
Welcome to my first blog post. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to read through!
Today, as we enter the New Year and we digest our Christmas dinners I thought I'd gaze into my crystal ball and note down what I think will occur and prove popular next year.
Here are some wild (and maybe less wild!) predictions I'm making for 2019 and the year ahead in the world.
Technology: Self driving cars become a reality. At last we see the launch by Google of its new fleet of self drive cars, possibly for ride sharing on the streets of California, and hopefully we'll see a more successful roll out than the last ill fated attempt! In 2016 wee saw several accidents take place as glitches led to conflict with normal passenger vehicles. Now I feel confident Google has learnt lessons and worked hard to get it right.
Space: As more unmanned pods, robots and satellites beam back highly tantalising pictures from Mars and the outer reaches of our galaxy the question will inevitably turn to putting humans back into space. With more competitors, such as Virgin and Tesla, taking tentative steps into this field the more likely the initial steps are taken to achieve this in 2019.
Literature: a must read book of 2019 (I've already ordered my copy!) is The Age Of Light. Written by the New York Times bestselling author Whitney Scharer, the book unfolds in Paris during the Belle Époque era. The story centres on the tumultuous relationship between model and aspiring photographer, Lee Miller, and the moody Surrealist Man Ray. It's likely to be a much discussed text of next year.
Travel: Voted number 1 again by Lonely Planet for 2019, the city of Copenhagen, Denmark, continues to dominate the travel scene. With a revived gastronomic offering and renovated parks, markets and cultural centres Copenhagen has shown it is innovative and dynamic and for even regular visitors it still has much to offer. Lonely Planet makes a special mention of the reopened Danish Cultural Centre.
Politics: Expect Brexit and Donald Trump to continue providing the headlines, at least in the Anglophone world! Brexit, with luck, will be more or less nailed down with some form of deal. Whilst any deal maybe scant on details the all consuming energy and time Brexit has absorbed will be put to much better use on hospitals and schools.
Donald Trump will be in continued legal jeopardy but with the Mueller Investigation due to report in 2019 we can expect drama, tears,ructions and fallout to lead to a lot of noise (but hopefully little disruption to our everyday lives).
This has been a quick run through for the year ahead covering a broad range of topics but I hope you found it interesting and, importantly, tempting to discuss further in a class with me! I look forward to your thoughts!