What's Emerging March 2023
A newsletter on interesting stuff that is emerging around the world so you can think about strategy.
Welcome to our end of March newsletter
In the next few weeks Paul will continue working on a large foresight and strategic planning program for RSL Victoria and speaking at an ag conference in Qld as well as at and anniversary dinner for the Freemasons. He is also working with mining services representative body Austmine to challenge their strategy. He will also be working with several clients on Wardley mapping analysis of their strategic options as part of our “try before you buy” option for foresight and strategy approaches utilising Wardley mapping. Please contact us if you are interested in our free 2nd Opinion process that demonstrates our approach while working on a real-world issue for you.
Paul will also be continuing his work with Save the Children, and his new position as Chair of Social Venture Partners Melbourne that supports innovative not for profit startups to scale their operations through engaged philanthropy.
The Emergent Futures Team
In case you missed it. The most popular link from the last edition:
There was a three-way tie for the most clicked link last edition. Along with the best solar panels which was the most clicked link in the end of February edition there was:
14 meeting agenda templates to make your meetings productive (and maybe even fun)
Behind every unproductive meeting is an agenda that missed the mark or didn’t exist in the first place. And that's a serious problem, considering how much time we all spend in meetings.....…. Read More
Quest Pro Price Cut To $1000 Just 4 Months After Launch
Paul: Not selling or a new strategy? You would not be happy if you bought one 2 months ago....... Read More
What are we Writing About?
As all of our work has been private so far this year we have nothing in this section for this edition.
What’s Emerging
This incredibly life-like robot hand can be made for just $2,800
A synthetic human is being built in Poland — one body part at a time.The machine is the work of Clone Robotics (formerly Automaton Robotics), a startup with the lofty goal of creating low-cost humanoids that can do all the jobs people don’t want — from cleaning our homes to working assembly lines in factories. Clone believes the key to getting there is making the machines as physically human-like as possible, and as the first step along that path, the company is tackling arguably the hardest part of the human body to replicate: our hands.. ….. Read More
TikTok is adding a third feed just for science and math videos
The STEM feed, next to the Following and For You pages, will feature content on science, technology, engineering, and math topics....... Read More
More than just risk: LGBTQIA+ young people use social media to sustain and make sense of family relationships
New research shows that LGBTQIA+ young people are deciding what to post on social media sites with their families in mind, to foster and maintain ties with them.........……. Read more
Relectrify achieves world-first certification for cell-level control in commercial battery product
Relectrify’s BMS+Inverter technology replaces conventional battery management systems and inverters with a single electronic system that controls individual cells to generate grid-compliant alternating current (AC) directly from a battery pack. This technology revolutionises battery storage, increasing the battery lifetime by as much as a third, improving safety and reducing power electronic costs by up to 30 percent compared to conventional battery systems. The technology is suitable across residential, industrial and grid storage applications and has already been applied to a wide variety of battery types — new lithium-ion cells, second-life lithium-ion cells and non-lithium electro-chemistries. .........……. Read more
Kyoto to introduce Japan's first empty homes tax
The new tax, set for introduction in 2026 at the earliest, aims to boost the property market amid an exodus of young people struggling to secure housing in Kyoto. If effective, it could serve as a reference for other cities facing similar problems. In addition to vacant properties, the non-statutory tax will also target vacation homes and unoccupied secondary residences, with factors such as the property’s value and location taken into consideration when calculating the amount to be taxed....…..Read more
'Live free and die?' The sad state of U.S. life expectancy
Just before Christmas, federal health officials confirmed life expectancy in America had dropped for a nearly unprecedented second year in a row – down to 76 years. While countries all over the world saw life expectancy rebound during the second year of the pandemic after the arrival of vaccines.......…..Read more
EU weighs up future of wood-burning as renewable energy
The word "renewable" often conjures up images of wind farms or solar panels — less so scenes of burning trees. But biomass, which includes firewood, plants and other organic materials, makes up 60% of the EU’s renewable energy mix according to the European Commission. As the bloc now reviews its landmark renewable power legislation, a political battle over firewood’s future is playing out in Brussels. . .......….. Read more
Deep-sea mining for rare metals will destroy ecosystems, say scientists
Fauna & Flora first raised concerns about ocean mining in a 2020 report. Since then, scientists have intensified their study of deep-sea zones and highlighted further dangers posed by mining there. These form the focus of the organisation’s report. “It has become increasingly clear in the last couple of years that, apart from other dangers, deep-sea mining poses a particular threat to the climate,” said Catherine Weller, Fauna & Flora’s director of global policy..…. Read more
Queensland researchers to study brain activity of patients with epilepsy — hope to detect seizures with smart watches
Neurologists, biologists and engineers from Mater Research and the University of Queensland will examine whether purpose-built smart watches can help patients assess seizure risk by detecting stress signals........…..Read more
Marsupials and other mammals separately evolved flight many times, and we are finally learning how
While birds are the undisputed champions of the sky, having mastered flight during the Jurassic, mammals have actually evolved flight more often than birds. In fact, as many as seven different groups of mammals living today have taken to the air independently of each other............….. Read more
World ‘population bomb’ may never go off as feared, finds study
The long-feared “population bomb” may not go off, according to the authors of a new report that estimates that human numbers will peak lower and sooner than previously forecast. The study, commissioned by the Club of Rome, projects that on current trends the world population will reach a high of 8.8 billion before the middle of the century, then decline rapidly. The peak could come earlier still if governments take progressive steps to raise average incomes and education levels.......….….Read more
The Greenland Ice Sheet is close to a melting point of no return, says new study
The Greenland Ice Sheet covers 1.7 million square kilometers (660,200 square miles) in the Arctic. If it melts entirely, global sea level would rise about 7 meters (23 feet), but scientists aren't sure how quickly the ice sheet could melt. Modeling tipping points, which are critical thresholds where a system behavior irreversibly changes, helps researchers find out when that melt might occur.........…… Read More
Amazon just opened up its Sidewalk network for anyone to build connected gadgets on
Amazon revealed just how far its Sidewalk IoT network penetrates the average American neighborhood. And it’s deep. The company’s first Sidewalk coverage map claims that over 90 percent of the US population can access the now public network (it’s limited to the US only)..........…Read more.
Record heat waves push India closer to limit of human survival
The national weather office has forecast rising temperatures in the coming weeks after India experienced its hottestFebruary since 1901.While temperatures as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122 F) are unbearable in any condition, the damage is made worse for those of India’s 1.4 billion population who are stuck in tightly packed cities............…Read more.
Business Tips
ChatGPT is coming to Slack. Here's how to access it
The business messaging platform is integrating ChatGPT's AI capabilities to make user workspaces more productive. Here's what you need to know to get in on the new features..…..read more.
The Best Home Batteries In Australia In 2023: According To Installers
Continuing our coverage of the Solar Quotes series on installer reviews. Paul: my view is that in the vast majority of cases home batteries are not an economic proposition. Bundled with solar packages they may look ok but if you analyse the two separately all the return is on the solar cells and the batteries lose you money. Of course there are aree other reasons than economics to install a battery but do your analysis carefully.……Read more
Scammers can disguise their number so it looks like your bank is calling — here are red flags to watch for
The ACCC's Scamwatch is warning people that scammers are using technology to trick victims by:
making the call appear to come from the bank's legitimate phone number
sending a text that appears in the same conversation thread as genuine bank messages
Paulk: this happened to me. A message from a scammer that appeared in the middle of a series of legitimate text messages from my bank. Be careful out there.....…. Read More
Please forward this email to anyone you think might be interested in it and they can subscribe using the button below. Or contact us directly if you want to discuss any of the issues.