Every year, we are confronted with new facts and scenarios emerging out of climate change and global warming, each more terrifying and apocalyptic than the last. In fact, several well-known scientists and tech moguls have made predictions regarding them. Prominent linguist and public intellectual Noam Chomsky said last year that the COP22 Marrakech climate summit in Morocco, which began on Nov. 7, "basically ceased" to function on Nov.9 after the delegates were confronted with the news that Donald Trump was elected as the next U.S. president. Speaking to over 2,000 people at Riverside Church on Dec. 5, Chomsky also made several related climate change predictions. "The question that was left was whether it would be possible to carry forward this global effort to deal with the highly critical problem of environmental catastrophe, if the leader of the free world, the richest and most powerful country in history, would pull out completely, as appeared to be the case," Chomsky said.

A U.S.-based company called SpaceWorks that develops technologies for space exploration is venturing into uncharted territory for scientists. It is attempting to develop hibernation pods or human stasis pods that could enable humans to partake in interstellar space missions. Such types of hibernation pods have long been a part of popular imagination through cinematic experiences in countless films and anime such as "Interstellar," "Passengers," "Prometheus" and others. However, the company based out of Atlanta, Georgia, is working to turn the science fiction into reality by researching in areas like therapeutic hypothermia, nutrition and intravenous support and metabolic rate, to realize the potential of deep space travel. The company aims to begin testing on animals in 2018, before proceeding to human subjects.