====== Progress Level 6 ======

The development of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_power|fusion power]] provides an efficient, non-expendable energy source that all but obliterates the need for chemical fuels.  Advanced space exploration and colonization become possible. 

Computers become even more accessible, reliable, and powerful, leading to the development of virtual systems and widespread access to the global communication networks.

Slowly, society experiences another revolution as individual nations are replaced by world powers.
 
[[Megacorporations]] number among these new superpowers as the line between the national citizen and corporate employee is rendered indistinct.  Armed with the means to eradicate the entire species, the world powers keep conflicts to the level of posturing, and integration of the Information Age’s improvements proceeds smoothly.

Scientific advances in [[Genetic Engineering|genetic engineering]] lead to artificial evolution and the first government– and corporate-sponsored attempts to genetically manipulate human beings. Early results are encouraging, with the manifestation of positive and negative [[Mutation|mutations]] in the species toward the end of the age. Scientists also perfect [[Cloning|cloning]], and the first human clones are created.

Chemical-powered explosives and firearms remain the weapons of choice; fusion technology can’t be effectively miniaturized for personal combat.  Nevertheless, advanced chemistry and superconducting technology change the materials and capabilities of many weapons.  True spaceships become possible, propelled by powerful fusion drives, but still require a reaction mass to traverse space. The age sees the tenuous settlement other planets and asteroids in the home star system.

{{tag>pl6}}