A government advisory panel created a list of 25 ambitious projects at a meeting on 31 July, reported the Japan Times, and it is expected to pick five to 10 of these by the end of this year to receive the funding.

The prospective goals are listed under three categories: overcoming the ageing society and low birth-rate, restoring Earth’s environment while cultivating urban civilisation and pioneering new frontiers in science and technology.

At the July meeting, the 25 goals included creating cyborg technology to combine machines with living organisms by 2050, with the aim of overcoming age-related deterioration of vision and hearing, and creating worldwide access to advanced medical services by 2040.

Other possible projects included achieving artificial hibernation, hoped to extend healthy life spans; eliminating plastic from Earth; automating all jobs in agriculture, forestry and fishing industries; and creating artificial intelligence that can make ‘Nobel Prize level discoveries’ by itself.

One suggestion was to create technology that would make human experiences possibly via avatar by 2040, which would mean a person could experience things in one place while their actual body is at home.

Once the final list has been chosen, the government will ask for researchers to submit proposals, and will fund successful projects for five years.