Science visions, dark and bright [1]

Talk about change was more plentiful in 2008 than loose coins in an old couch.

Despite all the lip-flapping, that place where gods and devils dwell -- the details -- was largely unexplored.

 

The Obama administration will soon offer its ideas for reviving the economy and reshaping America's foreign policy. But politicians aren't the only ones who can remake the world.

 

Scientists have at least as much power to transform our lives and history. What "game-changing scientific ideas and developments" do they expect to occur during the next few decades?

 

That's the question John Brockman, editor of the Web site edge.org, posed to about 160 cutting-edge minds in his 11th annual Edge Question. As in years past, they responded with bold, often thrilling, sometimes chilling, answers.