In the 1980s the movie Back to the Future Part II predicted what life would be like in the future.  Specifically today, October 21, 2015.  In honor of the day that Marty McFly made it to future, many news outlets are looking back at the predictions made the movie’s writers.  Surprisingly, much of the technology seen in the movie is in use today such as drones hoverboards, and fingerprint recognition.

In Back to the Future Part II a drone operated by news station captures the arrest of one of the movie’s villains.  Now in present day, drones have become increasingly common.  However, drones can not be used for commercial purpose unless they receive special permission Federal Aviation Admission (FAA).  In order to attempt to loosen the FAA’s rules, many news companies have begun to work with Virginia test in an attempt to try and find a way to incorporate drones with modern technology.  Meanwhile drones have also become a commonplace in warfare and Google has recently unveiled plans for a drone delivery service.  Luckily for Google, a California bill (Marty McFly’s home state) that would have prevented “unmanned bills from flying 350 feet above property with property bills giving their permission first” was not passed, allowing the role of drones to potentially expand.

In one of the most famous scenes of the movie, Marty Mcfly chases his nemesis through the town square on a hoverboard.  While there are now hands free scooters that are widely known as hoverboards, even though they technically have wheels.  Despite this, Lexus and a start up known as Arx Pax are working to develop wheels less hoverboards.  However the boards only work over conductive surfaces, so they couldn’t be used everywhere.

Another piece of technology predicted by Back to the Future Part II, is fingerprint recognition.  Fingerprints can be used to unlock an iPhone, access bank accounts, and even unlock the doors of a person’s home.  The movie even manages to predict the problem of fingerprint theft.  Back to the Future made other accurate predictions about phone technology (beyond the use fingerprint recognition.  In one scene a character donates money using a device similar to a tablet, or a cell phone.  Additionally, at various points the characters video chat (anticipating advances such as Facetime and Skype).  Despite taking place almost 30 years ago, Back to the Future Part II still manages to predict many of the modern advancements that we now have today.