Mind officially blown!

     So I was catching up on my Doctor Who last night and I had a thought.  (Yes I do occasionally have those pesky things.)  Once I had it, I pondered it for a second or two and my headparts were officially blown (Metaphorically speaking of course.)  Ready for the thought?  Okay here it is.

"There are people alive today that, barring an actual Extinction Level Event, will be alive when the 22nd Century arrives."

     Now folks, I am old.  Not as old as some, but definitely reaching official Geezer status.  (Damned proud of it too.  Give me my 5% discount and free coffees, damn it!)  When I was a kid, the 21st Century seemed a ridiculous distance away.  I remember when it got here and thinking, "Wow this is something big."  Now I am faced with the knowledge that the 22nd century is coming at us and that people will live long enough to see it that I might be passing on the streets.  (Hells, as a side note here, giving the improvements in health care and meds and given the fact that my family line tends to live a very long time, there is a small, teensy weensy chance that I could live long enough to see it or at least get within spitting distance of it.)

     So I ponder the 22nd century and what these people might see.  I look back at all of the impossible things that have been discovered in just my short 50 years and try to look ahead at what might be discovered and done in the next 50 or so.  

     NASA is currently working on a Fusion Engine that could send people to Mars in a matter of weeks instead of many months.  Several Private Industries are currently building and testing their own manned space vehicles.  Very rich and very powerful people are working on mining precious resources from asteroids and NASA actually wants to lasso one and move it into an Earth Orbit.  

     Researchers are working on MAKING new organs using a 3D printer system.  Others are working on creating fully functioning Artificial Organs (Eyes, pancreas, limbs) that function just as well as the originals.  I could go on and on, but these miracles are happening right here and right now in 2013.  What might we see in 2023 or 2033?  

     The world of man is a dynamic, ever changing place.  Sure we have our setbacks and there are always groups and individuals who would love to hold us back, but in the end, we keep moving forward.  So, just ponder what might happen in the next 50 years, 60 years or 70 years.  I think that if you do, your mind will be officially blown too.

Brew long and prosper.