A Vision of the Future
I do not believe in astrology, and regard it as superstition and humbug. But that does not mean we cannot make broad scientific predictions about the future. So here is what I predict :
1.  50 to 100 years from now there will be mass migrations of humans from the earth to the moon, the planets like Mars, and undersea, and permanent human settlements will be made there. This will be similar to the mass migrations from Europe to North America from the 17th to the 20th centuries.
 Of course there will be problems in this. For instance, there is no atmosphere on the moon, and so humans cannot breathe there. But surely there are rocks and soil on the moon containing compounds of oxygen, and by scientific techniques we can liberate that oxygen, and thus create an artificial atmosphere.
 Human beings could not ordinarily survive in many parts of North America because they are too cold, temperatures dropping to minus 20-40 degrees centigrade. But with central heating and heating in cars etc people live comfortably even in such hostile conditions.
 So by scientific methods artificial environments conducive to life can be created
2. 100 years from now most people will live for 200-300 years, and 200
  years from now people will not die, except by accidents.
  This may sound an astounding prediction, like the Shangrila of the novel ' Lost Horizon '. Till now our life span was regarded at most 80-90 years., But let me try to explain.
 Men do not normally want to die, and have wanted immortality. They could not become immortal in reality, so they sought to become so in imagination. The Egyptian Pharoahs built pyramids and made mummies to attain immortality, Hindus created the transmigration of the soul theory, and Christians and Muslim theology created Resurrection and Judgment Day ( Roz-e-mahshar ).
 But what was sought to be achieved in imagination till now will be achieved in reality in the future.
 Gerontology is the science which studies the ageing process. Our body is part of nature, and therefore obeys certain laws of nature. We grow in height till about the age of 16 or so. This growth in height is controlled by secretions from a certain ductless gland called the pituatary gland. After the age of 16 or so the pituatary gland stops secreting its hormones, and so we stop growing in height.
 Similarly, we have youth, middle age and then old age, and then we die. This ageing process is controlled by secretions of certain ductless glands in our bodies. There are thousands of such glands in our bodies, some not even visible to the naked eye.
 Science is that knowledge by which we understand nature, and can harness nature using this knowledge. So by scientific research we can find ways to control the secretions of our ductless glands, and thus can control the ageing process. In this way we can slow down the ageing process, and live much longer than we could normally live till now.
 3. At present cars travel on 2 dimensional roads, on the earth's surface, but 50-100 years from now, they will mostly be travelling on 3 dimensional 'roads'.
 Such cars will actually be flying, not travelling on the earth's surface. At a certain height above the earth's surface will be a 'road ', or rather an air corridor, through which such flying  cars will move. Above this may be another air corridor, and above that another, and so on. This will eliminate the present problem of traffic congestion and traffic jams, parking problems, etc, which are presently a big headache.
4. The nearest star to our own star ( the sun ) is Proxima Centauri, about 4.3 light years away. A light year is the distance light travels in one year. Light travels at about 186,000 thousand miles per second.
 Our Galaxy is known as the Milky Way. Within the Milky Way is a dwarf galaxy known as Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy ( discovered in 2003 ), about 25,000 light years away from our solar system.
 The spiral galaxy nearest to the Milky Way is the Andromeda Galaxy, which is 2.5 million light years away from the Milky Way
 Now according to Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, nothing can travel faster than light, because the energy required to accelerate to the speed of light becomes infinite. But if we cannot travel faster than light how can we ever reach Canis, far less Andromeda ? Even if we travel at the speed of light  ( which is impossible, according to Einstein ) it will take 25,000 years to reach Canis ( and the same time to get back ), and 2.5 million years to reach Andromeda.
 So we have to find some way how to travel faster than light, as in the serial Star Trek, if we ever wish to reach these distant heavenly bodies.
 Now according to Einstein's Special Theory of  Relativity, the energy of a particle of rest mass m moving with speed v is given by the equation
  E = mc2/sqrt(1 - v2/c2)
As the speed approaches the speed of light, the particle's energy approaches infinity.  Hence it is impossible, according to this formula, to accelerate an object with rest mass to the speed of light. This is sometimes called the "light speed barrier", but it is very different from the "sound speed barrier".  As an aircraft approaches the speed of sound it starts to feel pressure waves which indicate that it is moving close to the speed of sound, and before the existence and effects of these waves were well understood, they destroyed several aircraft in the mid 20th century; hence the old name of sound "barrier".  In fact, with more thrust and the right aerodynamics, an aircraft can certainly pass through the sound barrier.
The situation is different for light.  As the light speed barrier is approached (in a perfect vacuum) there are no such waves according to relativity (destructive or otherwise).  Moving at 0.999c is just like standing still with everything rushing past you at −0.999c.  Particles are routinely pushed to these speeds and beyond in accelerators, so the theory is well established.  Trying to attain the speed of light in this way is a matter of chasing something that is forever just out of your reach.
This explains why it is not possible to exceed the speed of light by ordinary mechanical means.
 However, this does not theoretically rule out FTL travel. Scientific research is being done to find out some way of travelling faster than light, e.g. with the help of tachyons ( hypothetical particles that always travel faster than light ), worm holes, warp drives ( Alcubierre drive ), etc .I am reasonably sure that by scientific research one day we ( or our descendants )  will discover the ways of  travelling faster than light, as visualized by the serial Star Trek, and then our descendants will be visiting these distant heavenly bodies.
5. In 50 years or so cancer and many other deadly diseases will be easily curable, and cures will also be found for the so called 'silent killers' like blood pressure and diabetes ( which presently require regular, life long medication )
6. In 100 years or so modern industry will have developed so much, and will have become so massive, that enough wealth will be generated for providing all human beings a decent life. Then humans will not have to wage an incessant struggle for bare survival, but will instead be engaged in large numbers. in scientific research for discovering the mysteries of nature, and in  artistic activity.
 There are several scientific discoveries yet to be made. For instance, we have yet to discover how to harness fusion nuclear energy, and when we discover that, much of our current energy shortage problem will be solved.
 Nuclear reactions are of two types, fission and fusion. In fission we split heavy atoms like of Uranium ( its 235 isotope ) or plutonium. In fusion we fuse two light atoms e.g. of hydrogen producing one atom of helium, and giving off energy in the process. Both can cause massive destruction, as bombs.  However,  while we have learnt how to harness fission nuclear energy ( all our nuclear plants producing electricity use the fission process ).  we have not as yet learnt how to harness fusion energy ( which is given off by the sun and stars, and reaches us in the form of sunlight or cosmic rays ). Since fusion uses hydrogen, and almost limitless hydrogen exists on the earth, being part of water ( which is H2O ), once we learn how to harness fusion nuclear reactions our energy requirements may be largely met.
  The problem, however, is that fusion takes place at very high temperatures, millions of degrees centigrade, and controlling that is extremely difficult. Research in CERN and other scientific institutes is going on in this connection
  When I discussed this idea with a friend who is doing scientific research in America he disagreed with me. He said that he will not recommend any young person to become a scientist, since funds for scientific research have been drastically cut in the United States, while armaments industries still get allocation of huge funds.
 However in my opinion this is only a temporary phenomenon, probably caused by the economic recession, and will sooner or later pass. Science is the way of the future. And I am visualizing the situation 100 years hence, not the situation which exists today.
7. 100 years from now most of the present social evils in the world will not exist e.g.poverty, hunger, malnutrition, unemployment, discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, race, colour, region, language, etc. There will be no exploitation of man by man, nor of women by men  ( e.g. prostitution ). Healthcare, housing, and good education will be free for everybody
8. There will be a World Parliament and World Government democratically elected and set up