Nicknamed “Blade Runner,” South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius competed in the Olympic Games in 2012.

Just how futuristic did things become in 2012?  at the Olympic Games we watched a cyborg compete.  We marveled at the news that NASA was actually working on a faster-than-light warp drive. 2012 also featured the planet’s first superstorm, the development of an artificial retina — and primates who had their intelligence enhanced with a chip. Here are 16 predictions that came true in 2012.

1. A Cyborg Competes Against Able-Bodied Athletes at the Olympics

For the first time ever in Olympic history, a double-amputee raced alongside able-bodied athletes. Nicknamed “Blade Runner,” South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius’s remarkable achievement raised as much enthusiasm as it did concern — some observers felt that hisadvanced prosthetic “Cheetahs” gave him an unfair advantage over the other athletes. But while Pistorius failed to medal, his remarkable achievement signified the dawn of the cyborg age.

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