Futures facts & stats

Question 1

In English grammar, which helper verb is most often used to form the simple future tense?

Accepted Answer

Will. English usually forms the simple future with 'will' plus a verb, as in 'I will go'; did, has and was point to past or perfect forms.

Question 2

What is a time capsule?

Accepted Answer

A sealed container of items meant to be opened in the future. A time capsule holds letters and objects from the present, sealed so people in the future can open it.

Question 3

Under the Gregorian calendar, is the year 2100 a leap year?

Accepted Answer

No, it is divisible by 100 but not by 400. Century years are leap years only if divisible by 400, so 2000 was a leap year but 2100 is not.

Question 4

In about 5 billion years, the Sun is expected to swell into what kind of star?

Accepted Answer

A red giant. When the Sun runs low on hydrogen in its core, it will expand into a red giant before becoming a white dwarf.

Question 5

Which 1895 novel by H. G. Wells follows a traveler to the far future?

Accepted Answer

The Time Machine. H. G. Wells published The Time Machine in 1895, about an inventor who travels hundreds of thousands of years ahead.

Question 6

After the transits of 2004 and 2012, in which year will the next transit of Venus across the Sun occur?

Accepted Answer

2117. Transits of Venus come in pairs more than a century apart; after 2004 and 2012, the next is in December 2117.

Question 7

The word 'future' comes from the Latin 'futurus', a form of which verb?

Accepted Answer

To be. 'Futurus' is the future participle of the Latin verb 'esse', to be, meaning 'about to be'.

Futures facts & stats

The basics