New Scientist has a special featuring flash fiction from eight modern British SF authors.
http://www.newscientist.com/special/sci-fi-the-fiction-of-now
They were asked to visualise the world 100 years from now.
The results are very pessimistic partly, I suspect because the authors are British and partly because they often have scientific or technical backgrounds. Looked at through the eyes of a natural scientist, western civilisation seems to be in a 'progress trap', heading for a disaster that our political institutions are incapable of solving.
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi.
New Scientist also have a writing contest for unpublished authors.
In the meantime, here is a photo of the city in which I live. No really, you are looking at a city. If you blow the picture up you can just see our church tower. It is clad in scaffolding for repairs. The church is 800 years old so it does need a bit of tlc from time to time. This is the Saxon Shores, once ruled by the comes litoris Saxonici.
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