Cover Story:

OUTLOOK 2009

More sex, fewer antidepressants; more transparency online, less privacy in real life. These are among the World Future Society’s latest roundup of more than 70 forecasts for your changing world.

Plus: THE FUTURIST magazine's Top Ten Forecasts for 2009 and beyond.

The Singularity Needs You

By Jamais Cascio
Artificial intelligence, information technology, and virtual reality will radically change human existence in the decades to come. One futurist argues that the future is too important to leave to the technologists alone.

The Globalization of Crime

By Stephen Aguilar-Millan, Joan E. Foltz, John Jackson, and Amy Oberg
A team of futurists examines the ways in which crime has become globalized and how the worlds of legitimate and illicit finance intertwine.

The Real Life Search for E.T. Heats Up

By Gregory Georgiou
The bookies are taking bets and the scientists are sharpening their instruments. Extraterrestrial creatures great or small may be within sight. PDF Available.

Seeing the Future through New Eyes

By Cynthia G. Wagner, Aaron M. Cohen, and Rick Docksai
They came, they saw, they learned something new. Futurists attending the World Future Society’s 2008 conference took full advantage of the opportunity to see the future through each other’s eyes. Free PDF

Tomorrow in Brief

Biological Brains for Robots
Alcohol Consumption Declines
Ivory Poaching Imperils Elephants
Compressed Air May Cut Energy Costs
Bartering with Fuel

Society

How Americans Spend Their Time
Results from the most recent American Time Use Survey issued by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Demography

How to Live Beyond 100
A very long life is one part nature and one part nurture.

Government

Civilian Peacekeepers
A new U.S. operation hopes to stop wars before they happen.

Environment

Cities Battle Auto Dominance
By Lester R. Brown

Technology

Organic Solar Collection
A breakthrough in concentrated photovoltaics may soon be available.
plus
The Scent of the Future

Economics

Incentivizing Thrift
Encouraging savings in a consumerist world.

BOOKS

Troubled Times Ahead?

Rick Docksai reviews A Vision for 2012: Planning for Extraordinary Change by
John L. Petersen.

Will Technology Create A Wiser World?

A book review by Rick Docksai Technology will transform human life and force us to transform the way we think and live, says William E. Halal, author of Technology’s Promise: Expert Knowledge on the Transformation of Business and Society.