Humankind has come a long way since we came down from the trees. We’ve developed language, writing, and civilization in general.
We can now trace our evolution through the skeletons of our ancestors that we’ve discovered. That doesn’t mean we’ve stopped evolving, though. It’s just hard to see how we’re changing from a single point in time. Here are some possible ways humankind will change in the next thousand years.
1. Bionics
Bionics sound like something from the distant future, but we are already familiar with pacemakers, hearing aids, and contact lenses.
As medical equipment becomes more sophisticated and computerized, humans will likely take advantage of it in multiple ways.
2. CRISPR Gene Editing
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (or the much easier to pronounce CRISPR) is a system for editing genes.
This tool allows scientists to modify a person’s genes so that mutations do not cause diseases.
3. Martian Mutations
It sounds like science fiction, but if we send people to Mars, we should see evolution specific to the Martian habitat. This sounds a little crazy, but hear us out.
It would take hundreds of years or longer, but in time we would start to see major changes. Just like Darwin’s finches, we would begin to adapt to new circumstances as generations passed.
4. Immortality?
The strangest change of all could be the ability to live forever. At this moment, researchers in Italy and China are transplanting heads on mice and other animals. A Chinese doctor successfully transplanted the head of a monkey onto another monkey’s body and kept it alive for 20 hours (it was euthanized for ethical reasons, but could have lived longer).
The goal of these experiments is to determine if consciousness can be transferred with the head from one body to another. An Italian doctor plans to attempt a head transplant on a human being in the coming year.
It may sound unbelievable, but neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero hopes to transplant Valery Spiridonov’s head onto a donor’s body. The Russian patient has a terminal illness that will likely kill him if the operation does not take place.
5. Greater Height
Humans have steadily increased in height over the past 130 years. The three inches we’ve gained may not seem dramatic, but that’s a fast pace for evolution, which usually crawls along more slowly.
But there’s a catch. Some experts do not agree that our height increase is due to evolution. Many researchers believe that improved childhood nutrition is the primary factor in our becoming taller.
No one knows what humans will look like in 1,000 years.
Chances are that we’ll be recognizable physically even if our culture and customs are completely changed. The below video examines some of the potential changes that could be heading our way.
