Detailed Roadmap of the 21st Century

(12/30/2006) This is the initial release of the "Detailed Roadmap of the 21^st Century" compilation, a year by year bullet point list of notable advances expected to happen in the 21st century, from 2006 onwards. The motivation for creating such a compilation is to allow us to evaluate predictions in context of other predictions; evaluate their credibility in view of the big picture; and finally, to enable us to better plan and prepare for the coming years. Since the goal is to provide an overview of predictions, the list contains no original research or predictions: all listed advances are marked with their sources. When time ranges are given in the original sources, the most pessimistic (ie. latest) predictions are used. While the compilation aims to be comprehensive, it does not aim to be coherent: it is up to the reader to resolve conflicting predictions by trusting one (or none) of the sources.

For ground truth reference, listed advances include planned phases of large science and construction projects (with plans extending mostly until 2015), some regular political and sporting events (until 2025), and the age of Britney Spears. Projections on the state of the world (until 2050) are from Goldman Sachs ([G-S03]), PricewaterhouseCoopers ([PwC06]), the United Nations ([UN04]) and the US intelligence community ([NIC04]). Technology development projections are from DoD roadmaps ([Alpha03], [JRP05], [UAS05]), a nanotech expert survey ([ICTAF05]), a semiconductor roadmap ([ITRS06]), and futurist opinions (Kurzweil, Klatz, Grossman, deGrey). An extensive compilation from British Telecom's futurologists ([BT05]) is also included, although predictions on that list have no source indications and the authors compiling the list "do not necessarily approve or condone what we are predicting will happen".

Failed predictions are marked red & thumbs down.
Successful predictions are marked green & thumbs up.

The compilation will be extended, and these marks will be updated as we move deeper into the century. No predictions will be taken off the list.

Enjoy, and please share your thoughts:
Archived comments (2007-09)

blog comments powered by Disqus

(01/03/2007) Update: not much surprise here, the EU enlargement proceeds as planned. Two predictions turn green.
(01/11/2007) Thanks for the comments and your concerns about sustainability. Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth is here, and the movie trailer is here. Karsten Staack made the following video using his selection of the predictions on this page:

(01/31/2007) Two new sources added from March 2006: roadmaps by Brian Wang ([Wang06]) and Microsoft Research ([MSR06], yet unmerged).
(03/10/2007) Two new sources added: Arthur C. Clarke's sci-fi style timeline from 1999 ([Clarke99]), and projections from a tech project ([LiftPort06]).
(06/28/2007) Added economic potential projection data from Goldman Sachs' N-11/BRICs-revisited paper ([G-S05]).
(07/01/2007) Added UK Ministry of Defence's global strategic trends analysis until 2036 ([MoD07]).
(01/22/2010) Michael Anissimov and Ray Kurzweil on the difficulties caused by changes in the interpretation of predictions due to altered framing
(01/13/2011) Numerous predictions from [BT05] for 2010 could be argued to have been successful; instead, they've been marked as failed for being unhelpfully vague.

Sources (ordered by date):

[NASA-O97]	NASA Origins '97, July 1997
[Clarke99]	Arthur C. Clarke: "Predictions for the 21st Century", March/June 1999
[Kurzweil99]	Ray Kurzweil: "The Age of Spiritual Machines; Timeline", 1999
[Kurzweil99]	Ray Kurzweil: "The Age of Spiritual Machines; Chapter Six: Building New Brains", 1999
[Kurzweil99c]	Ray Kurzweil: "The Coming Merging of Mind and Machine", September 1999
[Klatz00]	Ronald Klatz, Anti-Aging Medical News, Fall 2000, pp. 8-12.
[Kurzweil00]	Ray Kurzweil: "The Human Machine Merger: Why We Will Spend Most of Our Time in Virtual Reality in the Twenty-first Century", July 2000
[Kurzweil01]	Ray Kurzweil: "The Law of Accelerating Returns", March 2001
[Grossman01]	Terry Grossman: "The Transhuman Singularity", March 2001
[NSF02]	World Technology Evaluation Center/NSF/DOC (eds. Mihail C. Roco and William Sims Bainbridge): "Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance: Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Cognitive Science", June 2002
[Kurzweil03]	Ray Kurzweil: "The Human Machine Merger: Are We Headed for the Matrix?", March 2003
[Alpha03]	U.S. Joint Forces Command: "Unmanned Effects: Taking the Human out of the Loop", July 2003
[Council03]	The President's Council on Bioethics: "Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness", October 2003
[G-S03]	Goldman Sachs Global Economics Paper No. 99. (Dominic Wilson and Roopa Purushothaman): "Dreaming with BRICs: The Path to 2050", October 2003
[NIC04]	"Mapping the Global Future: Report of the National Intelligence Council's 2020 Project", December 2004
[NSF05]	World Technology Evaluation Center/NSF (eds. Mihail C. Roco and William Sims Bainbridge): "Managing Nano-Bio-Info-Cogno Innovations: Converging Technologies In Society", 2005
[JRP05]	U.S. Department of Defense: "Joint Robotics Program Master Plan FY2005", 2005
[UN04]	"UN World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision", medium estimate, February 2005 (additional link)
[deGrey05]	"Hang in There: The 25-Year Wait for Immortality", LiveScience interview with Aubrey de Grey, April 2005
[UAS05]	Office of the Secretary of Defense: "Unmanned Aircraft Systems Roadmap 2005-2030", August 2005
[BT05]	Ian Neild and Ian Pearson: "2005 BT Technology Timeline", August 2005
[G-S05]	Goldman Sachs Global Economics Paper No. 134. (Jim O'Neill, Dominic Wilson, Roopa Purushothaman and Anna Stupnytska): "How Solid are the BRICs?", December 2005
[ICTAF05]	Interdisciplinary Center for Technological Analysis and Forecasting (ICTAF Tel Aviv; Aharon Hauptman and Yair Sharan): "Envisioned Developments in Nanobiotechnology (December 2005 Expert Survey's Summary of Results)", February 2006
[PwC06]	PricewaterhouseCoopers (John Hawksworth): "The World in 2050: How big will the major emerging market economies get and how can the OECD compete?", March 2006
[Wang06]	Brian Wang: "Predictions for a Technological Future", March 2006
[MSR06]	Microsoft Research: "Towards 2020 Science", March 2006
[Yangshan06]	Anatoly Hochstein: "Demand for Port Yangshan" (National Ports and Waterways Institute), April 2006
[Lehao06]	The Register: "China: moon landing planned for 2024", June 2006
[Kurzweil06]	Ray Kurzweil: "Why We Can Be Confident of Turing Test Capability Within a Quarter Century", July 2006
[ITRS06]	"International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, 2006 Update", 2006
[LiftPort06]	"Road Map to the LiftPort Space Elevator, v1.0.1", October 2006
[TEN06]	The Emirates Network (TEN) Real Estate: The Palm Islands, December 2006
[Emporis06]	Emporis, December 2006
[WP06]	Wikipedia, December 2006
[M4-06]	Metro DBR, December 2006
[NART06]	Nemzeti Autopalya Zrt., December 2006
[MoD07]	UK Ministry of Defence DCDC (Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre): "The DCDC Global Strategic Trends Programme, Third Edition: 2007-2036", January 2007
[IPCC07]	Commission of the European Communities: "Renewable Energy Road Map / Renewable energies in the 21st century: building a more sustainable future", January 2007
[NaFr07]	Karen F. Schmidt (Woodrow Wilson Internation Center for Scholars): "NanoFrontiers: Visions for the Future of Nanotechnology", March 2007
[IPCC07]	Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Working Group II: "Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (Summary for Policymakers)", April 2007
[IEER07]	Nuclear Policy Research Institute & Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (Arjun Makhijani): "Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy (Executive Summary)", July 2007
[Battelle07]	Battelle Memorial Institute and Foresight Nanotech Institute: "Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems", December 2007
[CRN07]	Center for Responsible Nanotechnology: "CRN Task Force Scenario Project", December 2007
[NNI07]	Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSET) Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council's Committee on Technology: "The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), 2007 Strategic Plan", December 2007
[CMI08]	Chartered Management Institute: "Britain in business: the world of work in 2018", March 2008

2001

heuristically programmed algorithmic computer (HAL) [Arthur C. Clarke: "2001: A Space Odyssey", 1968]
Cassini spaceprobe (launched October 1997; arrived Saturn July 2000) begins exploration of Saturn's moons and rings. [Clarke99]
Galileo probe (launched October 1989) continues surveying Jupiter and its moons. [Clarke99]
Life beneath the ice-covered oceans of Europa appears increasingly likely. [Clarke99]

2002

The first commercial device producing clean, safe power by low-temperature nuclear reactions goes on the market, heralding the end of the fossil-fuel age. Economic and geopolitical earthquakes follow. [Clarke99]

2003

The motor industry is given five years to replace all fuel-burning engines with the new energy device. [Clarke99]
NASA's robot Mars Surveyor (carrying Lander and Rover) is launched. [Clarke99]

2004

First publicly admitted human clone. [Clarke99]

2005

Space Interferometry Mission [NASA-O97]
First sample launched back to Earth by Mars Surveyor. [Clarke99]

2006

Last coal mine closed. [Clarke99]
"The Palm, Jumeirah" archipelago complete in Dubai, UAE [TEN06]
Yangshan port's stage II complete (Shanghai, China) [Yangshan06]

2007

Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) [NASA-O97]
NASA Next Space Telescope (successor to the Hubble) launched. [Clarke99]
Romania and Bulgaria join the EU [WP06]
Slovenia adopts the Euro [WP06]
China's GDP exceeds Germany's GDP [G-S03]
US War with Iran [Wang06]
Airbus A380 begins service [WP06]
"Node 2 (Harmony)" of ISS launched [WP06]
"Columbus Laboratory Module" of ISS launched [WP06]
"Large Hadron Collider (LHC)" particle accelerator begins operation (Geneva, Switzerland) [WP06]
65 nm semiconductors in widespread production [ITRS06]
3 km balloon test for space elevator [LiftPort06]
17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China [WP06]
Beijing subway line 5 opens (Beijing, China) [WP06]
Shanghai subway lines 6 and 8 open (Shanghai, China) [WP06]
Hungary's M7 freeway complete from Budapest to Croatian border [NART06]

2008

WiBro service in South Korea provides mobile 100 Mbps download & 1 Mbps upload speeds [WP06]
2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing, China [WP06]
US presidential election [WP06]
Cyprus and Malta adopt the Euro [WP06]
Estonia and Latvia adopt the Euro [WP06]
"The Palm, Jebel Ali" archipelago complete in Dubai, UAE [TEN06]
"The World" archipelago complete in Dubai, UAE [TEN06]
"Al Hamra" skyscraper complete in Kuwait City, Kuwait (412 m) [Emporis06]
"Trump International Hotel & Tower" skyscraper complete in Chicago, IL (415 m) [Emporis06]
"Shanghai World Financial Center" skyscraper complete in Shanghai, China (492 m) [Emporis06]
"International Business Center" skyscraper complete in Seoul, South Korea (580 m) [Emporis06]
"Burj Dubai" skyscraper complete in Dubai, UAE (tallest building of world, at 808 m) [Emporis06][TEN06]
Yangshan port's stage III complete (Shanghai, China) [Yangshan06]
"Large Hadron Collider (LHC)" particle accelerator complete (Geneva, Switzerland) [WP06]
"ITER" fusion reactor construction begins (Cadarache, France) [WP06]
Thousand CPU - FPGA simulators [Wang06]
Jet airtaxi's (5000 existing regional airports in USA, 450-550mph, park and fly) [Wang06]
Advanced microscopes with 0.5 angstrom accuracy and repeatability [Wang06]
First diamond mechanosynthesis tool created [Wang06]
Gene doping rampant in horse and dog racing [Wang06]
US War with Syria [Wang06]
Beijing subway lines 8 (Olympic), 10 and L1 (Airport) open (Beijing, China) [WP06]
Stephen Colbert/Megyeri Bridge complete (Budapest, Hungary) [WP06]
Film director Stanley Kubrick, who made 2001: A Space Odyssey, is posthumously awarded a special Oscar for Lifetime Achievement. [Clarke99]

2009

demand from BRICs larger than G6 [G-S03]
4G wireless technology "CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. C (Ultra Mobile Broadband/UMB)" rollout begins, with 140-280 Mbps [http://www.cdg.org/technology/3g/evolution.asp, Dec 2006]
Slovakia adopts the Euro [WP06]
Lithuania adopts the Euro [WP06]
"Japanese Experiment Module" of ISS launched [WP06]
"Multipurpose Laboratory Module" of ISS launched [WP06]
"The Palm, Deira" archipelago complete in Dubai, UAE [TEN06]
Dubai Metro, Phase I (35 km) complete (Dubai, UAE) [WP06]
"Guangzhou Twin Towers" skyscraper complete in Guangzhou, China (432 m) [Emporis06]
"Three Gorges Dam" fully operational (Hubei province, China) [WP06]
Beijing subway line 4 opens (Beijing, China) [WP06]
Shanghai subway lines 7, 9, 10 and 11 open (Shanghai, China) [WP06]
Phase I (Kelenfold-Keleti) of Budapest's M4 subway complete (Budapest, Hungary) [M4-06]
Phase I (Astoria-Konyves K. Krt) of Budapest's M5 subway complete (Budapest, Hungary) [WP06]
a $1,000 personal computer can perform about a trillion (10^12) calculations per second [Kurzweil99]
personal computers with high-resolution visual displays come in a range of sizes, from those small enough to be embedded in clothing and jewelry up to the size of a thin book [Kurzweil99]
Cables are disappearing. Communication between components uses short-distance wireless technology. High-speed wireless communication provides access to the Web. [Kurzweil99]
The majority of text is created using continuous speech recognition. [Kurzweil99]
Ubiquitous language user interfaces (LUIs). [Kurzweil99]
Most routine business transactions (purchases, travel, reservations) take place between a human and a virtual personality. Often, the virtual personality includes an animated visual presence that looks like a human face. [Kurzweil99]
Although traditional classroom organization is still common, intelligent courseware has emerged as a common means of learning. [Kurzweil99]
Pocket-sized reading machines for the blind and visually impaired, "listening machines" (speech-to-text conversion) for the deaf, and computer-controlled orthotic devices for paraplegic individuals result in a growing perception that primary disabilities do not necessarily impart handicaps. [Kurzweil99]
Translating telephones (speech-to-speech language translation) are commonly used for many language pairs. [Kurzweil99]
Accelerating returns from the advance of computer technology have resulted in continued economic expansion. Price deflation, which had been a reality in the computer field during the twentieth century, is now occurring outside the computer field. The reason for this is that virtually all economic sectors are deeply affected by the accelerating improvement in the price performance of computing. [Kurzweil99]
Human musicians routinely jam with cybernetic musicians. [Kurzweil99]
Bioengineered treatments for cancer and heart disease have greatly reduced the mortality from these diseases. [Kurzweil99]
The neo-Luddite movement is growing. [Kurzweil99]
experimental full immersion visual and auditory virtual reality [Kurzweil00]
some limited not full immersion tactile virtual reality [Kurzweil00]
NRAM - nanotube ram, always-on high density computer memory [Wang06]
10 km balloon test for space elevator [LiftPort06]
A city in a third world country is devastated by the accidental explosion of an A-bomb in its armoury. After a brief debate in the UN, all nuclear weapons are destroyed. [Clarke99]

2010

population 6.8 billion [UN04]
50+% of world population living in urban areas [MoD07]
20% of African population subscribed to Internet-enabled mobile phones [MoD07]
10-20M HIV/AIDS sufferers in China [MoD07]
combined population of North Africa and Middle East up 25% from 2006 [MoD07]
availability of permanent artificial hearts [Grossman01]
45 nm semiconductors in widespread production [ITRS06]
Samsung and NTT DoCoMo release trial commercial networks of 4G wireless "VSF-OFCDM" in South Korea and Japan (100 Mbps moving, 1Gbps stationary) [WP06]
one Human Brain capability in supercomputers [Kurzweil99b]
Galileo positioning system operational [WP06]
"Node 3" and "Cupola" of ISS launched [WP06]
Space Shuttle program retired [WP06]
"The Chicago Spire" skyscraper complete in Chicago, IL (610 m) [Emporis06]
"Business Bay" property development complete in Dubai, UAE [TEN06]
Yangshan port's stage IV complete (Shanghai, China) [Yangshan06]
Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev complete (Shanghai, China) [WP06]
China's 12th Five-Year Plan revealed [WP06]
Croatia joins the EU [WP06]
Bulgaria and Czech Republic adopt the Euro [WP06]
Hungarian parliamentary election [WP06]
Phase II (Keleti-Bosnyak ter) of Budapest's M4 subway complete (Budapest, Hungary) [M4-06]
UAVs distinguish facial features (identify individuals) from 4 nm [UAS05, p.71]
Smart and adaptable surfaces at the nanoscale are the basic building block for Biodetection [ICTAF05]
Nanosized imaging agents (e.g. quantum dots) are used for analysis and diagnosis inside cells without affecting their normal functionality [ICTAF05]
Rechargeable and repeatable mechanosynthesis tool created [Wang06]
Solar sail [Wang06]
Gene doping muscle enhancement at 2006, 2008, 2010 Olympic games [Wang06]
Successful terrorist attack on Saudi Oil Infrastructure, oil goes to over $10/gallon [Wang06]
CNT fiber strength of 5 MPa m^3/kg [LiftPort06]
Synthetic voices pop band gets in top 20 [BT05]
Emotionally responsive toys and robots [BT05]
Odour and flavour sensors comparable to dog [BT05]
Virus aimed at toys released [BT05]
Computer agent personal shoppers [BT05]
Toys with network based intelligence [BT05]
AI chatbots indistinguishable from people by 95% of population [BT05]
First artificial electronic life [BT05]
First species brought back from extinction [BT05]
Domestic appliances with personality [BT05]
AI pop group gets top 10 hit [BT05]
Electronic prescriptions reduce fraud and improve speed [BT05]
Quiz shows screen for implant technologies [BT05]
24/7 blood chemistry monitoring [BT05]
Laser activated drug capsules [BT05]
Ultrasound or radio activated capsules [BT05]
Blood analysis chips [BT05]
Supermarkets used as major source of medical alerts [BT05]
Remote control of insects by neural implants [BT05]
Emotion detection used in businesses to select front line staff [BT05]
Professional paid-for email [BT05]
Lifestyle brands dominate [BT05]
Network based learning causes polarisation in classes - streaming is essential [BT05]
Global classes used for multicultural immersion [BT05]
Instant voice mail [BT05]
Nomadic information companies paying no corporation tax [BT05]
Business offer individual deals to customers [BT05]
British retirement age rose to 70 [BT05]
25% of UK workforce teleworking at least 2 days a week [BT05]
Less than 20% of UK workforce in manufacturing [BT05]
Complete list of 1.5 million known species available on web [BT05]
Virtual farming co-operatives [BT05]
GM crops infect neighbouring fields [BT05]
Between 15 and 95cm rise in sea level [BT05]
Chips on food packaging tell when food is at its best [BT05]
Video tiles [BT05]
Emotional objects, switches etc around home [BT05]
Most homes have wireless networks [BT05]
Spoken caller number identity, with personal numbering [BT05]
SMS appliances [BT05]
IM appliances [BT05]
Avatar cosmetic surgery [BT05]
Theatres gain extra revenue by allowing internet attendance [BT05]
Conferencing technology for remote socialising in public places [BT05]
1Bn internet users [BT05]
Automatic video capture of personal events [BT05]
24/7 audio recording [BT05]
Remind me devices [BT05]
Personal surveillance [BT05]
Social log [BT05]
Deep indexing creates greater bonds between people (i-Pod play lists etc create insight into another's personality) [BT05]
Electronically mediated tribes become major social structures [BT05]
Virtual car races as spectator sports [BT05]
Personal remote web servers [BT05]
Chips in footballs, players, etc to enhance data collection [BT05]
Viewers able to pick any angle or player view [BT05]
Augmented reality at sports grounds to enhance spectator experience [BT05]
Major social problem caused by email and texting in secret relationships [BT05]
Mobile email reduces productivity due to lack of concentration on task-in-hand [BT05]
e-ink screen advertising billboards [BT05]
Personalised adverts on Radio [BT05]
Head up displays for DVD watching [BT05]
Smelly television using chips with small reservoirs of chemicals [BT05]
Simple voice command interface for home appliances [BT05]
3D 'Minority Report' style air display [BT05]
Virtual mouse [BT05]
3d fingertip tracking [BT05]
Self destructing DVDs used for video hiring [BT05]
i-Pod style jog-wheel dialling for phones [BT05]
Spherical silicon integrated circuits [BT05]
Polymers with lower resistance than copper at room temperature [BT05]
Chips with 1 billion transistors [BT05]
Use of polymer gels for muscles [BT05]
Quantum effect interferometer for flux measurement [BT05]
Use of carbon fullerenes for on chip interconnect [BT05]
Chemical lab on a chip [BT05]
Self diagnosis using gene chips for domestic use [BT05]
Liquid drop lenses for camera phones etc [BT05]
Piezoelectric motors for moving lenses in phones [BT05]
Terahertz scanners [BT05]
Portable terahertz scanners [BT05]
Supercomputer as fast as human brain [BT05]
Live CD-based OS distributed in newspaper [BT05]
Totally automated factories [BT05]
Global domestic robot numbers passes 4M [BT05]
Global industrial robot numbers passes 1M [BT05]
Mass internet rallies [BT05]
Bacteria used in detection of explosives [BT05]
Blogs in military use as dominant intelligence technique [BT05]
Major terrorist attack on company or country via internet [BT05]
Soldiers' weapons fired remotely [BT05]
Software companies sued for misuse of remotely controlled weapon [BT05]
War fought over water supply [BT05]
Logic checkers highlighting contradictory evidence [BT05]
SMS spam problem undermines mobile content market [BT05]
Biometric home access [BT05]
Expenditure on security exceeds expected cost of attacks prevented [BT05]
Local warehousing for local distribution systems [BT05]
Personal shopping tablets [BT05]
Movies no longer sold in VHS format [BT05]
Local e-bay augments car boot sales [BT05]
90% of calls tetherless [BT05]
Internet achieves 75% penetration in UK [BT05]
Star trek style commbadge [BT05]
Fixed mobile convergence [BT05]
Wireless LANs become preferred access mechanism for mobile internet use [BT05]
Wireless LANs in most shopping Malls [BT05]
Vibration used as part of calls on cellphones to convey emotion [BT05]
21CN completed [BT05]
Last ever PSTN call [BT05]
100Mbit/s wireless speed in office/home [BT05]
Mobile phones pass standalone music players in market share [BT05]
Push-to-talk style video clips [BT05]
Caller can send own ring tone [BT05]
Calls can be addressed by email address [BT05]
Blimp cargo lifters, carrying 160 tonnes, 6000 miles at 60mph [BT05]
Assisted lane keeping systems in trucks and buses [BT05]
Most new cars fitted with positioning systems as standard [BT05]
Pollution monitor chips built into cars [BT05]
Flexible screens [BT05]
Video tattoos (thin polymer membrane displays) [BT05]
Wrist based video displays [BT05]
Teletubby T-shirts [BT05]
TV jewellery [BT05]
Light emitting fabrics used in clothes [BT05]
Smell emitting clothing, uses context [BT05]
Personal wireless website broadcast [BT05]
Blogs go wearable [BT05]
Button sized gas turbine generators for portable device power [BT05]
Return to nuclear power in UK (decision made) [BT05]
The first quantum generators (tapping space energy) are developed. Available in portable and household units from a few kilowatts upwards, they can produce electricity indefinitely. Central power stations close down; the age of pylons ends as grid systems are dismantled. [Clarke99]
Electronic monitoring virtually removes professional criminals from society. [Clarke99]

2011

Britney Spears is 30 years old
Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) [NASA-O97]
"Freedom Tower" skyscraper complete in New York City, NY (541 m) [Emporis06]
"ITER" fusion reactor tokamak assembly begins (Cadarache, France) [WP06]
Hungary, Poland and Romania adopt the Euro [WP06]
M5 Fiber 9.8 Gpa [Wang06]
Free voice communication dominant [Wang06]
Spintronics success, boosts hard drive capacities and low energy computing [Wang06]
Rechargeable mechanosynthesis tool arrays created [Wang06]
Largest living creature filmed: a 75-metre octopus in the Mariana Trench. [Clarke99]
75-meter-plus marine creatures are discovered when the first robot probes drill through the ice of Europa and an entire new biota is revealed. [Clarke99]

2012

2012 Summer Olympics, London, England [WP06]
US presidential election [WP06]
FYR Macedonia joins the EU [WP06]
"Port Tower" skyscraper complete in Karachi, Pakistan (450 m) [Emporis06]
Yangshan port's final V and VI stages complete (Shanghai, China) [Yangshan06]
18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China [WP06]
Gecko mimicing wallcrawling suits for military and enthusiasts [Wang06]
Wireless superbroadband (50-1000Mbps) [Wang06]
HALE super antennas and long duration balloons [Wang06]
Exoskeletons and personal robots widespread for disabled, manufacturing, and construction [Wang06]
Advanced plastic circuits, computing, monitors and energy gathering -walls, roofs, desktops [Wang06]
billion digital video cameras posting online realtime; personal privacy is history [Wang06]
Thousand+ CPU workstations- mainstream chip vendors [Wang06]
80-200mpg cars - mainstream, batteries, ultracapacitors 5-10 times better [Wang06]
Faster and automated microscopes able to perform mechanochemistry at kilohertz+ frequency [Wang06]
Magbeam [Wang06]
Plasma magnet [Wang06]
Real-time biomarker tracking and monitoring [Wang06]
Real-time personalized exercise trainer and diet guide [Wang06]
Real-time personalized disease treatment [Wang06]
Insurance pricing based on maintaining biomarkers in optimal ranges [Wang06]
Individual medical modeling computational [Wang06]
Individual medical modeling and prediction -copy of your cells maintained outside body, test reaction to treatment [Wang06]
Real-time monitoring and feedback tracks personal medical treatment response [Wang06]
Gene doping detected at 2012 games [Wang06]
China largest economy in PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) terms [Wang06]
Power save mode on appliances linked to grid demands [BT05]
Power rationing enforced due to grid shortage [BT05]
Home fuel cell based 7kW generator [BT05]
Solar chimney power station (1.5km tall) [BT05]
Most portables powered by fuel cells [BT05]
Multi layer solar cells with efficiency over 50% [BT05]
Solar reflector satellites bringing sunlight to major Northern cities [BT05]
Nuclear power plants supply 16% of energy in Russia and Eastern Europe [BT05]
Worldwide energy consumption 50% greater than 1993 [BT05]
Renewable power in UK at 5 % [BT05]
Hydrogen production by bacteria [BT05]
AI Entity passes GCSE [BT05]
AI used as classroom assistants [BT05]
Action man toys engage in war games over networks [BT05]
Toys with built in tracking technology [BT05]
People have some virtual friends but don't know which ones [BT05]
Mood-sensitive home decor [BT05]
Location devices implanted into pets [BT05]
First divorce due to virtual affair with computer game character [BT05]
Addiction to on-line games seen as a national problem [BT05]
DNA used to assemble electronic circuits [BT05]
First bacterium assembled from scratch [BT05]
Many drugs delivered via fruit [BT05]
AI football manager [BT05]
AI football teams as TV entertainment [BT05]
e-Baybies electronic conception [BT05]
Instant electronic identification of pathogens [BT05]
Expert systems used extensively in GP surgeries [BT05]
Hospitals use virtual queuing systems [BT05]
Neural networks used for patient appointment management [BT05]
Multimedia patient records [BT05]
Lifestyle monitoring and insurance linked to medical records [BT05]
Online surgeries dominate first line medical care [BT05]
Active skin [BT05]
Video tattoos [BT05]
Cyber-drugs (electronically activated drugs) [BT05]
Automated pain relief for soldiers [BT05]
Bacteria in toothpaste to attack plaque [BT05]
e-Baybies, binary conception [BT05]
Antibacterial coatings on domestic appliances, phones etc, especially in hospitals [BT05]
Smells embedded in ordinary household objects [BT05]
Flexible displays used for body monitoring and alerts [BT05]
Emotional jewellery [BT05]
Emotion alerts [BT05]
Rich world badly infected by third world disease [BT05]
Hand-held scanner to detect tumours using tissue resonance interferometer [BT05]
Broadcasters become major source of funding for medical research [BT05]
Smart pill bottles remotely monitor medication taking and use alarms [BT05]
Drug shortages caused by internet diagnostics [BT05]
MRSA detection chips on sale in high street [BT05]
Diabetes cure via stem cell research [BT05]
Hotels offer some hospital services [BT05]
Human free companies [BT05]
All government services delivered electronically [BT05]
Universal monitoring of business transactions [BT05]
"Made in China" seen as a sign of status [BT05]
Most advertising is personalised to viewer [BT05]
e-money, e-vouchers, celebrity cash [BT05]
Smart stickers for the home [BT05]
Biometrics compulsory for claimants [BT05]
Electronic communications compulsory for claimants [BT05]
Email used to communicate with most social service claimants [BT05]
Inter-business financial transactions all electronic [BT05]
Virtual companies and virtual co-operatives dominate [BT05]
Superstar teachers use telepresence to lecture to dispersed classes [BT05]
Personalised degrees quantised to individual lectures [BT05]
Purely electronic companies exist - minimal human involvement [BT05]
Augmented reality key part of high street [BT05]
Mass internet blockade of business, brand, country [BT05]
World population reaches 7 billion [BT05]
India population hits 1.2 billion [BT05]
Population growth slows to 1% (1.3% today) [BT05]
Asia-Pacific overtakes US in internet users [BT05]
Worldwide deaths due to HIV/AIDS peak at 1.7 million [BT05]
Extensive remote sensing use in environmental management [BT05]
Effective prediction of most natural disasters [BT05]
Out-sourced vegetable plots [BT05]
Poor countries charge for bio-prospecting [BT05]
Genetic solutions in one area become environmental problems for other areas [BT05]
Green groups endorse products [BT05]
Killer bug resistant to all known antibiotics [BT05]
Nuclear power generally accepted by green groups [BT05]
Growth of scientific environmentalism [BT05]
Electronic notebook with contrast as good as paper [BT05]
Smart paint available (contains chips) [BT05]
Digital bathroom mirror [BT05]
Magazine tablets [BT05]
Personalised response from household gadgets [BT05]
Mood sensitive light bulbs [BT05]
Consumer electronics devices plug straight into home net [BT05]
Smart responsive environments [BT05]
Domestic positioning systems [BT05]
Most homes use web cams for communication [BT05]
Virtual windows [BT05]
Dual architecture [BT05]
Tourist information beacons [BT05]
Cyberspace make-up [BT05]
People have cyberspace wardrobe [BT05]
Frequent use of multiple Net identities causes personality disorders [BT05]
Cheap miniature cameras cause social backlash [BT05]
Toy soldiers with video camera eyes enrich play [BT05]
People reduce tax liability by being partially paid in information products [BT05]
On line voting in UK [BT05]
VR overlays on real world [BT05]
Loneliness in aged population greatly reduced by network communities [BT05]
National UK decisions influenced by electronic referenda [BT05]
Worldwide population of over 65s increases by 1 million monthly [BT05]
Cyber community with 100 million people [BT05]
1st Extreme Olympics [BT05]
Personal black boxes record everyday life [BT05]
Mass customisation of toys [BT05]
Ability to digitally replace or enhance people in your field of view [BT05]
Digital x-ray glasses [BT05]
Xanadu, leisure city in cyberspace [BT05]
Holographic animated or video advertisements (few second video clips) [BT05]
Displays with image quality comparable to paper [BT05]
Separate volume controls for different people in room [BT05]
3d air display [BT05]
Projected augmented reality [BT05]
Personalised TV & radio [BT05]
Use of storage based nets [BT05]
3d personal glasses displays [BT05]
Full voice interaction with PC [BT05]
Voice synthesis quality up to human standard [BT05]
Data loss because of format changes becomes major business problem [BT05]
Self organising adaptive integrated circuits [BT05]
Use of polymer gels for bioreactors [BT05]
Molecular sized switches [BT05]
Intelligent materials with in-built sensors, storage and effectors [BT05]
Smart skin for intelligent clothing and direct human repair [BT05]
Self organisation used in most fields of electronics [BT05]
Use of bacteria to assemble small circuits [BT05]
Crossbar based logic circuits [BT05]
Optical neuro-computers [BT05]
Simple quantum computer, 4 Qubits [BT05]
Computers used for creativity enhancement [BT05]
MP3 Net downloads dominate over CD distribution [BT05]
Personal memory sticks replace hard drives for everyday files (HD used as archive) [BT05]
Most video players based on memory sticks [BT05]
Public storage provided by local government to support social use of IT [BT05]
100GB memory sticks (typical 2005 HD capacity) [BT05]
Ultra-simple computing - just in time OS [BT05]
Chinux OS Chinese UNIX variant [BT05]
OS distributed primarily on ROM [BT05]
Fractal shape-changing robots [BT05]
Insect-like robots used in warfare [BT05]
Robotic dolls and pets account for 10 % of domestic telecomm traffic [BT05]
Self monitoring infrastructures using smart materials and sensors. [BT05]
Micromechanical gnomes [BT05]
Robots for cleaning, washing fetch and carry in hospital [BT05]
Autonomous weapons authorised to fire at own discretion [BT05]
War where own side kills more of its own than the enemy [BT05]
War for water [BT05]
Context sensitive bombs (waits for senior politicians) [BT05]
Weapons use biometric authentication of user [BT05]
Bacteria used to break down explosives in mine fields [BT05]
Terrorist are source of most on-line scams [BT05]
Communication networks severely disrupted by hackers [BT05]
Balloons used in terrorist attacks [BT05]
Radio controlled vehicle attacks on shipping, smart mines [BT05]
Cracking of public key cryptography within a few seconds using networked zombie machines [BT05]
Data mining use in trials [BT05]
Remote override capability on planes [BT05]
Household access by facial recognition [BT05]
Jargon translators [BT05]
Computer advice to jurors on probability issues [BT05]
Criminal tagging augmented with video and audio sensors [BT05]
Extensive use of electronics to monitor police behaviour [BT05]
Automated stenographers [BT05]
Jigsaw viruses [BT05]
Spam email volume forces charge based solutions [BT05]
Phishing destroys confidence in on-line banking, most on-line banks closed [BT05]
Terahertz video cameras become social nuisance due to privacy invasion [BT05]
Expert system based home law advisors [BT05]
Shops start being paid by manufacturers as try-on outlets [BT05]
Paypal migrates onto high street [BT05]
In-store positioning systems enable personalised guides [BT05]
25% of UK shopping is network based [BT05]
Immersive VR shopping booths [BT05]
Most books sold on-line [BT05]
Internal positioning systems in stores [BT05]
In-store positioning systems with 1cm precision [BT05]
Storage based networks [BT05]
Use of microwave photonics in local access [BT05]
Video download over network at 10 x normal speed [BT05]
60% of internet accesses from mobile devices [BT05]
Use of WDM in local access [BT05]
Simultaneous data delivery in the City [BT05]
Software radio available in portables [BT05]
Openzone access covers whole city [BT05]
Single address for emails, phone calls etc [BT05]
HDTV over broadband [BT05]
Most BBC Content available on-line [BT05]
Video sleepover terminals [BT05]
Large screen video links reduce loneliness for old people [BT05]
Smart tickets for navigation through airports [BT05]
Cars with automatic steering [BT05]
Scramjet' engine powered planes flying at Mach 10 [BT05]
Urban car co-pilot [BT05]
All new cars fitted with basic cellular communication with automated distress system [BT05]
Tourism in some areas limited to net access [BT05]
Virtual retinal displays [BT05]
TV quality video screens built into clothes [BT05]
Emotion badges [BT05]
Jewellery that changes shape, colour and texture [BT05]
Portable translation device for simple conversation [BT05]
Kaleidoscopic clothes using materials with embedded pigment micro-capsules [BT05]
Micro-actuators built into clothes for sensory feedback [BT05]
Video makeup (virtual world) [BT05]
Shape changing fabrics [BT05]
Shape memory fabrics [BT05]
Digital bubble [BT05]
Cyber clothes [BT05]
Terahertz jammers in clothes as personal modesty shield [BT05]
Dual appearance [BT05]
Laws restrict what can be shown on video clothing [BT05]
Terahertz jammer banned at airports [BT05]
Aerospace-planes enter service. [Clarke99]

2013

32 nm semiconductors in widespread production [ITRS06]
10 petaflop computer [Wang06]
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST; was NGST) [WP06]
power beaming to geostationary satellite [LiftPort06]
Prince Harry becomes the first member of the Royal Family to fly in space. [Clarke99]

2014

Space Interferometry Mission/SIM PlanetQuest [WP06]
Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF-C) [WP06]
Panama Canal's "Third Set of Locks" expansion project complete, doubling capacity [WP06]
Customized cells [Wang06]
Quantum computing 100 qubits [Wang06]
Gene therapy to enhance strength, endurance and lifespan [Wang06]
Construction of Hilton Orbiter Hotel begins, by assembling and converting the giant shuttle tanks which had previously been allowed to fall back to Earth. [Clarke99]
Hungarian parliamentary election [WP06]

2015

population 7.2 billion [UN04]
synthetic, implantable lungs and kidneys [Grossman01]
life extension in mice: 3-year extension by medical treatment of 2-year-old mouse [deGrey05]
Targeted drug delivery based on nanoparticles becomes a standard tool (for therapeutic purposes, performance enhancement etc) [ICTAF05]
Smart probes (that illuminate when reaching their target) are practically used in diagnosis in-vivo [ICTAF05]
Nanotools (e.g. optical tweezers) are used for manipulation inside cells while keeping the cells' integrity and activity [ICTAF05]
Advanced bioengineered materials based on bio-inspiration/bio-mimicry are widely used [ICTAF05]
Labs on chip are widely used for various applications, in different sectors, including households [ICTAF05]
Protein chips are integrated with DNA chips for specific diagnosis purposes in current hospital practices [ICTAF05]
In vitro tests based on cells on chips replace animal testing for various applications (e.g. pharma, cosmetics) [ICTAF05]
Biosensors for detection of single molecules based on nano arrays (e.g arrays of nanotubes) are commercially available [ICTAF05]
Self-assembly is widely implemented as a technique for development of materials and devices [ICTAF05]
Chips employing biomolecules as active elements are commercially manufactured [ICTAF05]
Nanoelectronics chips are commercially manufactured by using DNA or peptides(as templates or for nanopatterning) [ICTAF05]
China's GDP exceeds Japan's GDP; China is 2nd largest economy behind US [G-S03] [MoD07]
China's GDP growth rate drops to around 5.0% [G-S03]
space walk concludes phase II of Chinese space program [Lehao06]
China's 13th Five-Year Plan revealed [WP06]
1/3 of US ground military vehicles automated [US Department of Defense, 2003]
supercomputers achieve human parity (10^8 MIPS, 10^8 MB memory) [UAS05, pp.48-49]
Turkey, Albania, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro join the EU [WP06]
Hungary's M3 freeway complete from Budapest to Ukrainan border [NART06]
Hungary's M4 freeway complete from Budapest thru Szolnok to Romanian border [NART06]
Hungary's M43 freeway complete from Szeged to Romanian border [NART06]
Novel nanostructured biomaterials replace existing materials (e.g. polymers) [ICTAF05]
Fiber to the home (100Mbps-1000Mbps) [Wang06]
Gigapixel cameras common [Wang06]
Cargo ships with 60mph+ speed widespread, cheap 2-3 days global package delivery [Wang06]
DNA nanotechnology creates nanotools and parts [Wang06]
High altitude (up to 100km) and multi-month elevators to high altitude balloons (virtual satellites) [Wang06]
Scramjet unmanned missiles and UAVs [Wang06]
Sub-orbital space tourism [Wang06]
Human regeneration (regrow lost limbs in months) [Wang06]
China second largest economy in straight currency conversion measures [Wang06]
Low-cost business model innovations and new tech bring electricity, computing and clean water to all [Wang06]
Nuclear war with North Korea [Wang06]
200 km tether in geospatial orbit [LiftPort06]
AI Entity passes A Level [BT05]
AI companies illegally cloned [BT05]
Highest earning celebrity is synthetic [BT05]
Dolls with personality chip and full sensory input [BT05]
25 % of TV celebrities synthetic [BT05]
Expert systems surpass average human learning and logic abilities [BT05]
Computer agents start being thought of as colleagues instead of tools [BT05]
Autonomous AI sales staff become AI stalkers [BT05]
Smart jelly babies [BT05]
Smart mammary memory [BT05]
First multi-celled organism assembled from scratch [BT05]
Drugs delivered in carbon buckyballs (burst open at destination under laser light) [BT05]
Devices roaming within blood vessels under own power [BT05]
Operations videoed and stored as part of medical record [BT05]
Use of human's own tissues to grow replacement organs [BT05]
Direct electronic pleasure production [BT05]
Orgasm by email [BT05]
Artificial senses, sensors directly stimulating nerves [BT05]
Smart membranes for remote control of drug injection [BT05]
Context sensitive cyber-drugs [BT05]
Electronic stimulation of brain sensations as recreational substitute for drugs [BT05]
Some implants seen as status symbols [BT05]
Custom (GM) foods for particular medical conditions will exist. [BT05]
Gene-gel stimulation of re-growth of natural teeth on demand [BT05]
Retina regeneration using foetal retinal cell injection [BT05]
Tooth regeneration [BT05]
Domestic bacterial detection devices [BT05]
Plastic bones [BT05]
Emotion logging and recording [BT05]
Emotionally specific drugs [BT05]
Micro-fluidic chips used for gene sequencing in every GP surgery [BT05]
Self certification for prescriptions using electronic diagnostics [BT05]
Visitor sanitising in hospitals [BT05]
Insects that can be controlled by artificial positioning systems [BT05]
Outpatients at home - remote tele-medical consultations [BT05]
Return to the high street as personal service matters again [BT05]
Printers good enough to make reasonable quality forged banknotes [BT05]
Paper money replaced by smart media [BT05]
Spread of nomadic information companies leads to global taxation [BT05]
New tax forms, e.g. compulsory servants [BT05]
60% of the world's population living in cities [BT05]
Commercial magma power stations [BT05]
Hydrogen fuel available on UK forecourts [BT05]
Active transmission/distribution grid - energy web [BT05]
Widespread use of carbon fixing/burying [BT05]
Extremely insulated buildings [BT05]
Landfills in London and surrounding region full [BT05]
Insect-like robots used for crop pollination [BT05]
Large areas of countryside used for biomass production [BT05]
New environmental groups focused on visual environment protection [BT05]
Ecotourism one of biggest environmental problems [BT05]
Green groups use defensive patenting of damaging technologies [BT05]
Waste sludge used to create energy using bacteria in fuel cells [BT05]
Anti-noise technology built into homes [BT05]
Active wallpaper responds to inhabitants' moods etc [BT05]
Chips in packaging control cooking [BT05]
Neighbourhood video surveillance networks [BT05]
Washing machine aware of contents and selects cycle [BT05]
Augmented reality offices used in telework centres [BT05]
Palm-top printing puts buttons on skin [BT05]
Glasses based displays dominate in the office [BT05]
Electronic response based on conversational inference [BT05]
Windows with coatings to re-direct sunlight [BT05]
Kitchen rage caused by electronic gadgets [BT05]
Electronic implant equivalent to Botox [BT05]
Living area use of virtual reality scenes [BT05]
Replacement of people leads to anti-technology subculture [BT05]
Make-up by numbers [BT05]
Orgasmatron [BT05]
Most electronic toys hybrids with half on net [BT05]
Self organising displays [BT05]
Active contact lens [BT05]
Augmented reality standard in towns and cities [BT05]
Dual architectures [BT05]
Active skin touch sensitive display on forearm or for adornment [BT05]
Use of polymer gels for information processing [BT05]
Chips with 10 billion transistors [BT05]
DNA storage device [BT05]
Supercomputers with speed exceeding 1 ExaFLOPS [BT05]
Use of analogue co-processors in PCs [BT05]
DNA computer [BT05]
Windows drops below 50% penetration worldwide [BT05]
Use of bacteria for processing and storage [BT05]
Robot dance tutors [BT05]
Nanowalkers, nanoworms, nanofish [BT05]
Mechanical intelligence using MEMS and NEMS [BT05]
Android robots used for factory jobs [BT05]
Fleet of garden robots for plant and lawn care and tidying [BT05]
Robots for cleaning, washing fetch and carry, in office [BT05]
Robot pest killers [BT05]
Robot casualties reported routinely [BT05]
Corporate cyberwars [BT05]
Major utility brought down by hackers [BT05]
Universal ID cards in UK [BT05]
Most weapons attack systems rather than injure people [BT05]
Civil liberties revolt [BT05]
Anti-tech backlash [BT05]
2nd internet with guaranteed security for email, with no spam [BT05]
Paper and coins largely replaced by electronic cash [BT05]
Most tickets electronic [BT05]
Personal taxation at point of sale [BT05]
Automatic dialling from smart business cards [BT05]
RFID replaces most barcodes [BT05]
Most music sold online [BT05]
Augmented reality overlays used in stores [BT05]
Domestic demand reaches 50Mbit/s per home [BT05]
Gigabit wireless in home [BT05]
All voice calls free [BT05]
High Speed Civil Transport supersonic jet, 300 passengers, 1500mph [BT05]
GPS and engine management systems linked to limit speed automatically [BT05]
Road trains using ad-hoc networking [BT05]
Bus routes based on star and ring architectures [BT05]
Need to book time slots to use some key roads [BT05]
Cars with dual wheels that can run on road or rail [BT05]
Urban tracks for electronically driven cars [BT05]
Black boxes in all new cars [BT05]
Dynamic road tolling [BT05]
Private space mission to examine asteroid with a view to space mining [BT05]
Prize claimed for 1st private orbital trip [BT05]
Active contact lens [BT05]
Alpha-wave induction sets [BT05]
Thought recognition used in sleep enhancement [BT05]
Computer enhanced dreaming [BT05]
Projector ring [BT05]
An inevitable by-product of the quantum generator is the complete control of matter at the atomic level. [Clarke99]

2016

22 nm semiconductors in widespread production [ITRS06]
2016 Summer Olympics, location TBA in 2009 [WP06]
US presidential election [WP06]
"ITER" fusion reactor plasma operation begins (Cadarache, France) [WP06]
20%+ efficient genetically engineered algae ponds to generate hydrogen [Wang06]
30km balloon test for space elevator [LiftPort06]
All existing currencies are abolished. The megawatt-hour becomes the unit of exchange. [Clarke99]

2017

unmanned robotic sample-return mission to lunar surface concludes phase III of Chinese space program [Lehao06]
19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China [WP06]
AI Turing Test passed [Wang06]
CNT fiber strength of 25 MPa m^3/kg [LiftPort06]
Mugging by brain state induction devices [BT05]
Obesity increase due to compelling virtual reality environments [BT05]
Computer controlled hunger suppressants [BT05]
Hotel in orbit [BT05]
Scramjets used to launch low-orbit space-planes [BT05]
AI technology imitating thinking processes of the brain [BT05]
AI teachers get better results than most human teachers [BT05]
AI starts being noticed as a source of redundancy [BT05]
AI Entity gains Degree [BT05]
Computers that write most of their own software [BT05]
AI students [BT05]
Most software written by machine [BT05]
Genetic links of all 90% of diseases identified [BT05]
Individual's genome part of their medical record [BT05]
Synthetic organs by printing layers of cells [BT05]
Synthetic viruses [BT05]
Portable bactericidal devices [BT05]
Bactericidal saws incorporated onto materials in hospitals [BT05]
Sensory augmentation using sensory implants, nanoparticles etc [BT05]
Use of stem cells in brain after strokes or accidents [BT05]
Gene therapy generates new hair cells in humans [BT05]
Sensory implants allows direct sensing of cyberspace entities [BT05]
Robotic cleaners in hospitals [BT05]
Biometrics and medical tests linked to benefits and disability allowance [BT05]
Academic learning is argued to be unnecessary in the age of smart machines [BT05]
Integrated taxation in all transactions [BT05]
Return to sender viruses, corporate counterattacks [BT05]
Retirement age raised to 75 [BT05]
China GDP overtakes EU GDP [BT05]
400M people live in mega cities of over 10M inhabitants [BT05]
50% of world population have internet access and processing capability [BT05]
Catalytic water decomposition by sunlight [BT05]
Seabed gas hydrate crystals used as fuel source [BT05]
Worldwide oil consumption is 100M barrels of oil per day [BT05]
10% of UK energy produced by renewables [BT05]
Increased use of GM crops on saline contaminated soils [BT05]
Nanotechnology toys [BT05]
Traditional pubs using technology to enhance illusion of tradition [BT05]
Active skin makeup [BT05]
VR escapism is a major social problem [BT05]
Dual geo/cyber-nationality recognised internationally [BT05]
Most towns echoed in cyberspace [BT05]
Holographic displays for continuous video [BT05]
Hamster ball with VR for pets [BT05]
Computer link to biological sensory organs [BT05]
Desktop computer as fast as human brain [BT05]
Bacterial supercomputer [BT05]
Housework robots - fetch, carry, clean & tidy, organise etc. [BT05]
Robots for guiding blind people [BT05]
Cybernetic use in sports [BT05]
Robots for cleaning, washing, fetch and carry, in home [BT05]
World War 2 thought of as a film rather than a real event by 30% of Americans [BT05]
War with zero own side human casualties [BT05]
Scalable AI as major military threat [BT05]
Positive clean ID required for access to many places [BT05]
Terrorist use of GM to pollute crops and damage economy [BT05]
Most fighters and bombers flown remotely [BT05]
Plastic stealth tank [BT05]
Use of network resonance as security threat [BT05]
Ambient intelligence detection of minor crimes & anti social behaviour [BT05]
Identity theft forces all transactions to use biometrics [BT05]
Domestic augmented reality used to give virtual makeovers [BT05]
Biometric ID required for every phone call [BT05]
Use of mutant insects for attack purposes [BT05]
Reverse auctions in personal shopping devices (nearby stores bid to provide items on shopping list) [BT05]
Automatic driving makes car pooling feasible [BT05]
Driverless truck convoys using electronic tow-bar [BT05]
Materials exhibiting superconductivity at room temperature [BT05]
Manufacture of long diamond fibres [BT05]
December 16. On his 100th birthday, Sir Arthur C. Clarke is one of the first guests of the Hilton Orbiter [Clarke99]

2018

"Dubailand" property development complete in Dubai, UAE [TEN06]
Carbon nanotube fiber inexpensive and with over 50GPa tensile strength [Wang06]
Optical interconnects connect CPUs directly at 100 Gbps+ [Wang06]
Petaflop personal computers and wearable computing [Wang06]
Actuated diamond tools and nanoparts created [Wang06]
Magnetic rail guns, with over 20 times the speed and power of conventional guns [Wang06]
Military lasers on fighters, ships and tanks able to destroy other vehicles [Wang06]
300km+ long orbiting tethers and hypersonic planes drop costs to $100/kg to orbit [Wang06]
Medical treatment individualized [Wang06]
Gene doping in cock fighting in Philippines, birds over double in size [Wang06]
2,500 km tether in geospatial orbit [LiftPort06]
A major meteor impact occurs on the North Polar icecap. [Clarke99]
"Project Spaceguard", to identify and deflect any potentially dangerous comets or asteroids, is activated. [Clarke99]
Hungarian parliamentary election [WP06]

2019

16 nm semiconductors in widespread production [ITRS06]
A $1,000 computing device (in 1999 dollars) is now approximately equal to the computational ability of the human brain. [Kurzweil99]
Computers are now largely invisible and are embedded everywhere-in walls, tables, chairs, desks, clothing, jewelry, and bodies. [Kurzweil99]
Three-dimensional virtual reality displays, embedded in glasses and contact lenses, as well as auditory "lenses," are used routinely as primary interfaces for communication with other persons, computers, the Web, and virtual reality. [Kurzweil99]
Most interaction with computing is through gestures and two-way natural-language spoken communication. [Kurzweil99]
Nanoengineered machines are beginning to be applied to manufacturing and process-control applications. [Kurzweil99]
High-resolution, three-dimensional visual and auditory virtual reality and realistic all-encompassing tactile environments enable people to do virtually anything with anybody, regardless of physical proximity. [Kurzweil99]
Paper books or documents are rarely used and most learning is conducted through intelligent, simulated software-based teachers. [Kurzweil99]
Blind persons routinely use eyeglass-mounted reading-navigation systems. Deaf persons read what other people are saying through their lens displays. Paraplegic and some quadriplegic persons routinely walk and climb stairs through a combination of computer-controlled nerve stimulation and exoskeletal robotic devices. [Kurzweil99]
The vast majority of transactions include a simulated person. [Kurzweil99]
Automated driving systems are now installed in most roads. [Kurzweil99]
People are beginning to have relationships with automated personalities and use them as companions, teachers, caretakers, and lovers. [Kurzweil99]
Virtual artists, with their own reputations, are emerging in all of the arts. [Kurzweil99]
There are widespread reports of computers passing the Turing Test, although these tests do not meet the criteria established by knowledgeable observers. [Kurzweil99]
Moore's Law dies [Kurzweil01]

2020

population 7.6 billion [UN04]
population 7.8 billion [NIC04]
20% of world population consists of an underclass of slum and subsistence dwellers [MoD07]
more multipolar world: US international leadership challenged by China, Russia, India, Brazil, Indonesia and others [MoD07]
combined population of North Africa and Middle East up 50% from 2006 [MoD07]
risk of major interstate warfare unlikely at least until this time [MoD07]
weaponization of space unlikely at least until this time [MoD07]
economy of Korea same size as Italy [G-S05]
Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF-I) [WP06]
20 billion MIPS for $1,000 [Kurzweil00]
2020 Summer Olympics, location TBA in 2013 [WP06]
US presidential election [WP06]
China's 14th Five-Year Plan revealed [WP06]
limits of silicon semiconductors are reached ("point one limit", 0.1 micron) [UAS05, pp.48-49]
Thanks to advances in nanobiotechnology, the fundamental processes of the cellular cycle are mostly understood [ICTAF05]
Advancements in nanobiotechnology enable the construction in vitro of artificial human organs [ICTAF05]
Biological energy conversion systems (e.g. biomolecular motors) are practically used in artificial micro/nano systems [ICTAF05]
Protein chips are widely used by the public for personal use [ICTAF05]
Living self-repairing abilities are implemented in artificial systems [ICTAF05]
application of nanotech predominantly in electronics and materials [MoD07]
renewable energy sources make up at most 8% of global energy supply [MoD07]
Future Crime: Genetic modification of baby DNA to pass false paternity lawsuit [Wang06]
Nextgen communication (1000Mbps-10000Mbps) [Wang06]
Quantum computing 1000 qubits [Wang06]
Big Media loses battle against piracy - all media is free [Wang06]
Open Source wins - Microsoft declares bankruptcy [Wang06]
Cavitation and hydrophobic material make super-efficient and fast submarines [Wang06]
Scramjets delivery cargo at 10-20 times speed of sound, skips outside of atmosphere (very efficient) [Wang06]
High resolution direct visual feeds to retina, able to fool viewer for short periods of time [Wang06]
Superconducting engines on ships and planes, less than 1/3 the weight [Wang06]
Laser array launches [Wang06]
Orbital space tourism [Wang06]
Antimatter storage for gram quantities or greater [Wang06]
Antimatter harvesting from orbit in gram quantities or greater [Wang06]
Solar power becomes cheapest form of energy [Wang06]
Artificially grown organs [Wang06]
Life expectancy at 65, reaches 30 (50+% gain) [Wang06]
Real life Islands of Dr Mureau, human/animal hybrids [Wang06]
Genetic and significant physical and mental performance advantage for rich over poor [Wang06]
Millionaires (HNWI 1-5m) 20 million triple 2004 levels [Wang06]
Pentamillionaires (MNW 5-30m) 2 million triple 2004 levels [Wang06]
More flexible society adapts to increased lifespans and health advances [Wang06]
Efficient automated, wearable universal translators reduce issues of language [Wang06]
Large Area stunning / incapacitation breakthrough. City-wide incapacitation that operates through walls and barriers [Wang06]
Millions dead from Africa and Asian poor riots [Wang06]
CNT fiber strength of 50 MPa m^3/kg [LiftPort06]
Smart bacteria [BT05]
AI Entity gains Masters Degree [BT05]
Human knowledge exceeded by machine knowledge [BT05]
Electronic pets outnumber organic pets [BT05]
Electronic life form given basic rights [BT05]
Artificial insects and small animals with artificial brains [BT05]
AI Member of parliament [BT05]
Smart bacteria, contains electronics and linked to net [BT05]
Nanotech based organism colonies [BT05]
Synthetic bacteria [BT05]
Artificial sensors used in cosmetic upgrade surgery [BT05]
Listing of individual's DNA for $1 (10M key base pairs) [BT05]
Major pensions crisis [BT05]
More people using telework centres than home working [BT05]
Telework centres double as community resources [BT05]
Police force privatised in many nations [BT05]
Less than 10% of UK workforce in manufacturing [BT05]
Autonomous production plants make everything, Asia unemployment increases [BT05]
Pension crisis, collapse of stock market due to share sales to pay pensions [BT05]
Retirement age linked to medical history [BT05]
Androids form 10% of population [BT05]
Nuclear power in UK up to 25 % [BT05]
Oil consumption peaks [BT05]
Kaleidoscopic flowers using electronic inks [BT05]
Films where viewers can choose who acts in each role [BT05]
Holodecks using box room lined completely with polymer screens [BT05]
Thought recognition as everyday input means [BT05]
Self diagnostic self repairing robots [BT05]
Actuators resembling human muscles [BT05]
War caused by global warming forcing mass migration from coastal areas [BT05]
War fought entirely between robot armies [BT05]
ID cards replaced by biometric scanning [BT05]
Emotion control chips used to control criminals [BT05]
Open city prisons for criminals and antisocial people [BT05]
Helium 3 mining on moon [BT05]
Orbital space junk cleared up by sweeper craft [BT05]
Fully auto-piloted cars [BT05]
Emotion control devices [BT05]
Dream link technology [BT05]
Smart makeup, context sensitive [BT05]
Artificial intelligence (AI) reaches the human level. [Clarke99]
Interstellar probes carrying AIs are launched towards the nearer stars. [Clarke99]

2021

Britney Spears is 40 years old
2 hour urgent global package delivery service [Wang06]
Feynman Grand Prize [Wang06]
Lunar bases [Wang06]
Humans land on Mars [Clarke99]

2022

20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China [WP06]
Protein engineering creates artificial ribosome [Wang06]
Placing people into suspended animation perfected [Wang06]
Hungarian parliamentary elections [WP06]

2023

one Human Brain capability (2*10^16 cps) for $1,000 [Kurzweil01]
India's GDP exceeds Germany's GDP [G-S03]
Introductory nanofactory [Wang06]
Dinosaur facsimiles are cloned from computer-generated DNA. Disney's "Triassic Zoo" opens in Florida. Mini-raptors start replacing guard dogs. [Clarke99]

2024

moon walk concludes phase IV of Chinese space program [Lehao06]
2024 Summer Olympics [WP06]
US presidential election [WP06]
30,000 km tether in geospatial orbit [LiftPort06]
Infra-red signals are detected coming from the centre of the galaxy. They are the product of a technologically advanced civilisation but attempts to decipher them fail. [Clarke99]

2025

population 7.9 billion [UN04]
China has 40M single men, and a rapidly ageing society with no social safety net [MoD07]
China might develop significant global power projection capability [MoD07]
GDP of Brazil at $2Tn, China at $12Tn, India at $4Tn, Russia at $3Tn, Mexico at $2Tn, US at $20Tn, Japan at $7Tn (all in 2005 US$) [G-S05]
combined GDP of BRICs at $20Tn, G7 at $39Tn, N-11 at $10Tn (all in 2005 US$) [G-S05]
GDP-per-capita in BRICs and N-11 (Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam) around or above $3000 (in 2005 US$) [G-S05]
full MNT (molecular manufacturing assemblers) [Kurzweil06]
Tactical Autonomous Combatant (TAC) units [Alpha03]
BRIC's (Brazil, Russia, India , China) GDP is 50% of G6 (US, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy) [G-S03]
nano-machines for theranostics (therapy and diagnosis) are practically used inside the body [ICTAF05]
China's 15th Five-Year Plan revealed [WP06]
Almost all fish (for food) comes from massive ocean ranches (over 100 ranches, each larger than a cubic mile in area) [Wang06]
Billion CPU personal nanocomputers [Wang06]
Over half electronic products produced with MNT [Wang06]
Nano-RFID tags with built-in memory simplify constant detailed tracking and monitoring of everything [Wang06]
MNT-enabled identity theft [Wang06]
Selective Body Sculpting is safe and effective [Wang06]
MNT counterfeiting eliminates physical currency [Wang06]
Nano-enabled space vehicles, 10-1000 times better performance [Wang06]
Nanofactories create space vehicles with ion drives with 750 kWe/kg specific power, speed 0.5 AU per day and 9.8 m/s2 acceleration. Earth to Mars in 1 to 3 days, Earth to Saturn in 20 days [Wang06]
Mining on asteroids and the moon [Wang06]
10,000 people living on lunar bases [Wang06]
High resolution direct visual feeds made in realtime and fed to retina, able to fool viewer for indefinite periods [Wang06]
MNT repair of physical trauma, almost no deaths once injured and then get MNT treatment (EMT or hospital) [Wang06]
Space elevator [Wang06]
Massive solar energy deployments, over one third of the new energy generators [Wang06]
Gene therapy to enhance human intelligence [Wang06]
Life expectancy doubles [Wang06]
Efficient asset allocation and management science boosts productivity growth by 3% per year [Wang06]
Full immersion virtual reality by neural interfacing. [Clarke99]

2026

Manned trip to Mars [Wang06]

2028

MNT used to create artificial gills and adapt people to undersea living [Wang06]
Human/computer interface breakthrough, computers extend human brain capacity memory, skills, calculation, communication [Wang06]

2029

strong AI [Kurzweil06]
the software for intelligence largely mastered [Kurzweil99c]
A $1,000 (in 1999 dollars) unit of computation has the computing capacity of approximately 1,000 human brains. [Kurzweil99]
Permanent or removable implants (similar to contact lenses) for the eyes as well as cochlear implants are now used to provide input and output between the human user and the worldwide computing network. [Kurzweil99]
Direct neural pathways have been perfected for high-bandwidth connection to the human brain. A range of neural implants is becoming available to enhance visual and auditory perception and interpretation, memory, and reasoning. [Kurzweil99]
Automated agents are now learning on their own, and significant knowledge is being created by machines with little or no human intervention. Computers have read all available human- and machine-generated literature and multimedia material. [Kurzweil99]
There is widespread use of all-encompassing visual, auditory, and tactile communication using direct neural connections, allowing virtual reality to take place without having to be in a "total touch enclosure." [Kurzweil99]
The majority of communication does not involve a human. [Kurzweil99]
There is almost no human employment in production, agriculture, or transportation. Basic life needs are available for the vast majority of the human race. [Kurzweil99]
There is a growing discussion about the legal rights of computers and what constitutes being "human." [Kurzweil99]
Although computers routinely pass apparently valid forms of the Turing Test, controversy persists about whether or not machine intelligence equals human intelligence in all of its diversity. [Kurzweil99]
Machines claim to be conscious. These claims are largely accepted. [Kurzweil99]
space elevator components delivered to low Earth orbit [LiftPort06]

2030

population 8.2 billion [UN04]
oil demand compared to 2004 levels is +100% in China, +164% in India, +40% in Russia/Caspian, +58% in Africa, +85% in Latin America, +25% in North America, +18% in Europe, +54% in Middle East, +73% in Asia Pacific [MoD07]
nanobots scan the brain from inside [Kurzweil00]
full immersion virtual reality with nanobots, from within the nervous system [Kurzweil00]
medical treatment for several-decade life extension in humans [deGrey05]
10^8 MIPS processor for $10,000 [UAS05, pp.48-49]
human-equivalent processor speed and memory in PC size for airborne/UAV use [UAS05, p.71]
demand from BRICs is about 2.4x of G6 [G-S03]
unmanned Mars exploration by China [WP06]
neural implants improve sensory experiences, memory and thinking [Kurzweil99c]
detailed maps of the computationally relevant features of the human brain and recreation of these designs in advanced neural computers [Kurzweil99c]
Massive colonization of oceans and solar system [Wang06]
First orbital country, nanotube structure many kilometers in diameter at L5, population 100,000+ [Wang06]
Full sensory feeds to nervous system - ala Matrix [Wang06]
Crime and paranoia: people incapacitated and loaded into false sensory feed to give up information [Wang06]
Taking people out of suspended animation perfected [Wang06]
Human cells interfaced with nanotech [Wang06]
Worlds imager / hypertelescope, 1km resolution out to 30 light years [Wang06]
Probe goes beyond 200AU [Wang06]
Multiple computer models, copies of live cells and animal models for every person [Wang06]
California and Texas follow New Mexico and become officially bilingual with English and Spanish [Wang06]
AI brings chimpanzee or dolphin up to human level intelligence [BT05]
AI Entity gains PhD [BT05]
AI Entity awarded Nobel Prize [BT05]
Remote control devices built into pets [BT05]
Virus wipes out half of the electronic pet population [BT05]
AI entities given vote [BT05]
Smart yoghurt, colony of smart bacteria linked together, IQ = human [BT05]
Brief human suspended animation [BT05]
Electronic memory enhancement [BT05]
Many new forms of plants and animals from genetic engineering [BT05]
Nanobots in toothpaste attack plaque [BT05]
Fully functioning artificial eyes [BT05]
Electronic brain implants [BT05]
Genetic, chemical and physiological bases of human behaviour understood [BT05]
Intelligence or memory enhancement by external means [BT05]
First Bionic Olympics [BT05]
e-Baybies, genetic conception [BT05]
DNA compression used to create optimal organisms [BT05]
Virus crosses over from machine to human [BT05]
Synthetic immune system [BT05]
Language teaching decline due to machine translation services [BT05]
70 million over 65s in USA (20%) with 9 million over 85s [BT05]
3Bn people water stressed (<1700 cu m per capita per year) [BT05]
First e-Baybies genetically assembled [BT05]
Chinese graduates exceed American and European graduates [BT05]
Systems based on biochemical storage of solar energy [BT05]
Widespread use of micro CHP stations (in 50% of premises) [BT05]
30% of world's arable land will be salty [BT05]
Widespread use of sensors in the countryside [BT05]
70% of landfills in USA full [BT05]
Patio display panels and slabs to simulate beach [BT05]
Anti noise technology in gardens [BT05]
3D home printers [BT05]
Nanotechnology plants [BT05]
Emotion transmission and conversion (feel love or anger) [BT05]
Digital image overlays enhance relationships [BT05]
Global voting on some issues [BT05]
Network based telepathy [BT05]
Holographic TV [BT05]
Full direct brain link [BT05]
Smart yoghurt [BT05]
Circuits made with bacteria by own DNA, smart yoghurt [BT05]
Insect sized robots banned in gardens due to effects on wildlife [BT05]
Robotic delivery for internal mail [BT05]
Robotic exercise companion [BT05]
More robots than people in developed countries [BT05]
Android gladiators [BT05]
GM and robotics converge, GM used to make organic robots [BT05]
First war without any casualties from friendly fire [BT05]
Robots outnumber soldiers on battlefield [BT05]
Smart bacteria used in warfare to alter behaviour of enemy [BT05]
Smart bacteria as military threat to mankind [BT05]
Attacks based on facilitating natural disasters [BT05]
Smart bacteria weapons [BT05]
Gated cities for civilised people [BT05]
First manned mission to Mars [BT05]
Production, storage and use of antimatter [BT05]
Space factories for commercial production [BT05]
Airships used to carry payloads most of the way to orbit [BT05]

2031

Britney Spears is 50 years old
launch of commercially available LiftPort space elevator [LiftPort06]

2032

India's GDP exceeds Japan's GDP [G-S03]
MNT able to replace various organs [Wang06]

2033

India's GDP exceeds Japan's GDP [G-S05]

2035

population 8.5 billion [UN04][MoD07]
human activities dominated by the three issues of climate change, globalization, and global inequality [MoD07]
The defining feature of the period was the constant tension between greater interdependence and intensifying competition, stimulating competing strategies based around the extent to which individuals and communities wish to exploit or resist change. [MoD07]
60% of world population living in urban areas, with substantial growth in shanty towns and unplanned urban settlement [MoD07]
87% of people under 25 live in developing world [MoD07]
one or several large cities in developing regions may become failed cities [MoD07]
population growth compared to 2006 levels is +81% in Sub-Saharan Africa, +132% in the Middle East, and -40M in EUrope [MoD07]
population of Sub-Saharan Africa 1.3 Bn, 15% of which is likely undernourished [MoD07]
demand for energy at least 50% larger than in 2006, with fossil fuels meeting 80% of increase [MoD07]
uneven, and possibly uncertain global progress to democracy [MoD07]
China and India likely to have developed 2-tier armed forces (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear weapons and large unsophisticated forces for territorial defence + smaller high-capability forces for power projection) [MoD07]
face of globalization is more Asian [Mod07]
HIV/AIDS cure of vaccine likely [MoD07]
prospect of peak oil production has intensified competition for remaining resources, which may increase potential for inter-state war [MoD07]
widespread availability of synthetic brains [Grossman01][Klatz00]
application of nanotech likely in nanodevices, such as nanobots [MoD07]
mapping of human brain functions and replication of genuine intelligence possible [MoD07]
EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) probably operational [MoD07]
brain-implanted direct human-machine interface may be developed, allowing synthetic and mind-to-mind telepathy [MoD07]
MNT Utility Fog created [Wang06]
MNT creates artificial island larger than Manhattan [Wang06]
Fake reality able to fool remote monitoring and visual observers [Wang06]
Nanotechnology weapons used in war, over 500 million dead [Wang06]

2037

one Human Brain capability (2 * 10^16 cps) for one cent [Kurzweil01]

2039

BRIC's (Brazil, Russia, India , China) GDP exceeds G6 (US, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy) [G-S03]

2040

population 8.7 billion [UN04]
China's GDP exceeds US GDP [G-S05]
hybrid of biological and electronic mental processes [Kurzweil03]
bulk of human thinking is non-biological [Kurzweil00]
our human intelligence and our machine intelligence very deeply and very intimately melded [Kurzweil00]
MNT utility fog and display technology make Star Trek holodeck style technology [Wang06]
MNT repair of cellular damage [Wang06]
MNT able to enhance body functions [Wang06]
Interstellar probe arrives in another solar system [Wang06]
FDA drug approval by individual -based on phased trials of your individual reaction [Wang06]
Flexible employment used to balance imbalance of too many retirees [Wang06]
Thought scanning breakthrough, refined brain-scans allow detailed reading of conscious thoughts [Wang06]
Regular manned missions to Mars [BT05]
Use of human hibernation in space travel [BT05]
Space elevator based on carbon nanotube cable [BT05]
Use of solar wind deflectors to set fire to cities [BT05]
Nanotech based virus communicable between machines and people, sent over net [BT05]
Micro-Mechano fractal construction kit [BT05]
Virtual display [BT05]
Creation of The Matrix [BT05]
VR extensively used in retirement homes [BT05]
Restricted capability home genetic engineering kits [BT05]
Experience recording [BT05]
Real' toy soldiers using nanotechnology [BT05]
Running man' style TV programs using androids [BT05]
Carbon dioxide fixation technologies for environment protection [BT05]
Artificial precipitation induction & control [BT05]
Space solar power stations [BT05]
3.5 Bn people water stressed (400M in 2001) [BT05]
e-Baybies form virtual population of 1 Bn [BT05]
First e-Baybies electronically emulated [BT05]
Learning superseded by transparent interface to smart computers [BT05]
95% of people in advanced nation computer literate [BT05]
Artificial peripheral nerves [BT05]
e-Baybies, digital emulation conception [BT05]
Sims game using real genetics [BT05]
Brain 'add-ons' [BT05]
AI Entity sets up higher level prize [BT05]
Learning superseded by transparent interface to smart computer [BT05]
Robots physically and mentally superior to humans [BT05]
Emulation of bio life form inside the computer using protein emulation [BT05]
The "Universal Replicator", based on nano-technology, is perfected: any object, however complex, can be created. [Clarke99]

2041

Britney Spears is 60 years old
China's GDP exceeds US GDP [G-S03]
BRICs' GDP exceeds G6 GDP [G-S05]

2042

Holodeck technology able to work in outdoor lighting conditions [Wang06]
MNT used to stage events - falsifying news and reality [Wang06]

2044

economy of Indonesia same size as Italy [G-S05]

2045

population 8.9 billion [UN04]
Over 100 million living on off-world colonies [Wang06]
Totally self-contained, recycling, mobile home. Any additional carbon needed for food synthesis is obtained by extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. [Clarke99]

2048

economy of Nigeria same size as Italy [G-S05]

2049

The common use of nanoproduced food, which has the correct nutritional composition and the same taste and texture of organically produced food, means that the availability of food is no longer affected by limited resources, bad crop weather, or spoilage. [Kurzweil99]
Nanobot swarm projections are used to create visual-auditory-tactile projections of people and objects in real reality. [Kurzweil99]
one Human Race capability (2*10^26 cps) for $1,000 [Kurzweil01]

2050

population 9.1 billion [UN04]
230 million people living outside their country of origin [MoD07]
average global temperature likely 0.8-1.7 degrees Celsius above 2001 levels [MoD07]
economy of Brazil same size as Japan (at market exchange rates), which is 20-25% of US [PwC06]
economy of Indonesia & Mexico are both larger than Germany or UK (market & PPP) [PwC06]
economy of Russia same size as France (market & PPP) [PwC06]
economy of Italy same size as Turkey (market & PPP) [PwC06]
economy of India is 100%(PPP) and 58%(market) of US [PwC06]
economy of China is 143%(PPP) and 94%(market) of US [PwC06]
economy of Korea & Spain are both 8% of US (market & PPP) [PwC06]
economy of E7 (Brazil, Russia, India, China, Turkey, Mexico, Indonesia) is 175%(PPP) and 125%(market) of G7 (US, Japan, France, UK, Germany, Italy, Canada) [PwC06]
GDP of Brazil at $8Tn, China at $49Tn, India at $27Tn, Russia at $6Tn, Mexico at $8Tn, US at $38Tn, Japan at $8Tn (all in 2005 US$) [G-S05]
combined GDP of BRICs at $90Tn, G7 at $64Tn, N-11 at $35Tn (all in 2005 US$) [G-S05]
GDP-per-capita in Brazil, Turkey and China broadly on par with 2004 levels of G7; about 50% of 2050-G7 levels [PwC06]
GDP-per-capita in China similar to 1999 levels of G6; 37% of 2050-US [G-S03]
GDP-per-capita in Brazil $35k, in China $34k, in India $17k, in Russia $56k (all in 2005 US$) [G-S05]
GDP-per-capita in G7 in the $62k - $90k range (all in 2005 US$) [G-S05]
GDP-per-capita in Korea ($81k in 2005 US$) larger than in G7 countries, except US ($90k in 2005 US$) [G-S05]
GDP-per-capita in G7, BRICs, Egypt, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Philippines, Turkey and Vietnam above $15,000 (in 2005 US$) [G-S05]
demand from BRICs is about 4x of G6 [G-S03]
team of fully autonomous humanoid robots win against the human world soccer champion team [RoboCup; WP06]
full scale fusion reactor available based on "ITER" [WP06]
Singularity AI : 1 billion times human intelligence accelerates technology developments [Wang06]
Offworld economy larger than Japan's economy [Wang06]
MNT-enhanced world imager, MNT mass produces billions of satellite telescopes, large precise mirrors, network to form 1,000,000km telescope, 10m resolution at 30 light years [Wang06]
Life expectancy at 65+ increases over 1 year for each year - escape velocity [Wang06]
100 million Hispanics in the United States; 25% of the population [Wang06]
Living genetically engineered teddy bear [BT05]
Primate given brain implant to increase intelligence to human level [BT05]
Artificial brain [BT05]
Brain in jar [BT05]
World population peaks at 10 billion [BT05]
Wave energy providing up to 50% of UK requirements [BT05]
Use of nuclear fusion as power source [BT05]
Global environmental management corporations [BT05]
i-Robot style robots with polymer muscles and strong AI [BT05]
Start of construction of manned Mars laboratory [BT05]
Moon base the size of small village [BT05]
Asteroid mining [BT05]
Mining of water on Mars [BT05]
Self sustaining mars colony [BT05]
Asteroid diversion used as weapon [BT05]
"Escape from Utopia". Bored by life in this peaceful and unexciting era, millions decide to use cryonic suspension to emigrate into the future in search of adventure. Vast "hibernacula" are established in the Antarctic and in the regions of perpetual night at the lunar poles. [Clarke99]