According to the recent forecasts from The Futuristic magazine for 1997 and beyond, the (1) since mid-century, while the population has doubled. As a result, the pressure on natural resources has (2) : Demand for grain has nearly tripled, and (3) has increased nearly fourfold, with carbon emissions rising accordingly. City skylines may (4) in the future. Information technologies are allowing workers to (5) rather than trek to downtown skyscrapers. Consequently, many prestigious office towers (6) , and U. S. builders have stopped putting up structures taller than 30 stories. Education in the Information Age will be (7) and less labor-intensive. Teaching may become more centralized, with a few "star teachers" giving courses via (8) to a national student body. Infotech is producing interactive educational toys and other devices that (9) of mental faculties. Some youngsters may even teach themselves to read before age 3. Future education will not end with (10) in high school or college, but become (11) . More students will be learning at home, using computers and advanced educational software. The number of home schoolers has grown from (12) in the last two decades. Electronic networking will give more power to workers at the bottom of the (13) . Computer networks allow employees to skip over (14) and communicate directly with senior managers or even the CEO. The (15) of electronic communications will make low-status individuals (16) their points of view and offering valuable new ideas. The earth’s economy is expected to benefit hugely from (17) . Earth is a colossal system, and we will need to (18) . The space race will see many new competitors, as the United States and Russia (19) due to budget cuts. China, India, and Japan are moving ahead quickly in such fields as remote sensing satellites and (20) .