| Politically, the nations of the world
will become more tightly integrated because of rapidly improving
telecommunications and transportation. A global culture will develop rapidly as
the nations colonize each other. The emerging global culture will pick and
choose its clothing style, culinary (烹饪用的) specialties, drinks, games, sports,
customs, and other cultural artifacts from countries everywhere. A network of superhighways will link up the nations of Asia, Europe, and Africa Macroengineers now are talking enthusiastically about a tunnel under the Mediterranean at Gibraltar (直布罗陀) to link Europe with Africa. Construction might start early in the twenty-first century, but financing such a project poses a major challenge. Meanwhile, superhighways will crisscross the Eurasian land mass, allowing residents of Shanghai and Hong Kong to drive comfortably and rapidly to Paris, Rome, and Stockholm. Travelers in a hurry will, of course, still prefer to fly, especially over long distances. Space-planes should be in service within the next 20 years, making flights from Tokyo to New York in only a couple of hours. On the ground, high-speed maglev trains (磁悬浮火车) will whisk passengers to their destinations. Humans will push out the frontiers of human settlement in all directions. The moon will acquire its first permanent base, and perhaps the first Lunarians (月球居民) will be born. The human population living in space will rise steadily, as manufacturing develops abroad spacecraft and the resources of asteroids (小行星) are explored. Advancing technology will also solve many of the problems of living and working in unfriendly environments on Earth, so the population of Antarctica and the polar regions will climb steadily. The forbidding Himalaya Mountains may experience a development boom, including, perhaps, luxury hotels for tourists on once-forbidding Mount Everest. The pace of ocean development will speed up. Ocean farming will become increasingly attractive as food prices rise. Studies have shown that the biological productivity of the ocean can be greatly increased by adding certain chemicals. An "ocean rush" could develop, and coastal nations with extensive ocean claims stand to benefit. However, conflicts between nations over ocean resources will likely intensify. |