What's Emerging end of August 2024
A newsletter on interesting stuff that is emerging around the world so you can think about strategy.
Welcome to our end of August newsletter.
In the next few weeks Paul will continue to work on the strategy implementation consultation process with RSL Victoria. Paul is also working on a scenario and Foresight Forum project with the Professional Standards Authority on the future of the professions and implications for standards and regulation and will be presenting on foresight for practical strategy for the CEO Institute. He will also continue in his role of Chair with venture philanthropy organisation Social Venture Partners. He will also be having his first investors meeting for the social enterprise business we have been teasing about. Still cannot tell you about it.
If you are interested in talking to us about any of our strategy approaches, foresight approaches, workshops, or conference presentations, please Contact Us.
The Emergent Futures Team
In case you missed it. The most popular link from the last edition was yet again:
Intermittent fasting plus protein pacing may boost weight loss, gut health
Both the caloric restriction and intermittent fasting and protein pacing diets led to significant changes, but the intermittent fasting and protein pacing group showed greater reductions in total body fat, visceral fat, weight, and desire to eat.
Paul: I commenced a modified version of this diet taking on the protein pacing principles and reduction in carb intake but avoiding some of the detailed ingredients. For example, replacing the commercial protein powder shake with a banana and whey protein shake. Intent was to lose some weight as a general health target and to reduce pressure on an Achilles tendon injury that has troubled me and improve gut health. It has worked really well, and I have lost 3.5Kg in the first four weeks and the great thing is I have hardly felt hungry except during the calorie restriction day/42 hours I have done but even that has been relatively easy. Am now changing to protein pacing every second day plus 42 hours of calorie restriction a week to eat more normally and look to lose a further 3.5 kg over 3 months. Diet details are in the supplementary documents in the Nature publication and please feel free to reach out for more detail on my regimen. Update: doing it every second day does not work as well so switching to week on and week off while increasing exercise levels..… Read more.
What are we Writing About?
Paul’s presentation to The Funding Network on Foresight for Practical Strategy is now up. Go to our Home Page and look under our latest work.
What’s Emerging
China will launch first satellites of constellation to rival Starlink, newspaper reports
A Chinese state-owned enterprise is close to launching the first batch of satellites for a megaconstellation designed to rival U.S. company Space X's Starlink's near-global internet network, a state-backed newspaper reported on Monday. A successful launch would mark an important step in Beijing's strategic goal of creating its own version of Starlink, a growing commercial broadband constellation that has about 5,500 satellites in space and is used by consumers, companies and government agencies.........…..Read More
Introducing Figure 02
Paul: Robots getting better and better although I am not sure about the obsession with the humanoid form
Can AI pick IVF embryos as well as a human? First randomised controlled trial shows promise
To assess the value of deep learning in selecting the optimal embryo for in vitro fertilization, a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, noninferiority parallel-group trial was conducted across 14 in vitro fertilization clinics in Australia and Europe.This study was not able to demonstrate noninferiority of deep learning for clinical pregnancy rate when compared to standard morphology and a predefined prioritization scheme......….….Read more
Waymo is now giving 100,000 robotaxi rides a week
Waymo disclosed last week it’s now giving more than 100,000 paid robotaxi rides every week across its three main commercial markets in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix......…..Read More
InnerPlant Launches CropVoice™ Insights Platform that “Listens” to Plants Engineered to Signal Fungal Stress
The first-of-its-kind insights platform is powered by a network of plots featuring InnerSoy™ – a soybean engineered to signal when under attack from fungus – and gives farmers and agronomists access to stress signals directly from plants, unlocking crop protection strategies with the highest return on investment. CropVoice™ is rolling out for the 2025 growing season in selected areas of Illinois. Subscribers will receive spray recommendations in response to fungal pressure in a particular coverage area based on signals from InnerSoy™ plants planted in sentinel fields...........…..Read More
Scientists discover 1,700 new species of ancient viruses in rapidly melting permafrost from the Himalayas
An international team of scientists has unearthed 1,700 new viral species from the permafrost in the Himalayas. The researchers are racing to secure ice cores as permafrost melts around the world, threatening the historical information trapped inside the ice. Paul: What could possibly go wrong?......……. Read More
About half of TikTok users under 30 say they use it to keep up with politics, news
For 48% of TikTok users ages 18 to 29, this is a major or minor reason why they’re on the platform. By comparison, 36% of those ages 30 to 49 and even smaller shares of older users say the same........……. Read More
Ancient DNA analyses imply brucellosis evolved with development of farming
In this study an international team of geneticists and archaeologists succeeded in detecting the Brucella in DNA from an 8,000-year-old sheep bone from Menteşe Höyük, an archaeological settlement in Northwest Türkiye, which shows the pathogen was circulating in herds of the world's first animal farmers. Brucellosis affects millions of people every year and causes significant harm to the welfare of livestock. Paul: This is more important than you think I am just reading: Plagues upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History and I was struck by the statement in it that over 20,000 generations of humans, only the last three have been significantly free of infectious disease (COVID Excepted). These developments have shaped human history. I heartily recommend the book....…..Read more
Top companies ground Microsoft Copilot over data governance concerns
"Particularly around bigger companies that have complex permissions around their SharePoint or their Office 365 or things like that, where the Copilots are basically aggressively summarizing information that maybe people technically have access to but shouldn't have access to," he explained......…..Read more
Trees may not cool cities during heat waves as much as we thought
Many cities have undertaken initiatives to plant more trees to help combat climate-driven urban overheating. However, those bold planting efforts may not be as effective in tackling the issue as we once thought.......….. Read more
In Search of the Social Microbiome
The microbial flora that inhabits the gut, skin, lung, and oral cavity of humans and other animals is thought to play a critical role in regulating metabolism and immunity. Any disruption or imbalance in that mix, a growing body of literature suggests, may trigger inflammation that contributes to conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. A new theory expands on this view, suggesting that social connections profoundly influence the composition of a person’s microbiome—at least as much as the growing number of probiotic supplements found on grocery store shelves....……. Read more
Australians are living longer than most people in English-speaking OECD countries, new research says
Among six high-income Anglophone countries, Australia is the clear best performer in life expectancy at birth, leading its peer countries by 1.26–3.95 years for women and by 0.97–4.88 years for men in 2018. While Australians experience lower mortality across the age range, most of their life expectancy advantage accrues between ages 45 and 84. Australia performs particularly well in terms of mortality from external causes (including drug- and alcohol-related deaths), screenable/treatable cancers, cardiovascular disease and influenza/pneumonia and other respiratory diseases compared with other countries. Considering life expectancy differences across geographic regions within each country, Australia tends to experience the lowest levels of inequality, while Ireland, New Zealand and the USA tend to experience the highest levels..……. Read more
Researchers use 3D printers to combine multiple drugs into one 'polypill' to lower risk of under or overdosing
The medication is mixed with a bio-compatible polymer, which allows a staged release of different drugs into the body through the day. .........….….Read more
Genetically modified toxoplasmosis parasite may have potential to treat disease
Delivering macromolecules across biological barriers such as the blood–brain barrier limits their application in vivo. Previous work has demonstrated that Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that naturally travels from the human gut to the central nervous system (CNS), can deliver proteins to host cells. This project engineered T. gondii’s endogenous secretion systems, the rhoptries and dense granules, to deliver multiple large (>100 kDa) therapeutic proteins into neurons via translational fusions........….…Read more.
Business and Other Tips
What Game Theory Reveals About Life, The Universe, and Everything
THE STAR METHOD
The STAR method is a structured manner of responding to a behavioral-based interview question by discussing the specific situation, task, action, and result of the situation you are describing (pdf)……….Read More
Mean time to right hypothesis
“I don't care whether I'm fixing a washing machine or examining a supply chain in defence - the most important metric to me is MTTRH (mean time to right hypothesis). That metric depends upons a lot e.g. the speed at which we can test a hypothesis or create a new one”..……….Read More
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