The Montreal planetarium has sealed a 35-year time capsule, shown in a handout photo, that includes 25 messages written by Quebec students.Grade 6 students had to write a composition for their 2014 provincial French exams based on what life would be like in 2050. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Montreal Planetarium
Republished March 31, 2015 - 2:14 PM
Original Publication Date March 31, 2015 - 10:20 AM
MONTREAL - Elliot Deslauriers imagines the next 35 years will see more lives saved through medicine, hydrogen-powered cars whizzing around and the Montreal Canadiens winning at least one Stanley Cup.
His predictions were among 25 messages written by Quebec students and sealed inside a time capsule at the Montreal planetarium on Tuesday.
Deslauriers, who comes from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, was among Grade 6 students who had to write a composition for their 2014 provincial French exams based on what life would be like in 2050.
The 25 letters are addressed to children of the future and were picked from 77,000 entries.
The 13-year-old is also worried about what people will be like in 35 years.
"I think we will also lose a lot of our family values because there will be too much technology," he said in an interview.
"Today, we watch TV (and) we talk less as a family."
In her letter, Flore Lavoie of Saint-Felicien predicted 2050 would see non-polluting buildings that would function with the help of an energy-balancing electronic system.
"It would have a memory that would increase heat when people come into a house and then decrease it when there is no one home," she said in an interview.
Lavoie, 12, would also like to see technology evolve to the point where a cellphone the size of a microchip could be installed in an ear and be able to call someone just by thinking about the person's number.
Planetarium director Pierre Lacombe said the students were inspired by science-fiction and scientific books.
"Most of them are concerned about the quality of the environment, human relations and technology 35 years from now," he added.
The students' letters were placed inside a stainless steel capsule along with other artifacts, including a 1966 brochure from the city's old Dow planetarium.
It operated from 1966 to 2011 before being moved to the Olympic Park and becoming the Rio Tinto Alcan planetarium in April 2013.
The capsule was inserted inside a sphere on an old Zeiss star projector that is still on display.
The projector, which is about five metres high, is a relic from the old planetarium.
The students' letters, written in French, are also available online.
http://espacepourlavie.ca/sites/espacepourlavie.ca/files/2050_entre-le-reve-et-la-realite.pdf
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News from © The Canadian Press, 2015