According to the recent forecasts from The Futuristic magazine for 1997 and beyond, the
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since mid-century, while the population has doubled. As a result, the pressure on natural resources has
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: Demand for grain has nearly tripled, and
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has increased nearly fourfold, with carbon emissions rising accordingly.
City skylines may
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in the future. Information technologies are allowing workers to
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rather than trek to downtown skyscrapers. Consequently, many prestigious office towers
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, and U. S. builders have stopped putting up structures taller than 30 stories.
Education in the Information Age will be
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and less labor-intensive. Teaching may become more centralized, with a few "star teachers" giving courses via
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to a national student body. Infotech is producing interactive educational toys and other devices that
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of mental faculties. Some youngsters may even teach themselves to read before age 3.
Future education will not end with
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in high school or college, but become
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. More students will be learning at home, using computers and advanced educational software. The number of home schoolers has grown from
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in the last two decades.
Electronic networking will give more power to workers at the bottom of the
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. Computer networks allow employees to skip over
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and communicate directly with senior managers or even the CEO. The
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of electronic communications will make low-status individuals
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their points of view and offering valuable new ideas.
The earth"s economy is expected to benefit hugely from
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. Earth is a colossal system, and we will need to
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. The space race will see many new competitors, as the United States and Russia
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due to budget cuts. China, India, and Japan are moving ahead quickly in such fields as remote sensing satellites and
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.