Let's create a detailed timeline of the near-future technological and scientific development of the world. I think this would be a useful tool for anyone wanting to write realistic near-future sci-fi, in addition to being interesting in its own right.

Rules:

- One discovery per post.

- Assume the current rate of technological advance remains more or less constant.

- Avoid bringing in geopolitical elements which would shift the timeline. So no civilisational collapse, no sudden increases or decreases in the world's scientific output, no global crises like asteroids that would shift the world's focus.

- The idea here is to be realistic, so no going off on wild speculative tangents that have no basis in current scientific understanding.

Posting format:

Year - Area
Description

Example:

2022 - Energy
First commercial lithium-air batteries come to market. With an energy density similar to gasoline, they will greatly increase the range of electric cars and also extend the battery life of consumer electronics.

 

2025 - Health (?)
Valéo launches Adipotronics for the public, a device that target specific region for fat loss during physical activities through electric stimuli to adipocyte cells. Losing fat has never been easier.

 

2032 - Medicine

The equipment and knowledge needed to 3D print and grow most organs reaches the market, solving the organ donation shortage. Scientists anticipate they'll have the 3D printing of limbs figured out soon.

 

2097-Nuerology

The entire human brain is successfully modeled on a computer, from neurotransmitters to neurons to the cerebral cortex. An ethical debate about the blurring of the line between humanity and technology, started decades earlier, rages on. The AI ramifications and the potential Virtual Reality applications are immense. The 22nd century is expected to morph the definition of human even further.

 

2051 - Robotics

The first ground-based military drone sees deployment in the field. It is man-sized and heavily armoured, with equipment/AI designed for anti-insurgency operations. A decade later every US Army Division deployed in a foreign country has a company of these drones available to them.

 

2045
Immunology

The broad-spectrum flu vaccine hits the market, targeting a common denominator in influenza. tens of thousands of lives are saved every year.

 

2030. mass production of carbon nanotubes for consumer use.

 

2044-Robotics

The first household android targeted at middle class families, Annie, hits the market. Robots begin to become part of the daily lives of the average person in first world countries.

 

2055
Multiple disciplines

Global population dips for the first time since the industrial revolution (excluding war). The world population stabilizes at 10.3 billion.

 

*reads post again*

Hm, fair enough.

2029:
Lunar Base is completed. Housing capacity is six-man crew for 24 months.

 

- Avoid bringing in geopolitical elements which would shift the timeline. So no civilisational collapse, no sudden increases or decreases in the world's scientific output, no global crises like asteroids that would shift the world's focus.

 

2030-Genetics, Bioinformatics, Reproductive Medicine

Full genome sequencing costs have plunged to <50$ per genome and our knowledge of the thousands of genes responsible for intelligence and personality and mental illness has exploded. The adult IQ of zygotes can predicted within a 1/2 standard deviation, and parents in wealthy countries routinely select only the most intelligent and emotionally healthy zygotes for implantation, leading to dramatic decreases in mental illness.

 

2040 - Hardware

The pollution woes of India and China are nowhere near over. The next generation of air filtering masks enter the market -- nearly invisible, almost a fashion statement, by now are common enough that kids in middle and upper class families haven't known a time when wearing them wasn't commonplace.

 

2046 - Virtual Reality
Fully immersive virtual reality becomes available to consumers, collapsing birth rates and marriages expected.

 

In the year 2148, explorers on Mars discover the remains of an ancient spacefaring civilization. In the decades that follow-

Oh, the 21st century.

2078 - Military
The first viable military exoskeleton is manufactured. Due to the high cost, only a handful are made and given to only the elite. Despite being only infantry, these soldiers are more than enough to turn the tide in most conflicts. This is NOT a portable exoskeleton, rather it is connected to larger power source using a carbon nanotube enforced cable.

Edit: Sorry, didn't mention power source at first. Unless you think it would be much earlier?@ScottPress

 

Taure, are we allowed to discuss others' posts? Because the date for that exoskeleton really bugs me if we're supposed to be realistic.

 

2065: Fusion power is realized on a marketable, commercial scale*. For reals this time, after decades of "forty years in the future" vapid promises, this advancement changes the complexion of all human endeavor.

Scarcity becomes a thing of the past as even desalinating seawater or chemically removing CO2 from the increasingly toxic atmosphere becomes economically viable. More broadly, as energy is directly correlated with economic output, a new Golden Age ensues.

(On an unrelated note, though perhaps not so, I'm about to publish a Physical Review Letter on a new, robust direction for laser-driven fusion.)

 

Ashton Knight, working exoskeletons have existed for some time. It's the power source (batteries) that are the problem and I think we'll have better batteries well before the 2070s.