What's Emerging August 2020
A newsletter on interesting stuff that is emerging around the world so you can think about strategy
Introduction
Welcome to our end of August newsletter.
In the next few weeks, Paul will be working on a platform strategy in the cleaning industry. He is also working on a community vision project for a Melbourne Council, and creating a consortium in the Not for Profit sector to assist in the “Build it Back Better” movement. He is also participating in a working group with the Leading Edge Foundation in the UK looking at the industrialisation of robots and presenting to the Social Venture Partners India National Conference.
In his role as a committee member of the Churchill Club he is also helping organise the Top Tech Trends Event on September 1st in Melbourne as part of the Digital Innovation Festival. This is the third year that the event has been running in Melbourne and due to COVID restrictions it will be completely online this year. The debate will feature five panelists including Simon Wardley (Creator of Wardley Maps) , Anushka Wijendra (COO of Messaging Media) and Sara Nolet (CEO and Founder of AgThentic). The speakers are being asked to tell us what they think the next big technology trend is that is not currently obvious to everybody. Paul was a panelist in the inaugural event where he says he was cruelly robbed of victory by just a few votes. It promises to be an entertaining and informative evening.
You can book a ticket by going to Eventbrite but we have two free tickets left from our offer in the last edition. The first two people to email Paul at paul@emergentfutures.com in response to this newsletter will get those tickets
If any of this interests you then please Contact Us
The Emergent Futures Team
In case you missed it. The most popular link from the last edition:
Again this was the most clicked link in the newsletter, two editions in a row. We do not normally publish the most popular link in two editions but this one won by such a margin we left it in.:
Statement by Jeff Bezos to the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary
Love them or hate them, Amazon is still an example of a company that executives strategy really well. Jeff Bezos was one of the big tech bosses recently grilled by the US congress. This statement is a masterclass in strategic thinking and communication.
What are we Writing About?
With Melbourne entering its fifth week of stage 4 lock down Paul has written on what might come next: Thoughts on Melbourne After the Lock Down
You can go to our HOME PAGE to read the article.
What’s Emerging?
Researchers find people are more receptive to social robots during the pandemic
In a preprint study, University of Waterloo researchers find the pandemic has affected people’s perception of social robots and that feelings of loneliness can drive the purchase of these robots. It’s the coauthors’ belief the shift resulted in a higher level of attention to the consequences of isolation, which in turn emphasized the benefits of having a companion robot. …. Read More
‘Road of the future’ to link Detroit and Ann Arbor with 40 miles of driverless cars and shuttles
The plan calls for new roads to be built alongside existing routes, including Interstate 94, with links to destinations like the University of Michigan and Detroit Metropolitan airport. The new roads, depicted in the illustration, will be accessible only to driverless vehicles. …. Read more
Coronavirus having a devastating impact on migrant families sending money home
Every year, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers in Australia support their families by sending billions of dollars in remittances back home, often to poor or developing countries such as India, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Coronavirus and the government restrictions to combat it are bringing those critical flows of money to a halt..…. Read more
Melbourne-based CI/CD platform Buildkite gets $28 million AUD Series A led by OpenView
Buildkite, a Melbourne-based company that provides a hybrid continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) platform for software developers, announced today that it has raised AUD $28 million (about USD $20.2 million) in Series A funding, bringing its valuation to more than AUD $200 million (about USD $145 million)….. Read more
Emperor penguins display rigorously geometric spacing and mathematical efficiency when they huddle together for warmth
A fascinating look into how simple behaviours can result in an emergent strategy that is highly adaptive. …. Read more
Mitochondria May Hold Keys to Anxiety and Mental Health
Mitochondria are the remnants of symbiotic bacteria that integrated themselves into host cells about 2 billion years ago and specialized for energy production. Mitochondria still carry a small amount of DNA of their own, although with just 37 genes, they have less genetic material than any living bacteria. . …. Read more
Argonne National Laboratory Claims Breakthroughs In Li-ion Battery Recycling
The lithium-ion battery waste problem is already huge. According to the American Chemical Society, it’s estimated China alone has produced 500,000 tonnes of used li-ion batteries already, and 2 million tonnes will be generated globally per year by 2030. Argonne reckons global waste load will reach 8 million tonnes by 2040. At its ReCell laboratory, Argonne says it hopes to overcome a shortcoming to make the process financially viable in the USA, rather than sending the batteries offshore for recycling. …. Read more
Cooking food for over 100 restaurants: How a 'ghost kitchen' is adjusting to life in a pandemic
If you live in a city and you feel hungry, the chances are you can browse a selection of your favorite restaurants on your cell phone and, before long, someone will be at your door delivering freshly made food.
But the meal may not have been made where you think. A growing number of home-delivery dishes aren't cooked at the restaurant customers order from; instead they're prepared in a "ghost kitchen.".…. Read more
Deakin University researchers create recycled carbon fibre surfboard start-up as solution to landfill problem
One of the key challenges was ensuring the boards were not too rigid or prone to delamination, due to micro-cracks in the carbon fibre interface.
"What we've been able to create is a carbon fibre surfboard out of recycled material … we like to think it's a bit of a success," he said..…. Read more
Google Has a Plan to Disrupt the College Degree
Google's new certificate program takes only six months to complete, and will be a fraction of the cost of college…. Read more
Australia’s Rectifier unveils first two-way electric vehicle charger
Melbourne-based company Rectifier Technologies has unveiled its first two-way electric vehicle (EV) charger, that will allow homes and businesses to not only charge an EV, but also sell excess power back to the grid. …. Read more
Bacteria from Earth can survive in space and could endure the trip to Mars, according to new study
A type of bacteria that is highly resistant to radiation and other environmental hazards survived outside of the International Space Station for three years, according to a new study. The Japanese Tanpopo mission involved including pellets of dried Deinococcus bacteria within aluminum plates that were placed in exposure panels outside of the space station. …. Read more
Scientists build army of 1 million microrobots that can fit inside a hypodermic needle
In a paper, published in the journal Nature, a team of roboticists detail the creation of their invisible army of robots, which are less than 0.1mm in size (about the width of a human hair) and cannot be seen with the naked eye. The robots are rudimentary and are reminiscent of Frogger, the famous 1980s arcade game. But they take advantage of an innovative, new class of actuators, which are the legs of the microrobots, designed by the team. …. Read more
Japanese Company Employs Robots to Build Huge Dam
In order to get to the final stages of the dam's construction, a huge amount of concrete first has to be poured into the structure in order to form the body of the dam. This part is built in layers, and in Obayashi Corp's system, all of this is controlled remotely via office computers. These control the tower cranes that pour down the concrete, as well as monitor the positioning of each concrete partition, and the progression of the construction. …… Read more
Business Tips
How to Build your Own LIGHTBOARD
Using a lightboard is a cool way to present online. It allows you to draw on a clear board in front of your face.
This is a very easy and cheap way to make your own lightboard You can use this light board to draw or teach online while facing the camera.
Victoria’s Solar Rebates For Landlords Are Good News For Tenants Too
good news for landlords and renters in Victoria. The state government is handing out free money to landlords: a $1,850 rebate on solar panels for rental properties that meet the requirements. In addition, $1,850 can be borrowed as a zero-interest loan, paid off over four years at $38.54 per month. If the renter wishes, half of those repayment payments can be made by them.
So, if the tenant contributes, the landlord is looking at $2,775 of free money plus a $925 zero-interest loan in return for installing solar….. Read more
OBS Studio
If you want to do some more interesting things with your online presentations and/or recording then OBS is an open source system for online video streaming and recording. It is heavily used in the gaming community for live streaming. It takes a little bit of setting up but it will let you do interesting things and you can connect it to Zoom to use that as your streaming system. …. Read more
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