believe what? the sky is purple? one can believe in God without believing nonsense, especially that Bronze Age herders and shepherds knew more of the world than our most learned people today.

the coward is the one who wants to believe without proof, because it's oh so much easier. or do you think your faith is enough to regrow my leg?

'Belief gets in the way of learning.' - Robert A Heinlein

who knows? i know we have to put up with abour 2000 more years of Christian Rapture prophecies, at least, because Nostradamus' last prediction takes place after 4000 AD. on the bright side, the Saint Malachy Prophecies say there should only be one more Pope, named 'Peter'. whether the Roman Catholic Church will end or be transformed is a different matter that wasn't covered.

we're already at risk every second of a comet or large asteroid hitting us, and it wouldn't take much to get rid of most of humanity, just because we've grown used to our technology. while most asteroids and Kuiper-Belt Objects are in the plane of the ecliptic, like the planets, the solar system is surrounded by a somewhat circular shell of cometary material.

besides asteroids that'd been knocked into an weird-angled orbit, something could come from any direction and we might not know till it's too late.

size matters; it wouldn't have to be an extinction-level impact to kill off civilization, because we're so dependent on technology. while the race might not be wiped out, it would get rid of the parasites and deadwood that exist (ex: politicians & people who know virtually nothing save their small world).

we have a host of disasters that could happen, some more likely than others. while the US keeps going to war over oil and other resources, fresh water is going to be in short order soon because of global warming. India and Pakistan have already come close to war over glacial runoff fresh water in the Himalayas.

there are ongoing problems over fresh water with California, Arizona and Nevada, who all get fresh water from the same river. fresh water aquifiers are not being refilled by rain and they're drying up.

it takes lots of water to grow grains, and lots lots more to grow beef. we may find ourselves reducing our meat intake in the future. and worse.

you can go without meat if necessary, you can go without any food for some days, but you'll die very quickly without fresh water.

lotsa this could be solved by getting out en masse into space; all kinds of metals and materials out there. comets & such could be brought into orbit and the water drained off them. it'd be an increase in the earth's water supply.

these are just a few things. as i said, lotsa disasters could happen. Palin or Bachmann could be elected next year; if so, 2012 would be the end of the world, since their worldviews are ran by fundamentalist Christianity. they wouldn't mind starting a nuclear war at all in the name of God, Jesus and the Second Coming.

with the sensors that are probably available, they could probably be used to hunt submarines, as well.

"Another Fully Submersible Narco Sub Found" http://defensetech.org/2011/02/16/another-fully-submersible-narco-sub-found/

a recent Army War College monograph pointed out that narcotraffic in Colombia will be making more use of its rivers and waters soon. with the right sensory equipment, these subs could be located easily, as well as any ships or persons who should be checked out.

new technology's ALWAYS gone that route; you're perfectly right. look at the first 'mobile phones', so large and bulky and unwieldy and expensive. now a functional phone can be so small and cheap that the price is negligible.

it'll take time, but the same thing could happen with this.