Many Changes Ahead for the 21st Century.

• Position: Brief Article

"Futurists' ability to see connections among many topics allows them to identify the broader impacts of various trends," indicates Graham T.T. Molitor, editor of the Encyclopedia of the Future and vice president, World Future Society, Bethesda, Md. Accordingly, he forecasts that the 21st century will see many changes, including:

* Telecommuting and advanced videoconferencing will largely replace face-to-face business settings by 2020. More than half of all workers in the advanced Information Era will work at home or in decentralized offices.

* Medical examinations will become faster and more comprehensive as credit-card-sized diagnostic plates detect diseases and dysfunctions. Results will be read and analyzed by computers in minutes.

* Leisure time will increase, accounting for more than 50% of lifetime activities by 2010. The average workweek likely will fall to 3035 hours by 2030.

* Suborbital space travel will become commercially available to the public...