The greatest achievement of the 21st century has indubitably been practical fusion power, which first achieved break-even levels at the University of Tokyo in 2026. Implementing that technology was a task in itself, and with the long delay of the War years, it was not until the late forties that fusion plants began to be common. Today, however, they are spreading even into many developing nations, and the direct result has been a dramatic reduction in urban pollution levels world-wide. The internal-combustion engine is largely a thing of the past; most applications that used it now depend on fusion-produced electricity.
Space technology has advanced (obviously), though slowly. The first International Space Station, Unity, was retired in 2021, and replaced by the much more advanced station Overlook, which was neglected during the War years, and probably burned up in the atmosphere around 2035. There are currently two stations orbiting, a small one, the Concord, in Low Earth Orbit, and the much larger Synaemia in High Earth Orbit. There is also now a small station at the Earth-Moon Lagrange-5 point. It is simply called L5. A Lunar base was founded in 2027, and was reactivated after the War, but it is still solely a scientific community, with no permanent residents.
Weapons technology developed very rapidly under the impetus of the War. Nuclear weapons are now common, although the World Security Committee probably controls most of them. Lasers are now in use as direct-fire heavy battlefield weapons as well as in personal targeting systems. "Smart" weapons are now the rule rather than the exception. Personal body armour has once more begun to disappear from the battlefield, as lasers render Kevlar obsolete. Experimental reflective and ablative armour is becoming more common, though.
Medicine has made several important breakthroughs. Most forms of cancer are now either curable or controllable. AIDS is now wholly curable. Polio has been entirely eradicated. However, several old diseases, notably malaria, diphtheria and tuberculosis have appeared again in drug-resistant forms. During the War bubonic plague reappeared, though whether its appearance was natural, or in fact a biological weapon, is unclear. Anthrax, typhus and typhoid were common during the Thirties and Forties, but have now largely disappeared. Several unrecognized diseases appeared during the War, most of them painful and fatal, but so far no progress has been made in treating or even identifying them. Human cloning has been possible for decades, but the use of mass-grown clone soldiers by Japan during the War has led to an international cloning ban.