FUTURE TRANSPORTATION, AGING VILLAGE .... WORLD

Future transportation has continued to intrigue me since my previous post explored developments around the world.   I’m curious about these vehicles from the standpoint of what an older population would enjoy using.  Some adaptations to enhance their safety and provide more comfort would be desired by me. 

For example, those electric scooters I first mentioned previously HERE

are proliferating as are more companies manufacturing them reported HERE.

So what features would we older folks want in order to make them more viable for our use?   I would desire a stability for balance beyond that provided by two wheels, also a seat. 

Paul Drecksler at "Travel Is Life" has featured videos of some more personal transportation vehicles that can be purchased.   How many will become more common possessions in the future remains to be seen.  Obviously, many of these are not likely to be sought after by older folks, but some might be attractive.   Cost viability is another matter that might put such vehicles low on the acquisition list for many. 

I have periodically seen in my community some older riders – one on a three-wheel bike, another on an electric bike.   I’ve been interested in reading about folding bikes and the convenience those could provide with some described HERE

Tesla cars that Elon Musk’s company produces are frequently featured in the news, but he has many irons in the fire producing also vehicles to carry us in to space.  I see one of his cars frequently plugged into a charging station behind the owner’s business.   I also think I saw one of those ELF solar powered cars on one of our residential streets. 

Two vehicles that I could have enjoyed owning but are impractical at this stage in my life are the Icon Sports Aircraft, the Helicycle, but might have been only on a wish list.   I like the idea of a solar powered car, especially where I live in Southern California, but might be nice if it had seating for two. 

Have you seen any of these so-called futuristic vehicles where you live or travel? 

Are there any of these vehicles that you would use, or would if they had what added features?

Speaking of travel ..... how about a trip to Switzerland’s smallest community – Corripo, Ticino!  There are only 12 residents but they want to rejuvenate the town by turning it into a scattered hotel.   Clara Lanini, 76, visiting her brother there says, “Everybody here is old – in their eighties, nineties – everyone’s old!”  She moved away fifty years ago.   Maybe we can't move away from aging.

Didn't I read somewhere that the world population is aging -- NIH:

"The global population of the “oldest old” — people aged 80 and older — is expected to more than triple between 2015 and 2050, growing from 126.5 million to 446.6 million. The oldest old population in some Asian and Latin American countries is predicted to quadruple by 2050."

PRESIDENTIAL RESPECT -- FUTURE -- UNIQUE TRANSPORT

The past week’s events have focused my attention on truly significant matters in our nation’s life. The process of paying tribute to a former President following his death made me keenly aware of contrasts between our government leadership now and then.   

This now deceased leader and his political party then was one that could be respected, whether or not his governing actions were agreeable to all.   His life reminded me of our nation’s values and the need we have now for  .....

– a leader with some sense of honesty

– a leader capable of civility while demonstrating ethical and moral behavior

– a leader determined to maintain our individual freedoms

– a leader dedicated to preserving our democracy. 

***

Looking to a better future with a different more capable competent U.S. leader, I’m intrigued with ideas that may become reality.  I find myself wondering if they will develop in my lifetime?   What will everyday life become in a decade or so after I depart this consciousness?

One such progressive area is transportation which is certainly of interest to those of us in Southern California’s Los Angeles area with all our traffic and congested freeways.  What succeeds here will expand elsewhere and benefit from others creations.  Following are “five futuristic transport modes” featured at Raconteur with visual and more detailed information about their current developmental status – closer to reality than might be thought.     

1.  Hyperloop –

“Travelers would go to what's called a portal, which will likely be first in transit hubs of major cities before spreading outward to smaller ones. There, they will enter a large tube and board a pod inside of it with 15 to 30 others.”  People will be transported at 600 mph as reported for Virgin Hyperloop at CNBC.

This travel mode reminds me of a pneumatic vacuum tube that fascinated me when I was a young girl.  Our local J. C. Penny store had such a system in their several story building.  When we paid for our purchase – always cash as this was long before credit cards – our money was placed in a tube to whoosh up a vacuum track to an office where the transaction was processed, receipt and all due inserted in the tube, then whooshed back down to our clerk who returned any change to us. 

2.  Autonomous Helicopters --

“There are more than 40 smallish vertical take-off and landing aircraft, most of them electrically powered, known as eVTOLs, at various stages of development. Some are the progeny of major aircraft makers...Airbus.”

Lilium is a competitor in Germany.   Uber has expressed interest with Brazillian planemaker Embraer with their vision of Flying Taxis. 

3.   Super-trains –

These trains have been running since 1984 on a magnetic levitation (maglev) technology but are being considered in “...transport networks across the world.  A 2015 Japanese maglev train reached speeds of just over 600km/h, but researchers at China’s Southwest Jiaotong University are testing an ultra-fast bullet train prototype, based on maglev technology, that could potentially reach speeds of up to 1,000km/h.”

Such a system is being proposed from Washington to New York.  

4.  Elevated Cycle Paths –

These paths for e-bike cycling “could reduce congestion on highways, with the southeast Chinese city of Xiamen constructing the world’s longest elevated cycling path last year.”  There are only a few of these paths but that may change.  “German carmaker BMW ... The automaker, in collaboration with Tingyi University in China, recently unveiled a proposal to build elevated cycle paths for e-bikes and electric scooters in Shanghai.”

5.  Smart Roads -

These smart roads are connected to the IoT (Internet of Things - defined as “the interconnection via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data.”   The roads communicate with smart cars.

“A Portuguese scheme, co-funded by the European Union, is set to create around 1,000 kilometres of smart roads in the country..... Sweden recently completing a pilot project that saw two kilometres of road transformed into an electrified track that recharges electric cars and trucks while they drive.” 

If any or all of these transportation modes interest you, check the visuals and read additional information at this Raconteur link.  These have many benefits including aiding in pollution reduction, increased safety.  Some of them may be appearing in your community before long.

What do you think of these systems?   Are they appealing to you?   I’m not too keen on getting in one of those pneumatic tube pods.

ADAPTATIONS -- LIFE -- IMMORTALITY

Rain!   We actually had some rain here in Southern California where I live.   I know -- rain, moisture, or snow isn’t that big a deal where most reside, or where I grew up, but times and location change.   Where I once lived in the Midwest we coped with rivers overflowing.  One year there was real concern a dam would break flooding a whole valley, but the waters stopped just shy of overflowing the rim.  

Then, there were the occasional tornadoes that ripped havoc through the area which were of concern.  Wintertime meant snow – lots and lots of snow, cold temperatures often going way below zero – trying to stay warm.  Slipping and sliding on icy surfaces in our cars and trying to remain on our feet. 

I’ve enjoyed nature’s offerings everywhere I lived – including a few years in the Southwest’s desert-like climate with flash floods in washes, dust storms and what they called hundred year flooding that strangely came much more frequently.   Summer came and we tried to stay cool. 

Now in Southern California, the drought we’ve been having for several years gives us reason to not take nature’s gifts for granted.  The fires about which I recently wrote, finally under control, have left those homeowners concerned the vegetation barren hillsides around them could result in mudslides, so once again some have vacated their homes as a precaution.  Fortunately, the worst case scenarios have not developed so far.   Rain is expected again the middle of the coming week, so we have our fingers crossed for their safety once more.

I can be grateful to have never lived where I was immediately subjected to most of these life-threatening dangers.  Where I live now in the foothills of northeastern Los Angeles County these fires, mudslides and the like have not been a close by concern.   Yes, “the Big One” earthquake is a matter with which we know we’re at risk for having, but it’s always something, somewhere, isn’t it?  

***.         

The adaptations we make to our environment so we can not only survive but enjoy ourselves in the process, does keep us occupied.   We humans even keep trying to extend our lives longer and longer.  Only recently did I read statistics have shown life expectancy in the U.S. has declined in recent years as you probably heard on the news, too.  Nevertheless, I can well imagine some among us are querying in their mind whether or not its possible we could remedy that, perhaps even eventually becoming immortal.  

I knew there were some creatures who lived much longer than humans, so was curious to see what they were and how long they lived.  You can read more about them and see colorful photos of them at One Kind Planet HERE:  

Red Sea Urchin – 200 years

Koi Fish – 200 years

Long Finned Eel – 60 years

Mccaw Parrot – 60-80 years

African Elephant – 70 years

Galapagos Giant Tortoise – 152 years

Bowhead Whale – 200 years

Greenland Shark – 400 years

Ocean Quahog – more than 400 years

Then, there’s the ......

Immortal Jellyfish – not truly immortal, but fascinating to scientists because this creature if its body starts to deteriorate or becomes injured can regenerate itself.    What is the secret?  

World Health.net sheds further light on “...this tiny creature the size of a human pinky nail”.

Would you want to be immortal?