"Window to the future" - How Soviet people saw the XXI century

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In Soviet times, people loved to fantasize about the near future. These dreams were reflected in popular culture as well. One of such “forecasters” was the magazine “Technics-youth”, in which a separate heading “Window to the future” was allocated for exciting ideas about life in the 21st century.

They considered interesting, but at that time unattainable projects and developments of the future. Some of them have not gone beyond the printed pages, however, maybe this is only for now. Indeed, some of the forecasts have really come true, becoming an everyday reality for us.

"Window to the Future" on technical progress and space exploration

Perhaps most of all "children of the twentieth century" were interested in the question - how and in what directions science and technology will develop. And, judging by the developments proposed by the editors of the rubric, they had no doubt that progress would go by leaps and bounds. After all, the projects on the pages of the magazine "Technology-Youth" and the modern man will easily amaze with their scale.

Soviet people, filled with dreams of the imminent onset of communism, imagined the new century somewhat fantastic, even from the point of view of our days. The developments of the future were seen as extraordinary as they were grandiose.

The most popular topic of discussion was, of course, space. And even the failure of the Soviet lunar program did not bother the citizens of the USSR at all. They easily imagined how in the foreseeable future people would actively explore the moon, on which they had already landed, and then begin to colonize it. And, of course, mankind will not stop on a satellite of the Earth - one has only to remember that even in those days the famous Sergei Korolev began to develop projects for landing on Mars.

In reality, everything turned out to be not quite so. The moon, of course, is being investigated - scientists were even able to "get" to its dark side, but for now, this is where man's acquaintance with the celestial body closest to our planet is over. And projects for the colonization of the satellite are still at the development stage. On the other hand, progress does not stand still, and who knows, maybe we will have time to catch the moment when the first people fly to the moon for permanent residence.

Another large-scale prediction about space was the construction and deployment of orbital stations. And here our predecessors were not mistaken in their assumptions, because this idea was successfully implemented. To date, orbital stations are actively "plowing the vastness of the Universe", albeit at a small distance from the planet Earth.

Batistat - an underground elevator that remained a pipe dream

One of the most daring and ambitious projects presented under the heading "Window to the Future" was the idea of creating batistat - a huge elevator capable of taking a person deep underground or to the bottom of the ocean. According to the idea of the authors of this development, with the help of such a technology, it is possible to extract energy resources from the bowels of the earth or the depths of water, while living right above the mine itself.

Part of the cambric on the surface was supposed to look like a huge ball, which, in fact, is a complex for research, and possibly living. Within this sphere were scientific laboratories, an engine room, and even additional living rooms. This ambitious project is a vivid example of the Soviet people's hopes for the technological progress of the future that have never been realized. And while something similar to the batitstat can only be seen in science fiction.

Projects from the Tekhnika-Youth magazine that have become a reality

And yet, the modern generation has not completely deceived the expectations of people from the past. A number of projects presented by the "Window to the Future" rubric were successfully implemented and ceased to be something fantastic, having occupied their own niche in the everyday things of our present.

So, for example, the heading presented a project of a monophone - a device that records a telephone conversation. Moreover, Soviet dreamers even developed their own algorithm for the operation of this device: according to Novate.ru, the recording must necessarily begin after the greeting.

Today, this development of the past is in use by almost half of humanity. But her name is different - everyone knows an answering machine. Either this is just a tribute to etiquette, or the developers of the recording device nevertheless spied the idea from the Tekhnika-Youth magazine, but every conversation on the answering machine really begins with a greeting.

Another idea of the people of the 20th century brought to life was high-rise buildings. In those days, skyscrapers were already being built, but more in the West and they have not yet become a mass phenomenon. Today, high-rise buildings will not surprise anyone, because their number is growing almost exponentially.

The reasons for such an active use of multi-storey buildings in architectural projects are an increase in the population and, at the same time, a decrease in the area of land that can be used for construction.

The Soviet people did not forget about the sky either. Future aviation fantasies were equally popular. For example, they were very fond of representing "stealth planes". And today there are already liners that are not able to "detect" even the most modern radar.

But the aircraft industry went even further. To date, projects of aircraft are under development that could fly not only in the usual sky, but also much higher. Such liners must plow space and deliver people to the stars. Another interesting project was a universal aircraft that did not require special conditions for takeoff and landing, which are needed for conventional aviation. That is, an aircraft that does not need a runway on the ground and airfield.

This development has been successfully implemented in the military sphere. So, it is not unusual for anyone when a fighter or other aircraft lands on a special platform on a ship - today this is an ordinary operation on any aircraft carrier. Now planes can "land" even in the middle of the ocean.

It is also interesting that the Soviet "forecasters" did not ignore even virtual reality. Of course, the progenitors of the Internet appeared in America in the second half of the 20th century, but "Window to the Future" looked even further, suggesting that one day people who are far from each other will be able to see in real time everywhere, without the use of teleconferences. Today this dream is a part of everyday life for many of us and is called Skype.

Of course, sometimes the ideas of Soviet dreamers, left on the pages of the journal "Tekhnika-maolodezhi" and of modern people, will amaze with their courage and originality. But who knows, if some of these projects have already been embodied in the present, then others will not remain forever on paper, but simply wait in the wings, when humanity "grows" to such heights that will allow it to bring so far unrealizable ideas to life.