What's Emerging mid-April 2024
A newsletter on interesting stuff that is emerging around the world so you can think about strategy.
Welcome to our mid-April Newsletter
In the next few weeks Paul will be working on the strategy consultation process with RSL Victoria and working with a Melbourne Council. He will also continue working with the SEGRA Foundation and present to an economic development conference in Western Australia. He will also continue in his role of venture philanthropy organisation Social Venture Partners Melbourne that is conducting a wide-ranging strategy review in March (just completed - stand by for news from that).
If you are interested in talking to us about any of our strategy approaches, foresight approaches, workshops, or conference presentations for next year, please Contact Us.
The Emergent Futures Team
In case you missed it. The most popular link from the last edition was:
Only walking for exercise? Here’s how to get the most out of it
Walking is cost-effective, doesn’t require any special equipment or training, and can be done with small pockets of time. Preliminary research shows there are ways to incorporate strength-training components into walking to improve your muscle strength and balance.……Read More
What are we Writing About?
Due to the Easter break and Paul having two weeks off in March there is nothing in this section this edition.
What’s Emerging
China successfully tests maglev trains in vacuum tube, eyeing future speeds of 4,000 kph
The magnetic-levitation (or maglev) train can clock speeds of 623 kph in tests — almost 200 kph quicker than the fastest train in service..........…..Read More
University of Miami and 1Print Join Forces to Commercialize SEAHIVE® Technology
The agreement grants 1Print an exclusive license and sublicense to manufacture with advanced 3D concrete printers and distribute technology developed by the University of Miami. The collaborative effort aims to bring SEAHIVE® technology to a global audience, with a focus on applications such as seawalls, breakwaters, and artificial reefs.........…..Read More
ARENA award Jupiter Ionics $2.5 million grant
The grant will be used to improve the cost-competitiveness of Jupiter Ionics’ technology, which uses renewable energy, air, and water to make ammonia..........…..Read More
New York City welcomes robotaxis — but only with safety drivers
New York City announced a new permitting system for companies interested in testing autonomous vehicles on its roads, including a requirement that a human safety driver sit behind the steering wheel at all times.............……. Read more
2024 Zeekr 001 sets DC fast charging record – 546 kW peak, 10-80% SoC in 11.5 min; 432 km range in 10 min
In a video posted by Zeekr on its official Weibo account, a 001 fitted with a 95-kWh CATL Shenxing lihitum iron phosphate (LFP) battery took just 11 minutes and 28 seconds to get from a 10-80% state of charge (SoC) while plugged into the company’s V3 supercharger that can deliver 600 kW........……. Read More
222 nm far-UVC light markedly reduces the level of infectious airborne virus in an occupied room
Using four 222-nm fixtures installed in the ceiling, and staying well within current recommended regulatory limits, far-UVC reduced airborne infectious MNV by 99.8% (95% CI: 98.2–99.9%). Similar to previous room-sized bioaerosol chamber studies on far-UVC efficacy, these results suggest that aerosolized virus susceptibility is significantly higher in room-scale tests than in bench-scale laboratory studies .....…..Read more
Casein… from potatoes? Molecular farming startup Finally Foods emerges from stealth
While several companies are now engineering microbes to produce animal proteins via precision fermentation, Finally Foods and others in the emerging ‘plant molecular farming’ space argue that the unit economics of growing some of these high-value proteins in genetically engineered plants—which require less CapEx and OpEx—can be more favorable.........…..Read more
A 20-year ‘mega-drought’ in Australia? Research suggests it’s happened before – and we should expect it again
This new research shows mega-droughts in Australia are possible – even without the influence of climate change. They are a natural part of Australian rainfall variability over the long term. This finding is supported by evidence drawn from ice cores, which suggests a 39-year drought gripped eastern Australia around 800 years ago.......….. Read more
90-GWh thermal energy storage facility could heat a city for a year
The project has a total volume of 1.1 million cubic meters (38.85 million cubic feet), including processing facilities, and will be built into the city's bedrock at around 100 m (330 ft) below ground – though the deepest parts of the setup could go down as far as 140 m. Three caverns will be created, each measuring 300 m (984.25 ft) in length, 40 m (131.2 ft) in height and 20 m (65.6 ft) in width. These will be filled with hot water by a pair of 60-MW electric boilers, powered by renewables when it's cheap to do so. Pressure within the space allows for temperatures to get as high as 140 °C (284 °F) without the water boiling over or steaming away.……. Read more
Australia's largest hydrogen electrolyser manufacturing facility opens in central Queensland
Australia's largest hydrogen electrolyser manufacturing facility has opened in Queensland. The Gladstone Electrolyser Facility will be the first manufacturing facility in Australia to build electrolysers at a commercial scale and cements the industrial city as Australia's hydrogen capital. An electrolyser produces hydrogen by using electricity to split water (H2O) into its component parts.……. Read more
China Already Makes as Many Batteries as the Entire World Wants
As the US ramps up its efforts to onshore the lithium-ion battery supply chain, an uncomfortable truth is emerging: The world is awash in battery manufacturing capacity, and it’s going to make life very difficult for new entrants. BloombergNEF estimates that lithium-ion battery demand across EVs and stationary storage came in at around 950 gigawatt hours last year. Global battery manufacturing capacity was more than twice that, at close to 2,600 GWh. China’s battery production in 2023 alone was similar to global demand.............….….Read more
Fusion Tech Finds Geothermal Energy Application
The upper 10 kilometers of the Earth’s crust contains vast geothermal reserves, essentially awaiting human energy consumption to begin to tap into its unstinting power output—which itself yields no greenhouse gasses. And yet, geothermal sources currently produce only three-tenths of one percent of the world’s electricity. This promising energy source has long been limited by the extraordinary challenges of drilling holes that are deep enough to access the intense heat below the Earth’s surface. Now, an MIT spin-off says it has found a solution in an innovative technology that could dramatically reduce the costs and timelines of drilling to fantastic depths. Quaise Energy, based in Cambridge, Mass., plans to deploy what are called gyrotron drills to vaporize rock using powerful microwaves...........….….Read more
Bat species assemblage predicts coronavirus prevalence
Broadly, bat species vary in CoV competence, and highly competent species are more common in less diverse communities, leading to increased CoV prevalence in less diverse bat assemblages. In line with the One Health framework, this work supports the notion that biodiversity conservation may be the most proactive measure to prevent the spread of pathogens with zoonotic potential.......….…Read more.
CSIRO survey finds most Australians want moderately paced energy transition and are unwilling to pay more
A majority of Australians want the transition towards renewable energy to happen at a "moderate" pace and most are unwilling to accept higher bills to pay for it, according to a major survey by the country's top scientific organisation...… Read more.
The Deodorant AI Spokesmodel Is a Real Person, Sort Of
In December of last year, Ariel, a 24-year-old content creator in New Jersey, received a message from a French digital-marketing company called Arcads. Ariel makes her living doing marketing videos for brands, who hire her through platforms like Fiverr and Upwork. Arcads had a slightly different request. “They asked if I’d be willing to take part in their AI technology campaign,”.……...… Read more.
Business and Other Tips
How to game Qantas’ new frequent flyer program
This new program sits – value-wise – between the two existing ones. Here are the relative points exchanges:
Classic Rewards – it varies depending on the cash fare, but you will get value from 2 to 5 cents per point. This is by far the highest-value program, but there are far fewer available seats – just five million across all partner airlines worldwide.
Classic Plus – economy fares give 1 cent per point; business class is 1.5 cents. There are 20 million seats a year, so this is the most inexpensive way that is also widely accessible.
Points Plus Pay – usually about 0.6 cents per point. Although this is by far the worst value, it will be the only option if you don’t have enough points to fly....…..read more (Paul: Age subscription may be required. If you can’t access it and desperately want to then email us @ info@emergentfutures.com and we can arrange that you see it.
Treat your to-read pile like a river, not a bucket
this means treating your "to read" pile like a river (a stream that flows past you, and from which you pluck a few choice items, here and there) instead of a bucket (which demands that you empty it). After all, you presumably don't feel overwhelmed by all the unread books in the British Library – and not because there aren't an overwhelming number of them, but because it never occurred to you that it might be your job to get through them all.....…. Read More
Google Workspace gets new generative AI features, including an AI-powered video creation app
Google is adding new generative AI features to the Google Workspace suite of cloud-native productivity tools, including Docs, Sheets, and Slides, to further help its millions of professional users collaborate daily, the company announced at Google Cloud Next.……Read More
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