Future
Forecasts and smart speculation about what's in store for politics, medicine, technology and more
What is the Anthropocene and Are We in It?
Efforts to label the human epoch have ignited a scientific debate between geologists and environmentalists
January 2013 |
By Joseph Stromberg
The New Hot Item on the Housing Market: Bomb Shelters
The cold war may be over, but sales of a new breed of bomb shelter are on the rise. Prepare to survive Armageddon in style
June 2012 |
By Abigail Tucker
Thinking About Futurism
We look at the art and science of looking ahead
April 2012 |
By Smithsonian.com
Bruce McCall Illustrates the Future That Wasn't
According to past predictions, we should be living in an era of flying cars and other marvels. But be glad that some advances haven't happened
April 2012 |
By Bruce McCall
Looking Back on the Limits of Growth
Forty years after the release of the groundbreaking study, were the concerns about overpopulation and the environment correct?
April 2012 |
By Mark Strauss
The Origins of Futurism
The celebrated science fiction writer and author of Tomorrow Now, explains why you don't need to be clairvoyant to predict the future
April 2012 |
By Bruce Sterling
How to Become the Engineers of Our Own Evolution
The "transhumanist" movement says better technology will enable you to replace more and more body parts—even your brain
April 2012 |
By Abigail Tucker
Before the Jetsons, Arthur Radebaugh Illustrated the Future
In the 1950s and '60s, the newspaper cartoonist dreamed up a madcap American utopia, filled with flying cars and fantastical skyscrapers
April 2012 |
By Matt Novak
Dear Science Fiction Writers: Stop Being So Pessimistic!
Neal Stephenson created the Hieroglyph Project to convince sci-fi writers to stop worrying and learn to love the future
April 2012 |
By Annalee Newitz
How Futurist Art Inspired the Design of a BMW
The Italian art movement that celebrated modernity still moves us 100 years later
April 2012 |
By Abigail Tucker
Is it Too Late for Sustainable Development?
Dennis Meadows thinks so. Forty years after his book The Limits to Growth, he explains why
March 16, 2012 |
By Megan Gambino
Ten Inventions Inspired by Science Fiction
The innovators behind objects like the cellphone or the helicopter took inspiration from works like "Star Trek" and War of the Worlds
March 16, 2012 |
By Mark Strauss
The Changing Demographics of America
The United States population will expand by 100 million over the next 40 years. Is this a reason to worry?
August 2010 |
By Joel Kotkin
Carl Hiaasen on Human Weirdness
The satirist talks about the "curve of human weirdness" and the need for public outrage in the political arena
August 2010 |
By T. A. Frail
Big Think Asks About Life in 2050
Leading experts sit down with Big Think to discuss the future of the Internet, money, energy and much more
June 2010 |
By Smithsonian magazine
High Hopes for a New Kind of Gene
Scientists believe that microRNA may lead to breakthroughs in diagnosing and treating cancer
July 2009 |
By Sylvia Pagán Westphal
There Oughta Be a Law
Centuries hence, historians may wonder: Where exactly did Congress store all those pork barrels?
July 2009 |
By William Ecenbarger
View from the Cockpit
It's a fast and furious time in science and technology, and a man who knows promises only more of the same
February 1999 |
By John P. Wiley, Jr.
