what will happen in Future 2010-2019 Contents

• 2010-2037 - At some point during this period, a devastating earthquake hits California

• 2010 - Scientists create synthetic life | Haiti is struck by a devastating earthquake | One-fifth of Pakistan is flooded | China becomes the largest energy consumer in the world | Localised renewable energy is becoming affordable | Apple debuts the iPad | Augmented Reality is entering the mainstream | Macular degeneration is curable | The first demonstration of solar-sail technology | Speech-to-speech translation is common in mobile phones | Major breakthrough in robotics

 

• 2011-2015 - British forces withdraw from Afghanistan

• 2011 - The Space Shuttle fleet is retired | The web has a greater reach than television | Multi-touch surface computing is available to the mass market | The first open petaflop supercomputer comes online | Batteries that charge in seconds | 22 nanometre chips are in mass production | USB 3.0 is available | Consumer-level robotics are booming | Completion of the ISS | World's first commercial spaceport | China's Three Gorges Dam is fully operational

• 2012 - Economic growth remains sluggish in many markets | London hosts the Olympic Games |

Windows 8 is released | OLED screens are becoming widespread | Brain-computer interfaces allowing the paralysed to walk again | A cure for baldness | World's first 1-Gigawatt offshore wind farm |
Mars Science Laboratory explores the Red Planet | Mass hysteria grips the world as the Mayan calendar reaches the end of its current cycle

• 2013 - Iran carries out its first nuclear test | Solar flares are disrupting the Earth's magnetosphere |

3D technologies are widespread | The first products to use memristor technology are becoming available | Full-body scanners are mandatory in US airports | Direct high-speed rail from London to Frankfurt and Amsterdam | The 4G standard is finalised | India launches its second lunar exploration mission

2014 - The Large Hadron Collider reaches its maximum operating power | The James Webb telescope is launched | Personalised DNA sequencing for less than $100 | Internet "lifecasting" enters the mainstream | 16nm chips are in mass production | Terabyte SD cards are available | Robotic pack mules are entering military service | MAVEN probe arrives at Mars | The Rosetta probe deploys its lander on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko | Most telephone calls are made via the Internet now | Increased automation in retail environments | Brazil hosts the FIFA World Cup

• 2015-2019 - Virtual Reality makes a comeback | Tigers are going extinct

• 2015 - Worldwide PC use reaches 2bn | Lifesaver water filters are spreading to developing countries |

The first climate change refugees | 3D printing enters the consumer market | Scientists resurrect the woolly mammoth | New Horizons probe arrives at Pluto | Dawn probe arrives at Ceres | Voyager I enters the heliopause

• 2016 - The US military withdraws its last remaining troops from Afghanistan | US vehicles are becoming more fuel-efficient | The first space hotel | Laser guns are in naval use | Holographic versatile disc (HVD) replaces Blu-Ray | Sony launches the PlayStation 4 | The Strait of Messina Bridge is completed | Rio de Janeiro hosts the Olympic Games

• 2017 - China establishes the largest megacity in the world | Total solar eclipse in the US | The Gotthard Base Tunnel is completed | Electronic paper is seeing widespread use | Portable medical lasers that seal wounds | Teleportation of simple molecules

• 2018 - The European Extremely Large Telescope is operational | Scientists drill into Earth's mantle | Ubiquitous internet nodes connect appliances, vehicles, etc. | Cheques are phased out in the UK | Crossrail opens in London | Robot insect spies are in military use | Russia hosts the FIFA World Cup | Consumer devices with 100 Gbit/s transfers | Anti-fat drugs are available | The last of Nigeria's rainforests have disappeared

• 2019 - Acute spinal injuries are fully treatable | The ITER experimental fusion reactor is switched on | Computers break the exaflop barrier | Bionic eyes are commercially available | Automated freight transport | The Aral Sea disappears from the map | Oil demand is outpacing supply by a significant margin