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11.Mail will be sent via rocket.
火箭发送邮件
As out there as it sounds, mail delivery via missile was successfully attempted in 1959. That year, a Navy submarine—the U.S.S. Barbero—sent 3,000 letters, all addressed to political figures like President Dwight D. Eisenhower, using only a rocket. The nuclear warhead was taken out and replaced with mail containers, and the missile was launched towards the Naval Auxiliary Air Station.
就像听说的那样，1959年通过导弹投递邮件的尝试成功了。那一年，美国海军潜水艇“巴贝罗号”仅用一枚火箭就向美国前总统艾森豪威尔等政治人物发送了3000封信函。核弹头被取出并用邮筒代替，导弹被发射到海军辅助航空站。
The mail was successfully delivered, and Postmaster General Arthur E. Summerfield was so excited by the "historic significance" of mail delivery via instruments of war that he predicted it would become commonplace by the next century. "Mail will be delivered within hours from New York to California, to Britain, to India, or Australia by guided missiles," he said. "We stand on the threshold of rocket mail." Though we never got rocket mail, we did get something better: email.
信函被成功投递，邮政总局局长亚瑟·E·萨莫菲尔德对通过战争工具投递邮件的“历史意义”感到非常兴奋，他预测到下个世纪这种方式就会变得很普遍。他说：“从纽约到加利福尼亚、到英国、到印度或澳大利亚的邮件将在数小时内通过制导导弹送达。我们即将到达火箭邮件时代。”虽然我们从未收到过火箭邮件，但我们确实收到了更好的东西：电子邮件。
12.Women will all be built like wrestlers.
女人都将像摔跤运动员一样健壮
In 1950, Associated Press writer Dorothy Roe revealed some shocking predictions of what life on earth would be like in the 21st century, according to Smithsonian magazine. Among her more head-scratching forecasts were that the women of tomorrow would be "more than six feet tall" and would "wear a size 11 shoe, have shoulders like a wrestler, and muscles like a truck driver." Their proportions, Roe wrote, would be perfectly "Amazonian," all evidently thanks to science providing "a balanced ration of vitamins, proteins, and minerals that will produce maximum bodily efficiency."
据《史密森尼》杂志报道，1950年，美联社作家多萝西·罗伊公布了一些令人震惊的预测，预测地球上的生命在21世纪将会是什么样子。在她的预测中，更让人不可思议的是，未来的女性将“身高超过6英尺，穿11码的鞋子，肩膀像摔跤选手，肌肉像卡车司机。”罗伊写道，其比例将是完美的“亚马逊式的”，这一切显然都要感谢科学提供的“维生素、蛋白质和矿物质的平衡比例，这将使身体效率达到最高。”
13.We'll wear antenna hats and disposable socks.
戴天线帽，穿一次性袜子
For a 1939 issue of British Vogue, product designer Gilbert Rhode was asked what he believed people in the 21st century would be wearing—and he had lots of thoughts. He imagined that, by 2020, we would have banished buttons, pockets, collars, and ties, and that men would revolt against shaving. "His hat will be an antenna, snatching radio out of the ether. His socks—disposable. His suit minus tie, collar, and buttons," Rhode declared. He almost described a modern-day hipster living in Brooklyn, but we suspect even the antenna hat might be pushing it a little too far.
在1939年的某期英国《时尚》杂志上，产品设计师吉尔伯特·罗德被问及他认为21世纪的人们会穿什么，他有很多想法。他设想，到2020年，我们将摒弃纽扣、口袋、衣领和领带，而男性将对剃须产生反感。“人们将戴天线帽，从以太中攫取无线电，还会穿一次性袜子。西装少了领带、衣领和纽扣”，罗德宣称。他几乎描述了一个生活在布鲁克林的现代潮人，但我们怀疑，即使是天线帽也可能有点超出预想了。
14.Everything—even baby cradles—will be made out of steel.
所有的东西，甚至婴儿摇篮都是用钢做的
Thomas Edison played a role in some of the greatest inventions of all time, from light bulbs to movie cameras. But that doesn't mean he only had good ideas. Take his vision of the future of steel, for instance: During a 1911 interview with Miami Metropolis, he predicted that "the house of the next century will be furnished from basement to attic with steel."
从灯泡到电影摄像机，托马斯·爱迪生在有史以来一些最伟大的发明中发挥了重要作用。但这并不意味着他的主意都是好的。以他对钢铁未来的设想为例：在1911年接受《迈阿密大都会》的采访时，他预测“下个世纪的房子从地下室到阁楼都将用钢铁布置”。
And according to Edison, the steel obsession wouldn't end there. "The baby of the 21st century will be rocked in a steel cradle," he said. "His father will sit in a steel chair at a steel dining table, and his mother's boudoir will be sumptuously equipped with steel furnishings." Sounds like the opposite of comfy.
根据爱迪生的说法，对钢铁的痴迷不会就此结束。他说：“21世纪的婴儿将被放在钢摇篮里。父亲将坐在钢铁餐桌前的一把钢椅上，而母亲的卧室将配备豪华的钢铁家具。”听起来很不舒服。
15.Everyone will stop drinking coffee and tea.
每个人都会停止喝咖啡和茶
In 1937, Nikola Tesla predicted that "within a century, coffee, tea, and tobacco will be no longer in vogue." "The abolition of stimulants will not come about forcibly," he wrote. "It will simply be no longer fashionable to poison the system with harmful ingredients." He's hopefully right about tobacco, but the coffee and tea? Not just yet.
1937年，尼古拉·特斯拉预言，“在一个世纪之内，咖啡、茶和烟草将不再流行。”他写道：“兴奋剂的废除不会是强制性的。用有害成分毒害身体将不再流行。”希望他对烟草的看法是正确的，但是咖啡和茶呢？不是现在。
16.There will be "blood banks" for teeth.
“牙齿库”
We already have blood blanks, where life-saving plasma can be donated and used to help patients who need emergency blood. So, what's next, you might be wondering? Well, in a 1947 issue of Mechanix Illustrated magazine, journalist Lester David promised that in the future, we'd have "tooth banks," too.
我们已经有了血库，可以捐献挽救生命的血浆，用来帮助需要紧急输血的病人。那么，你可能想知道接下来会发生什么？在1947年的一期《机械制图》杂志上，记者莱斯特·大卫预测，将来我们也会有“牙齿库”。
"Picture the possibilities," David wrote in the story, aptly titled, "How About Tooth Banks?" " All men and women of whatever age will be able to have human teeth imbedded inside their gums until the day they die."
“想象一下这种可能性，”戴维在“牙齿库怎么样？”这篇文章中写道，“所有的男人和女人，无论什么年龄，都可以将人类的牙齿嵌入他们的牙龈，使用一生。”
17.Everyone will be a vegetarian.
每个人都将成为素食者
In 1913, Gustav Bischoff, former president of the American Meat Packers Association, predicted that humans' diets would consist of mostly vegetables as the years went on. Because of a shortage of meat, he told The New York Times, even the wealthiest people in the future would be vegetarians.
1913年，美国肉类包装协会前主席古斯塔夫·比肖夫预测，随着时间的推移，人类的饮食将以蔬菜为主。他告诉《纽约时报》，由于肉类短缺，即使是未来最富有的人也会成为素食者。
18.But also, eating will no longer be necessary.
但是，吃也不再是必须的了
This prediction comes from just 15 years ago and it was made by futurist and computer scientist Ray Kurzweil. He wrote in his 2005 book The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology that by the 2020s, there will be "nanobots" capable of entering the bloodstream to "feed" cells and extract waste. As a result, they'll render the mode of food consumption as we know it obsolete.
这个预测来自15年前，由未来学家和计算机科学家雷·库兹韦尔做出。他在2005年出版的《奇点即将来临：人类将超越生物学》一书中写道：到21世纪20年代，将会有能够进入血液的“纳米机器人”，“喂养”细胞并提取废物。因此，它们将使我们所知的食物消费模式过时。
19.We'll have robots as therapists.
机器人治疗师
Robots are the typical prediction for the future—and technically, we do sort of have robots now. But global trends expert Ariane Van de Ven had some bigger ideas for 2020. She explained in the book Shift 2020 that she believed "there will be more robots used as therapists, companions, assistants, and even friends to help people in their everyday," according to The Next Web.
机器人是对未来的典型预测，从技术上讲，我们现在确实有机器人。但是全球趋势专家阿丽亚娜·范德温对2020年有一些更大胆的想法。据The Next Web报道，她在《2020年的转变》一书中解释道，她相信“将会有更多的机器人被用作治疗师、伴侣、助手，甚至在日常生活中帮助人们的朋友。”
20.Vacuums will be nuclear-powered.
真空吸尘器将由核能驱动
Alex Lewyt, former president of Lewyt Vacuum Company, obviously wanted the world to be excited about vacuum cleaners. But when he predicted in 1955 that "nuclear-powered vacuum cleaners" would become a reality in the future, he maybe wasn't making the most convincing sales pitch. If the choice were between having dirty floors or plugging in a mini-Chernobyl-waiting-to-happen, we'd probably stick with the crumbs and dust bunnies.
显然，路易特真空公司前总裁亚历克斯·路易特希望全世界都对真空吸尘器感到兴奋。但当他在1955年预测“核动力真空吸尘器”将在未来成为现实时，他可能并没有做出最有说服力的推销。如果要在肮脏的地板和可能发生的微型切尔诺贝利事故之间做出选择，我们可能会选择面包屑和灰尘。
