obs may be scarce today, but if current trends hold, pretty soon there will be plenty of fun, lucrative ones. If you have the vision to start preparing now, you could be flying starships, designing organs, or reading minds.
Human/Robot Interaction Specialist
Job: Help robots and people get along Hiring: 2030
Trend: As droids lure people away from real human contact, expect a demand for specialized therapists to boost peoples social and robotical skills.
Education: Schools strong in artificial intelligence, such as MIT, Carnegie Mellon University and Stanford University.
Space Pilot
Job: Fly shuttles to space Hiring: 2020
Trend: Virgin Galactic plans to launch the first commercial suborbital spaceflights for about $200,000 a seat. With competition from other companies, that price could soon drop low enough for daily shuttle service to outer space, the moon and asteroids for tourism, mining and science. Commercial pilots will regain the mystique they had in the 1960s as thousands of them strap in for the stars.
Education: Aviation school or the Air Force. Also check out NASAs underwater space-simulator laboratory.
Animal-migration Engineer
Job: Create new habitats for critters Hiring: 2030
Trend: Many habitats are now being destroyed faster than a species can evolve. But moving creatures to new homes could save them, after figuring out which species to put where. For example, conservationists who currently relocate butterflies identify suitable sites with aerial photos and trim local plants to the insects exacting standards.
Education: Intern with a group like Operation Migration, which leads cranes to new watering holes.
Forecaster of Everything
Job: Analyze data to predict the future Hiring: 2015
Trend: As the barrage of data grows, well need skilled people to choose what data to pull and how to make it useful. As businesses become more dependent on these analyses, the raw data itself will become a key commodity, creating its own industry. Expect openings for data brokers trading exclusive rights to data portfolios.
Education: Study computer science or statistics, then enroll in a prediction-proficiency program such as DePaul Universitys.
Organ Designer
Job: Make organs from scratch Hiring: 2020
Trend: Every 90 minutes, someone in the U.S. dies waiting for a transplant. With the senior population doubling by 2050, expect more internal plumbing problems. Well still need to figure out how to fashion tricky organs like lungs, kidneys and hearts, all made using the patients own cells to reduce rejection.endprint
Education: A bioengineering program, such as Wake Forests, which is working to grow more than 22 different organs and tissues in the lab.
Galactic Architect
Job: Build cosmic outposts Hiring: 2025
Trend: U.S. President Obama says that astronauts will reach an asteroid by 2025. Soon well be mining precious metals on asteroids and making rest-stops to Mars, projects that require buildings and vehicles that can withstand everything from subzero temperatures to extreme radiation.
Education: A masters degree in space architecture, currently available only at the University of Houston.
Thought Hacker
Job: Read thoughts Hiring: 2030
Trend: Neuroscientists led by Jack Gallant of the University of California at Berkeley can already roughly reconstruct what people are seeing just from scanning their brains, and memories, thoughts and dreams could be next. Brain-computer interfaces are also well on their way—at least one paralyzed man has used a brain implant to move a computer cursor and a robotic arm. Fields including psychotherapy and recreational mind-melding will depend on workers who can see into the minds eye.
Education: Neuroscience or computer science—they should converge before we go bionic.
作也許現(xiàn)在很難找,但如果照當前的趨勢發(fā)展下去,不久之后,就會出現(xiàn)很多既有趣又能賺大錢的工作。假如你夠有遠見,現(xiàn)在就著手準備,那你就有可能成為未來的太空飛行員、器官設計師或思想黑客。
人機交互技術專家
工作內(nèi)容:幫助機器人與人類和睦相處 上崗時間:2030年
發(fā)展趨勢:隨著機器人讓人們在現(xiàn)實生活中彼此漸行漸遠,我們需要專業(yè)的臨床醫(yī)學家來提升人的社交技能以及與機器人交流的能力。
應受教育:入讀在人工智能方面具有雄厚實力的學校,如麻省理工學院、卡內(nèi)基梅隆大學和斯坦福大學。
太空飛行員
工作內(nèi)容:駕駛飛船前往太空 上崗時間:2020年
發(fā)展趨勢:維珍銀河公司計劃推出的首批商業(yè)性質的亞軌道航天飛行,飛船的每個座位約賣20萬美元。隨著其他公司加入競爭,這一價格可能很快就會下跌,到時候航天飛機每天都能發(fā)航班去外太空、月球和小行星,人們可以去旅游、采礦、搞科研。當成千上萬的商業(yè)飛行員系上安全帶飛向星空的時候,他們將像20世紀60年代那樣再次披上神秘的面紗。
應受教育:在飛行學院或空軍部隊受訓。美國國家航空航天局的水下太空模擬實驗室也是不錯的選擇。
動物遷徙工程師
工作內(nèi)容:為動物創(chuàng)建新的棲息地 上崗時間:2030年
發(fā)展趨勢:如今,許多棲息地遭受破壞的速度比物種進化的速度快。不過,如果將動物遷移至新的家園,它們就有可能得到拯救。我們先要弄清楚哪些物種該遷到哪里。比如,目前正在給蝴蝶安新家的動物保護主義者就是利用航拍照片確定合適的定居點,并嚴格按照昆蟲的標準對當?shù)刂参镞M行修整的。
應受教育:加入“遷徙行動”之類的組織實習。該組織的主要使命是將鶴引入新濕地。
全能預報員
工作內(nèi)容:分析數(shù)據(jù),預測未來 上崗時間:2015年
發(fā)展趨勢:隨著數(shù)據(jù)量的爆炸式增長,我們需要技術嫻熟的人來確定哪些數(shù)據(jù)可以用,以及如何用。隨著商業(yè)活動對這些數(shù)據(jù)分析的依賴性越來越強,原始數(shù)據(jù)本身也將成為一種重要商品,并形成屬于自己的獨特產(chǎn)業(yè)。擁有數(shù)據(jù)資產(chǎn)獨家交易權的數(shù)據(jù)經(jīng)紀人也將應運而生。
應受教育:攻讀計算機科學或統(tǒng)計學專業(yè),然后到設有預測專業(yè)的學校深造,比如德保羅大學。
器官設計師
工作內(nèi)容:從無到有,制造器官 上崗時間:2020年
發(fā)展趨勢:在美國,每隔90分鐘就有一個人在等待器官移植中死去。到2050年,老年人口將翻一番,屆時,會有更多人需要進行器官移植。我們需要研究如何制造出像肺、腎、心臟這樣的復雜器官。為了減少排斥反應,制造這些器官均要使用病人自身的細胞。
應受教育:學習生物工程專業(yè),比如維克森林大學就正在實驗室里培育超過22種不同的器官和組織。
銀河建筑師
工作內(nèi)容:建造宇宙前哨基地 上崗時間:2025年
發(fā)展趨勢:美國總統(tǒng)奧巴馬說,宇航員將在2025年之前到達某個小行星。不久之后,我們就能在小行星上開采貴重金屬,并為前往火星建造中途休息站。這類工程所需的建筑物和交通工具要經(jīng)得住包括超低溫和強輻射在內(nèi)的任何因素的考驗。
應受教育:攻讀太空建筑專業(yè)碩士學位,目前僅在休斯敦大學可以拿到該學位。
思想黑客
工作內(nèi)容:洞悉人的思想 上崗時間:2030年
發(fā)展趨勢:在加州大學伯克利分校的杰克·加蘭特的率領下,神經(jīng)科學家們已經(jīng)可以通過掃描人的大腦來大致重現(xiàn)他們在掃描時刻的所見,下一步還有可能會重現(xiàn)人的記憶、思想和夢境。腦機接口技術的發(fā)展也十分順利——至少已經(jīng)有一名癱瘓的男性可以借助移植的大腦來移動電腦光標和機器手臂了。包括精神療法和心靈融合娛樂療法在內(nèi)的領域都將依賴于可以看透別人心思的工作人員來開展工作。
應受教育:攻讀神經(jīng)科學或計算機科學——如果能集兩個專業(yè)于一身,我們將變得神通廣大。endprint