Scientists Predict: The 2010s Will Be Freakin' Awesome—With Lasers

There's nothing like the round number at the start of a new decade to get everyone prognosticating (yes, we know some of you are in the crowd that says the new decade doesn't begin until 2011; OK, fine). To predict what the scientific scene will be like in 2020, the journal Naturebrought in experts from 18 fields. Though the collection doesn't encapsulate the "world of tomorrow" feel of, say, the old Omni magazine, it's still packed with sunny (and scary) forecasts. Some show lingering uncertainty, some unbridled optimism, and some give warnings to the world to make a much-needed course correction. Here are five we thought were particularly telling. 1. In 2020, Google defines your reality (even more than it does already).Peter Norvig, Google's director of research, tackles the question of where search will be a decade hence. Advanced, he says, but also troublesome: Most searches will be spoken rather ...