Below are several things that will have happened by the mid-point of this century both for the good and bad.
Right now, people are focused on AI potentially causing job losses but the reality could be far worse. George Stakhov said, “By 2050, AI will have profoundly(深刻地) reshaped the world. There is a dark AI future where those who control AI will gain huge power, while 99 percent of the population will be disenfranchised(剥夺权利) .The AI lords will control the world’s data and turn the rest of us into their serfs. The alternative is a bright AI scenario, where everyone benefits from AI through better healthcare, faster transport and less pollution.”
Futurist and former Google engineer Ray Kurzweil says that people will merge with machines by 2025. In an event he describes as the “Singularity”, Kurzweil predicts that by 2045, people will connect their brains to machines. “I have set a date for the Singularity in 2045, which is when we will increase our effective intelligence a billionfold by merging with the intelligence we have created.”
Alien-hunting astronomer Seth Shostak bet fellow astronomers that we should find aliens within two dozen years. That means we could be in contact with ET by 2036. Shostak has since doubled down on his prediction, saying that newer measurements suggest there could be billions of Earth-like worlds. That means if the Earth is the only place with life, it’s like a winner in a lottery where the odds are a billion to one. That may be the strongest argument for life in space.
Soaring humidity (湿度) and heat will lead to heatwaves where it is almost impossible for humans to survive outdoors in areas including South Asia, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea. By 2070, this will also be true in areas of Brazil and China. “Wet bulb” temperatures refer to conditions where temperature and humidity are high, making it hard to survive outdoors. Humans can survive temperatures of up to 50℃ when humidity is low, but in high humidity, humans cannot survive because there is no way to cool down by sweating. Even extremely strong and fit people die within hours. Large areas of the Earth might be uninhabitable.
【小题1】What is the dark AI future according to George Stakhov?A.AI will hold power over humans. |
B.Humans will earn a basic low wage. |
C.Humans will have to serve as AI’s masters. |
D.AI will become the owner of the Earth. |
A.Doubtful. | B.Approving. | C.Cautious. | D.Negative. |
A.Heatwaves occur in most areas in the world. |
B.High humidity causes people to sweat a lot. |
C.Huge areas of the Earth might be uninhabitable. |
D.People can’t live in low humidity for a long time. |
What will our world be like in 2050?
There are two features in the growth of world population. First, the annual increase in population in 15 European countries, in the past few years, has been only 300,000. The United Nations estimates (估计)that by 2050, the population of European countries will decrease from the current 0.72 billion to 0.63 billion. Second, the population in developing countries is growing rapidly. By 2050,the population of Africa is expected to reach 1.8 billion, 0.9 billion more than its current population.
A recent research report published by the United Nations indicates that it is quite possible that the Earth's temperature is rising well above the previous estimate. The Antarctic ice sheet, which contains 90% of the world's ice, has lost significant mass in the past few years. The discovery comes as a surprise to scientists, who thought that the continent would gain ice this century because of increased snowfall in a warming climate. A research team from the University of Colorado used satellite data to estimate that the ice sheet will lose up to 48 cubic miles by 2050.
Africa's rivers face great change that will leave a quarter of the continent severely short of water by the middle of the century, according to a global warming study published today. Even modest decreases in rain in western Africa will see rivers lose as much as 80% of their water and a rise of what the scientists call "water refuges(难民)”. "In those areas where there is already a water shortage, it's going to have a destructive effect," the study says,.“If you're already walking 5 km to the nearest stream, by 2050,it's going to mean walking 30 km or moving your whole household closer to the water source."
【小题1】Which of the following situations in 2050 is NOT mentioned in the text?A.Population change. |
B.Economic decline. |
C.Global warming. |
D.Water shortage. |
A.The Antarctic ice sheet has decreased. |
B.The Earth's temperature is going down. |
C.Global warming is destroying the Earth. |
D.Snowfall increases in the Antarctic area. |
A.The ill fate of Africa's rivers. |
B.The importance of doing exercise. |
C.The hard life of the African refugees. |
D.The seriousness of the water problem. |
A.Happy. |
B.Angry. |
C.Worried. |
D.Calm. |
For years, planet-hunters have been searching for a planet other than Earth that can support life. They may have found one.
The planet is the sixth found orbiting a star called Gliese 581. Steven Vogt, one of the scientists involved, expects the new planet to have water. On Earth, when we find water, we find life.
A planet that can support life has to be just the right size for its system and just the right distance from its star. Some planets orbit so close to their stars that they’re much too hot for liquid water—or for life as we know it.
But a right-sized planet that's neither too close nor too far might be just right for water. Gliese 581 is probably just right. It is about three times as huge as Earth.
The new planet is 20 light years away, which is as far as 250 million trips to the Moon and back.
Gliese 581 is an exciting discovery—and astronomers are likely to find more soon, thanks to new, powerful telescopes specifically designed to look for planets.
A.We can’t travel at the speed of light. |
B.It’s pretty hard to imagine that water wouldn't be there. |
C.Human beings won’t be visiting this planet any time soon. |
D.So scientists looking for life on other planets look for water first. |
E.It orbits its star so closely that it goes all the way around in only 37 days. |
F.Astronomers will probably find more potential life-supporting planets soon. |
G.Other planets keep their distance from the stars—where they’re too cold to have water or life. |
Experts say farmers will need to produce about 70 percent more food by the middle of the century. They predict that 9 billion people will need to be fed worldwide by 2050. The prediction means experts will need to develop more effective farming methods that cause less harm to the environment to produce more food. Experts say living things called bacteria could help achieve that goal. A bacterium is an organism.It is so small that it can be seen only with a microscope.
Researchers are finding extremely small organisms in the ground. One gram of soil contains between 100 million and one billion bacteria. Bacteria are taking part in a healthy ex- change with the plants that share the soil. Around plant roots, bacteria change chemicals in the air and soil into food for the plants. The bacteria include the material known as fungi(真菌). Some bacteria act as bodyguards. They produce anti-bodies and other chemicals to fight harmful bacteria.
Plants make sugar through a process called photosynthesis (光合作用).This happens when a plant receiving light changes water and carbon dioxide into food. Much of the sugar is pumped down through the roots. There, it is turned into sugar-based food and released into the soil. That is done to get bacteria to help the plants grow better. Some of the organisms turn chemicals in the air and soil into food that the plants can eat.
The biosciences company Novozymes already sells one kind of fungi. It has found a way to produce it in very large quantities and offer it to farmers as.a bio-pesticide (生物农药).A bio-pesticide protects crops from animals and bacteria. If so, farmers can harvest more crops.
【小题1】What do the experts’ statistics in paragraph 1 show?A.Bacteria have a good effect on farming. |
B.There will be more harmful bacteria in 2050. |
C.There's no need to worry about the problem of future food. |
D.More food will be needed to feed more people in the future. |
A.Bacteria can't live without plants. | B.Plants get benefit from bacteria . |
C.They make sugar cooperatively. | D.They compete for more sunshine. |
A.It sells crops and animals. |
B.It beautifies the environment. |
C.It provides farmers with materials free of charge. |
D.It produces fungi as a bio-pesticide. |
A.Crops of High Quality Need Developing |
B.Bacteria May Help Meet Food Needs of the Future |
C.A Large Quantity of Farmland Should Be Improved |
D.Diseases and Pests Can Be Controlled in the Future |
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