August 2003 Predictions

"God has obviously blessed America. So the way for America to feel safe is for God to start blessing other parts of the world. You're always going to be at war with people who have less than you. They're never gonna be happy till they're where you are and you're where they are."
- Chris Rock

[YOUR FUTURE - INVENTIONS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE]
A revolutionary gel could soon replace the need for reading glasses or laser eye surgery. It reverses the deterioration in sight associated with getting old. In the best-case scenario, they should begin human trials by the end of next year.

A new device allows overheated athletes to cool from the inside out via the palms of their hands.

U.S. researchers have developed a prototype e-book which can hold a whole library on a gadget no bigger than a paperback.

[HOT TRENDS]
People who get tattoos may be putting poisonous chemicals into their skin because they don't know what ingredients are in the dyes. But tattoos and body piercing will soon be passe anyway—the newest fad will be creating new body parts and grafting them onto your body.

Air pollution from the attacks on New York's World Trade Center may have resulted in smaller babies among pregnant mothers who were in or near the collapsing towers, preliminary research suggests.

One in 10 children in the United States suffers from serious mental illness, according to the Surgeon General, and some psychiatrists say that number may actually be conservative. Is there an epidemic of childhood mental illness?

If you thought the United States' power grid was in bad shape, check out the sorry state of the nation's bridges, roads, sewer, water and transportation systems.

A surgical resident was killed when an elevator malfunctioned at a Houston hospital and decapitated him. Elevators and escalators kill about 30 and injure about 17,100 people each year in the U.S.

Energy experts say they predicted the blackout - energy experts have been warning about large-scale blackouts in North America since the early eighties.


[ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS]
The stars in the sky will all stop twinkling one day, astronomers confirm - but not for many billions of years yet.

Russian scientists say they will build a nuclear power station on Mars by 2030, but experts question the feasibility of the project.

Hopes that Mars once had vast oceans of water and perhaps microbial life have suffered a setback. A Nasa spacecraft has failed to find evidence that the Red Planet was once a warm, watery world like the Earth. " This really points to a cold, frozen, icy Mars that has always been that way."

A mission to the northern latitudes of Mars to study ice and soil will be launched in 2007, NASA says.

A researcher says that life may be found on Mars at ice towers formed by hot vents.

On Aug. 27, Mars will be closer to Earth than in nearly 60,000 years. This "close approach", has some folks worried about potential dangers on our planet. Planetary doom will not occur.

The technology will soon exist to set up a human outpost on the Moon within the next 20 years, says a leading lunar scientist.

[BIOLOGY PREDICTIONS]
Coral is reaching its crisis point and the Earth's coral reefs will not survive much longer without protection against human onslaughts, scientists say.

A microbe breaks the temperature record - an organism has been discovered that can live at 121 degrees C - the temperature inside a pressure cooker.

[HEALTH PREDICTIONS]
A measles epidemic could soon strike the United Kingdom because parents do not let their children receive the MMR injection, which vaccinates against measles, mumps and rubella. Measles outbreaks in the United Kingdom have grown since 1998, when a controversial link between the MMR shot and autism was first suggested. The number of people getting measles is now dangerously close to the level required to trigger an epidemic, the researchers warn (Science, vol 301, p 809).

A simple dental treatment for periodontal disease may reduce a woman's risk of giving birth prematurely, research suggests.

Smaller portions explain why French people are much slimmer than their American counterparts, says a study.

Lung cancer, a disease that usually is detected only when the patient has just months left to live, can be spotted in its early stages thanks to the latest techniques in medical scanning, a study says.

Researchers in Singapore are studying the possibility that red apples, grapes and chillies can help fight breast cancer, the number one killer of women in the city-state.

Fats found in everyday diets could help the body fight against tuberculosis, researchers have suggested.

Substances found in food and red wine may be able to extend human life, according to new scientific research.

The remains of as many as 1,000 people lost in the World Trade Centre attack might never be identified, according to the forensic biologist leading the monumental DNA identification project.

Health Canada is warning consumers against the use of some black henna temporary tattoo ink and paste.

Removing key muscles in the forehead and neck of migraine sufferers could stop the pain, say doctors.

An "epidemic of Alzheimer's" over the next few decades could be far worse than previously thought, say experts.

Researchers are finding fatty acids found in fish oil have the same result in treating depression as traditional psychiatric medications such as Prozac.

Drugs designed to relieve depression may be working because they stimulate the growth of new nerve cells in a key area of the brain.

Opening a window or wafting away smoke do nothing to reduce children's exposure to tobacco, researchers say.

Shocking images of cancer victims should be introduced on cigarette packets, suggest experts.

Women who get pregnant soon after giving birth are more likely to suffer complications, warn doctors.

Animal clones born healthy could still face serious health problems later in life, warn researchers.

A common ingredient of cosmetics and fast food could confuse hornets and make them much more likely to sting someone.

U.S. officials in Iraq are investigating an outbreak of a mysterious, pneumonia-like illness that has killed two American soldiers in Iraq and seriously afflicted 13 others.

[LONG-TERM CLIMATE PREDICTIONS]
Scientists are blaming global warming for falling fish harvests in Africa's Lake Tanganyika, threatening the diets of several poor nations.

[ODDITIES]
The alleged sighting of a mysterious creature called 'Cressie' has reignited talk of whether Newfoundland's Crescent Lake has its own version of the Loch Ness Monster.

Foxes residing in Melbourne, Australia, have stolen masses of shoes, prompting scientists to dub their activity the Imelda Syndrome. The foxes also have a penchant for gloves and golf balls.

Scientists discover a humble brainless mud worm shares DNA with humans. The slug-like creature was found living at the bottom of a Swedish lake' It does not have a brain or even sex organs and scientists are baffled about how the Xenoturbella procreates.

If you forward an e-mail five times, you can reach anyone else on the net, researchers have found.

[POLITICAL PREDICTIONS]
Global tourism is on the road to recovery despite worries over terrorism and SARS, with visitor numbers expected to increase strongly for the foreseeable future, a British research group said.

Experts are freting over likely net attacks - U.S. government and industry experts consider the increased hacker activity lately a precursor to a broad Internet attack that would target enormous numbers of computers.

Meatpackers and shippers have been warned to take precautions against terrorists tampering with the food supply. Terrorists are most likely to sabotage hamburger, chicken or other meat and poultry products as they are loaded and unloaded from freight trains or trucks.

Catholic Italy now has the lowest birth rate in Europe. Demographers calculate that by 2050 the current population of 56 million could have dwindled to 40 million. Towns and cities will be left with thousands of unwanted apartments, schools may well be half empty and whole swathes of the countryside could be depopulated. Spain, Germany, Austria and Greece all have disturbingly low birth rates.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi predicts that Iraq will turn into another Vietnam for U.S. troops.

U.S. defence officials and experts are said to be debating behind closed doors whether to build a new generation of nuclear bombs - 'mini-nukes'.

[SPIRITUAL PREDICTIONS]
Hindu priests in India believed that the close approach of Mars and Earth on August 27th meant doomsday, because Mars, or "Mangal," the planet of war in Hindu scriptures, is associated with fire. "Mars will bring terrible bloodshed, riots, epidemics and lawlessness upon mankind," said temple priest Lakshmi Narayan Shastri.

A mathematics professor says he formulated a model which can predict, with 94% accuracy, the chance of divorce for a couple contemplating marriage.

[STOCK MARKET PREDICTIONS]
Rising orders for the U.S. manufacturing sector leads to predictions of good times ahead, but firms are sceptical.