Before I step into the future, one item about today, COVID-19 booster shots. I've said this a hundred times, at least, but make this perhaps number 101: boosters help keep people out of the hospital.
This was a recent study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association Inter Medicine:
Data from more than 192,000 adults in 13 U.S. states who had been hospitalized this year with this virus between January and April were analyzed.- This was before the BA.5 and BA.4 subvariants took over.
- Even then, UNVACCINATED PEOPLE WERE 10.5 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE HOSPITALIZED THAN PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN FULLY VACCINATED AND BOOSTED (note that this was the original booster).
- How important was that early booster? People who were vaccinated but not boosted were 2.5 times more likely to end up in the hospital than those who had received a booster.
- Note that the second booster did not arrive until after the time period of this analysis. I would hope that this second booster even more protected me.
I looked at my vaccination card, all Moderna:- First dose 6January2021
- Second dose 2March2021
- First booster 16November2021
- Second booster 15April2022
- Thus, I will get a third booster, the one to protect against Omicron BA.5 and BA.4, either later this month, or next month, which would be six months after booster #2. Still collecting evidence of whether it might be more effective to switch to Pfizer or not. At this time, I'm inclined to stick with Moderna.
This JAMA article further went on to say.- 48% of eligible people in the U.S. had received their first booster.
- 80% only received one dose.
- Black and Hispanic patients were less likely to be vaccinated than white patients.
- Clearly, anything less than three is just not too good...but a lot better than no dosage.
- Most of the hospitalized were over 58-years old.
Older people most definitely should keep up with the available vaccination options, and be in line for this fifth shot, which will be that just approved Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 preventive option. Children have not been approved for this latest bivalent shot.
“If you are eligible,” said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky in a recent statement, “there is no bad time to get your COVID-19 booster and I strongly encourage you to receive it.”
She was probably referring to shot #5, that third booster. There are too, too many at zero, and too, too may at only 1 or 2 or 3. Get up to four dosages as soon as legally possible so that you can be protected from these uber contagious BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants.
One more bit of advice regarding LONG COVID:
- Being fully vaccinated best protects from getting COVID-19, where 20% or so are in for the long haul.
- Being fully vaccinated lowers the risk of getting LONG COVID.
Business Insider in 2015 showed 15 ways the world will be terrifying in 2050. Here are just a few:
- Number of people living cities will likely triple.
- The number of people living with dementia will likely triple.
- More than half of the world's population may not have adequate access to water.
- All fish stocks could become extinct.
- Millions could be without food.
- Rain forests could face total annihilation.
- Superbugs could kill 10 million/year. (Keep in mind that this statement was made in 2015, and this COVID pandemic has only killed around 2.5 million/year.)
- Oil could become prohibitively expensive.
In 2014, Business Insider predicted 15 ways the world will be awesome in 2050.
- Child mortality rates will be vastly lower.
- We'll have vaccines and cures for many diseases.
- Humans could live forever as computerized brains.
- There will be no more poor countries.
- Artificial intelligence will be insanely good. (Some worry that it will be insanely bad.)
- We will have the ability to rely almost exclusively on renewable, clean energy.
- Almost all adults will know how to read.
- There may be much less warfare worldwide.
- The internet will reach every corner of the world.
- Artificial body parts could make organ shortages a thing of the past.
- Designer babies could create super humans.
I wondered why they did not say much about climate warming, but it turned out they did, also in 2014, with 22 devastation effects of climate change, which you can read.
Keep in mind that 2050 is only 28 years away, or going back in time those number of years, that was only 1994. That was not long ago, around the time my Blue Revolution was getting active. Earlier this year the Times of India said the following about 2050:
- The world will have a billion more people, and the population of India will exceed that of China.
- 50% of all jobs will be lost to robots.
- One vaccine will be enough to prevent all diseases.
- Nanotechnology will make artificial brain, with the ability to solve problems not possible with a human mind.
- Hydrogen will be the never ending fuel.
- There will be flying cars.
- Holiday destinations will be to the Moon and Mars.
- You will watch and interact with Hologram TV.
- Schools will be digitalized.
- We will find aliens.
Can't say I agree with all them. The World Economic Forum in 2020 speculated on what the world could look like in 2050 if we did everything well.
- There will be a proliferation of trees to save us. (I wonder about this primary option. Read my view on this.)
- Promoted electric vehicles.
- I'll stop here. You can read the rest.
- CNBC provided what 2050 could look like if we don't do anything about climate change.
Here is a 6 minute peek into the future. Another video about the World in 2050. Today, Quantumrun provided predictions for 2050. How many? 390.
I'm kind of a visionary. I've been involved with futurism for most of my professional life. I'll only provide some thoughts about what to expect in 2050, and only in those areas I actually built up some expertise:
- Will the first floating city host the 2050 World Ocean Expo? The cost would be in the range of $150 billion, and a 28 years timeframe would be a supreme challenge. I would be 110 years old to see this happen. I can only hope you will be there to enjoy this celebration.
Will there be commercial or cargo hydrogen flight?- Technology takes a long time to develop.
- A Texas aerospace company in June claimed that they will have a Mach 9 hypersonic plane capable of flying from Los Angeles to Tokyo in one hour. I saw no details on fuel or timeline.
Rinaldo Brutoco's H2 Clipper is a fast dirigible with some promise. The concept is feasible.
- Will the world be 100% renewable energy? Possible, but unlikely. Much of electricity could reach this level, but electricity is only from from 35% to 45% of the problem. What about air flight, etc.?
Will Elon Musk and his cohorts have regular trips to Mars? Very unlikely. For one...what for? One killing accident will end that effort for another century.- Will commercial fusion be prominent?
- Possible, but highly unlikely.
There is a major international project in France to develop magnetic confinement. But the budget keeps expanding ($7 billion to $25 billion, and growing) and problems keep cropping up.
I still have more hope for inertial confinement to be the technology for commercialization. But not much progress at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. I worked there on this effort in the mid-1970's, and left the program because no one knew which laser could do the job. This question remains.
Will dark energy/matter be found and measured? Don't know.- Will contact be made with extraterrestrial intelligence. Don't know.
So why am I so optimistic to title this posting 2050 WILL BE A GREAT YEAR? I'm an optimist.
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