In my continuing endeavors to maximize my hours of the day and night, for the last 3 or so months I have been downloading audiobooks to my mp3 player from my local library and listening to them as hike to and from work and when ever I manage to squeeze my growing posterior on the treadmill. My latest download is Frank Herbert’s Dune.

Dune, Arakis, Desert Planet.

I have already read the book and seen both the movies, but as I wait for the next Percy Jackson novel to become available (Shoot me. Shoot me NOW! I mean it), I thought it was be a fun listen and a great way to actually digest the story.

For those who have not read Dune or seen the movies (do so immediately or hand over your geek card), the story takes place x to the y power years in the future after humanity has entered the stars, inhabited planets, and already almost devastated itself on dependence to technology (If good ol’ FH knew about the prevalence of smartphones at the time, I’m sure they would have been a focal allegory).

Without looking tens of thousands of years into the future, there is more than a few staple sci-fi series and movie franchises that create a glimpse of the future only a mere few hundred years in the future. While the latest Battlestar Galactica/Caprica technically takes place 50+ thousand years ago, I think it is illustrative of human technological advancement.

Between the series The Universe and some other documentaries about physics and space travel, I have begun to really consider what is a reasonable (if not likely) future for the human race? Provided that we don’t off ourselves through violence, pollution, disease, starvation or any other combination of the horsemen.

Looking to the staple of popular sci-fi series which one do you think best represents our likely future. Some to consider at Star Trek, Star Wars, Firefly/Serenity, Babylon 5, BSG/Caprica, though I’m sure there are others I have not considered.

And yes, students, Mister Beastlet expects you to justify your answer…