That may be because they are: Earth is rushing along right now at about 30 kilometers per second (almost 19 miles per second) — moving about a kilometer per second faster than when Earth will be farthest from the Sun on July 4, notes Bruce McClure of EarthSky Tonight.*

Or maybe it’s the accelerating pace of new developments? Tech predictions for 2016 are ranging from “Intelligent agents that will talk to you actively, reminding you of things that are happening and giving you a unique form of augmented reality” (TechCrunch) and “3-D printing’s inflection point: 3-D printed guns, 3-D printed vital organs” (Inc.) to “The Hyperloop will become fully operational” (Computerworld).

What are your predictions?

Head on over to our Forums — where folks are making predictions for 2016 ranging from “Amazon and Walmart will begin experimental delivery of parcels using drones” (Wiccidor) to “Low cost, bendable hi-def displays will make significant inroads in consumer electronics” (beachmike) — and make yours!

We’ll do a reality check on Jan. 2, 2017.

* The reason: today (January 2) our planet Earth reached its closest point to the Sun for this year — Earth’s perihelion. Earth is now about 5 million kilometers (3 million miles) closer to the Sun than it will be on July 4 at aphelion. “Though not responsible for the seasons, Earth’s closest and farthest points to the sun do affect seasonal lengths,” McClure explains.