Contents for
January-February 2009
Volume 43, No. 1

A magazine of forecasts, trends, and ideas about the future.

 About This Issue  
By Cynthia G. Wagner,
Managing Editor

Tomorrow in Brief
Navy Returns to Sail Power
Celebrity Trumps Beauty
Space Research Leads to Depression Treatment
Burials at Sea Benefit Coral Reefs

Feedback

Consultants and Services

IMMORTALITY 2.0:
By David Gelles
Part science, part faith, and part philosophy, the essence of transhumanism is radical life extension and life expansion. Movement devotees perceive the human body as a work in progress. Our bodies, frail and unpredictable, are just another problem for these engineers to solve. David Gelles offers an inside look at California's transhumanist movement. PDF Available.

Marketing a More-Healthful Future: A Moderate Revolution
By John Sweeney
Advertisers have cleverly coaxed us to supersize our waistlines, while urban planners and a knowledge-based economy have removed the necessity for us to move around. For a fitter future, we’ll need the will power to reverse these trends.

PLUS ..

Toward a Fitter Future: Why Education Must Get Physical
By Kenneth W. Harris
Positive trends toward a healthier future society include innovative fitness equipment and activities that are appealing to adults. But the fitness ethos must begin earlier in life, and education should reintroduce physical activity for children, argues a futurist consultant. PDF Available.

The Emergence of a Global Generation
Maverick pollster John Zogby explains why the new American Dream is better than the old one. Review by Aaron Cohen.

Society
Teens and Cell Phones
Cell phones can be noisy and distracting. But they can also be an aid to learning.
 

Technology
Video Games and Behavioral Modification
New technological methods help foster self-esteem.
Be Your Own Big Brother
New system allows people to track and monitor intimate physical information about themselves and then upload that info to a publicly viewable Web site.

Economics
Investing in Water
Water-related services and technologies represent a trillion-dollar-a-year global investment opportunity.
and
When Mentors and Mentees Switch Roles
Baby boomers and millennials must learn to teach each other.

THE FUTURIST (ISSN 0016-3317) is published bimonthly by the World Future Society, 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 450, Bethesda, Maryland 20814, U.S.A. Included with membership in the World Future Society (dues: $49 per year for individuals; $20 per year for full-time students under 25). Subscriptions for libraries and other institutions are $59 annually. Periodicals postage paid at Bethesda, Maryland, and additional mailing offices. • POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE FUTURIST, 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 450, Bethesda, Maryland 20814. • OWNERSHIP: THE FUTURIST is owned exclusively by the World Future Society, a nonpartisan educational and scientific organization incorporated in the District of Columbia and recognized by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as a nonprofit tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. • CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Write or call Membership Department at the Society. 1-800-989-8274.