What will we be working on in twenty years? A report by the British consultancy Fast Future, specialized in detecting trends, has consulted hundreds of experts from around the world to identifythe most promising professions scientists and technologists will pursue in 2030. These are some of them:
1 / Weather modification police.Bomb theclouds with silver iodide to produce rainIt is a practice that has already been carried out in a specific way in several countries, and that in the future could become common. But although there is no doubt about its effectiveness in combating drought, artificial rain poses a serious dilemma: it is difficult to control its consequences on the atmosphere, as well as its negative effects on the climate of other regions. Hence, the creation of a police force seems foreseeable that, advised by climatologists, grant the necessary licenses to carry out this type of activities, inspect their development to ensure that they are carried out within the legal limits, andhunt down “climate terrorists”and silver iodide smugglers, among other possible new criminals.
2 / Surgeon to increase human memory.The human brain has around 100,000 million neurons, each of which establishes at least a thousand connections with neighboring cells. This implies that our data storage capacity is around 2.5 petabytes. If in the future life expectancy increases and the amount of information we accumulate exceeds these limits, new neurosurgeons will come to our aid toimplant “extra” memory chips in the brain. To fill this position, in addition to training in anatomy and neuroscience, they will need notions about computer security, and they will use firewalls and antivirus to protect the “memory extensions” of their patients. In order to control its activity, it is foreseeable that an organism will be created, the Neurological Augmentation Commission, which must give its approval before an intervention is carried out.
3 / Developer of alternative vehicles.“In little more than 20 years, cars will run on alternative fuels, they will be driven automatically by means of navigation systems and will be designed to transport robots that will be in charge of caring for a population that will reach 130 years of age.” It is the forecast that emerges from the report “The World in the Year 2030”, made by the futurologist and writer Ray Hammond. And it seems that nothing is wrong. In countries such as Sweden, for example, they have already announced that gasoline cars will be banned in 2030. To produce the cars that will circulate on our roads in two decades will needengineers and industrial designers who know the peculiarities of new fuels such as biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen …And of course, the technology of electric vehicles. In the bodies they will work with carbon fiber reinforced plastics, which will make it possible to have much lighter cars. Some vehicles mayself-pilot, and others will not only travel at ground level but also through the air. A future without pollution and without traffic jams? Everything is possible.
4 / “Garbage” data manipulator.Knowledge may not take place, but information does. And in many cases the computer equipment that we handle at home and in the office, even the gadgets that we carry, accumulate data that, in reality, is of little use to us.Find and eliminate the bits of information that are left overwill be the mission of these future professionals. His job will consist of developing applications for a scheduled and periodic cleaning of “junk” data (cookies, electronic transaction records, duplicate files …), as well as offering personalized advice on what information is dispensable and the implications of storing it.
