renowned futurist Chris Riddell.

The ultimate goal (or ultimate concern, depending who you ask) is to build self-improving artificial intelligence into computers, meaning they learn to act like humans but can learn more and faster because of their artificial ‘brain’.

Already, machines are proving more capable and reliable than humans in a number tasks such as diagnosing disease.

“You won’t have just humans at the top of business by the year 2050,” Mr Riddell said.

Company bosses will likely work alongside a computing system.

CARS AND DRONES

Cars are set for a makeover in years to come with flying cars, drones and driverless technology.

“We’ve already seen how driverless technology is picking up rapidly,” Mr Riddell said.

Well before 2050 he predicts Australian roads will be filled with self-driving cars and people wanting to drive their own vehicle will be required to pay an extra fee for the pleasure.

Shortly after that, he predicted we’ll take to the sky.

“Personal drones will absolutely be a thing by the year 2050,” Mr Riddell said.

The city of Dubai has made plans to use drone taxis to ferry people over the city.

Futurist Chris Riddell and a drone in Melbourne. Picture: Andrew Tauber

And eventually cars and drones will merge.

“What you’ll see eventually is the converging* of the two … you won’t be able to separate cars and drones,” Mr Riddell said.

ONLINE AND OFFLINE BECOME ONE

Virtual reality is a computer-generated simulation of an image or environment that responds, and in the future it will feel even more real.

“What we’re heading to already, very rapidly, is an era where we’re augmenting* our experiences from digital — from the screen — to our offline real world. And those two are going together rapidly,” futurist Mr Riddell said.

“Soon, we won’t be able to tell the difference between virtual and true experiences.”

Men wearing virtual reality goggles. Picture: supplied

One of the major new jobs of the future will be “experience architects” who are able to create tailor-made worlds for us to play in, he said.

“You’ll be able to sit and immerse yourself in a 360 degree football stadium to watch your favourite football match. And you’ll actually be able to feel that experience happening around you.”

ENVIRONMENT AT RISK

By 2050 Australia’s population could reach 40 million people, adding stress to the coastal cities and environment.

Retired professor of science at Griffith University Ian Lowe warned Australia needed to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy or we can expect more extreme weather events.

He said he was concerned population growth and an increase in consumption could have adverse effects on Australia’s natural environment.

“We’re losing biodiversity* at an alarming rate and we simply don’t know what the long term effect of that will be,” he said.

An artist’s impression of what Sydney could look like in 2050. Picture: supplied

Despite growing concern about climate change, Prof Lowe said the future could still be changed with good government policy.

“There is no one preordained* future but a wide range of possible futures and which one happens will be the product of our decisions and actions,” he said.

volatile: frequently and quickly changing

futurists: A person who studies the future and makes predictions on what will happen

artificial intelligence: computer systems able to perform tasks normally done requiring human intelligence

biodiversity: the variety of plant and animal life in the world

preordained: decide or determine an outcome beforehand

LISTEN TO TODAY’S STORY

Activity 1. The world is changing — FAST!

Read or listen to the article carefully then complete these activities.

Make a list of things this article states are likely to become a reality in the future.

Write them into a table and list some advantages and disadvantages to each of these predictions.

Who is predicting these changes?

Why do you think they were quoted?

Why do you think “machines are proving more capable and reliable than humans in a number of tasks’ means?

What are there limitations?

Which of these future technologies would you be most excited to see eventuate?

Write a paragraph or two explaining why you think the technology is a good move forward and how you and other people will benefit from it.

Time: allow 40 minutes to complete this activity

Curriculum links: English, Design and Technology

Activity 2. No more drivers?

If driverless and drone technology continues to improve as predicted it will have a big impact on many employment options.

What jobs currently use drivers that could possibly be replaced by driverless vehicles or drones?

Make a list of jobs that may no longer exist and jobs that could be changed with this technology.

Extension: Rules for the air.

We have very clear and detailed road rules to keep all road users safe.

Think of some rules for the air that might need to be considered to ensure the safety of drones and drone users.

Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity

Curriculum links: English, Design and Technology

(Vocabulary, Connectives, Openers and Punctuation)

Visualise and describe

Visualise a robot or flying car from the future.

Brainstorm adjectives and adverbs to describe each of these objects.

Can you include some alliteration too?

Draw either the robot or flying car.

Label it using some of your descriptions.

Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity

Curriculum Links: English, Big Write and VCOP

Activity provided by Andrell Education www.andrelleducation.com.au

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