Things are changing very fast. I think it is safe to say if the human race doesn’t wipe itself out, it won’t be long, relatively speaking, before humans will have the ability to live for hundreds of years. It may not be all humans, only rich ones, but it is almost a surety it will happen. As humans develop longer lives machines will become smarter and human cells will be used in machine brains. Ultimately we could be giving human life to a brain enclosed in a machine body. Instead of the scenario of machines trying to wipe out humans, which we have talked about a lot lately, machines may strive for equality with us. I am talking about intelligent machines of course, not your toaster. It may start out with smart computers, work its way into robotic assistants and then into all intelligent machines including those used on assembly lines and such, if they are given the ability to have a neuron type brain.

How far will something like this go? Some say our homes will be ruled by an intelligent computer which will control every phase of our comfort. The computer will adjust the temperature to what is perfect for us, make our food and even control the robotic assistants if necessary. There will be no more repairmen necessary since the computer will contain all the instructions for repairing everything in our home and if parts are needed it will send for them. The computer will employ one of the robots which act as a butler or maid and have them make the repairs. Want to take a bath? The tub will have water put into it at just the right temperature for us and all we will have to do is get in. Blowers will come on when we are ready to get out and dry us off without the need for towels. The air from the blowers will be set to what we consider ideal. The elderly will be assisted by their personal robot who will help them get in and out of the tub and help them get around the house.

The home will become our headquarters so it will have to be set up perfectly for us, because we will no longer go to a job location. All work will be done at home and we will only work a few hours a day. The reason for this is manual labor will be done by machines and there will not be enough work for everyone if we all worked 8 hours a day. Several governments are experimenting with giving their citizens a guaranteed income and I believe we will see more of this is the future and at some point all governments will have to do this due to lack of work. It may not just be manual labor jobs which will disappear, but in time professional positions also, because as computers become more capable they take over some of the professions such as architecture and medicine.

People will be a lot healthier in the future, because the dreaded diseases of today such as cancer and heart disease will become a thing of the past. The toilet in your home will examine all your waste and constantly be vigilant for problems. Genetic manipulation of babies will eliminate all those genetic diseases we see today. Everybody will have spare parts available grown from their own cells which will not cause rejection if replacements are necessary. We might even be able at some point to keep a supply of our own stem cells which we can apply in some manner if needed. There will be far less injections, because science will use patches coated with what we need. We will have the ability of using new medicines to grow back teeth, fingers and toes if necessary. Electrical problems in our brains which are causing us problems such as Parkinson’s disease will be able to be repaired and it is a possibility some mental illnesses may be able to be cured in the same manner.

Our food supply will change. Today we rely on cattle, pigs, sheep, fish and poultry along with assorted plants to supply most of our food. The cattle and poultry take up a lot of resources to grow. Look for this to change when we begin to produce our meat in laboratories without the need for living animals. This will be better for us and the earth and also be better for the animals which are slaughtered. The prices will drop for this type of meat and it will probably be a lot safer for us to eat. Producing fish this way will save our oceans which are getting depleted of many different types of fish, just as the population of humans on earth is increasing.

Petroleum powered cars will surely be gone in the near future. We have already proved electric cars are better in many ways and once we create the perfect power source for the electric car it will be the end of all other cars for several reasons. The cars will be much cheaper to operate, they will be much less mechanically complex and much faster. With the right computer controlling them we may have roads where these cars will be able to run at far faster speeds using a computer to keep the correct distance between them. Look for smaller planes to also be electrically powered along with public transportation. There is already a Chinese bus being sold to countries all over the world which can go 2.5 miles on a 10 second charge and since a city bus makes far more frequent stops the bus can go forever without needing to be recharged overnight.

We will all be wearing smart clothing in the future. If we get wet, such as from a rain storm, the clothes will dry immediately. If we fall or get hurt and need assistance the clothes will send out a signal for an ambulance. The clothes will even stiffen if they are hit by a flying object or bullet and protect the wearer from harm. The clothes will be able to regulate their temperature and it will no longer be necessary to wear a heavy outer garment in the winter, because the clothes will act like an electric blanket.

Just about everything I talked about here is in the works and not science fiction. People alive in the near future will wonder how we ever lived without what they have.