Did you know that the famous inventor Nikola Tesla once thought that people in the 21st century would stop drinking coffee? Hi, I’m Erin McCarthy, editor-in-chief of Mental Floss. In a 1935 article, Tesla predicted that people would avoid what he considered harmful stimulants like caffeine and nicotine. However, he believed alcohol would remain popular, calling it an “elixir of life.” Depending on which scientific studies you look at, he might have been somewhat right about alcohol.
Tesla also thought that newspapers in the 21st century would focus less on crime and politics and more on scientific discoveries. Another interesting prediction was about food. In 1952, science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein suggested that fish and yeast would be our main protein sources, with beef becoming a luxury. Isaac Asimov, another famous writer, imagined that by 2014, we would have algae-based foods like mock turkey and pseudo steak. While we don’t eat algae burgers, the idea of plant-based meat isn’t too far off!
In 1900, Jarnell Fourth Watkins Jr. predicted that fruits and vegetables would grow to enormous sizes, like strawberries as big as apples. He also thought we’d change the English language by removing letters like C, X, and Q, spelling words only by their sounds. Although this didn’t happen, there were efforts to simplify spelling in the past.
In 1910, a newspaper predicted that people would be able to make it rain. Today, we have a process called cloud seeding, which involves adding particles to clouds to encourage rain, but it’s not very reliable. In 1950, Valdemar Campfer imagined that we could stop hurricanes by setting large fires on the ocean. These ideas were quite ambitious!
Isaac Asimov also envisioned underground cities with advanced lighting to mimic the outdoors, while the Earth’s surface would be used for farming and parks. Although we don’t live underground, New York is planning an underground park called the Lowline.
Early 20th-century French artists imagined a future full of air travel, with personal airplanes for everyone. In 1930, Frederick Edwin Smith thought we might build a canal to bring water to the Sahara Desert, creating a new fertile area. He also predicted that people would simplify their wardrobes to just three outfits for different occasions.
Robert Heinlein imagined a future where people wouldn’t wear much clothing at all, except around strangers and conservative family members. He also thought the United States might eliminate state lines, and cities like Boston and Washington D.C. would merge into one giant city. While this hasn’t happened, the population in that area has grown significantly.
Benjamin Franklin once speculated that people might live as long as biblical figures in the future. Heinlein imagined nursing homes on the moon to slow aging due to lower gravity. He also dreamed of a machine that would automatically clean houses, with everything made from easy-to-clean materials. While we don’t have these machines yet, these ideas have inspired a style called retro-futurism.
In 1950, an article predicted that we would have a man-made star in space by the year 2000. It also imagined four-dimensional movie theaters with immersive experiences. While we don’t have stars in space, we do have amazing technology that brings us closer to these futuristic ideas.
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Choose one of the predictions mentioned in the article and prepare a short presentation arguing whether it was a realistic prediction or not. Use evidence from current technology and societal trends to support your argument. Present your findings to the class and engage in a discussion about the feasibility of these predictions.
Research and create a simple recipe using alternative protein sources like algae or plant-based meat. Prepare the dish at home and share your experience with the class. Discuss how these alternatives compare to traditional protein sources and what impact they might have on the future of food.
Imagine you are living in the year 2100. Write a short story or draw a comic strip depicting a day in your life, incorporating at least three futuristic concepts or technologies. Share your creation with the class and explain how these ideas could improve or complicate daily life.
Research the concept of cloud seeding and other weather modification techniques. Conduct a simple experiment to demonstrate how particles can affect water condensation. Present your findings and discuss the ethical and environmental implications of controlling the weather.
Explore how language has evolved over time and predict how it might change in the future. Create a new alphabet or set of spelling rules that simplify English. Present your new language system to the class and discuss the potential benefits and challenges of implementing such changes.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Did you know that Nikola Tesla thought people would no longer drink coffee in the 21st century? Hi, I’m Erin McCarthy, editor-in-chief of Mental Floss. In a 1935 article in Liberty magazine, Tesla predicted that it simply wouldn’t be appealing to consume what he considered harmful stimulants like caffeine and nicotine. He believed that alcohol, on the other hand, would withstand the tests of time, calling it an “elixir of life.” Depending on which scientific studies you believe, he was somewhat right about that.
Tesla also misjudged what we would consider headline news in the 21st century, predicting that newspapers would give minimal attention to accounts of crime or political controversies. He thought the front pages would mostly cover scientific hypotheses.
There was also speculation in the past that meat would be much less common in our time. In a 1952 issue of Galaxy magazine, science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein suggested that fish and yeast would be our main sources of protein, with beef becoming a luxury. Isaac Asimov, another famous science fiction writer, took it even further in 1964, imagining that the 2014 World’s Fair would feature an algae bar with mock turkey and pseudo steak, suggesting that it wouldn’t be bad if you could afford the premium prices. So, I guess the Impossible Burger wasn’t entirely impossible to predict, although it doesn’t contain algae.
Others thought our food content would remain the same but that its scale would change dramatically. In 1900, Jarnell Fourth Watkins Jr. wrote in the Ladies’ Home Journal that we’d sink our teeth into strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries as large as apples, and peas and beans would be as big as beets. Why would anyone want to eat beets, you ask? Beats me!
If you think Watkins Jr. was prone to exaggeration, it was nothing compared to a prediction made by George Service in a 1956 article from the Independent Press-Telegram magazine. Service imagined a farm in the year 2000 where hydrogen bombs caused the soil to produce three-foot-long carrots, four-foot-wide turnips, and basketball-sized tomatoes. Watkins Jr. also believed we’d completely eliminate the letters C, X, and Q, with spelling based solely on sound.
As crazy as this may seem, Benjamin Franklin and Noah Webster had advocated for spelling reform in the 18th and 19th centuries. Just six years after Watkins Jr. published his predictions, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie created the Simplified Spelling Board to revamp the English language. Despite then-President Theodore Roosevelt’s best efforts, spelling remains largely unsimplified today.
On January 6, 1910, Iowa’s Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette published an article predicting that people would be able to make it rain within the next century. We can kind of do this through a process called cloud seeding, where silver iodide particles are injected into clouds to form precipitation. However, its effectiveness is debated, and it’s still a far cry from what futurists thought we’d achieve by the 21st century.
In a 1950 article from Popular Mechanics, Valdemar Campfer imagined that hurricanes would be a non-issue by the year 2000. He thought we could ignite a large oil fire across the ocean to divert storms, putting an end to flight delays. If only it were that simple! Other fantasies of controlling the weather were even more vague. In 1900, a German chocolate company released a series of illustrated cards with its best 21st-century predictions, one depicting a weather machine simply blowing a storm back over the ocean.
Isaac Asimov envisioned vast underground cities where advanced light technology could mimic outdoor ambiance, while the Earth’s surface would be used for agriculture, grazing grounds, and parks. He was a bit off the mark, but an underground park dubbed the Lowline is set to debut in New York next year. Asimov also thought we could be living underwater by the early 2000s, which would appeal to those who enjoy water sports.
Between 1899 and 1910, French artist Jean-Marc Côté and his contemporaries produced nearly a hundred fanciful illustrations of the year 2000. One depicted deep-sea divers riding giant sea horses, while another showed a whale pulling a bus full of people through the sea. Côté and his fellow artists might be disappointed if they knew we weren’t spending all our free time underwater, but they’d probably give Aquaman a five-star review.
Those early 20th-century French illustrations were big on air travel, showing every type of aircraft imaginable. Many people predicted a future where air travel would be the primary mode of transportation, likely influenced by the Wright brothers’ first flight in 1903. In 1930, Frederick Edwin Smith, a former Lord Chancellor of Britain, published a book imagining that each person would own a small airplane for weekend trips.
Smith also thought we might build a canal to funnel water from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sahara Desert, creating a new Riviera with fertile charm. By 2030, he hoped that people would have revolted against what he considered excessively complicated clothing, opting for just three simple outfits: one for work, one for recreation, and a third for formal occasions.
Robert Heinlein thought clothing would be on the outs altogether, suggesting that covering up would be reserved for strangers and conservative family members. He imagined that by the 1990s, the United States would have passed a constitutional amendment abolishing state lines. Asimov thought that Boston, Washington D.C., and the area in between would merge into one giant city with a population of over 40 million people. While that hasn’t happened, the population of the Boston to Washington corridor did reach around 50 million in 2010.
You’ve likely seen moving sidewalks in airports and train stations, but they never became as popular as people expected. The first one debuted at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago and still holds the Guinness World Record for the longest moving walkway. Subsequent attempts to install them in cities like New York and Los Angeles failed due to maintenance concerns and inefficiency.
In a 1788 letter to Reverend John Lothrop, Benjamin Franklin shared his theory that within a few centuries, we’d be living as long as the biblical patriarchs. He didn’t speculate on what a 900-year-old person might look like, but Heinlein imagined that nursing homes on the moon could slow signs of aging due to the moon’s lower gravity.
Heinlein also dreamed up a machine called a whirlwind that would automatically whisk dust out of the house. He predicted that everything from furniture to drapes would be made from synthetic fabric or waterproof plastic, allowing for easy cleaning. While we may not have automatic cleaning machines yet, these ambitious predictions have inspired an artistic style known as retro-futurism.
An Associated Press article from 1950 boldly claimed that we’d have our first man-made star in space by the year 2000. It described a spaceship that would orbit the Earth, which is a bit confusing since a star and a spaceship are quite different. The article also anticipated four-dimensional dome-shaped movie theaters with immersive experiences.
Our next episode will cover strange crimes you might be committing. Comment below with your favorite silly law for a chance to be featured in that episode, which will be out on February 19th. Subscribe here so you don’t miss it. We’ll see you then!
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Let me know if you need any further modifications!
Predictions – Statements about what will happen in the future based on current evidence or trends. – Scientists make predictions about climate change by studying patterns in weather data.
Science – The systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. – In science class, we learned about the laws of motion and how they apply to everyday life.
Food – Any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink to maintain life and growth. – The development of agriculture allowed ancient civilizations to produce surplus food, leading to population growth.
Weather – The state of the atmosphere at a place and time, including temperature, humidity, and precipitation. – Meteorologists use satellites to monitor weather patterns and provide forecasts.
Cities – Large human settlements typically characterized by extensive infrastructure and a high population density. – Ancient cities like Rome and Athens were centers of culture and political power.
Transportation – The movement of people or goods from one place to another using vehicles or other means. – The invention of the steam engine revolutionized transportation during the Industrial Revolution.
Clothing – Garments worn on the body for protection, comfort, or fashion. – In history, clothing styles have often reflected the technological advancements and cultural values of a society.
Machines – Devices that use energy to perform a task or function, often reducing human effort. – The invention of machines like the spinning jenny greatly increased textile production during the Industrial Revolution.
Space – The vast, seemingly infinite expanse that exists beyond Earth’s atmosphere, where stars and planets are located. – The launch of the Hubble Space Telescope has allowed scientists to explore distant galaxies.
Entertainment – Activities or performances designed to amuse or engage an audience. – In ancient Rome, gladiator games were a popular form of entertainment for the public.
