Top 10 Things Humanity Should Have Accomplished By Now

Beam me up, Slappy! Teleportation has been ever-present throughout pop culture, largely because the idea of being relocated in an instant is so deviously tantalizing. What if family vacations no longer required travel time? What if Rush Hour ceased to exist? So many headaches could instantly disappear! Professor Michio Kaku believes this phenomenon doesn’t break any laws of physics and therefore can be achieved one day. The most likely vehicle for such an accomplishment is a physical phenomenon known as Quantum Entanglement. Don’t hold your breath for commercialized, affordable, or safe teleportation anytime in the near future however.

Writer Arthur C. Clarke stated that “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” UFO sightings, exploration, and speculation have all perpetuated the belief in life beyond our planet and we’re surely on a trajectory to answer this question. In particular, astronomer Frank Drake’s famous equation estimating the likelihood of alien life suggested hundreds of thousands of planets that are theoretically inhabitable. Much of science fiction has gone beyond the idea of humanoid travelers, and many narratives act as a vessel of which humankind can hold a mirror up to our own nature. Beyond this, how will we respond to alien life if we discover it?

Some of us may avoid taxes in life, but no one has yet evaded death. Philosophers and scientists alike have explored this phenomenon; particularly the finality of it. The most famous cultural depiction of reanimation is undoubtedly Frankenstein, when parts of the deceased are used to form a human body, which is then reanimated, and subsequently discovered to not be fit among the living once again. With this endeavor in particular, the question can be asked whether it’s not only if it’s possible to reanimate the dead, but also if it’s right to reanimate the dead. In 2011, a man was revived after 96 minutes without a heartbeat, but this hardly taps into the frightening marvel of reanimation in the fullest sense.

Humankind has questioned the existence of an omnipotent entity for thousands of years. Various religions suggest the existence of one or more gods, and no clear evidence has been presented that proves otherwise. While science and philosophy both help explore this possibility, the latter has perhaps made the most headway. Setting aside fears of the unknown, how did our universe come in to existence? Does our consciousness suggest an intelligent design? If history has shown us anything, it’s that this question will continue to be asked again, and again. Terrifying, overwhelming, and unrelenting it’s a query most will examine in their lives.

Continuing with the trend of death, it’s an ailment none have avoided throughout history. This hasn’t stopped lore from permeating every culture. The Holy Grail and the Fountain of Youth most notably have examined the notion of immortality and the concept of never aging. Science has undoubtedly prolonged life expectancy by decades, but decay still remains a part of natural law. The argument can be made that some have achieved immortality through great acts that will always be remembered, but in the foreseeable future, each of us should expect to knock on death’s door at some point.

The colonization of another planet has been in the works for several decades. While it currently exists solely in science fiction, the best and brightest may make this a reality in the foreseeable future. Most notably, SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk, has a 4-step process to colonize Mars before the end of the century. Even more tantalizing is the idea of interstellar travel between planetary systems. Since what’s considered the closest habitable planet is at least 4.37 light years away, traditional space travel is probably out of the question. Sadly, there’s a good chance that wormhole travel is not feasible, but nothing has been ruled out yet.

Moving back to reality, the human immunodeficiency virus has taken the lives of more than 30 million people. Gaining notoriety in the 1980s and ‘90s, prevention of the virus and impediment of its progress have been the most notable accomplishments since. In 2007, the now infamous Berlin Patient, Timothy Brown was functionally cured of HIV, leading scientists to question this series of events for years following – as this could unlikely be performed in other HIV patients because Brown’s was an unusual case. In 2013, a Mississippi baby was supposedly cured, but has since relapsed. We can only hope that the countless man-hours and dollars spent on research and treatment will yield future results like Timothy Brown’s, and that the 2016 reports that the virus had become undetectable in the blood of a British man will lead to a cure that’s applicable to all.

This is perhaps the mother of all science fiction phenomena, and countless movies, TV shows, and books have explored every possibility surrounding the concept. Einstein’s theory of relativity has proven that, through time dilation, one-way time travel into the future is possible. But it has also suggested that traveling back in time would not be possible. To do this would require moving faster than light—although other theories that include wormholes may suggest different ways to achieve this. Incidentally, the International Space Station moves through time .0000000014 percent slower than on Earth, which explains the perpetual youth those astronauts always seem to have!

Is world peace possible? A look back through history would suggest that the answer is no. Humankind has had a penchant for murder, conflict, and violence since the beginning of time, and the elimination of wars does not seem likely in the near future. Plato argues that either philosophers must become kings, or kings must become philosophers to overcome our troubled state—and there are many peaceful societies after which civilization as a whole could model itself. Hunger, disease, and poverty are just a few drastic epidemics that must be overcome to achieve world peace, and our leaders must strive for the good of the world, not just their specific countries as well.


Before we unveil our number one pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

Discover Completely Clean Energy

Reach the Center of the Earth

Fully Explore the Ocean

Cancer is currently the second leading cause of death in the US and one of the leading causes in the world, despite hundreds of billions spent on research. About 8 million people die from cancer every year, and most of us have been affected personally by this dreadful disease. Thankfully, no entry on our list has experienced progress quite like this. The UK Cancer Research Centre believes that UK cancer survival rates have doubled in the last 40 years, with roughly 50% of victims surviving for 10 or more years after diagnosis. Across the world, humanity continues to race, research, and fight for the cure with each generation making noticeable headway against this universal disease.

Do you agree with our list? What do you think are the greatest accomplishments humanity has yet to make? For more trail-blazing Top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.