Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100

retina of your eye. While drinking hot coffee, you start scanning the headlines that flash in your contact lenses.
     
    • The outpost on Mars is requesting more supplies. Winter on Mars is fast approaching. If the settlers are going to complete the next stage in colonization, they need more resources from earth to handle the freezing-cold weather. The plan is to start the first phase of terraforming Mars by raising its surface temperature.
    • The first starships are ready for launch. Millions of nanobots, each about the size of a pinhead, will be fired from the moon base, whip around Jupiter using its magnetic field, and head off to a nearby star. It will take years, however, before a handful of these nanobots reach their destination in another star system.
    • Yet another extinct animal is going to join the local zoo. This time, it’s a rare saber-toothed tiger, brought back via DNA found frozen in the tundra. Because the earth has been heating up, DNA from more and more extinct animals has been recovered and then cloned to fill zoos around the world.
    • The space elevator, after years of hauling freight into space, is now allowing a limited number of tourists into outer space. The cost of space travel has already plummeted in recent years by a factor of 50 since the space elevator opened.
    • The oldest fusion plants are now almost fifty years old. The time is coming to begin decommissioning some of them and building new ones.
    • Scientists are carefully monitoring a new lethal virus that suddenly sprang out of the Amazon. So far, it seems confined to a smallarea, but there is no known cure. Teams of scientists are frantically sequencing its genes to learn its weak spots and how to fight it.
    Suddenly, one item catches your eye:
     
    • A large leak has unexpectedly been detected in the dikes surrounding Manhattan. Unless the dikes are repaired, the entire city could be submerged, like scores of other cities in the past.
    “Uh-oh,” you say to yourself. “So that’s why the office called and woke me up.”
    You skip breakfast, dress, and dash out the door. Your car, which drove itself out of the garage, is waiting for you outside. You telepathically order the car to take you to your office as quickly as possible. The magnetic car instantly accesses the Internet, the GPS, and billions of chips hidden in the road that constantly monitor traffic.
    Your magnetic car takes off silently, floating on a cushion of magnetism created by the superconducting pavement. Molly’s face suddenly appears on the windshield of your car. “John, the latest message from your office says for you to meet everyone in the conference room. Also, you have a video message from your sister.”
    With the car driving itself, you have time to scan the video mail left by your sister. Her image appears in your wristwatch and says, “John, remember this weekend we have a birthday party for Kevin, who is now six. You promised to buy him the latest robot dog. And, by the way, are you seeing anyone? I was playing bridge on the Internet, and met someone you might like.”
    “Uh-oh,” you say to yourself.
    You love cruising in your magnetic car. There are no bumps or potholes to worry about, since it’s hovering over the road. Best of all, you rarely need to fuel it up, since there is almost no friction to slow it down. (It’s hard to believe, you muse to yourself, that there was an energy crisis in the early part of the century. You shake your head, realizing that most of that energy was wasted in overcoming friction.)
    You remember when the superconducting highway first opened. The media lamented that the familiar age of electricity was coming to a close,ushering in the new age of magnetism. Actually, you don’t miss the age of electricity one bit. Glancing outside, seeing sleek cars, trucks, and trains whizzing past you in the air, you realize that magnetism is the way to go, and saves money in the process.
    Your magnetic car now cruises past the city dump. You see that most of the junk is computer and robot parts. With chips costing almost nothing, even less than water, obsolete ones are piling up in city dumps around the world. There is talk about using chips as landfill.
    THE OFFICE
    Finally, you reach your office building, the headquarters of a major construction company. As you enter, you hardly notice that a laser is silently checking your iris and identifying your face. No more need for plastic security cards. Your