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Nat Geo Announces Futuristic Docudrama YEAR MILLION (May 15)

I just love shows about the past and the future and on May 15th Nat Geo is taking us into the future with YEAR MILLION. From the moment our ancestors smashed two rocks together to forge the first tool, technology and imagination have shaped our humanity and continues to define who we can become. What was once conceived as science fiction is now anchored in reality?

Now, YEAR MILLION, a new six-part documentary-drama series from National Geographic, explores what it will be like to be human one million years into the future. Today’s brightest futurists, scientists, scholars and notable science fiction writers guide viewers through the very latest advances in technology, ideas and innovations that likely will power the evolution of our species.

Through illustrative, dramatic storytelling, YEAR MILLION paints a version of humanity’s fate through the lens of a typical futuristic American family, which includes a daughter who is android. The series propels us into an odyssey of unfathomable choices humans will face while questioning the kind of lives we’ll live and the people we’ll become a million years from now.

Jess with AI eyes playing a game with her parents. (credit: National Geographic)

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YEAR MILLION imagines a future when mortality becomes a thing of the past; man merges with machine; intelligence is limitless; and the human species becomes interplanetary.

The series predicts how every aspect of technology may affect our lives for better or worse and ponders the following questions:

  • How will we adjust to longer lifespans, and what does it mean to live forever?
  • How will we deal with the realities of advance Artificial Intelligence, giving machines the ability to think analytically?
  • Will our unquenchable thirst for human exploration transform us into an interplanetary species living across multiple universes?
  • How will progress in Virtual Reality shape our response to living outside our bodies?
  • Will we harness the wisdom of a Hive Mind, a unified consciousness or intelligence where we lose our individuality and share resources among a collective group?

I think this series just looks amazing and I do hope that you all take a moment to check it out. Below I have added information about each episode for your information. Enjoy.

Episode 1 – Sapien 2.0: Premieres Monday, May 15, 9/8c

Advances in neuroscience and engineering are bringing us closer toward a reality first described in great science fiction, one in which artificial intelligence will become indistinguishable from – or perhaps even surpass – human intelligence. This could lead to a future in which AI beings become our essential collaborators or a threat to human value and life. What are the major milestones that are leading us towards this singularity, and how will that affect the evolution of the human species?

Episode 2 – Never Say Die: Premieres Monday, May 22, 9/8c

Recent breakthroughs in genetics have given us a better understanding of the biology of humans, opening up new ways that could help us all live healthier for longer. In the future, will we move beyond treating individual diseases and, instead, treat the aging process itself? How would a dramatically protracted life change not only the fabric of society, but what it means to be a human being?

Episode 3 – Dude, Where’s My Body?: Premieres Monday, May 29, 9/8c

Advances in graphics and computing power have given rise to a renaissance in virtual technologies from world-building platforms like Second Life to manufacturers of VR headsets like Oculus Rift. We’re seeing more and more of human activity transfer to virtual spaces, offering people profound experiences via online personas and even transforming the way the real-world functions. Will we reach a tipping point where reality becomes a pale shadow of the rich, imaginative, virtual worlds we’ve created for ourselves? What will that mean for our perception of humanity? What do we risk losing?

Episode 4 – Mind Meld: Premieres Monday, June 5, 9/8c

Within a single generation, the Internet has transformed virtually every aspect of modern culture from the way we learn and work to the ways in which we communicate and express ourselves. How has this constant connectivity affected our views on privacy? How will they continue to change as new technologies like neural prosthetics help us create seamless, instantaneous connections to the cloud?  Eventually, will we evolve to the point of telepathy?  How will this affect our relationships to each other? Will this give us new tools or insight into communication with other civilizations that might exist beyond Earth?

Episode 5 – Energy Beyond Earth: Premieres Monday, June 12, 9/8c

Overconsumption of energy and resources has lead us to a breaking point where we will either have to engineer our way around our problems, or look to other planets to inhabit. If we go off planet, we will have to make it habitable for humans through processes like terraforming, which may lead to unintended consequences for that ecosystem. Is this human-centric view of the universe the right approach? And is it possible there are alien civilizations that have reached this similar inflection point? 

Episode 6 – Beyond the Cosmos: Premieres Monday, June 19, 9/8c

Humans have always had a drive to explore the unknown. This indomitable spirit has led us to new shores, new depths and, in the last century, to new planets. As the number of mysteries remaining on home planet decreases, how will we have to adapt ourselves biologically in order to explore farther distances in space?  Will we discover forms of life reminiscent of Earth or new forms of life entirely? What astrophysical phenomena may we experience, and how closely will it align to how we’ve imagined it in science fiction?

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