Tokyo ? By the year 2015, robots will be doing most of the household chores, and by 2025, seismologists will be able to detect huge earthquakes before they strike, according to predictions made by about 2,600 leading experts and scientists in Japan.

About 4,200 scientists, university professors, engineers at private companies and researchers at independent administrative corporations were asked by the Education, Science and Technology Ministry to make predictions about what new technologies might be invented within 30 years.

About 2,600 of those polled answered 860 questions, including giving a timetable for each technical innovation and another for when the nation might see widespread use of such technology. The questions were asked of those working in about 13 fields, including electronics.

According to the answers collected by the ministry, most of the experts said that between 2011 and 2015, every household would have a robot doing chores such as cleaning and laundering. They predicted that in the next decade, cancer treatments derived by applying an increased understanding of the cancer-causing mechanism would be available, the officials said.

They also said that between 2011 and 2015, telephones capable of simultaneously translating one language to another would be widely used, effective weight-loss medications would be available, and a cure for AIDS would be found, ministry officials said.

Between 2016 and 2025, they predicted technology would be developed to detect earthquakes stronger than magnitude 7, leading to a reduction in fatalities and injuries, while a cure for Alzheimer’s also would be found, the officials said.

Between 2026 and 2035, they predicted that there would be permanent manned bases on the moon and that a way would be found to significantly reduce highly radioactive waste, the officials said.

After showing the collected replies to the respondents, the ministry will ask them to answer the same questions again, to narrow down the predictions, the officials said.