2015 is upon us and it's no secret that we have yet to drive flying cars, ride hover boards, or wear our pockets inside out like Back to the Future Part II suggested we would. In fact, many classic science fiction movies seemed to have gotten the future wrong from what we know. However, 2014 was the host of some groundbreaking scientific breakthroughs and discoveries. To celebrate, here are 5 amazing things that happened in 2014 and how they may have proven some of films' wildest futuristic predictions correct.
1. Cancer-Free Society
Cancer has been an ugly shadow that seems to grow every year, so naturally, many films have portrayed a future in which cancer is cured. The 2013 film Elysium portrays the year 2154 as one where humans can jump in a machine that looks like a tanning bed and be rid of all diseases. While this may seem far-fetched, even in a film set nearly 150 years into the future, scientists may have made a step toward Elysium's ideas. In January of 2014, Cornell scientists made a breakthrough in which they figured out a way to attach cancer-killing proteins to white blood cells to prevent the spread of cancer through the bloodstream. As it stands, it is largely unlikely for someone who has been diagnosed with cancer to get rid of it for good; however, if this ability to prevent the spread of cancer cells within the blood canals can be harnessed, a huge obstacle toward the inevitable spread of cancer could be developed and greatly reduce the amounts of cancer-related deaths. Will this cancer-killing method be consolidated into a personal machine? Who knows? But the important thing is that a world without cancer may come sooner than we think.
2. Neuralizers
The Men in Black film series has made over $1.6 million over the span of three films in 15 years so, naturally, many of the ideas presented in the movies have integrated their way into popular culture; perhaps the best example of this is the neuralizer. In the movies, the neuralizer can erase someone's memory with the flash of a little red light, thus making it easier for the Men in Black to keep their presence unknown to those they interact with. Cool? Absolutely. Impossible? Maybe not. In June, scientists successfully erased the memory of genetically-modified rats by means of a flash of light. Then they took it a step further and restored the memory that they had erased — even the Men in Black couldn't do that! Now, granted, we're just talking rats here, and yes, they were genetically-modified in some way that I'll probably never understand. But a lot of things that have worked on rats have ended up working on people. Before you know it, neuralizers may be more than just movie memorabilia.
3. "Hypersleep"
Almost every movie that deals with space travel since the beginning of time has suggested the possibility of "hyper sleep." This is basically the ability for humans in space travel to enter some sort of pod and go into a deep sleep in which they would not have a perception of time nor the need for food, water, etc. Planet of the Apes showed people this in 1968, and we saw it in Interstellar just a couple of months ago. While this seems ridiculous, a NASA study in October discovered a method of deep sleep called "torpor," in which astronauts' basic metabolic functions would be reduced for the purposes of long-distance space travel. Essentially, lots of time could pass without a person having the need to function as normal. While the goal of the study was to determine the feasibility of travel to Mars, if this idea is expanded upon, the concept of hyper sleep may not be as far-fetched as it seems, and space travel to places way beyond Mars may be possible for astronauts.
4. Riding Comets
What movie that deals with futuristic space travel doesn't show some sort of threat from comets or meteors? There's a chase through a meteor ring in one of the Star Wars movies. The whole plot of Armageddon revolves around a comet threatening to hit the Earth. And what do the main characters do in these movies when comets are threatening them? They land on them.
Obviously, comets are rocks that are hurdling through space, so this is a stupid idea, right? Wrong. In November, the Philae probe managed to successfully land on a comet 310 million miles away from Earth. Unfortunately, the probe lost power and that really was the extent of the mission, but the important thing is that it landed. All of a sudden, the idea in Armageddon that a team of astronauts could land on a comet to detonate it and save the world doesn't seem so stupid.
5. Human-Looking Terminators
Everyone knows The Terminator. It's one of the definitive movies that deals with the future and also presents some of the craziest futuristic ideas. The original movie suggests that by 2018, the world becomes a huge nuclear mess in which machines that look like Arnold Schwarzenegger can be sent back in time to kill people from the present. The craziest part about that last sentence is that it may actually soon be possible; yes, robots that look like Arnold Schwarzenegger could be a thing. In April, scientists successfully cloned the embryonic skin cells of two adult men. I realize that that's a far cry from creating a full-sized robot skin suit, but if skin cell cloning continues advancing, it seems possible that enough skin cells could be cloned to form an entire man-made skin organ. And what else would you do with a full skin that you've cloned besides dress up robots in it?
