@ EddM Here are my predictions for when the things on your list will happen:- [B]. Free global transport at near instantaneous speed.[/B] That would require some form of teleportation. We don't know much about quantum entanglement, but we'll probably have it figured in 100-200 years. Allow another 50 years or so for the machines to be perfected, and distributed around the world... so probably around 2250. This assumes we make it through the 21st century of course (which I don't think we will - our planet is already entering a period of irreversible climate change that will destroy 90% of all life). [B]. Space elevators for observation and industry.[/B] We already know how to produce carbon nanotubes, which are hundreds of times stronger than ordinary steel. It's just a question of cost and demand. I don't think a proper space boom will happen until the last few decades of this century. So let's say around 2090-2100. [B]. Pedestrianisation of all city's. Surface traffic to be replaced by air cars.[/B] I don't think every city will be completely pedestrianised. Hovercars might happen one day, but not for a long, long time. Let's say 2200. [B]. 5 mile high city towers.[/B] Probably not for thousands of years, if ever. With our current technology and engineering - not to mention the finances involved - it just wouldn't be practical. Dubai or Jeddah will build a mile-high tower, but I think they'll probably stop around that mark. [B]. All work to be carried out by automatons.[/B] If you look at Moore's Law, and the robots being built in Japan, it's obvious that AI will have a major impact on our lives in the future. I reckon by about 2050, computers will be so powerful that we'll start to have "virtual employees" helping us with online shopping and other services. These will appear in the form of CGI characters with a high degree of interactivity and conversational ability, but they will basically be limited to a computer screen. Fully sentient, walking, Data-style androids won't appear for at least a century or two... and even then, it will only be wealthy people or special types of companies who own them. Also bear in mind that AI will be a different kind of intelligence to our own. Far more objective, cold and logical - rather than subjective and imaginative. They won't understand poetry for instance. So Data's character in Star Trek is probably quite an accurate depiction of what to expect, I would think. [B]. Eradication of money.[/B] I would absolutely love a utopian society where peoples' lives aren't driven by wealth and greed. But I just can't see it happening. Not for a long, long, long time anyway. Let's say 3000 AD or later. Put simply, the wealthy elite hold enormous control and influence at the moment, and are unlikely to give it up anytime soon. [B]. Terra forming and Colonisation of Mars.[/B] [B]First man on Mars[/B] - probably the late 2020's/early 2030's? It wouldn't surprise me if China gets there first. [B]First permanent colony on Mars[/B] - about 2050/2060? Within my lifetime, I hope. [B]Terraforming[/B] - if the [I]Mars[/I] trilogy is to be believed, it could happen within 200 years. We need to seed the ground with genetically modified extremophile bacteria, then put solar mirrors in orbit to warm the atmosphere. [B]. Venus to be turned into a mining and industrial production planet.[/B] You'd need to redirect thousands of comets from the Oort Cloud and send them cascading into the upper atmosphere, plus Venus is so hellish that it would take millenia to achieve a reduction in temperature. This would be one of the largest projects ever undertaken by the human race. Probably 10,000 AD at the earliest. [B]. Intergalactic travel.[/B] There are 100 billion stars in our own galaxy which we're more likely to explore first. That will take aeons. And the nearest galaxy is over 2 million light years away. I honestly can't imagine the timescales involved. Humans will probably have died out by then, or been replaced by AI super-entities. [B]. Personal SexBots indistinguishable from real females, with push button controls.[/B] There are already some very realistic sex dolls available. Androids of 'Data' quality are a different matter, though. Crude versions might appear in the next few decades (e.g. [url]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lJZTWwy6eUw[/url] ). Robots that are indistinguishable from humans won't appear for another 100-200 years though. [B]. Biological computer implants.[/B] This is already starting to happen. For a really, really, [I][B]really[/B][/I] good article on how people might use such devices in 2110, read this: [url]http://www.jrmooneyham.com/a-single-pc-of-this-time-may-possess-raw-processing-power-equivalent-to-a-billion-earths-worth-of-human-beings.html[/url] [B]. A Galactic Fleet.[/B] See my earlier post on intergalactic travel. [B]. Establishment of a Full Immersion Virtual World that people may choose to enter on a permanent basis or free to come and go, their bodies being put into stasis for the duration of the stay. This can provide enumerable scenarios not least of which to satisfy the male need for total war.[/B] Actually, full immersion VR is closer than you think. See [url]http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/09/11/immersive.cocoon/index.html[/url] There will also be wholly lifelike computer graphics by 2020, i.e. people in video games will be indistinguishable from real life. [B]. Eradication of physical and mental illness and disease.[/B] If stem-cell research continues, we could see most diseases cured within 50 years, possibly include age reversal (already, there are some mice which have been genetically engineered to live way beyond their normal lifespans). Nanobots, injected directly into the bloodstream, will destroy the AIDS virus and treat cancers. [B]. Population control via expansion to other planets.[/B] Mars and the Moon will start to have major cities from about 2150 onwards, I would imagine. [B]. Abolition of Scientology.[/B] Major efforts are already underway by the Internet group, Anonymous. For the decline of religion in general, a brilliant link I'd recommend is: [url]http://www.jrmooneyham.com/s2081ref.html#section1[/url] :cheers: