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Arthur C. Clarke's Visions of the Future Visionary author Arthur C. Clarke told reporters in early March, 1999 that he foresees a 21st century world in which energy is cheap, clean and unlimited, holding a job is optional, and lots of people live and work in space. Start Date: 3/10/99 Famed sci-fi author and visionary Arthur C. Clarke has assembled a list of future predictions. Some may seem whimsical, others worrying -- but all, he says, "could happen." Excerpts from the list, which appeared in the Irish Independent newspaper on March 2, 1999 are shown below. Clarke prefaces his list with a caveat. "Despite all claims to the contrary, no one can predict the future, and I have always resisted all attempts to label me a 'prophet.' I prefer 'extrapolator,'" he says. The projected timing of some events on the list -- for example, a meteor strike in 2019 -- is somewhat arbitary. Clarke says he left some potential disasters off the list "because optimism about the future is always desirable." Caveats aside, here are some of the surprising things Clarke believes "could happen" during the coming century: 2002 -- The first commercial device producing clean, safe power by low-temperature nuclear reactions (Cold Fusion) goes on the market, heralding the end of the Fossil-Fuel Age. Economic and geopolitical earthquakes follow. 2004 -- First (publicly admitted) human clone. 2006 -- Last coal mine closed. 2009 -- A city in a Third World country is devastated by the accidental explosion of an A-bomb in its armory. After a brief debate in the UN, all nuclear weapons are destroyed. 2010 -- 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; grid systems are dismantled. 2010 -- In spite of "Big Brother!" protests, electronic monitoring virtually removes professional criminals from society. 2011 -- Largest living animal filmed: a 75-metre octopus in the Mariana Trench. By a curious coincidence, later that same year even larger marine creatures are discovered when the first robot probes drill through the ice of [Jupiter's moon] Europa, and an entire new biota is revealed. 2014 -- Construction of Hilton Orbiter Hotel begins, by assembling and converting the giant Shuttle tanks which had previously been allowed to fall back to Earth. 2016 -- All existing currencies are abolished. The mega-watt-hour becomes the unit of exchange. 2017 -- December 16. On his 100th birthday, Sir Arthur C. Clarke is one of the first guests in the Hilton Orbiter. 2019 -- A major meteor impact occurs on the North Polar icecap. There is no loss of human life, but the resulting tsunamis cause considerable damage along the coasts of Greenland and Canada. The long-discussed "Project Spaceguard," to identify and deflect any potentially dangerous comets or asteroids, is finally activated. 2020 -- Artificial Intelligence (AI) reaches the human level. From now onwards there are two intelligent spaces on Planet Earth, one evolving far more rapidly than biology would ever permit. Interstellar probes carrying AIs are launched towards the nearest stars. 2021 -- The first humans land on Mars, and have some unpleasant surprises. [Clarke does not specify.] 2023 -- Dinosaur facsimiles are cloned from computer-generated DNA. Disney's "Triassic Zoo" opens in Florida. Despite some unfortunate initial accidents, mini-raptors start replacing guard-dogs. 2024 -- Infra-red signals are detected coming from the centre of the Galaxy. They are obviously the product of a technologically advanced civilization, but all attempts to decipher them fail. 2040 -- The "Universal Replicator," based on nano-technology, is perfected; any object, however complex, can be created, given the necessary raw material and the appropriate information matrix. Diamonds or gourmet meals can literally be made from dirt. As a result, agriculture and industry are phased out, ending that recent invention in human history -- work! There is an explosion in arts, entertainment and education. Hunter-gathering societies are deliberately recreated; huge areas of the planet, no longer needed for food production, are allowed to revert to their original state. 2057 -- October 4. Centennial of Sputnik 1. The dawn of the space age is celebrated by humans not only on Earth, but on the Moon, Mars, Europa, Ganymede and Titan and on orbit round Venus, Neptune and Pluto. 2061 -- The return of Halley's Comet; first-landing on nucleus by humans. The sensational discovery of both dormant and active life-forms vindicates Hoyle and Wickramasinghe's century-old hypothesis ["Panspermia"] that life is omni-present throughout space. 2090 -- Large-scale burning of fossil fuels is resumed to replace the carbon dioxide "mined" from the air and, hopefully, to postpone the next Ice Age by promoting global warming. 2095 -- The development of a true "Space Drive" -- a propulsion system reacting against the structure of spacetime -- makes the rocket obsolete and permits velocities close to that of light. The first human explorers set off to nearby star systems that robot probes have already found promising. [GSReport thanks Diana Cammack for forwarding this story.]
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