What do you think the world will look like in 100 years' time?
A special edition of the BBC's Horizon will attempt to explore the 10 things "you need to know about the future".
According to the Daily Mail, rather than science-fiction-esque guesswork, the programme has tasked mathematicianHannah Fry with using the data we have today to provide an "evidence-based'" vision of how are world could change in the future - for better or for worse.
As well as examining the likelihood of a cure for cancer being found, or whether mental illness will be consigned to the history books, Horizon will also set out how we are "removing the ability for us to live on earth".
Much of our electricity is generated by burning coal or gas, both of which will ultimately run out. Renewable energy sources are fraught with their own problems (not least the changeable nature of New Zealand weather), so could a Norwegian concept of erecting wind turbines thousands of feet in the air where there is always a breeze become a reality?
Will there be a cure for cancer?
The team meets researchers pioneering gene-based therapies that early results suggest could offer a cure for leukaemia.
It works by "editing" a patient's genome by inserting genes that will allow the immune system to identify cancerous cells as alien and destroy them.
Michael Mosley visits a research project at St Thomas' Hospital in London, where doctors are working to map the developing brain by safely MRI scanning foetuses as they grow.
The plan is to use the increased knowledge to identify pathologies that could shed light on conditions like autism and schizophrenia.
Will we become cyborgs?
James Young, who lost an arm and a leg in an accident, goes in search of integrated technologies that might reveal a future for human-machine chimeras.
As well as examining wearable tech like Snapchat glasses, Young meets self-proclaimed cyborg Neil Harbisson, who claims to have "cured" his colour-blindness by converting colour to sounds that are then transmitted to his skull.
This way, Neil said he has learned to interpret the sounds as colours.
Can I cheat death?
The average life expectancy has been steadily increasing since records began in 1840, but the fact remains that the human body gives up at around the 100 year mark - so could that change?
The team turns to the east African naked mole rat, which enjoys 10 times the lifespan of other species, to see if they can shed any light on the subject.
Dr Chris Faulkes, of Queen Mary University of London, asks whether - given the unique protein in their skin that makes it super stretchy and means cancer is virtually unheard of - the mole rat actually holds the secret to a long life.
What will the future look like? Photo / Getty
What will the weather be like in the future?
New Zealand's famously unpredictable climate may soon be a thing of the past, according to weatherman, meteorologist and keen gardener Peter Gibbs, who argues that we can expect a hotter, drier south, and a warmer, wetter north.
What will happen to life on Earth?
Biologist Adam Rutherford outlines the potentially catastrophic impact of plummeting numbers of non-human vertebrate species between now and 2030 - including the rise of smaller predators like rats as a knock-on effect should we lose apex predators such as lions and tigers.
He also warns that changing environments could lead us to a point where coffee can no longer survive on the planet, or where entire marine systems disappear.
"Life will continue on earth as it has for four billion years," he said. "What we are doing is removing the ability for us to live on earth."
Will a robot take my job?
Some jobs seem more susceptible than others to being taken over by robots, but how sure can we be that "soft skill" careers will always require human ability?
To give some indication, Dr Zoe Williams discovers an Artificial Intelligence programme that's as good as she is at being a GP.
Will I get my flying car?
According to the show, several groups are developing what they hope will become "drone taxis". But can we be trusted at the controls? The answer is emphatically "no".
But help is at hand. Dr Raffaello D'Andrea designed the complex programme that runs Amazon's fiercely efficient warehouse robots - hundreds of which select products for dispatch to customers, all without crashing into one another.
By taking unreliable human pilots out of the equation, It could - perhaps - be the start of just the thing to finally make flying cars - or at least flying taxis - a reality.
Expect the unexpected
Crucial among the things we "need to know" about the future? And the one the team of scientists are 100 per cent confident will prove accurate? Expect the unexpected.
