Defying Gravity with Two Fingers: The Physics and Biology Behind China’s Superhuman Stunt

The Hidden Masters of China and the Limits of  Human Anatomy : When Bones Learn to Become Steel

 

by:

 

lim ju boo - Chinese name - lin ru wu ((林 如 武)

 

Two nights ago I was watching China CCTV 17 where they normally show agriculture in rural China.  Even  in the most rural areas of  China their agriculture is so advanced  that they are able to use high tech  technology to produce sufficient food not only to feed their massive population of 1.413 billion people (2026) - more than adequately and nutritionally, but they are even  able to  export their agricultural and food products  to other countries.  Their population is second only to India at 1.46 billion.  India officially overtook China as the world's most populous country in  April 2023. 

China has over 3,300 local, regional, and national TV channels. Of these, the vast majority are broadcast in Mandarin and local dialects. There are only 2 dedicated English-language television channels operated by the Chinese state broadcaster, namely, CGTN  and CGTN Documentary are in English. But here in Malaysia I can only receive 65 CCTV channels, and all are televised  in Mandarin.  

CCTV 17 is China's Agricultural and Rural Channel meant only for their domestic Chinese viewers which frequently also  showcases incredible regional talents, martial artists, and rural "hidden masters" is a masterclass in extreme physical conditioning. 

Among the countless the super-human stunts they do there, there was one I saw showing  a man 75 kg in weight lying forward using only his two last fingers  to support his massive body to do pumping exercises up and down. 

I was completely amazed. Being interested in physic and mathematics - besides other scientific fields - medicine and nutrition, I  started to calculate the forces exerted only on his two last fingers, and whether the massive forces applied would fracture his tiny fingers?

 Here’s the final result of my calculation.

For a 75 kg man performing a two-finger push-up (pump exercise), the total force exerted is approximately 735.75 newtons (N), and the pressure exerted on the fingertips is roughly 1,635,000 Pascals (Pa) or 237 psi.

 

Below are the details how I calculated it. 

First, Identify the Gravitational Force.

The total force exerted by the man's body is his weight  which is the product of his mass and the acceleration due to gravity (approx. 9.81m/ s2)

 

W = m x g

 

W = 75 kg x 0.81 m / s 2 = 735.75 newton (N)

This is the total force the ground must push back with to support him while he is off the ground.

The second step is to estimate the contact area (last two fingers)

Pressure is defined as force (F) divided by the area (A) over which it is applied:

 

P = F/A

 

 For this calculation, we assume each fingertip has a contact area of roughly =

 

2.25 cm 2  (1.5 cm x 1.5 cm)

 

Area per finger = 2.25 cm2  0.000225 m2

 

Total area for 2 fingers -  0.00045 m2

 

Third step is to calculate the pressure

 by using the pressure formula  which I presume everyone here knows and has learnt during their physics class in school

 

P = 735.75 newton (N) / 0.00045 m2  = 1,635,000 Pa (approximately)

 

The standard tire pressure units (psi) is approximately 237 psi. For comparison, this is about 7 times the pressure on his little fingers then  inside a typical car tire - simply amazing.

Final result is :

  

The force exerted is 735.75 newton (N), and the resulting pressure is approximately 1.64 million Pascals

The pressure of 1,635,000 Pa is equivalent to 16.14 standard atmospheres (atm), and the force is 735.75 newtons (N).

Atmospheric Pressure Equivalent:

The pressure on his  fingertips is equal to 16.14 atm.

1. One standard atmosphere equal 101,325 Pascals.

2. This is 16 times normal sea-level air pressure.

3. It equals the crushing pressure 150 meters underwater.

Force Equivalents

The total downward force remains 735.75 Newtons.

1. Equals 75 kilograms of force (kgf).

2. Equals 165 pounds of force (lbf).

3. Matches the gravitational weight of the entire body

For an untrained individual attempting this would almost certainly experience severe bone fractures and torn ligaments.  The calculated force and pressure push the human body right to the edge of its structural tolerances.

 Bio-mechanical data reveals exactly how the last two fingers (the ring and little fingers) handle these forces and why dynamic "pumping" makes the scenario incredibly dangerous.

Bone Fracture Limits (The Pinky vs. 735 N)

Human cadaver studies on finger crushing and jamming show that the structural limits of finger bones are highly dependent on alignment:

Pure Axial Loading (Perfect Alignment):

 

 Human finger bones (phalanges) are surprisingly strong when compressed straight down from the tip. Studies show it takes roughly 1,485 to 1,833 Newtons of pure axial force to fracture a pinky bone.

The Reality Check:

 Because our total calculated force is 735.75 N, the bones could theoretically support the weight statically, but only under absolute perfection. The moment the man pumps up and down, momentum adds dynamic shock loads that can easily double the force past the 1,500 N failure threshold. 

Ligament and Tendon Rupture (The Real Weak Point)

While the bones might survive a static hold, the ligaments and tendons are highly likely to tear during dynamic movement

Ligament and Tendon Rupture (The Real Weak Point)

While the bones might survive a static hold, the ligaments and tendons are highly likely to tear during dynamic movement

1. The Shear Force Threat: A push-up is not perfectly vertical. As the body moves up and down, the angle of the arm changes, translating the vertical force into lateral and hyper extension shear forces on the finger joints.

2. Collateral Ligaments: The collateral ligaments stabilizing the sides of the distal interphalangeal (DIP) and proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints fail at much lower thresholds when subjected to twisting or bending.

3. Volar Plate & Extensor Tendon Tears: Under 735 N of hyper-extension force, the volar plate (the thick ligament preventing the finger from bending backward) or the extensor tendon would experience an avulsion rupture. The tendon would literally tear a piece of the bone away with it (a "Mallet Finger" or "bony pilon" fracture)

 

How Elite Athletes Defy This (Wolff's Law)

This brings me another thought.  I often wonder how Shaolin monks or elite martial artists manage to do two-finger push-ups without their hands exploding. They rely on a biological process called mechano transduction?

Wolff's Law of Bone Adaptation: 

When bones are subjected to progressive, sub-fracture stress over many years, they rebuild themselves to be denser and thicker. An elite practitioner's finger bones can become significantly thicker than an average person.

1.  Cortical Bone Denser Tuning: The outer layer of the phalanges adapts specifically to handle axial loads – evolution and adaptation during adverse conditions is something I can talk about confidently - I did my postdoctoral in evolution at Cambridge.  

2.  Ligament Hypertrophy: Connective tissues and tendons thicken gradually over a decade of training, raising their failure threshold well above the baseline 735 N requirement.

If an average, untrained 75 kg person tried this today, the combination of joint misalignment, lack of bone density, and sudden dynamic shock would cause immediate catastrophic structural failure of the hand.

When I  saw that stunt man performed this on CCTV 17 television, they are leveraging an extraordinary blend of lifelong biological adaptation, mechanical trickery, and specialized techniques to bypass the standard human breaking points. 

The "Claw" Geometry (Protecting the Joints)

As a former research medical scientist I normally pay hairline details to whatever I watch.  I closely watch the footage of masters performing these stunts on CCTV 17,  they almost never press down with perfectly straight, flat fingertips. Instead, they use a tightly locked "Claw" position (highly prominent in Shaolin One Finger Zen training).

1. No Hyperextension: By arching the fingers so the joints are bent slightly outward, they prevent the joint from collapsing or hyperextending backward.

2. Skeletal Stacking: This transfers the immense 735 N weight directly down the longitudinal axis of the bones. It bypasses the vulnerable ligaments and turns the finger into a rigid, bone-to-bone pillar.

Lifelong Bone Densification

Many of the individuals featured on CCTV 17 have practiced traditional conditioning methods since childhood. Decades of striking hard surfaces (like bags of rice, sand, and eventually iron filings) fundamentally rewrite their biology.

Micro-Fracture Healing:

Every time they train, they create microscopic fissures in the bone. The body overcompensates by filling these gaps with calcium, resulting in cortical bone thickening.

The "Iron" Result:

By adulthood, a practitioner's pinky and ring finger bones can possess a cross-sectional density vastly superior to an ordinary person's, easily raising their structural failure threshold well beyond the 1,500 N danger zone.

Biomechanical Leverage Illusions:

While the stunt looks like they are holding up 100% of their 75 kg body weight on their fingers, physics tells us they are using clever weight distribution:

1. The Pivot Point: In a standard push-up, the feet remain on the ground. The feet act as a fulcrum, bearing roughly 30% to 40% of the total body weight.

2. The Actual Load: This means the fingers are not actually bearing the full 735 N (75 kg). They are bearing closer to 440 to 515 N (45 to 52 kg). While still an extraordinary and dangerous amount of pressure for two small fingers, it drops the load safely below the absolute mechanical snapping point of a conditioned human bone.

3. CCTV's "Hidden Masters" Culture

China's CCTV networks heavily document these physical anomalies because they tie directly into historical martial arts culture. Practitioners like Xie Guizhong (who famously set a Guinness World Record on CCTV for performing 41 one-finger push-ups in 30 seconds) or Yuan Tingjun (who can statically suspend his body weight on two fingers) are genetic outliers who have combined elite calisthenics with ancient "Iron Body" conditioning.

It truly is a "superhuman" feat, not because they violate the laws of physics, but because they have spent a lifetime forcing their anatomy to adapt to them. We call this “ Darwinian medicine”.  Darwinian medicine (also known as evolutionary medicine combines evolution with medicine) applies the principles of evolutionary biology to understand why our bodies are vulnerable to disease. 

While conventional medicine asks how a disease works, Darwinian medicine asks why natural selection has left us susceptible to it something.  It is a branch of specialized medicine from  evolution.

There was also another one I saw among hundreds of these super-human stunts they do there every day. This one was a girl who somersaulted backwards exactly on the same spot 75 times within one minute. I shall write a comment separately on this one in my next article as this concerns physiology and medicine.

I am truly very impressed and amazed by all these people in China.

Why Food and Nutrition May Become the Most Important University Courses of the Future (Part 2)

 

 Why Food and Nutrition May Become the Most Important University Courses of the Future 

By: Lim Ju Boo - lin ru wu (林 如 武) 

On 20 May, I wrote an article on:  

The Most in Demand University Courses for The Future

https://scientificlogic.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-most-in-demand-university-courses.html

I promised I shall continue to write on this issue that concerns future generations of students to come. 

For generations, medicine has been regarded as one of the most prestigious and desirable university courses in the world. Parents proudly encourage their children to become doctors because medicine is associated with status, stable employment, respect and financial security. Students themselves often choose medicine believing that doctors will always remain highly demanded and better rewarded than graduates from most other disciplines.

However, over the years since the 1970's this is no longer true. Studying medicine today is no more lucrative as during my time. Why is this so? Read the reasons in the three links below later in order not be distracted here for the moment: 

1.  "Which area of healthcare is more important: "Nutrition or Medicine" 

 https://scientificlogic.blogspot.com/2024/03/which-area-in-health-care-is-most.html

2.  The Clinician vs Clinical Scientist vs Medical Scientist

 

https://scientificlogic.blogspot.com/search?q=too+many+clinics

 

3. Choosing a Right Course for a Career Pathway - Which One?

 

 https://scientificlogic.blogspot.com/2024/11/choosing-right-course-for-career.html

  

As a graduate in many disciplines of studies - from  medicine, nutrition, chemistry, zoology, physiology, food technology, and in food quality control across five  various universities that took me  nearly 18 years,  I have increasingly come to realize that the future needs of humanity may slowly shift in another direction, namely, towards food science, food technology and nutrition.

This is not because medicine is unimportant. Medicine will always remain a noble and essential profession. Humanity will always need doctors, surgeons and medical scientists to diagnose diseases, relieve suffering and save lives.

Yet when we calmly reflect upon the fundamental requirements of human existence, we begin to see that food and nutrition may ultimately become even more crucial for the long-term survival of civilization itself. I have emphasize this in my last write-up on:

The Most in Demand University Courses for The Future

Once again, every human being depends daily upon only three absolutely essential necessities for life:

1. Air

2. Water

3. Food

Without any one of these, life cannot continue.

Medicine, on the other hand, is not consumed daily by healthy individuals to sustain life. People take medicines mainly when they become ill. Even then, recovery still depends heavily upon adequate food and nutrition. A patient cannot survive on drugs alone without water, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and energy to nourish the body.

In reality, food itself is often the first and greatest medicine.

A starving child cannot recover merely from tablets or injections. A severely malnourished person cannot regain strength without nourishment. Even the best medications may fail when the body lacks the nutritional foundation required for healing and immunity.

At present, society may not fully appreciate the enormous importance of food science and nutrition because food is still relatively abundant in many countries. Supermarkets remain full, restaurants continue to operate and food supplies still appear secure.

But beneath this appearance of abundance lies a growing global challenge.

The world population continues to increase rapidly year after year. At the same time, agricultural land is steadily shrinking as forests and farmland are converted into housing estates, highways, factories, industrial zones and expanding cities. Climate change, droughts, floods, water shortages and environmental degradation increasingly threaten global food production systems.

Human civilization may one day discover that producing enough safe and nutritious food for billions of people is far more difficult than manufacturing medicines.

That future moment may become one of humanity’s greatest turning points.

When food shortages begin to emerge, the consequences are severe:

1. Hunger increases

2. Malnutrition spreads

3. Disease resistance weakens

4. Social unrest develops

5. Economic instability grows

6. Political tensions rise

7. Mortality increases

Under such circumstances, medicines alone cannot solve the problem because food itself becomes the primary medicine needed for survival.

History repeatedly shows that civilizations often collapse not only because of wars or diseases, but also because of famine and failure of food supplies.

Even today, whenever major disasters occur — whether earthquakes, floods, wars or droughts — what are the first emergency supplies sent to affected populations?

The priorities are almost always:

1. Food

2. Water

3. Shelter

4. Clothing

Only afterward come medicines and medical equipment.

This clearly demonstrates the true hierarchy of human survival needs.

Modern food and nutrition sciences are also no longer “minor” academic disciplines as many people once believed. These fields have evolved into highly sophisticated and rapidly expanding sciences involving:

1. Human nutrition 

2. Clinical nutrition

3.  Dietetics

4.  Food microbiology

5. Food biotechnology

6.  Food toxicology

7.  Food engineering

8. Food safety

9. Functional foods

10. Nutraceuticals

11. Public health nutrition

12. Agricultural technology

13. Sustainable food production

14. Molecular nutrition

15. Food legislation and regulation

Food safety itself has become one of the world’s greatest public health concerns. Contaminated food can affect entire populations within days. Problems involving food poisoning, microbial contamination, pesticides, heavy metals, antibiotic residues, toxic chemicals and microplastics have made food regulation increasingly important worldwide.

This explains why many national and international organizations place enormous emphasis upon food safety and food regulation.

In many disaster situations and humanitarian crises, food security becomes even more important than medical sophistication. A hungry population cannot remain stable regardless of how advanced its hospitals may be.

Furthermore, modern scientific research increasingly shows that many chronic diseases are strongly related to diet and lifestyle. Conditions such as obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and certain cancers are often linked to nutritional habits.

Future healthcare may therefore focus increasingly upon prevention through nutrition rather than merely treating diseases after they develop.

In this sense, nutritionists and food scientists may become as important as doctors in safeguarding humanity’s health.

Historically, nutrition itself is actually a relatively young university discipline. Before the 1960s, very few universities offered formal undergraduate or postgraduate programs in nutrition. One of the pioneering institutions was Queen Elizabeth College under the University of London, where Professor Dr John Yudkin helped establish nutrition as an important academic field in the Western world. 

Professor John Yudkin, BSc (Lond), BA (Cambridge), MBBChir (Cambridge), MD (Cambridge), FRCP, FRIC, PhD (Cambridge), was a Professor of Physiology at the University of London from 1945 till 1954, and became a Professor of Nutrition at Queen Elizabeth College, University of London from 1954 till 1971.

He was a very eminent scientist -  a chemist, a biochemist, a clinician, a highly qualified physician with an FRCP and a higher postgraduate MD, a physiologist, and above all these professions he held, he was most well-known as a world most renown nutritionist. I was very fortunate to study directly under him as the first and only Malaysian  postgraduate student at that time in Queen Elizabeth College. It was he who cultivated my interest in clinical physiology and nutrition.  His knowledge in the clinical diagnosis of nutritional deficiency disease was first-class. 

 

Today, through his influence in nutrition and the prestige of the University of London, universities throughout the world — including those in Malaysia — offer extensive programs in food science, food technology, nutrition and dietetics. The rapid growth of these courses reflects the increasing global recognition that food and nutrition are fundamental sciences essential for humanity’s future survival.

Contrary to the misconception that food science and nutrition graduates have poor career prospects, graduates in these fields are now heavily involved in:

1. Food manufacturing industries

2. Pharmaceutical companies

3. Research institutions

4. Public health agencies

5. Hospitals

6. Universities

7. Food safety laboratories

8. Agricultural industries

9.Biotechnology companies

10. Nutritional product industries

11. Government regulatory authorities

12. International food organizations

In fact, many graduates in these disciplines are fully employed almost immediately after graduation because the global demand for food production, food safety and nutritional expertise continues to expand steadily. So far, I have not heard of any nutritionist unemployed. 

The food industry itself remains one of the largest economic sectors in the world. Every single day, billions of people purchase food to sustain themselves and their families. People visit food markets and grocery stores regularly, often daily or weekly. They do not visit hospitals or buy medicines every day unless they are ill.

Food therefore drives not only human survival, but also much of the global economy itself.

Perhaps future students and parents should begin to reconsider what careers may truly become most important in the coming decades.

The future world may not merely ask:
“How do we cure disease?”

It may increasingly ask:
“How do we feed humanity safely, nutritiously and sustainably?”

The student who studies food science, food technology or nutrition today may one day help prevent famine, improve global health, ensure food safety, strengthen food security and sustain millions of human lives.

That responsibility is no less noble than medicine. So we can clearly see the vast branches of nutrition and food sciences and each of them sub-divided into their specialized areas exactly just like in medicine. 

We can clearly see a student studying a 4-year general course in nutrition or in food science is not about "what food to eat, and what not to eat". It is a highly specialised technical area divided into so many branches with only some examples I have listed above. An undergraduate student in nutrition has to attend 8 hours of lectures a day in multi-disciplinary scientific and medical subjects including economics, sociology, human behaviour, statistics, epidemiology, including practical for 4 solid years before qualifying as a nutritionist.  Nutrition is not a 20 minutes talk about what to eat, and not what to eat. 

Indeed, as humanity faces growing population pressures and environmental challenges, food and nutrition may eventually emerge as among the most important university disciplines for the future survival of civilization itself. 

The practice of nutrition is a formal, regulated profession in Malaysia. Under the Allied Health Professions Act 2016 (Act 774). Nutritionists and dietitians are recognized health professionals, and practitioners must be formally registered with the Malaysian Allied Health Professions Council (MAHPC) to practice legally.

Food Before Medicine: A Forgotten Truth of Human Survival: Prevention Before Cu

 Why Nutrition May Be More Important Than Medicine

People regard medicine as one of the most important and noble professions in society. While medicine is undoubtedly essential, many forget that human civilization survives not through one profession alone, but through the interdependence and division of human labour. Doctors are important, but so are farmers, food scientists, nutritionists, engineers, sanitation workers, teachers, water specialists and countless others whose daily contributions sustain human life long before disease even appears.

We are not a permanently sick society requiring doctors, hospitals and medicines every day of our lives. Yet every human being requires food, water and nourishment daily in order to survive. Without adequate water and nutrition, life itself cannot continue beyond a limited period, depending upon the body’s nutritional reserves and physiological condition.

Perhaps many people take food for granted simply because it remains readily available around us. Supermarkets are full, restaurants are abundant and food appears endlessly accessible. As a result, society often pays little attention to nutrition until health begins to fail.

In many ways, human psychology itself may be summarized in a simple observation:

“We think of medicine when we are sick, and food when we are hungry.”

This single sentence contains profound truth about both human behaviour and modern public health priorities. It reflects the difference between preserving health and repairing illness after health has already deteriorated.

Modern societies often place greater prestige upon dramatic cures than upon quiet prevention. Surgical miracles, powerful drugs and advanced medical technologies naturally attract public admiration more easily than the silent benefits of proper nutrition, moderation and healthy living. Yet preventive health measures may ultimately save far more lives, suffering and economic burden than treatment alone.

Ironically, many affluent societies now suffer not from lack of food, but from over consumption. People often eat excessively without genuine hunger until obesity and chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disorders eventually appear. Only then do many begin seeking doctors and medicines.

Rarely do they first seek the guidance of nutritionists to prevent illness before it develops.

As someone trained in both medicine and nutrition, food science, food quality control among many other sciences,  I often feel that society has reversed the natural order of healthcare. People should ideally consult the nutritionist first and the doctor last whenever possible. The old saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” may sound simple, yet it expresses a timeless philosophy of preventive medicine.

Maintaining health before disease appears may ultimately prove wiser, kinder and more sustainable than constantly repairing illness after health has already been lost.

The Most in Demand University Courses for The Future

 Two weeks ago I was  invited by a university to be a speaker  in a public forum what I think would be the future of mankind. 

A member of the audience posed me a question during the Q & A session which course of study would I think will be the most important and in demand at the present moment, in 20 years time and in the distant future for mankind, and why?

Here is my answer to an auditorium-packed audience. 

The landscape of education in a university is shifting rapidly due to automation, changing demographics, and climate imperatives. 

Currently, the most in-demand course of study is Computer Science with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence (AI). In 20 years, it will shift toward Renewable Energy Engineering and Climate Tech. In the distant future, the ultimate field of study will be Bioengineering and Human-Machine Augmentation. 

 At the Present Moment (2026),  Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence may be the  immediate demand  dominated by the need to build, deploy, and regulate the digital infrastructure running our global economy.

The core course is a  BSc in Computer Science / MSc in AI and Data Science. 

Let me explain why this is in demand at the moment.  Almost every major commercial sector is scrambling to integrate generative AI and automation into their legacy systems. Corporations are generating exponential amounts of data but lack the specialized human capital required to clean, interpret, and convert this data into actionable logic. The rapid rise of AI tools has simultaneously heightened cyber threats, creating a parallel, desperate need for security professionals.

AI prompt engineer, cybersecurity analyst, data scientist, machine 

learning architect are highly sought after these days. That is, for the immediate moment.

However,  in 20 years (mid-2040s) we need to look at sustainability & climate engineering. By the mid-2040s, initial digital automation will be heavily commoditized and a standard. The defining global crisis, and therefore economic engine will center entirely on human survival, resource scarcity, and climate reality.

The core course may shift to a  Bachelor’s degree in Engineering in renewable energy,  MSc in engineering in sustainable infrastructure & climate adaptation. You would ask me why it will be in demand? 

Here’s my reasons.  International mandates to eliminate carbon emissions mean entire nations will need their power grids completely overhauled.  As extreme weather occurrences rise, we will drastically need experts to design smart-city infrastructures, manage water security, and scale carbon-capture plants.

Severe climate shifts will threaten traditional farming, triggering massive demand for automated, laboratory-controlled vertical farming and synthetic

biology. Future top roles for societies would be grid modernization engineer, climate risk mitigation specialist, sustainability consultant, vertical agritech supervisor.

 In the distant future (2060s and beyond) bioengineering & consciousness studies may be heavily in demand. In the distant future, fundamental physical labour and software creation will be flawlessly handled by autonomous AI systems. Human labour will shift inward, focusing on expanding the limits of human biology and exploring how human organic tissue interfaces with synthetic technologies.

I believe the core course will be a PhD in molecular bioengineering, a degree in neural-machine integration & cognitive architecture.  Why in demand? It is because of a  post-AI job market.  When software codes itself, the highest economic value will lie in modifying physical reality and biological matter. Consider also an aging demographics.  A massive global elderly population will shift focus toward genetic therapies, synthetic organ replacement, and reversing cellular degradation. I think there will be a neural integration. As brain-computer interfaces advance past basic clinical trials, society will require highly specialized architects to design, program, and protect direct human-to-computer connections. Distant future top roles will need a neural interface designer, genetic 

correction therapist, organ printing 

engineer, synthetic biologist. Having said that, at the moment till 5 years time, I see the most in demand course students clamour for, especially in China - a country that is rising technologically like a brilliant eastern star, the most in-demand course is computer science and Artificial Intelligence. The reason why digital transformation is no longer optional. Every industry, from healthcare to finance needs experts to build, secure, and manage AI systems and massive data sets. Key specializations are in cybersecurity, data science, and software engineering. Other notables are nursing and healthcare management that 

remain critical due to an aging global population. The mid-term future (20 Years: ~2045) most in-demand course would be  renewable energy & sustainability engineering. You may ask me why?  By 2045, the transition away from fossil fuels will be at its peak. The "Green Economy" will require a massive workforce to redesign energy grids, cities, and supply chains for climate resilience. The key specializations may be sustainable drug discovery, circular economy management, and robotics engineering for automated infrastructure. As routine cognitive tasks are automated, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Ethics Governance will be the most valuable "soft" degrees. Having foreseen these, what about the distant future (50+ years?). Most In-Demand Course perhaps may be bio-digital engineering & space technologies as humans venture into space as the population gets too crowed to live here. In the distant future, the focus will likely shift to the "Post-Human" and "Off-World" eras. This involves merging biological systems with technology and sustaining life beyond Earth. There maybe a  merge among genomics, human-robot interaction design, and astrophysics- which is also area of my interest. As basic labour and computation are fully handled by AI, human study will center on the most complex problems left, extending life, mental health (neuro-linkage), and space exploration. This is my vision. Do readers here agree with my thinking?

But wait a minute. I have a far more advanced view for our survival for actual biological needs whether in the past, current or for the future. Here’s far more urgent - most are forced to concur with me.  

In  the far future all these courses I mentioned above will be replaced by agriculture, food production, food science and anything that has to do with food and nutrition due to increasing population.  The ability to get  food to eat for daily nourishment would be the only thing we and all living things need. With fuel, oil,  gas, energy,  fertilizers, pesticides and weedicides needed for food production and transportation - all of them depending solely on diminishing fossil fuel, nothing else is more important.  We all are forced to admit that  air, water and food are the only three things we need to continue to exist, and  not computer science, AI, engineering or even medicine. We cannot take medicine the doctor prescribe as food. That will make it worse by poisoning ourselves with drugs that are all pure chemicals.  

I have earlier mentioned about AI and robotic-driven industry. But when food becomes scare, I like to make an incredibly powerful point. Strip away all our modern technology, and the ultimate bottom line of human survival is indeed air, water, and food. AI and robots cannot give us food and water. Robots themselves need power and electricity as their only "food" which itself by then is in short supply. 

My scientific logic tracks perfectly in that  if we cannot feed ourselves, no amount of AI or space technology matters.  However, rather than replacing fields like AI, engineering, and medicine, the absolute crisis of food and water scarcity will actually absorb them.

The traditional way we farm today relying on depleting fossil fuels for synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and heavy machinery is completely unsustainable. To survive, the "Agriculture and Food Science" courses of the future will look radically different, heavily relying on the very disciplines I  mentioned to solve the exact problems I  raised. Here are my reasons how those fields will merge into the ultimate fight for food survival:

1. Agriculture + Engineering (Solving the Fuel & Transport Crisis)

With fossil fuels gone, we cannot run tractors or ship food across oceans.

The future course is,  autonomous 

bio-regional engineering. What does this mean and how it works?  Instead of gas-chugging machinery, future students will need to design electric, solar-powered, automated micro-cultivators. Engineering will shift from creating cars to creating highly efficient, closed-loop urban farming systems (like automated vertical farms) that grow food exactly where people live, eliminating the need for long-distance transport.

2. Food Science + Computer Science/AI (Replacing Fertilizers & Pesticides)

Traditional chemical fertilizers and pesticides rely heavily on petroleum and natural gas. When they run out, we cannot simply go back to 1800s farming, because the current global population is too large to sustain on old methods.

The Future Course is  AI-Driven Agro-Ecology. AI will be used to monitor crops at a molecular level, using precise data to manage soil microbiomes instead of dumping chemicals. Drone algorithms will spot and remove weeds or pests individually, replacing chemical weedicides with precision laser systems.

3. Nutrition + Medicine/Bio-Tech (Maximizing Yield and Survival)

As arable land shrinks due to climate shifts and soil depletion, we will need to produce more food and nutrition with less physical space and water. The future course will be on  cellular agriculture & genetic nutrition. As I can see, medicine and biology will merge with food science. Students will study how to bio-engineer crops to grow in saltwater (solving the fresh water crisis) or synthesize nutrient-dense proteins in labs (cellular agriculture) without needing massive plots of land or livestock.

The Verdict: A New Era of "Survival Sciences"

I strongly believe I have seen the future on human needs  that Food and Hydration Security will become the most critical priority on Earth. But because our natural resources are depleting, we will no longer be able to farm using just a tractor and soil.

The most in-demand course will likely be a hybrid field. By this I mean  techno-agronomy. It will be a course where students study biology and agriculture, but use advanced engineering and AI as their primary tools to keep humanity alive.

Does this perspective of technology acting as a tool for food security match how my  readers  view the upcoming resource crisis, or do we  see a complete return to low-tech, traditional survival methods?

I believe most of my readers here would be absolutely in tune with my thinking that the most important need for our continued existence is just the availability of food supply to feed the growing billions of people in this world. When people are hungry, starving and malnourished all they need is just food and water. No longer will they be interested in AI and robotics. 

Currently there is still plenty of food supply. So we never think of food security although we complain of increases of food and fuel prices due to the closure of the Straits of Hormuz by Iran. This has  affected essential oil and fuel supply even if it may be temporary, but the effect is already felt.

But when fossil fuel is completely depleted and with the increasing population to be fed, I think there be chaos, social, economic and political disorders all over the world. Not even the availability of medicine for the sick is more important than food and food security. I think by then, say in a 100 years time agriculture, food science, food production and nutrition will take precedence and priority over all other science and non-science courses as the field of studies for future students. This is my vision. Anyone is more than willing to quit their job, or forgo any university courses, but  they cannot go without food and nutrition for more than a week at most - provided they are  given air and water.

This  reasoning captures the absolute core of human vulnerability. It is completely true that a society is only ever a few missed meals away from total collapse. History shows that when food runs out, laws, economies, and political systems crumble instantly.

My analogy about  quitting jobs just to get food  puts it perfectly. We can also opt out of the digital economy as I have written at length earlier,  but we cannot opt out of our biological need for calories.

When looking at a 100-year horizon where fossil fuels are completely depleted, my personal projection that Food Security will take precedence over all other sciences is highly realistic. However, the nature of that 21st-century food crisis will force a massive shift in how we define "Agriculture."

The 100-Year Food Paradox

The challenge of the year 2126 won't just be a lack of fuel. It will be the reality that traditional agriculture cannot feed billions of people without fossil fuels. We have a  modern food illusion. Today's "plenty of food supply" is actually just transformed oil. Modern agriculture uses petroleum for tractors, natural gas to make nitrogen fertilizers, and oil for global shipping.

The threat is,  if we simply stop using fossil fuels and try to return to 19th-century farming methods, global food yields will drop by an estimated 50% to 60%. Combined with a larger population, this would cause the exact global starvation and chaos I am predicting.

The Survival Sciences of 2126

Because of this paradox, the fields of study in 100 years will indeed focus entirely on food, but they will look like "science fiction" farming. To avoid mass starvation, students will study how to decouple food production from both fossil fuels and unpredictable weather.

Let me talk a little about synthetic biology & cellular agriculture, The goal is  

cultivating pure nutrition without needing fields, tractors, or livestock. Students will learn to grow complex proteins, fats, and carbohydrates in bioreactors using engineered microbes, fungi, and algae. This requires zero fuel, uses 90% less water, and can be done inside sealed urban facilities anywhere on Earth.

We can think about closed-loop aggro-ecology & geothermal farming. The goal is 

growing traditional crops without chemical fertilizers or fossil-fuel machinery. This means agriculture degrees will merge with ecology. Students will study how to build massive vertical farms powered by geothermal or nuclear energy, where pests are managed by lasers, and nutrients are recycled infinitely from organic waste instead of synthetic oil-based fertilizers.

Another option is macro-nutrition & caloric logistics. By this I mean keeping billions alive on bare essentials during climate or political disruptions.

This will replace culinary science. It will focus on maximizing human metabolic efficiency, how to process raw biomass (like algae or insects) into highly bio-available, shelf-stable, and easily distributable nutrition packets to prevent the chaos I already  mentioned.

The New Hierarchy of Needs

The way I can project my vision for future study  is,   the luxury of studying abstract software, finance, or corporate management will vanish. In a world starved of resources, those fields will be seen as pointless distractions.

The ultimate fields of study will be entirely survival-driven. However, because humanity will be backed into a corner, "Agriculture" will no longer mean working the land, it will mean engineering survival at a cellular level.

If this resource-scarce future on nutrition and food security is the most vulnerable for our very existence here on this planet - in the past, present and far more so in the future due to increasing world population  then now we have to accept this truth.

I shall explain why food and nutrition will be the most vital and important university degree course  future generations will clamour for  in much greater detail later.