What's Emerging mid-April 2022
A newsletter on interesting stuff that is emerging around the world so you can think about strategy
Welcome to our mid-April version of the newsletter. Slightly delayed for Easter.
In the next few weeks, Paul will continue working with a council on their community vision. He is also running a project on how to maximise the adoption of new irrigation technologies in the Dairy and Cotton industries via the use of Sense Maker narrative collection techniques. He will also be continuing work with Vision Australia on their 10 year vision and strategic planning and working with the General Melbourne Cemetery Trust on strategy. he has also just started a scenario project with the New Zealand veterinary profession on the future for veterinary science. He will also be speaking at the Australian Veterinary Association Conference at the Gold Coast in May, an agriculture conference on the future of plant protein as human food, an innovation day for the complementary medicines industry. He is helping to organise a conference on the future of the farm later in the year and has joined a new global research project led by Simon Wardley from the UK. More on that later.
He has also started a pro-bono project with 100 Story Building as a lead Partner for Social Venture Partners Melbourne which will involve a comprehensive business model review.
Please Contact Us if you want to talk about any of these approaches for your organisation or industry or want a presentation for your organisation or conference.
The Emergent Futures Team
In case you missed it. The most popular link from the last edition:
The Perfect Nap
Paul: long term subscribers will know how found I am off the coffee nap and its importance for focus and productivity. Here are the specific instructions from Daniel Pink.……Read more
What are we Writing About?
Paul wrote a post on: Remote Hybrid Work - The Effect on Communities, looking at the wider implications of hybrid work models beyond the media focus on CBDs. You can go to our home page and look under our Latest Work to read it.
What’s Emerging
Can cancer blood tests live up to promise of saving lives?
With advances in DNA sequencing and data science making the blood tests possible, California-based Grail and other companies are racing to commercialize them.
And U.S. government researchers are planning a large experiment — with 200,000 participants and possibly lasting seven years — to see if the blood tests can live up to the promise of catching more cancers earlier and saving lives..…. read more
Development of stretchable and printable free-form lithium-ion batteries
A Korean research team has developed a soft, mechanically deformable, and stretchable lithium battery that can be used in the development of wearable devices, and examined the battery's feasibility by printing them on clothing surfaces..…. Read more
Clinical study finds that offering digital health platform Cardihab increases participation in cardiac rehabilitation
The findings were published in cardiovascular medicine journal JMIR Cardio and revealed that participation in cardiac rehabilitation improved from 21% to 63% when app-based cardiac rehabilitation (SmartCR) was offered as an alternative in addition to a conventional in-person program. Cardihab provides a digital platform and patient apps (SmartCR) that facilitate the virtual delivery of cardiac rehabilitation and chronic disease management programs for patients recovering from cardiac events and living with heart disease...….. Read more
New Insight Into Possible Origins of Life: For the First Time Researchers Create an RNA Molecule That Replicates
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have for the first time been able to create an RNA molecule that replicates, diversifies, and develops complexity, following Darwinian evolution. This has provided the first empirical evidence that simple biological molecules can lead to the emergence of complex lifelike systems. ..…… Read more
World Bank notes potential for 210,000 mini-grids this decade
The international development entity has already invested $1 billion in local, off-grid electricity networks over the last decade – and attracted a further $1.1 billion in matched funding – and has predicted mini-grids could supply electricity to 490 million people by 2030...…..Read more
Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary helping to detect emerging diseases in wildlife across the country
Important because these sorts of services provide an insight into what might be the next disease that crosses into human populations.....….. Read more
Why more health and beauty brands want your DNA
A growing number of brands want consumers to hand over their DNA so they can tailor their nutrition and skincare products to our specific needs. Paul: there is a mixture of science and overhyped marketing here.…. Read more
Covid and Diabetes, Colliding in a Public Health Train Wreck
After older people and nursing home residents, no group perhaps has been harder hit by the pandemic than people with diabetes. Experts hope policymakers will take notice, and finally get serious about tackling the nation’s diabetes crisis........….. Read more
Sono begins testing solar trailer to boost electric buses
Sono – best known for the solar technology that can be built into the roof and/or sides of commercial vehicles – has partnered with the Munich Transport Company (MVG) to begin operating a solar bus trailer. The solar bus trailer will test energy yields in real conditions, but could offer savings up to 2,500 litres of diesel per year and an annual local CO2 saving potential of more than 6.5 metric tonnes per bus. ......…..Read more
“Great Resignations” Are Common During Fast Recoveries
The record percentage of workers who are quitting their jobs, known as the “Great Resignation,” is not a shift in worker attitudes in the wake of the pandemic. Evidence on which workers are quitting suggests that it reflects the strong rebound of the demand for younger and less-educated workers. Historical data on quits in manufacturing suggest that the current wave is not unusual. Waves of job quits have occurred during all fast recoveries in the postwar period..….….Read more
Fishing net deaths of endangered sea lions drastically reduced in SA
"This kind of conservation and management outcome is extremely rare and sets an important precedent both nationally and internationally."…… Read More
Vertical Harvest Farms: A case study in productive and efficient vertical farms
Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) systems like vertical farms and plant factories are suitable means to produce food in urban and rural regions and offer economic, environmental and social benefits. From 2022 to 2027, the indoor vertical farming industry is projected to grow six-fold to a market size of more than $17 billion......…. Read more
Walmart says it is raising truckers’ pay and starting a training program as it grapples with a driver shortage
Walmart said it is raising pay for long-haul truck drivers and launching a new program to train the next generation, as it seeks the staffing it relies on to replenish store shelves and warehouses across the country. The retailer said truck drivers will now make between $95,000 and $110,000 in their first year with Walmart. Walmart has also started a 12-week program in Sanger, Texas, and in Dover, Delaware, where people can earn a commercial driver’s license and join Walmart’s fleet. It will cover the cost of earning a license, which can run between $4,000 and $5,000….. Read More
Rental car delivery startup Kyte is growing its fleet to 10,000 vehicles
Kyte, the startup that delivers rental cars to customers’ doors, has raised $200 million in asset-backed credit financing from Goldman Sachs and Ares Global Management, money the company will use to pay for new vehicles that will fuel its expansion......……. Read more
Business Tips
Flexibility makes us happier, with 3 clear trends emerging in post-pandemic hybrid work
The first national study of working arrangements in Australia since government work-from-home directions were lifted shows post-pandemic office life is going to be dramatically different to what existed before. Employers take note..…… Read more
How do I improve my motivation to exercise when I really hate it? 10 science-backed tips
Throughout most of human history, food was scarce and being active wasn’t a choice. For millennia, humans had to move to find food, and once they were fed, they rested to conserve energy, because they didn’t know where their next meal was coming from. Yet, being physically inactive is terrible for our health. A meta-analysis published in prestigious medical journal The Lancet found physical inactivity is associated with a 30-40% increased risk of colon cancer, 30% increased risk of breast cancer, 20-60% increased risk of type 2 diabetes, and a 30-50% higher risk of premature death, compared with being physically active...……Read more
How Futurists Cope With Uncertainty
Paul: A very good description of a tool I use all the time although I call it Quick and Dirty Scenarios or Deductive Scenarios rather than Amy’s term of Axes of Uncertainty...…. Read more
Showing Your Solar Power System Some Love With Servicing
Energy Safe Victoria’s campaign recommends a professional service be carried out every 2 years. SolarQuotes founder Finn recommends every 5 years in a circumstance where a good quality installation has been performed....……Read more
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