By IPS Correspondents
HANOVER, Germany, Jul 13 2000 (IPS)

Some of the leading scientists and researchers from all over the world have been ‘thinking the future’ during discussion events at the World Exposition Expo 2000 in Hanover.

The five-month long mega exhibition in northern Germany, that closes end of October, provides a glimpse of the future that may be awaiting humankind.

Entitled ‘Science and Technology – Thinking the Future’, the event that concluded Thursday was the third in a series of 10 so- called Global Dialogues, planned during the Expo 2000.

The previous two global dialogues focussed on natural resources and responsible governance in a global society.

Organised by several German Science organisations, ‘Thinking the Future’ round of discussions focussed on topics such as forecasting, modelling and foresight, resources for the future, information and communication technologies as well as science and society.

A highlight, however, was a special talk show Wednesday at the Expo 2000 by German television presenter Ranga Yogeshwar.

The programme involved live discussions with researchers at their work places in the Arctic, in the jungle, and in the European module of the International Space Station.

The topics ranged from a meteorological station in the everlasting ice to behavioural research among chimpanzees.

The audience in Hanover were linked to the Arctic Koldewey Station via satellite. The scientists there reported on the conditions under which they are working and the aims of their research. With their findings, they hope to gain new knowledge on climatic changes.

Scientists observing the social behavioural patterns of chimpanzees, are working in a completely different climatic extreme.

Pictures from the African jungle unveiled the astounding results this year’s winner of the Philip Morris Science Award, Christophe Boesch has achieved in the initial stages of his comparison of different populations of chimpanzees.

In Gran Sasso, Italy, researchers of elementary particles are searching for the origin of the universe. In their large underground laboratory, they are looking for the smallest particles of material from which everything is made of.

Ranga also took a great leap from the depths of the Italian mountains into space: an astronaut reported on new options of research in weightlessness from the European module of the International Space Station.

Virtual animation enabled the audience to fly around the station and into the laboratories.

From Baikonur Cosmodrome in the flat grasslands of the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, there was live coverage of the launch of the shuttle which took the service module, due to serve as living quarters for the first crew of astronauts to be sent to the space station.

The first artificial Soviet satellite, Sputnik 1, and the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin, were launched from Baikonur. Its exact location was a state secret in the now defunct Soviet Union.

In discussion rounds, interesting questions were taken up: How to forecast in a scientific manner changes in the climate? How to predict a stock market crash? What forms the basis for the explanations of the origin of the universe?

Will computers soon be able to recognise the needs and abilities of their users? Will people be able to communicate with their appliances by means of voice input or even gestures? How will the new information and communication technologies impact the worlds of work and leisure?

The influence of the digital revolution on various cultural groups was the topic for discussion in several lectures and workshops.

One of these – “Internet as a Key Driver of Change” – was addressed by Wendy Harcourt, Govind Kelkar, and Edla Faust-Ramos.

Visions of global networking and mobile communication of the future were elucidated by top researchers in industry: Herbert Reichl, representative of Blaupunkt and Motorola; Bill Buxton of Alias Wavefront, Canada; Kari-Pekka Estola of Nokia, Finland; as well as Turner Whitted of Microsoft, USA.

Other questions discussed were: Will oil run out? Will we drown in a flood of information? Are we threatened by new diseases? What technologies can help us to master the challenges of the future?

Scenarios of the most important problem areas were introduced by scientists from industrial and developing countries: Tewolde Egziabher of Addis Ababa University took a close look at the complex ecological effects of human behaviour.

Vandana Shiva from Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology in Delhi, India, and Paul Mueller from the Saarland University, Germany, explained the existential importance of bio- diversity.

Not only ecological, but also social issues made up the agenda of the future. Maurizio Iaccarino of the International Institute of Genetics and Biophysics in Naples, Italy, reviewed the expectations people have of science and what science can achieve.

There were many examples of what science and technology can offer to master these challenges: Rustum Roy of Pennsylvania State University spoke on the potential of new materials.

Stefan Dech of the German Aerospace Centre devoted his contribution to Satellite Remote Sensing, and Leo Alting from Denmark talked on how products can be used longer and recycled in an environmentally-friendly way.

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