I love classic pseudo futuristic ramblings that are supposed to have a hint of scientific genius. The August 1956 issue of Mechanics Illustrated asks anthropologists, physiologists, engineers and industrial designers how they would go about improving the human body, and here’s what they came up with:

The spine – should be replaced by “a solid column, with a greatly increased load-carrying capacity”

The brain – should be situated in the chest cavity, near the heart, making the chest bigger in size and the head cylindrical

The ribs – rather than individual ribs, organs should be encased in a giant clamshell device, which can be opened easily for surgery

The eyes – add an extra set in the back of the head for a 360 degree perspective

Antennaes – could be concealed in head to pick up low frequency sounds from behind

The teeth – remove 35% of them to give more space to the remaining 65%

The toes – little toes and toenails serve no purpose and should be eliminated

The nose – replace it w/ a short trunk so that the air doesn’t have to make a hairpin turn before going down into the lungs, avoiding “several kinds of sinus trouble and what-have-you.”

Other suggestions included: wings, UV contact lenses, built-in marsupial-style pouches, a food storage compartment, 360 degree neck mobility, an eye in the tip of the finger, a hook on the head so you can hang yourself up and be hands-free on bumpy subways, extra fingers behind the ears to keep hats from blowing off, and folding ears to catch low-pitched sounds.

Via Modern Mechanix via Gizmodo

The December 1900 issue of Ladies Home Journal contains an incredibly fascinating article by John Elfreth, entitled “What May Happen in the Next Hundred Years”, containing around 30 predictions for the future of the United States and the world in the year 2000. Some of them are what you’d expect from someone in the year 1900 dreaming of a wonderfully progressive Utopian civilization, but some of them are pretty spot on!

Mr. Watkins wrote: “These prophecies will seem strange, almost impossible. Yet, they have come from the most learned and conservative minds in America. To the wisest and most careful men in our greatest institutions of science and learning I have gone, asking each in his turn to forecast for me what, in his opinion, will have been wrought in his own field of investigation before the dawn of 2001 – a century from now. These opinions I have carefully transcribed.”

Prediction #1: There will probably be from 350,000,000 to 500,000,000 people in America and its possessions by the lapse of another century. Nicaragua will ask for admission to our Union after the completion of the great canal. Mexico will be next. Europe, seeking more territory to the south of us, will cause many of the South and Central American republics to be voted into the Union by their own people.”

Prediction #2: The American will be taller by from one to two inches. His increase of stature will result from better health, due to vast reforms in medicine, sanitation, food and athletics. He will live fifty years instead of thirty-five as at present – for he will reside in the suburbs. The city house will practically be no more. Building in blocks will be illegal. The trip from suburban home to office will require a few minutes only. A penny will pay the fare.

Prediction #3: Gymnastics will begin in the nursery, where toys and games will be designed to strengthen the muscles. Exercise will be compulsory in the schools. Every school, college and community will have a complete gymnasium. All cities will have public gymnasiums. A man or woman unable to walk ten miles at a stretch will be regarded as a weakling.

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