In November 2001, the United Nations Population Fund reported that the world population is projected to be 9.3 billion in 2050 from 6.1 billion then with most of the increase in developing countries even as the population of industrialized countries will "remain stable".[7] This figure was revised to 9.1 billion in 2005 and 9.2 billion in 2007. The basic needs of over 4 billion of these people might not be completely met.
In 2002, it was predicted that the number of people suffering from Alzheimer's disease in the United States of America would triple by 2050 to 16 million. This was higher than the earlier projection of 14 million in 1990.[8] In June 2007, a study by American researchers concluded that the global prevalence of Alzheimer's disease will quadruple by 2050 from its 2006 figure to over 100 million.[9]
Short story "The Weed of Time" by Norman Spinrad: The first manned mission to Tau Ceti returns to Earth on September 8, bearing with it the timesense-expanding plant tempis ceti.