2020-2040

• The Arctic is becoming free of sea ice

2020-2026

• The Euclid Space Telescope reveals new insights into dark matter and dark energy

2020-2025

• Gene therapy for deafness

• Breast tomosynthesis is in widespread use

• Five-year survival rates for Hodgkin’s lymphoma are approaching 100%

2020

• Microsoft ends support for Windows 7

• America’s power shift is destabilising the Asia-Pacific region

• Generation X is reshaping global politics

• Internet use reaches 5 billion worldwide

• Texting by thinking

• Complex organ replacements grown from stem cells

• The first stem cell therapy for congestive heart failure

• A cure for malaria

• Progress with longevity extension

• Genetically engineered “super” bananas

• Tokyo hosts the Olympic Games

• Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) has been significantly expanded

• Completion of the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link

• The UK has expanded its offshore grid connections

• Smart meters in every UK home

• Mercury pollution has been greatly reduced

• Glacier National Park and other regions are becoming ice-free

• Britain’s new aircraft carriers reach full operational capability

• 30,000 drones are patrolling the skies of America

• Mars 2020 rover mission

• The first test flights of NASA’s Quiet Supersonic Technology

• England’s Coastal Path is open to walkers

• Expo 2020 is held in Dubai

• The PlayStation 5 is launched

• The final collapse of the Larsen B ice shelf

2021

• Exascale computers are deployed

• The ExoMars rover touches down on Mars

• The James Webb Space Telescope is launched

• Crossrail opens in London

• Water crisis in southwest USA

• The world’s largest insect swarm re-emerges

• Five-year survival rates for breast cancer are approaching 100%

• Male birth control pills are entering the market

• The world’s first artificial kidney

• Launch of the Terrafugia TF-X flying car

• The first Arabian mission to Mars

• The maiden flight of Ariane 6

• India’s first manned space flight

• A rapidly changing workforce

• Wireless electricity is reaching critical mass

• Completion of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge

2022

• India becomes the most populous country on Earth

• The ITER experimental fusion reactor is switched on

• Germany phases out nuclear energy

• Beijing hosts the Winter Olympics

• Completion of the Northeast Corridor high-speed train upgrade

• Qatar hosts the FIFA World Cup

• China’s first space station is complete

• New Horizons completes its study of the Kuiper Belt

• The AIDA mission arrives at Didymos

• The Dark Ages Radio Explorer (DARE) is launched

• Water is becoming a weapon of war

• Global reserves of antimony are running out

• Nanotech clothes are growing rapidly in use

• Driverless hover-taxis are operational in Dubai

• VIPER mission to the lunar south pole

2023-2027

• A tipping point for block chain

2023

• Xi Jinping extends his presidency

• The Aerion AS2 supersonic jet enters service

• The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope begins full operations

• First crewed flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft

• Mars sample return mission

• Asteroid sample return mission

• Launch of the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST)

• The Hinkley Point C nuclear power station is operational

• The Type 26 Global Combat Ship enters service

• Turkey celebrates its 100th anniversary as an independent republic

• Completion of the London “super sewer”

• Brain implants to restore lost memories

• Luna 27 lands on the far side of the Moon

• Driverless high-speed trains begin operating in France

• Completion of the Stad Ship Tunnel

• Launch of the SPHEREx mission

2024-2064

• The next generation of London Tube trains

2024

• Vladimir Putin steps down as President of Russia

• Open-source, 3D printed clothes at near-zero cost

• The Thirty Metre Telescope is fully operational

• Completion of the Square Kilometre Array

• Total solar eclipse across North America

• Euro 2024 is hosted by Germany

• Paris hosts the Summer Olympic Games

• Lunar Mission One drills into the Moon’s south pole

• Bio-electronics for treating arthritis are in common use

• Carsharing has exploded in popularity

• Wind turbine drone inspection is a multi-billion dollar industry

• Starlink reaches full capacity

• The first probe to fly into the Sun’s outer atmosphere

2025-2050

• Unemployment is soaring

2025-2035

• All television is becoming Internet-based

• Small modular nuclear reactors gain widespread adoption

• Manned missions to the Moon

• The Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) conducts its life-searching mission

• Mouse revival from cryopreservation

2025-2030

• Many cities are banning fossil fuel-powered vehicles

• The threat of bioterrorism is increasing

• Hypersonic missiles are in military use

• Some of Britain’s most well-known animal species are going extinct

2025-2029

• The Martian Moons Exploration probe collects and returns samples

2025-2028

• Contact with the Voyager probes is lost

2025

• A billion human genomes have been sequenced

• Human brain simulations are becoming possible

• 3D-printed human organs

• China is becoming highly urbanised

• Vertical farms are common in cities

• Solid waste is reaching crisis levels

• Kivalina has been inundated

• Completion of the East Anglia Zone

• The UK phases out coal power

• The European Extremely Large Telescope is operational

• The Giant Magellan Telescope is fully operational

• The first test flight of the Skylon spaceplane

• The first manned flights from Russia’s new spaceport

• High speed rail networks are being expanded in many countries

• A comprehensive overhaul of the U.S. airspace system is complete

• Railguns are in use by the U.S. navy

• The global crowdfunding market reaches $100bn

• BepiColombo arrives in orbit around Mercury

• The final Avatar movie is released

2026-2031

• India’s reusable launch vehicle is operational

2026-2030

• The PLATO observatory is operational

2026

• A synthetic human genome is completed

• Aquaculture provides the majority of the world’s seafood

• The High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) is operational

• The International Linear Collider is completed

• 3-D printed electronic membranes to prevent heart attacks

• Youthful regeneration of aging heart muscle via GDF-11

• New treatments for Alzheimer’s disease

• Rising sea levels are wreaking havoc on the Maldives

• Global reserves of indium are running out

• Italy hosts the Winter Olympics

• Construction of the Sagrada Família is complete

• Robotic hands matching human capabilities

• The FIFA World Cup is hosted jointly in Canada, Mexico and the United States

• Mars Science Laboratory is shutting down

• 50TB hard drives

2027

• The BRICs overtake the G7 nations

• Light-duty hydrogen fuel cell vehicles reach 1 million in annual sales

• Tokyo and Nagoya are connected by high-speed maglev

• Carbon sequestration is underway in many nations

• The Venera-D mission arrives at Venus

• The asteroid 1999 AN10 makes a close approach

• The Europa Clipper arrives in orbit

• The autopsy report for Elvis Presley is made public

• Opening of the New Central Polish Airport

2028

• Completion of the Deep Space Gateway

• Launch of the European ATHENA X-ray observatory

• China builds the world’s largest particle accelerator

• Printed electronics are ubiquitous

• The UK population reaches 70m

• British newspapers are going out of circulation

• Launch of the ARIEL spacecraft

• Launch of the Comet Interceptor

• Delhi becomes the most populous city in the world

• Los Angeles hosts the Summer Olympic Games

• Total solar eclipse in Australia and New Zealand

• Resurrection of several extinct species has been achieved

• The International Space Station is decommissioned

2029

• Human-like AI is becoming a reality

• Increased automation of banking

• Close approach of the near-Earth asteroid Apophis

• Mass application of gene drives on mosquitoes

• Global reserves of silver are running out

• Finland bans coal for energy use

• Madagascar’s radiated tortoise is extinct in the wild

• Phase 1 of the California High-Speed Rail line is complete

• Expansion of London’s Heathrow Airport

• Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is disappearing

• The wreck of the Titanic has decomposed