Thursday, October 22, 2015

How About It, Future?



So, I guess now, we just look forward to April 5, 2063


It's really the only thing left.  A little sad, really.  


So, today is October 22, 2015.  I'm sure you've heard about this recently, but as of today, the entirety of the events in the "Back to the Future" trilogy have occurred in the past.  No, we don't have shoes with power laces, we don't quite have hoverboards (with water functionality or otherwise), and we don't have home nuclear fusion reactors that run on banana peels.  Also, the Cubs won't be winning the World Series.  

So what's next?  Now that we've looked forward at this vision of the future and have been left with nothing but disappointment, what future event can we look forward to?  

It seems obvious, really.  

NASA came out last week and showed evidence of some large object blocking the light coming from a distant star.  The star in question, named "KIC 8462852" (I propose renaming it to "Jeremy", but ball's in your court, NASA) has been under watch by scientists for 6 years.  During that time, we have seen the light from that star being interrupted on a far more irregular basis and by a far more significant basis than any planet would produce.  As time goes by, this may very well be the first significant evidence we've discovered of life outside of earth.  

April 5, 2063 is the day that humans successfully first achieve faster-than-light travel, thus resulting in First Contact with the Vulcan species.  I mean...canonically.  So it seems pretty clear that we have 47 years, 5 months and 14 days to get our act together as a species.  We'll also be keeping a close eye on anyone with the surname Cochrane to name their child Zefram. 

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