There are not likely to be any advances in the short term that would enable any of this wonderful technology to become a reality. However, who would have believed two hundred years ago that we would be able to watch things happening on the other side of the world, or be able to listen to music using a beam of light! As for the practical advantages, it would be great to be able to travel to nearby solar systems and to be able to travel to New York in a couple of seconds. It would also be great if spacecraft and satellites could deflect objects in order to avoid damage, but unfortunately all of these things seem to be just dreams.