The Year Ahead
Posted 02/01/2014 by BrightHouse Team
Happy New Year!
2013 saw a whole host of different events from meteor strikes, to 3D printed ears, to moon landings, but what can we expect from 2014?
There are several big sporting events happening throughout this year, starting with the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
The Olympic Torch has been making its way around the world on its 65,000km journey - the longest in history - as well as taking a bit of time off the Earth when it visited the International Space Station in November. The games themselves will be held in and around the city of Sochi on the Black Sea coast, with ski jumps and toboggan courses up in the mountains, and arenas and venues down on the seafront. The opening ceremony will mark the beginning of the games on the 7th February.
In June the FIFA World Cup kicks off in Brazil, with 31 countries competing in the tournament. Spain is the defending champion with its first title win back in 2010. Brazil last hosted the games in 1950, but has been well used to lifting the coveted trophy, as they have won the tournament more times than any other country.
The 20th Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow in July of this year, with 14 venues hosting 17 different sports including boxing, cycling, wrestling, and netball.
Talking of Scotland, this is the year of the Scottish independence referendum which will decide the future of the United Kingdom as we know it. If the answer is overwhelmingly ‘yes’ to the question ‘should Scotland be an independent country?’ then the Union that was created in 1707 will come to an end, and Scotland will become a separate nation from the rest of the UK. There are still lots of questions on how this would work, such as if Scotland would have to reapply to the EU, or what money they would use.
Elsewhere in the world several supertall skyscrapers will be opened or completed this year, including the new One World Trade Centre in New York, and the soaring Shanghai Tower. Another ambitious building project due to be completed in 2014 is the Sky City tower in Changsha, China, though it’s not even been started yet! Despite the tower becoming the tallest building in the world when finished, the builders estimate that it would take just 90 days to complete.
The first commercial flight into space will also lift off this year, carrying Sir Richard Branson and his two children on the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo to a height of 70 miles above Earth. The passengers will experience six minutes of zero-gravity before returning safely to the spaceport in New Mexico. The price of a ticket on this service is expected to be $200,000, so I’d start saving now.
Of course there will be plenty of big films coming to cinemas this year too, including a remake of the 1980s classic RoboCop, two biblical stories, and a film made entirely of Lego. Russell Crowe will be taking on the title role in the film Noah, while Christian Bale plays Moses in Ridley Scott’s Exodus. The Muppets also return to the big screen in Muppets Most Wanted, capering across Europe as they get drawn in to a dastardly plot while on a world tour.
Some of the biggest franchises are also getting additions this year, including new X-Men and Captain America films, and How to Train Your Dragon 2. Christopher Nolan is intriguing us yet again with a film about travelling through wormholes entitled Interstellar, which is sure to be something of an event, though of course there are very few details available at the moment. A couple of famous movie monsters are getting a reboot too, with I, Frankenstein and Godzilla.
Technology will continue to advance in leaps and bounds, from increased use of 3D printing, to virtual reality gaming. The Oculus Rift is a virtual reality headset that’s been in development for some time, but should be released as a consumer product sometime this year, giving gamers a whole new level of immersion and fun. Other technologies will start to see an increase in 2014 too, such as smartwatches, wearable devices that link with your smartphone for quick viewing of notifications and functions.
While there are some things we can be certain of in 2014, and some things that can be reasonably predicted, the year will no doubt bring all sorts of surprises and events.
Whatever 2014 brings for you, we hope you have a very good year!
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