http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2012/10/26/the-science-of-predicting-the-future/

The Science of Predicting the Future

"A truly scientific prediction requires the following three things:

1. that the scientific theory that governs your phenomenon is completely understood,
2. the conditions that will affect the possible outcome(s) are known and understood in their entirety, and
3. that you have enough computing power to figure out what the outcome is going to be.

In addition, because measurements are imperfect (and sometimes physical laws aren’t 100% predictive), you are also going to have a quantifiable uncertainty associated with your scientific prediction."