Watch: What will humans look like in 1,000 years?

13 Nov 2015

There is no way we will look like we currently do at the end of this millennium, with a changing climate, culture, diet and medical tool kit shifting the ground beneath our feet this very moment. But, what will humans look like in the year 3,000?

Darwin’s theory of evolution is an incredibly simple, basic, colour-by-numbers approach to evaluating why species of today exist today.

Survival of the fittest, at its most basic premise, can still, though, confuse so many people.

Even those words throw up odd misconceptions. Does fittest mean those who can run fastest? The strongest? The smartest?

Well, no. The best way to grasp the concept is using the word fit, rather than fittest. Whoever fits, continues. If a species fits into its environment, it will prosper further than one that does not.

Whichever species fits best, therefore, prospers more. But what of humanity?

Human evolution gathering steam?

In the past 150 years we have, on average, grown 10cm, and we live 20 years longer. That alone is a huge paradigm shift for our species, elongating our lifespan by a third in an incredibly short space of time.

Science has driven this, with medicine, diet and education making for a far healthier species.

So what will become of us in the future? Well, the guys over at AsapSCIENCE have put their minds to it with the help of National Geographic’s latest science show, Breakthrough, which started this month.

The computer age dominates their thinking, with AsapSCIENCE suggesting the world’s 7,000 global languages will reduce to around 100, we’ll all be tall and skinny and, yep, no more need for fake tans as skin tones darken to adapt to the sun’s beaming rays.

Transhumanism, nanobots, mutations and more abound, there are even some nice illustrations to boot – it’s well worth a watch.

Gigglebit is Siliconrepublic.com’s daily dose of the funny and fantastic in science and tech, to help start your day on a lighter note.

Gordon Hunt was a journalist with Silicon Republic

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