11 Scientific Predictions About The Future That Are Seriously Crazy

The future is terrifying, but also kind of cool?

By
Alex Kasprak
by Alex Kasprak

BuzzFeed Staff

1. Having a humanity-wide party as Earth is narrowly missed by a huge asteroid.

Buena Vista Pictures / Via youtube.com

How long you'd have to live to see it happen: Until March 16, 2880.

Why it might happen: According to super complex calculations, a one-kilometer asteroid named (29075) 1950 DA has less than one percent chance of colliding with Earth during a 20-minute window on March 16, 2880. Luckily there is a more than 99 percent chance that this will not happen, and what better excuse for a party than an apocalyptic near-miss?

2. Watching Mars develop some Saturn-esque rings.

NASA / Alex Kasprak / BuzzFeed

How long you'd have to live to see it: 20-40 million years.

Why it might happen: Mars' moon Phobos is slowly drifting closer to Mars. Scientists predict that instead of it crashing into the planet, it will break apart into countless tiny bits to form rings.

3. Saying "peace" to Saturn's rings.

NASA / Alex Kasprak / BuzzFeed

How long you'd have to live to see it happen: No more than a 100 million years.

Why it might happen: Scientists estimate that, at most, Saturn's rings will last another 100 million years before all of that rocky material is pulverized into nothingness.

4. Being able to low-key creep your way through an archive of ALL HUMAN KNOWLEDGE.

goldenretrieverbailey / Via imgur.com

How long you'd have to live to see it happen: About 300 years.

Why it might happen: Because Google said so, that's why. Back in 2005, then-Google CEO Eric Schmidt made the bold claim that it would take the company about 300 years to "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

5. Traveling to an irresponsibly extravagant work conference on a brand-new Hawaiian Island.

Disney Pixar / Via giphy.com

How long you'd have to live to see it happen: 250,000 years.

Why it might happen: The youngest volcano in the Hawaiian chain of islands and underwater mounds is Lōʻihi, and geologists are confident that as it continues to pile up magma it will slowly rise to the surface to form a new tropical paradise.

6. Grabbing some boss oceanfront realty in what was once Africa's Rift Valley.

ESA / Alex Kasprak / BuzzFeed / Via youtube.com

How long you'd have to live to see it happen: Around 10 million years.

Why it might happen: It's already been happening! As the East African Rift continues to split apart, it will one day be flooded by the Red Sea and divide the whole continent.

7. Actually having longer days to get your shit done.

Yaxim3 / Via reddit.com

How long you'd have to live to see it happen: Depends on how much time you need. Every 100 years the day gets about 1.7 milliseconds longer.

Why it might happen: Because of the Moon! Its gravity tugs on our oceans causing tides which causes a bit of friction. That friction gradually slows our planet's rotation. Days used to be a lot shorter, in fact!

8. Having all of humanity live on one single, massive, badass continent called Pangea Ultima!

Christopher Scotese / Alex Kasprak / BuzzFeed / Via youtube.com

How long you'd have to live to see it happen: About 250 million years.

Why it might happen: Tectonic plates are always forcing continents to and from each other. Scientists generally know how fast everything is moving and where it is headed, too.

9. Seeing Mercury get flung from the Solar System as it narrowly misses Venus.

JunkinVideo / Via youtube.com

How long you'd have to live to see it happen: At least a couple billion years.

Why it might happen: Mercury and Jupiter may have their orbits sync up in such a way that the gravity from Jupiter busts Mercury out of its orbit and into chaos. It could leave the Solar System completely or crash into Venus.

10. Hiking some Himalayan-style Mountains where the Mediterranean Sea used to be.

Thinkstock / Alex Kasprak / BuzzFeed

How long you'd have to live to see it happen: At least 50 million years.

Why it might happen: Plate tectonics! The African Plate is in the process of colliding with the Eurasian Plate and eventually scientists predict a similar continental collision to the one that made the Himalayas.

11. Being around as the Andromeda Galaxy slowly but inevitably collides with our own Milky Way Galaxy.

NASA, ESA, Z. Levay and R. van der Marel (STScI), T. Hallas, and A. Mellinger / Via nature.com

How long you'd have to live to see it happen: Around 4 billion years.

Why it might happen: Because it is definitely headed our way! Why would it be cool? New constellations? A cool view in the night sky? A 10% chance that our solar system will be exiled to "Galactic Siberia" when it happens? Probably all but the last one.

Now we play the waiting game...

Fox / Via youtube.com
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