Biotech and Nanotech will flop

Probability: 70%

Timeline: 25 years

I'm not sure why, but I think both of these technologies will fail to deliver to the degree of their hype. At least not in the next quarter century.

No doubt that they've already produced some interesting advancements, but I think future developments in these fields will be slow and fairly boring.

These fields in 2010 remind  me of space technology of the 1960s.

Sure, we got some pretty neat stuff out of the race to the space, but certainly no flying cars, or subdivisions on the moon.

I don't think either of these technologies will produce the miracles that some suggest.

Hopefully some eager scientists will prove me wrong!

Obesity gets even worse

Probability: 95%

Timeline: Now for the next decade

This is already a massive problem, and there are lots of campaigns to reduce obesity, but the problem just keeps getting worse.

If you don't believe me, just have a look at this scary data from "ground zero" of the epidemic, the United States: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

Here are some predictions from better-educated sources than myself: http://www.heartforum.org.uk/Publications_NHFreports_ObesityTrends.aspx

Notice that the correlation between extra weight and many diseases has been established for decades now.

Obesity is spreading around the world like a plague.

No wonder. With cheap, fatty, salty, sugary food being shoved in our faces from all angles, it is getting more and more difficult to eat properly.

The only way to stop this trend is to change the economics. Instead of promoting junk food, we need to make healthy food cheaper, and unhealthy food more expensive.