The idea about the coming age being our own time doesn't hold much water. In the very first book, Egwene asks Thom for stories which are clear references to our own time. Thom says those stories are very old, from the age before the age of legends. That clearly pinpoints our time as being two ages before or five ages after Rand's time period. Furthermore, it's the 3rd age, making our time the first age. That would make sense from the author's perspective. Also, we have seen plenty of 4th age writings in the epigraphs of the books.

Channeling will be lost at some point, and my guess is at the end of the seventh age, the age before our time. That point in the cycle must be a TRULY cataclysmic "Last Battle." Channeling is lost, and civilization is so destroyed that it doesn't even leave behind any ruins. The remnants of mankind are reduced to a few small groups in the heart of Africa to begin history all over again. All other ages are forgotten, and we don't even know that time is a wheel. Flash forward another 10,000 years or so, and here we are. We don't channel and we forgot about the DO and the Dragon.

Regarding the sensing of the ability to channel, I think the a'dam must dull the capability in the damane wearing the collar. Egwene did not feel the ability in her sul'dam. I don't recall the Aes Sedai rescued by Mat mentioning that they sensed the ability in their sul'dam either. They only made the connection later. It can't block the sense completely though- damane can recognize a trained woman within a short distance. I can't remember exactly where or when, but I vaguely remember a scene where a damane pointed out a woman to her sul'dam as marath'damane.

A wagon that only moves in sunlight sounds like solar power to me. A primitive would call it "magic.". Whether it is solar-electric or solar-steam, it would appear magical to someone as ignorant as the Aiel seem destined to become.

As far as not using the power to travel, not everyone did that even in the age of legends. Sho'wings were used for mass transit. We saw them during Rand's journey through the glass columns. I think the Guide mentions them too.

I think the Domination Band must be different from the a'dam regarding the back flow effect. I think that effect has more to do with the taint than anything. That, or men and women are just too different. Men and women would be equally scared and enraged by being turned into slaves. Why should men be harder to control, or rebel where women can't? WoT revolves around a "different but equal" parity between the sexes. If men can rebel but women cannot, the difference must lie in something external to the person. It's either the taint, the method of control, or whether the gender of the controller and the controlled are the same.

I just finished Mass Effect 3, another long story that had me very excited for the end. The ending was... not good. Terrible writing, bad voice acting, and giant plot holes ruined it. It's 4 days later and I'm still bummed. So if Team Jordan needs a few extra weeks to make the end all it can be, I won't complain. The giant letdown of the ME3 ending made me realize I'd much rather wait a few weeks for Harriet & Brandon to do the best they can. WoT is so important to me, and has been a part of my life for so long, it would be awful to have a sucky ending. I was probably 15 when I started reading Wot, and I'm 34 now. A few extra weeks is nothing if the last book is improved.

As for the "end of the world" stuff- read the Wiki article on the Mayan calendar. They thought time is cyclical, that ages repeated over and over. (Sound familiar!?) The 12/21/12 thing is just another reset of the "long count" cycle. Their calendar doesn't end- it goes on for infinity!