We are on the verge of so many scientific and technological revolutions that the next decade is going to be amazing. Here are some predictions of just how our lives and the entire world will change in the upcoming years.

Solar cells are just silicon wafers, and a lot simpler than microprocessors. Hence, the cost of solar energy will drop far below that of oil and coal. No pollution, no energy crisis, no oil wars. The world will soon be awash with cheap and clean electricity.

Durable, mobile, and cheap, shipping containers will solve the problem of homelessness if nothing else will. For just two thousand dollars — pennies per day over the structure lifetime — a studio apartment-sized home can be provided for every homeless person.

Three-dimensional printing technology is coming of age, making it possible to ‘print’ any small consumer item from coffee cups to baseball caps to eyeglass frames on demand. There will be an explosion in the abundance of consumer goods.

Even food can be ‘printed.’ Simply take the right amounts of chemicals, synthesize amino acids, form into cellular structures — and a perfect hamburger comes out of the machine. World hunger will be abolished from all humanity.

Medical technology is reaching the molecular level, with the ability to not only read the genome but to adjust it in real time. This will mean the end of birth defects, cancer and all disease, and even old age.

Space travel has been hindered by the excessive ratio of rocket mass to fuel energy. Lightweight space shuttles made of graphene will be able to fly into orbit and back with the economies of modern jet liners. Space tourism for the middle class is in reach.

Computer technology will continue to advance, so that every person in the world will own a computer and every village in the Third World will have access to the Internet. Virtual reality will advance so much that if you can dream a world, you can live in it.

The world of this decade will be amazing, exciting, and wonderful — unless we destroy it with war, financial folly, or perhaps the tyranny of good intentions. But if we can refrain from killing each other, there is hope.