Toxic Trends

Humanity has created tiny but powerful enemies that will shape the 21st century decisively: The so-called super germs. More and more people are infected with these multi-resistant bacteria. Often antibiotics are no longer effective. About 25,000 people die of these bacteria every year in Europe alone. The use of antibiotics in mass livestock farming is still increasing worldwide. As a result, resistant germs are transmitted from animals to humans and also enter the food chain. The World Health Organization (WHO) speaks of perhaps the greatest global danger of this century. But is there still a weapon against these resistant germs?

In the year 2050 our oceans threaten to become a huge sea of waste. Then there will be more plastic waste in them than fish if we do nothing about our rampant use of plastic. Plastic sacks, coffee-to-Go cups, mail order: about 240 million tons of plastic waste are produced worldwide every year. As the world's population grows to an expected 10 billion by the middle of the 21st century, this figure will rise once again. If plastics are not recycled or incinerated, but left carelessly in the environment, they can cause major damage. They enter the sea via brooks and rivers, and thus into the stomachs of birds and fish, and finally end up on our plates. Can plastic be biologically replaced as a material? Could worms and bacteria become effective weapons in the destruction of plastic waste?

In the year 2050 there will probably be about 10 billion people on earth. But today already one billion people are suffering from hunger. Can we feed 10 billion people at all, or are we threatened by wars over food? The overexploitation of agriculture that we have carried out for decades has leached out the soil. Our meat consumption has quadrupled in the last 50 years. But it is animal husbandry that poses a threat to food security. Because in order to get a kilo of meat, the animal needs an X-fold of feed, which in turn is missing in the human food chain. On the other hand, about a third of our food ends up in the garbage. How can we prevent future food shortages? Will we only get enough food in the future thanks to insects, algae and astronaut food?

The global car fleet is growing by one car per second. Drivers in Los Angeles and Moscow are already stuck in traffic jams for around 100 hours a year. In 2050 there will be over ten billion people in the world and around three billion cars. But neither in the growing mega-cities in Asia nor in the poor regions of Africa are the road networks geared to such capacities. As a result, mega jams and even total traffic collapse threaten to occur. Is the solution Driverless cars or do we all end up going up in the air thanks to drones?

Man or machine, that's the question here. A question that is posed above all with a view to a not too distant future. For robots are already among us. There are already 20 million of these intelligent machines worldwide, and the number is rising. According to experts, in 30 years there will be more robots than humans on Earth. A development that raises numerous questions and uncertainties. Are the machines the salvation for our aging society? Or even their demise? Is man still needed at all when super computers can solve all tasks more efficiently than we can?