I would like to see asteroid mining become a prevalent industry. Couple that with the ability to harvest the energies of the sun and the oceans and we could potentially solve the energy crisis. Along with cutting our dependancy on fossil fuels we would have significantly reduced our carbon footprint and slow down global warming.
In addition to that I would like to see various modes of transport that could run on solar energy and be completely driverless but obviously that raises some moral issues.
I would like to see a complete overhaul of the education sector so we're teaching children more useful concepts and ideas instead of just memorising dates and figures.
I hope that building designs take a leap forward and include solar panel windows and have vegetation and plant growth be taken into consideration. We are already seeing this in some places and I really hope it catches on.
I'm hoping for large advantages in medicine such a better treatments for cancer and various other ailments. Also better public health in general from various education programs, hopefully get a handle on the obesity crisis and the anti vaccination problem.
In regards to space I would hope to see the first colonies on planets in our solar system being established perhaps on Mars. I would also hope for the confirmation of alien life, even if it's just microbial life. I would just like to know definitively that life can be found on planets other than our own.
I'm pretty confident that most of this is achievable in the next fifty years and hope I'm around to see it happen.