What will this year bring? A Very Active 2020
One of the main recommendations for 2020 is to avoid the abbreviation of the year as just “20” because it will be very easy to alter the date by adding digits after the “20”.
By: Edda Pujadas
As we start the year, we are already noticing that this will be a very active year in several areas, especially politics, sports, and technology, this last one never stops surprising us.
We have compiled 20 events, novelties and tendencies that we will live throughout 2020, which is not only a nice looking figure but also marks the start of a new decade and for a lot of people, it has been a symbol of the fulfillment of goals and/or the start of new projects.
1. One of the events that take much of the worldwide attention is the Presidential Elections in the United States, even when these will take place on November 3rd, they are already one of the main events of the year. Donald Trump will try to be reelected and stay in the White House for four more years, while the Democrats will have to elect soon their Candidate, who will face Trump. Besides the main elections, eleven states will also hold elections to Governor. The City of Doral will also have to elect three positions: Mayor, and two Council member seats.
2. The 2020 Census will be the 24th Census in the United States. National Census Day will be April 1st, 2020. Participation in this census is of the essence because depending on the results of it is the fair distribution of more than 675 thousand million dollars of Federal Funds for schools, hospitals, highways and public works in the country and also the redefinition of the seats in the Congress. The United States Constitution establishes that each person in the country must be accounted for every ten years and it is a duty to participate in the census.
3. The 54th Super Bowl in February, which this year is a leap year. This is one of the most important and anticipated events of the year, drawing lots of people, and it will take place in Miami. The Hard Rock Stadium will host the 54th final for the NFL among two teams that at this time are still to be determined. Those who have already confirmed their appearance are Shakira and Jennifer Lopez who will perform during the half time show.
4. Another important event taking place in 2020 is the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, better known as Brexit. This process intends to allow the United Kingdom to stop being a member of the European Union. After a referendum that took place in 2016, where 51.9% of the voters supported leaving the EU, the Government started a two-year process that should have ended on March 29th, 2019. This due date was extended until April 12th, 2019 and then extended again for a second time until October 31st, 2019, it was then extended a third time until January 31st, 2020. After this last date, except in the case that there is an additional agreement, the United Kingdom will automatically abandon the European Union without any agreement at all.
5. For May 14th, 2020, Pope Francis has called to a worldwide event to launch his Global Education Pact. This event will take place in Rome, Italy. According to his own words, “There is thus a need to create an “educational village”, in which all people, according to their respective roles, share the task of forming a network of open, human relationships. According to an African proverb, “it takes a whole village to educate a child”. We have to create such a village before we can educate.”
6. The Olympic Games. Even when the Opening Ceremony will take place on July 24th, the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 will run mainly during August of this year. The 32nd edition of this important sports event will see the addition of Baseball, Karate, Surf, Skateboard, and Hiking, together with a lot of new events in categories that already participate in the Games.
7. June and July of 2020 will be soccer football months. Copa America and the Euro Copa will dominate the sports scene and will take place at the same time, from June 12th to July 12th and will be very similar in their organization: both will be played at more than one host city. The Trophy for Europe will be played for the first time in host cities scattered around Europe, these cities are Bilbao, London, Dublin, Glasgow, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Munich, Rome, Budapest, Bucharest, San Petersburgh, and Baku. For the Copa America, the host cities will be Argentina and Colombia.
8. Mission to Mars 2020. The mission program is going to be launched in July, when the Earth is in the best position relative to Mars in front of it, in order to achieve the landing with the least possible energy consumption. Mars 2020 is based in a successful design from Mission Mars Science Laboratory from NASA, which includes its rover Curiosity. It consists of twenty-three cameras and two microphones to capture the sounds at the moment of landing.
9. The Yahoo time capsule opening. In 2006 Yahoo invited people to place digital items in a virtual time capsule. Participants uploaded videos, pictures, poems, artwork, and some other items with different values, the final product was handed out to the Smithsonian Institute for safekeeping. This digital time capsule will be open during 2020, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of Yahoo.
10. On December 14th we will be witnessing a total solar eclipse. This is one of the most important astronomical events that we can witness, this one will be appreciated in Argentina, in the provinces of Neuquen and the Rio Negro where the longest time of shadow will take place. The eclipse will also be seen, but partially, in different places of Latin America like Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay and the oceans around these countries.
11. New videogame consoles. It all looks like Sony and Microsoft will be launching their new consoles during 2020. PS5 from Sony and Xbox Project Scarlett from Microsoft will arrive at the end of the year with the promise to bring a new level of games, especially when we talk about graphics. Details are still scarce, but industry experts believe that they will be around $500 each.
12. In October, the 2020 Expo will take place for the first time in Dubai. This spectacular Arab city will host the 2020 World Expo, 192 countries will be participating, these will exhibit the latest in art, technology, science, and countless other areas. The 2020 World Expo will take place around a huge interior and exterior area between Dubai and the Northern border of Abu Dhabi. The main themes of this event will include happiness and environmental stability.
13. High-Speed Trains. Several high-speed railway systems will begin their construction and some others, already in progress will keep on with their progress. Virgin Trains USA will start the construction of a new high-speed train from Victorville, California to Las Vegas, this will run at a speed of 270 km/h. One more line that is already in operation between Miami and West Palm Beach will start its expansion in some years, all the way to Orlando. Also, there is a plan for a high-speed line between Houston and Dallas, this one could start its construction during the Summer of 2020.
14. Space travel. In order to acquire some extra financing, NASA will be opening an International Space Station for private sector tourists in 2020. Each ticket will have a cost of 35,000 per night not including transportation or the previous training needed to be able to withstand the travel into space. Tourists can stay in orbit for as long as 30 days. Each trip has an estimated cost of fifty million dollars. SpaceX and Boeing have been working on the special capsules, Crew Dragon and Starliner. The idea at this point is to start the program with two private trips per year and a total of twelve tourist-astronauts will be able to visit the International Space Station, per year.
15. Self-driving cars. It is being said that during 2020 there will be at least 10 million self-driving cars in operation and that in less than 10 more years this system will be totally incorporated into our everyday lives. Mercedes Benz, Tesla Motors, Nissan, Toyota, Google, Uber, and BMW are designing cars that won’t need pedals or steering wheel and that will include systems capable to make complex calculations and therefore move in traffic.
16. Flexible cellular phones. In 2019 we received news of several cellular phones with flexible or foldable screens but, very few got into the market. Many of them have a proposed launch date during 2020, these are in search of innovation in a market that has been stagnant for several years in the design area with very few changes among brands and models.
17. More streaming services. The new Apple+ and Disney+ services can redefine the audiovisual marketplace around the world. Apple+ brings a more discreet position, but an important bet for the quality of the content, image, and sound. Disney+ on its side brings in a big revolution in the television arena for 2020.
18. 8K television sets. At the end of 2018, the first 8K television set was commercialized, during 2019 we have known some other models. But now, during the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, many more Smart TV sets that are compatible with this technology will be presented. The main goal during this year is that less expensive 8K models will be launched.
19. The highest skyscraper in the world. Jeddah Tower has been in construction since 2013 in Saudi Arabia. This is a mega commercial and residential venture with 5.3 million square meters. The tower will be one kilometer high, the viewpoint will be located in between the 157 and 158 floors, at more than 600 meters from the ground, this viewpoint will be reached through two-floor elevators that will take passengers up in about 60 seconds. This neo-futuristic tower will also count with a five stars Four Seasons Hotel, duplex homes, and offices with up to 7 floors each and residential areas.
20. NASA keeps on with its surveillance of an asteroid that will pass close to the Earth during 2020. The space agency has under constant surveillance a space object that has a surprising high speed and that is expected to pass close to the Earth this year. The asteroid named “2018 VP1” rotates around the Sun at a speed of 34 thousand kilometers per hour, it was discovered on November 3rd, 2018 and since that day it has been closely monitored by scientists. It is not believed to possess a real threat to our planet, but they are still monitoring it.
I notice that some people are against self driving cars but for disabled people even people going through things like cancer radiation treatment and elderly it’s a life saver .