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2000 - The world celebrates the turn of the millenium | The dot-com bubble bursts | Concorde crashes in France, killing 113 | Personal home computers break the 1Ghz barrier | Sydney hosts the Olympic Games 2001 - George Bush is sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States | A devastating terrorist attack leaves nearly 3,000 dead in America | The world's first space tourist | Wikipedia is launched 2002 - Apple introduces the iMac G4 | Quaoar is discovered | The deadliest act of terrorism in the history of Indonesia 2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia disaster | The invasion of Iraq | The Human Genome Project is completed | Record heatwaves kill tens of thousands in Europe | MySpace is launched 2004 - George Bush is re-elected | Athens hosts the Olympic Games | Train bombings in Madrid kill nearly 200 people | Hubble Ultra Deep Field | Mars Exploration Rovers | The first privately funded human spaceflight | Facebook is launched | World's first 1Gb SD card | London's skyline gets a new landmark | Asia gets a new tallest building | Indian Ocean earthquake leaves a quarter of a million dead 2005 - Suicide bombers in London kill 56 people, injure 700 others | Hurricane Katrina floods New Orleans | Huygens probe reveals images of Titan's surface | YouTube is launched | Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany 2006 - North Korea conducts its first nuclear test | West African black rhinos are declared extinct | Pluto is demoted to "dwarf planet" status | Saddam Hussein is executed 2007 - Global economic downturn | Gordon Brown succeeds Tony Blair as Prime Minister of Great Britain | Nicolas Sarkozy is elected President of the French Republic | Arctic sea ice hits a record low | Apple debuts the iPhone | Amazon releases the Kindle | Benazir Bhutto is assassinated in Pakistan 2008 - Oil prices hit a record high of $147/barrel | Internet continues to boom | Scientists extract images directly from the brain | Artificial DNA | Breakthrough in wireless energy transfer | Major advances in CGI | Video adverts on London's tube | Beijing hosts the Olympic games 2009 - Major breakthrough in cancer research | Scientists engineer new plastics without use of fossil fuels | Mouse genome is fully sequenced | Water is discovered on the Moon | Mercury is 98% mapped | A shift towards portable (and ultra-portable) PCs | Mind control headsets available for gamers | The tallest man-made structure in history is completed | Kepler searches for Earth-like planets | 3D scanning enters the consumer market | Africa's population tops one billion 2010 - Scientists create synthetic life | Iran is on the brink of revolution | 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 | Speech-to-speech translation is common in mobile phones | Major breakthrough in robotics |BP oil spill environmental disaster 2011-2014 - 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 | OLED screens are becoming widespread | Brain-computer interfaces allowing the paralysed to walk again | A cure for baldness | World's first 1-GW offshore wind farm | Mars Science Laboratory explores the Red Planet | Barack Obama is re-elected 2013 - Iran carries out its first nuclear test | Solar flares are disrupting the Earth's magnetosphere | 3D technologies are widespread | India launches its second lunar exploration mission 2014 - 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 | Brazil hosts the FIFA World Cup 2015-2019 - Virtual Reality makes a comeback 2015 - Worldwide PC use reaches 2bn | Nanotech water filters are spreading to many developing countries | The first climate change refugees | 3D printing enters the consumer market | 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 | Laser guns are in naval use | Holographic versatile disc (HVD) replaces Blu-Ray | Biocameras matching human eye resolution | Rio de Janeiro hosts the Olympic Games 2017 - Total solar eclipse in the USA | Crossrail opens in London | Electronic paper is widespread | Portable medical lasers that seal wounds | Teleportation of simple molecules 2018 - The European Extremely Large Telescope is operational | Ubiquitous internet nodes connect appliances, vehicles, etc. | Robot insect spies are in military use | Consumer devices with 100 Gbit/s transfer speeds | Anti-fat drug is available | The new World Trade Center is complete 2019 - 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 | Global oil demand exceeds 100 million barrels per day 2020-2035 - World energy crisis 2020 - Internet use reaches 5 billion worldwide | Texting by thinking | Complete organ replacements grown from stem cells | Holographic TV is mainstream | Sweden becomes the first oil-free country | Glacier National Park and other regions are becoming ice-free | Completion of the Square Kilometre Array | Wholly lifelike CGI 2021 - "Thoughtcrime" is becoming a reality | Fully reusable single-stage-to-orbit spacecraft | Telecommuting is a standard flexible work option | Traditional microchips are reaching the limits of miniaturisation | Water crisis in southwest USA 2022 - Nanotech clothing enters the mass market | Tooth regeneration is transforming dental care | Piezoelectric nanowires are appearing in high-end products | Deafness is curable 2023 - Laser-driven fusion energy makes progress | Borneo’s rainforests have been wiped from the map | Gorillas are extinct in Central Africa | Turkey becomes self-sufficient in energy production 2024 - The biggest refugee crisis in world history | African elephants are on the brink of extinction | Petabyte storage devices are available 2025 - Human brain simulations are becoming possible | Medical nanobots are becoming available | China's economy continues to boom | Vertical farms are appearing in many cities | High-speed rail networks are being expanded in many countries | Africa and the Middle East are linked by a transcontinental bridge | Progress with longevity extension | Stress and anxiety are reaching crisis levels | Contact with the Voyager probes is lost 2026 - Rising sea levels are wreaking havoc on the Maldives | The United States of Africa is established 2027 - BRICs overtake the G7 nations | Carbon sequestration is underway in many nations 2028 - Printed electronics are ubiquitous | UK population reaches 70m | Manned fighter planes are being phased out and replaced with UAVs | Amputees can regrow lost limbs 2029 - Human-like AI is becoming a reality | Heavy automation of supermarkets and retail environments | Intelligent advertising | Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) | Lake Chad disappears from the map 2030 - Global population is reaching crisis point | AI is widespread | USA is declining as a world power | AIDS, cancer and a plethora of other degenerative diseases are curable | India becomes the most populous country in the world | Full weather modeling is perfected | Emerging job titles of today 2031 – Web 4.0 is transforming the Internet landscape | Married couples are a minority 2032 - Manned mission to Mars | 4th generation nuclear power | Terabit internet speeds are commonplace 2033 - Hypersonic airliners are entering service | Holographic wall screens | IT's share of the US economy reaches 15% | Lung disease in China has killed over 80 million by now 2034 - Exabyte storage devices are available 2035 - Turmoil in the Middle East | The Arctic is becoming ice-free during summer | Self-driving vehicles are widespread | Holographic recreations of dead people | Robots are dominating the battlefield | Artificially-grown meat is available to consumers 2036 - Bionic eyes that surpass human vision 2037 - Quantum computers are becoming available 2038 - Teleportation of complex organic molecules | The FIFA World Cup trophy is replaced 2039 - Full immersion virtual reality | Universal translators are ubiquitous | Nanotech fabrics are ubiquitous | Australia's national symbol, the Koala bear, faces extinction | US population reaches 400m 2040 - Clean energy is widespread | Fusion power is nearing commercial availability | "Energy islands" are appearing in many coastal regions | Thought transfer is dominating personal communications worldwide | Claytronics are revolutionising the consumer market | Breakthroughs in carbon nanotube production | World population reaches 8.5 bn | Water crisis in Europe 2042 - Nanotech robot swarms are the latest in military hi-tech | Manned missions to Phobos and Deimos | Floating hotels in the sky are heralding a new era in luxury transport 2044 - The last veterans of WW2 are passing away 2045 - Humans are becoming intimately merged with machines | Global food and water shortages | Gulf Coast cities are being abandoned due to super hurricanes 2045-2049 - China transitions towards a democracy | Major extinctions of animal and plant life 2048 - The near-Earth asteroid 2007 VK184 makes a close pass 2049 - Robots are a common feature of homes and workplaces | 2050 - The World in 2050 | 45% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed | Wildfires have tripled in some regions; air quality and visibility is declining | Smaller, faster, hi-tech automobiles | Continent-wide "supergrids" provide much of the world's energy needs | One in five Europeans is a Muslim 2052 - Hyper-fast crime scene analysis 2053 - Moore's Law reaches stunning new levels | Genetically engineered "designer babies" for the rich 2055 - Traditional media have fragmented and diversified | Global population plateaus at 9 billion 2056 - Fully synthetic humans are becoming technically feasible 2057 - Computers reach another milestone | Handheld MRI scanners 2058 - Construction of a radio telescope on the Moon 2059 - Mars population reaches 100 2060 - Global mass migrations of refugees | Flood barriers erected in New York | Global extinction rates are peaking | An ageing population | Mining operations on the Moon 2061 - Halley's Comet returns | UK population reaches 80 million 2062 - Nanofabricators enter the consumer market 2064 - IT's share of the US economy reaches 20% 2065 - Longevity treatments that can halt aging | Invisibility suits are in military use | Insurance crisis 2067 - Male and female salaries are reaching parity 2068 - A major landmark in the world of athletics 2069 - 100th anniversary of Apollo 11 | US population reaches half a billion 2070 - Large-scale evacuations are underway in many coastal cities | Fusion power is widespread | Fully automated homes | Expansion of Moon bases 2072 - Picotechnology is becoming practical 2074 - The Green Wall of China is completed 2075 - The ozone layer has fully recovered | London and other major cities are being flooded 2076 - Unmanned probes to Sedna 2079 - Practical flying cars are entering the consumer market | Total solar eclipse in New York 2080 - Some humans are more non-biological than biological | Construction of a transatlantic tunnel | Polar bears face extinction | One in five lizard species are extinct | Deadly heatwaves plague Europe; traditional agriculture is decimated 2082 - The USA cedes territory to Mexico 2083 - Hyper-intelligent computers 2084 - Androids are entering law enforcement 2085 - Global currency | Macro-scale teleportation is achieved 2085-2089 - Manned exploration of the Jovian system 2090 - Traditional religions are fading from European culture 2092 - West Antarctica is among the fastest growing areas in the world 2095 - Many of the world's languages are no longer in use | Manned exploration of the Saturnian system 2099 - Sea levels are wreaking havoc around the world | 83% of the Amazon rainforest has been lost 2100 - Much of the world is controlled by AI now | World GDP per capita exceeds US$200,000 | Nomadic floating cities are roaming the oceans | The chemistry of Earth's oceans has been radically altered | Emperor Penguins face extinction 2110 - Terraforming of Mars is underway | Force fields are in military use | Femtoengineering is practical | Man-made control of earthquakes and tsunamis | Our solar system is passing through a million degree cloud of gas 2120 - Mind uploading enters mainstream society | The International Space Elevator is operational 2130 - Large-scale civilian settlement of the Moon is underway 2140 - Teleportation of large stationary objects is possible 2150 - Interstellar travel is becoming possible | Androids physically indistinguishable from real humans | Hi-tech, automated cities 2151 - Total solar eclipse in London 2155 - Universal education in Africa 2160 - The world's first bicentenarians 2170 - The first kilometre-sized space station is complete 2180 - Antimatter power plants are coming online | Asteroid terrorism 2190 - Matter replication is available for the home | Global languages are becoming few in number now; education has been vastly accelerated | The West Antarctic ice sheet is beginning to disintegrate 2200 - The World in 2200 | Poverty, hunger and disease are being eradicated worldwide 2210 - A global rewilding effort is underway 2220 - Mind uploading is available to a multitude of platforms | The Light Year Array is operational 2230 - Antimatter-fueled starships 2240 - Christianity is fading from American culture 2250 - Humanity is becoming a Type 1 civilisation on the Kardashev scale 2260 - Accelerated development of the Solar System 2280 - Microbial life is confirmed on an exoplanet