It is predicted that there will be 5 scientific breakthroughs in the 21st century.Well kno
w where we came from. Why does the universe exist? To put it another way, why is there som
ething instead of nothing? Since the 1920s, scientists have known the universe is expandin
g, which means it must have started at a definite time in the past. They even have develop
ed theories that give a detailed picture of the evolution of the universe from the time it
was a fraction of a second old to the present. Over the next couple of decades, these the
ories will be refined by data from extraordinary powerful new telescope. We will have a be
tter understanding of how matter behaves at the unfathomably high temperatures and pressur
es of the early universe. Well crack the genetic code and conquer cancer. In l9th century
operas, when the heroine coughs in the first act, the audience knows she will die of tuber
culosis in Act 3. But thanks to 20th century antibiotics, the once dreaded, once incurable
disease now can mean nothing more serious than taking some pills. As scientists learn mor
e about the genetic code and the way cells work at the molecular level, many serious disea
ses will become less threatening. Using manufactured therapeutic viruses, doctors will be
able to replace cancer causing damaged DNA with healthy genes, probably administered by a
pill or injection. Well live longer. If the normal aging process is basically a furious, i
nvisible contest in our cells a contest between damage to our DNA and our cells ability t
o repair that damage then 2lst century strides in genetic medicine may let us control and
even reverse the process. But before we push scientists to do more, consider: Do we reall
y want to live in a world where no one grows old and few children are born because the pla
net can hold only so many people? Where would new ideas come from? What would we do with a
ll that extra time? Well manage Earth.In the next millennium, well stop talking about the
weather but will do something about it. Well gradually learn how to predict the effects of
human activity on the Earth, its climate and its ecosystems. And with that knowledge will
come an increasing willingness to use it to manage the workings of our planet. Well have
a brain road map.This is the real final frontier of the 2lst century. The brain is the mos
t complex system we know. It contains about l00 billion neurons , each connected to as man
y as l,000 others. Early in the next century, we will use advanced forms of magnetic reson
ance imaging to produce detailed maps of the neurons in operation. Well he able to say wit
h certainty which ones are working when you read a word, when you say a word, when you thi
nk about a word, and so on.