1. The Internet will be in your contact lens.

Imagine blinking, and then instantly going

on line, accessing your home office, or home entertainment system anywhere or
anytime. We will be able to download any movie, song, Web site, or piece of
information off the Internet directly onto our Internet-enabled contact lenses. These
lenses will also be able to identify peoples faces, translate their comments and
provide subtitles, so that we will always know exactly with whom we are speaking
and what they are saying in any language. We will live in a cross between The
Matrix and real life. Tourists will love this, for example, since they will be able to
see the glory of the Roman Empire resurrected in their contact lens as they walk
among the ruins of Rome. Artists and architects will love it, as well, since they will be
able to create great works of art by simply moving their hands in the air. People
suffering from illnesses, like diabetes, will love it, too, because they will have
immediate readouts of their heart rate, insulin levels, and other important conditions
within their own bodies.

2. Computers will disappear, as will cell phones, clocks, watches, and MP3 players.
Chips, costing less than a penny apiece, will be hidden by the millions in the
environment. We will be able to command these hidden computers telepathically,
directly via the mind. Computers will interpret the electrical signals emitted by our
brains, decipher them, and carry out our wishes. When we walk into a room, we will
be able to mentally control a computer that in turn will direct the many things around
us. Moving heavy furniture, rearranging desks, and brewing a cup of coffee may be
possible just by thinking about it. So we will be like the gods of mythology, mentally
manipulating the world around us. We will also be able to conjure up almost any
object just by wishing for it. This is done via programmable matter, which consists
of millions of microscopic computer chips, which are intelligent and can be
programmed to suddenly rearrange themselves into any shape or object on command,
so that we will be able to create almost anything we can imagine (this is very similar
to the Replicator from Star Trek).

3. Our cars will be driver-less, using GPS to navigate without the help of an alert human
behind the wheel. These cars will also fly (finally!) by floating on a cushion of
magnetism. With room-temperature superconducting magnets, our cars and trains will
glide effortlessly in the air without bumps or potholes to worry about since the crafts
hover over the treacherous road. Traffic jams and accidents will be a thing of the past
as a central computer will be able to track the motions of all the cars on the road (or
air), while each car will use radar in its fenders to sense obstacles and take emergency
measures as soon as it senses an impending accident. Best of all, we will hardly ever
need to fuel up, since there is almost no friction to slow us down. This will also solve
the energy crisis, since most energy is wasted, strangely enough, on overcoming the
friction of the road.
4. Doctors will be able to grow spare parts for our organs as soon as they wear out.
This will create a human body shop. We will never need organ donors and never die
of organ failure. Even the typical doctors visit will change. For a routine checkup we
will talk to a robotic software program that will have a complete record of our genes.
This robotic MD will be able to correctly diagnose up to 95 percent of human
ailments. If the robot cant help, then the patient moves on to a living and breathing
doctor who can help figure out the rarer disease that takes a more refined and
sophisticated mind. By mid-century, doctors and scientists may be able to construct an
entire organism using its genome alone. As this genome science progresses,
researchers may be able to carry a small kit around with them and, in mere minutes,
sequence the entire genome of any life-form they encounter. We will then be able to
resurrect extinct life-forms, such as the mammoth, dodo bird, and even the
Neanderthal (There are ethical concerns with the Neanderthal. Do we put them in a
zoo or put them through college, one scientist pointed out to me). In the movie
Jurassic Park, scientists extracted DNA from dinosaurs and inserted it into the eggs
of reptiles. Although usable DNA from dinosaurs has yet to be found, there is
evidence that in the future this dream might become a reality. That means by the end
of this century, our zoos may be populated by creatures that ceased walking the
surface of the earth millions of years ago.

5. The human life span will be extended. Aging will be slowed down by attacking it at
the molecular and genetic level. We may be able to cruise at the age of 30 almost
indefinitely by growing new organs as they wear out or become diseased, ingesting a
cocktail of proteins and enzymes, using gene therapy to alter genes that may slow
down due to aging, and the old adage of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Genetic
engineering will also allow us to create designer children, so parents can choose the
physical (and perhaps even intellectual) characteristics of their children. (Laws will
have to be passed to regulate this powerful technology.) Some of these children will
be designed to have superhuman abilities, or become stronger, more intelligent, and
happier individuals.

6. Molecular smart bombs circulating in our blood will home in on, zap and kill
cancer cells. Nanoparticles, the size of molecules, will seek out cancer cells and
destroy them years before they become a problem, either by poisoning them or
rupturing the cells. We will view chemotherapy like we view blood-letting and
leeches, a painful relic of our ignorant past. However, cancer will not be cured. There
are too many types of cancers that mutate too quickly, so the disease will persist;
however doctors will be better equipped to diagnose cancer early and treat the disease
successfully.
7. Our toilets and bathroom mirror will contain DNA sensors, capable of detecting
proteins emitted from perhaps a hundred cancer cells in a cancer colony, 10 years
before a tumor forms. We will have a complete medical check-up every time you go
to the bathroom, which contain more computer power than a modern hospital. The
word tumor will disappear from the English language. Even our clothes will contain
these cancer-finding chips, but these chips will also multitask, and will be able to
independently call for an ambulance in the case of an accident, upload our medical
history to nearby hospitals and sense irregularities in heartbeat, breathing and brain
waves. In the future, it will be difficult to die alone. And todays huge MRI machines
which peer into the body will be reduced to the size of cellphones, like the Tricorder
from Star Trek. By passing this Tricorder over the body, it will immediately
detect signs of any illness and project a 3-D image of your internal organs for doctors
to examine. However, diseases will not be eradicated, since they tend to mutate faster
than we can cure them, even in 2100.

8. The robot industry will dwarf the size of the current automobile industry. Robots will
be everywhere, performing dangerous and tedious tasks. They will have emotions.
They will be friendly, polite, helpful (and with fail-safe devices to prevent accidents).
Many robots wont exist in human form, but will be hidden from view, the size of
snakes, insects and spiders, and undertaking various unpleasant and dangerous tasks
in place of humans. They will also be used as cooks, surgeons, musicians, pets, store
clerks and so forth. By the end of the century, robots will be nearly as smart as
humans and may replace many jobs. Among the worse off will be blue-collar workers
who perform repetitive jobs that are easily replaced by robots. However, there are a
large number of blue-collar jobs that will survive, including garbage collectors, police
officers, gardeners and plumbers, who are all dependent on pattern recognition.
Among white-collar workers, the losers will be those involved taking inventory and
bean counting, such as low-level agents, brokers, tellers, and accountants. However,
novelists, scriptwriters, artists, entertainers, and jobs that deal in human relations,
such as lawyers, will persist.

9. Tourists will soar into outer space via the Space Elevator. We will push the up
button and the elevator will climb up a long carbon fiber cable, which extends
thousands of miles into space. This will open up the solar system to wealthy tourists
and the outer- space-obsessed. The key is to use nanotechnology to create these super-
strong cables made of carbon. In addition, scientists will be preparing the first starship
capable of leaving the solar system and visiting the nearest stars. New propulsion
systems, perhaps involving antimatter or fusion engines, will take us there. By the end
of the century, we may have a small outpost on Mars, but an overwhelming fraction
 of the human race will still be on earth. For decades to centuries to come, space travel
will be for astronauts, the wealthy and maybe a handful of hardy space colonists.

10. With advanced technology also comes advanced dangers, especially biological
warfare, nuclear proliferation, and global warming. Science is a double-edged sword.
One side can cut against poverty, disease, and ignorance; but the other side can also
cut against the people unless it is properly controlled. Global warming will become
even more disastrous, as many American cities will likely be drowned and other
cities, such as New York, will be surrounded by seawalls. Biological terrorists will get
more sophisticated and most likely will be able to make viral diseases, like AIDS,
airborne. Also, for example, since chips and robots will replace a wide variety of
products and occupations, millions could lose their jobs and the economy could be
thrown into turmoil. Silicon Valley, for one, may become a dead zone as the chip is
replaced by smaller and smaller prototypes, eradicating the areas jobs and upending
the nations economy.