1 . Step into Moving to Mars, an exhibition of the Mars mission and colony design at London’s Design Museum, and immediately you have good reasons for not moving there.

Frightening glowing wall-texts announce that Mars wasn’t made for you, that there is no life and little precious water, that, dressed in a spacesuit, you will never touch, taste or smell the planet you now call “home”. As Lisa Grossman wrote for New Scientist a couple of years ago, “What’s different about Mars is that there is nothing to do there except try not to die.”

It is an odd beginning for such a celebratory exhibition, but it provides a valuable, dark background against which the rest of the show can sparkle(闪耀)—a show that is, as its chief manager Justin remarks, “not about Mars; this is an exhibition about people.”

Moving along, there is a quick yet clear flash through what the science-fiction writer Robinson calls “the history of Mars in the human mind”. A Babylonian clay tablet and a Greek vase speak to early ideas about the planet. A poster for the original Total Recall film reminds us of Mars’ psychological threat.

The main part of the show is our current plans for the Red Planet. There are real spacesuits and models of 3D-printed Martian settlements and suitable clothing and furniture. Mission architectures and engineering sketches line the walls. Real hammers meant for the International Space Station are wall-mounted beside a low-gravity table that has yet to leave, and may indeed never leave, Earth.

This, of course, is the great strength of approaching science through design: reality and assumptions can be given equal visual weight, drawing us into an informed conversation about what it is that we actually want from a future on Mars.

2 . Futurologists are making a lot of predictions about our future life.     1     By 2048, some futurologists foresee that some “talking” buildings will appear in our life.

By the middle of the century, it’s believed that buildings will be able to “talk” to people through various sensors when the heating needs to be turned on.     2     Instead, a lot of networks will appear, which can be compared to a human nervous system. In the next 30 years, buildings will be made from concrete plastics and shape­changing materials. All of them can heal themselves at that time.     3     there will be a need for new kinds of elevators, through which vehicles could even travel into the buildings. German engineers have already started working on such technology called Multi.

By mid­century, scientists believe that buildings will be miles tall. Some of them may be very large and they can function as small cities. By comparison, at present, the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, measures 829.8 metres high.     4     their windows will be replaced by virtual screens. In this way, people can choose any view as they like.

At height extremes, a London Spaceport is also likely to come into being by 2048 as the space industry develops very quickly. There is a huge cost advantage going to space from as high a base as possible.     5    

3 . The future home is something that people have talked about for decades. Because the future home idea inspires our imagination, scientists and engineers have been working hard to develop different systems to make houses “smarter”.

The video camera at the entrance recognize visitors using facial recognition. The facial recognition software of the future home will not only recognize friends, but strangers as well. And the software in the future home will run the strangers faces against a database of criminals.

The future home will also have smart application appliances (家电) as well. There will be a vast networking system connecting them. Ovens, microwaves and refrigerators will be controlled automatically, so remote cooking will be a possibility and meals are prepared for your arrival.

There will also be a green systems in place such as saving and reusing washing water and bathwater. Plants and people may receive pure or mineralized (含矿的) drinking water.

If you think this future home idea is pie in the sky or science fiction, then think again. Most of the systems described here are either in development or already out in the market. Future homes may not be standard yet for the middle class but this is not as far ahead as many people would think.

4 . When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basille. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a 5-year-old boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer.

Of course, he delivered more than milk. There was cheese, eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order, my mother would pen a note — “Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery” — and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then, the buttermilk would magically (魔术般) appear.

All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basille even had a key to our house, for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors, so that the milk wouldn’t freeze. And I remember Mr. Basille from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table, having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery.

There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk, thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete. Besides, milk is for sale everywhere, and it may just not have been practical to have a delivery service.

Recently, an old milk box in the countryside I saw brought back my childhood memories. I took it home and planted it on the back porch (门廊) . Every so often my son’s friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood, and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk.

7 . 2050 seems a long way away, but it is not impossible to predict the future though. With the speed we are moving now so many amazing things are going to happen in the future.    1    ? Let’s start our predictions.

◆The Internet will be free for everyone.

The Internet is really a key driver these days. But it is not free for everyone yet. There have already been attempts like Facebook’s Free Basics.    2    , there is a very strong possibility that the Internet will be free for everyone in the future.

◆    3    

With the increasing population, it is not very hard to predict that common methods of transportation will not be enough. There will be much heavier traffic on the road. So in this case personal airplanes will be a handy method of transportation for common people.

Of course, there will be proper air traffic control for these personal airplanes.

◆Most cancers will be treated successfully.

    4    . It will be a huge achievement in the history of medical science. Many studies are already showing a trend towards this.

◆Humans will live on other planets.

There will be great achievements in space research. In the year 2050, humans will be able to live on Mars. We will receive more intelligent signals from space.    5    .

9 . With the rapid development of science and technology, we don’t know how different our life will be in the future.     1    .

At first we think about human relationships. In the year 2050, we will use computers almost every day. We will be making new friends through the Internet — even our husbands or wives will be met in this way.     2    . On the other hand, our relationship with people won’t be as important as they are today — we will feel a little lonely.

Computers will also help us in many other activities in 2050. For example, they will be used by the children at school to make their learning easier. In addition, there will be much more other machines which will play a similar role as computers, like robots which will do the housework for us.

    3     . Traveling to other planets or to the moon will also be available for everyone. Means of transport will, of course, change, too. We will be using solar-powered cars, which will be much more environmentally friendly.

We could expect that the faster technological progress would lead to a more polluted environment. But it isn’t true.     4    . And, scientists will probably find cures for many dangerous diseases, like cancer or AIDS. Therefore, our surroundings as well as health will be in a better condition.

Although we can’t predict the exact changes which will be made in the world, we often think about them. We worry about our and our children’s future; we have expectations, hopes as well as fears. But I think we should be rather confident about our future.     5    .