What's Emerging mid-August 2024
A newsletter on interesting stuff that is emerging around the world so you can think about strategy.
Welcome to our mid-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.
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?
As Paul has been away skiing and in catch up mode since he returned there is nothing in this section this edition.
What’s Emerging
In partnership with Chipotle, Vebu has unveiled a new avocado processing cobot called Autocado
This device automates the cutting, coring, and scooping of avocados before they are hand-mashed to create the restaurant’s signature guacamole.........…..Read More
How decline of Indian vultures led to 500,000 human deaths
Once upon a time, the vulture was an abundant and ubiquitous bird in India. The scavenging birds hovered over sprawling landfills, looking for cattle carcasses. Sometimes they would alarm pilots by getting sucked into jet engines during airport take-offs. But more than two decades ago, India’s vultures began dying because of a drug used to treat sick cows. By the mid-1990s, the 50 million-strong vulture population had plummeted to near zero because of diclofenac, a cheap non-steroidal painkiller for cattle that is fatal to vultures, then………. Paul: your monthly reminder of the interconnected nature of things ......….….Read more
American Vending Machines Are Selling Bullets Using Facial Recognition
A growing number of supermarkets in Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas are selling bullets by way of AI-powered vending machines, as first reported by Alabama's Tuscaloosa Thread. The company behind the machines, a Texas-based venture dubbed American Rounds, claims on its website that its dystopian bullet kiosks are outfitted with "built-in AI technology" and "facial recognition software," which allegedly allow the devices to "meticulously verify the identity and age of each buyer."......…..Read More
Commonwealth Bank stops lending to fossil fuel companies without genuine emissions plan
The real-world effects of the bank's new policy could be put to the test as soon as next week, with a major gas loan reportedly being signed off without CBA at the table. Last year, the bank announced from 2025 it would not provide loans to any coal, oil, or gas companies that did not have a transition plan in line with the Paris goals to avoid dangerous warming. This week's report shows that it is applying that policy early...........…..Read More
Samsung shows off new solid state EV battery, with over 600 miles range
The new pack manages an energy density of 500Wh/kg – near double that of a conventional lithium-ion EV battery’s 270Wh/kg. This will be good for a range of up to 1,000km per charge (over 600 miles). Samsung SDI has pinned 2027 as the date that its solid state batteries will go into mass production, which will be initially aimed at the ‘super premium’ segment.......……. Read More
Ride a bus, take a package with you – how crowdshipping reduces the impacts of millions of deliveries
With the rise in e-commerce, 161 billion parcels were delivered worldwide in 2022, doubling in just four years. In Australia, more households are shopping online than ever before. In 2023, 5.6 million households made a monthly online purchase. This implies millions of parcels are being shipped each month........……. Read More
Xiaomi's self-optimizing autonomous factory will make 10M+ phones a year
The 80,000-square-meter (860,000-sq-ft) facility, located in the Changping district on the northeast outskirts of Beijing, follows a pilot smart factory in Yizhuang, which produced about a million units a year of the company's Mix Fold smartphone........…..Read more
The virus that causes COVID-19 is widespread in wildlife, Virginia Tech scientists find
Six of 23 common wildlife species showed signs of SARS-CoV-2 infections in an examination of animals in Virginia, as revealed by tracking the virus’s genetic code.....…..Read more
WPP and Nvidia Partner to Make 3D Ads Using Gen AI
Coca-Cola and Ford are using the new tools to make ads more quickly, accurately and efficiently.......….. Read more
Indonesians turning to rental partner services to cope with loneliness
Twenty-two-year-old Florencia Ghea Priscilla, known as Florence, launched her rent-a-partner service, PinjemDoi, two years ago. Each week, she receives 200 to 300 "orders" from customers across Indonesia, requesting one of their 30 rental partners...……. Read more
Long COVID has cost the Australian economy billions in lost work hours, new research says
A new study has found about $9.6 billion was lost in economic productivity due to long COVID in 2022. Researchers say that represented about a quarter of Australia's real gross domestic product growth for that year..……. Read more
Harvard Scholars Suggest Pollsters Ask Questions to AI Simulations of Voters Because Real People Won't Answer The Phone
In a new editorial, a group of policy and computer science scholars from Harvard's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation insist that the already-unreliable system of polling can only be enhanced by asking AI chatbots poll questions instead of humans.........….….Read more
GE HealthCare taps Amazon Web Services to build generative AI for medical use
The company is collaborating with AWS to build models that clinicians can use to leverage data more efficiently across health-care operations, including within screenings, diagnoses, decision support and workflows like scheduling.........….…Read more.
Fully-automatic robot dentist performs world's first human procedure
The system, built by Boston company Perceptive, uses a hand-held 3D volumetric scanner, which builds a detailed 3D model of the mouth, including the teeth, gums and even nerves under the tooth surface, using optical coherence tomography, or OCT.……...… Read more.
Business and Other Tips
How Slowing Down Can Speed up Productivity (Plus 4 Ways to Slow Down)
We often find ourselves in the relentless pursuit of success—always striving to work faster and achieve more. In our quest to achieve better productivity, participating in hustle culture seems like the only viable path. But what if this approach is actually hindering your productivity and well-being?..… Read more.
How Futurists Cope With Uncertainty
A simple tool you can use to see plausible future states early. Paul: I use this tool all the time and taught it to a workshop just last week……….Read More
I’ve been sick. When can I start exercising again?
You’ve had a cold or the flu and your symptoms have begun to subside. Your nose has stopped dripping, your cough is clearing and your head and muscles no longer ache. You’re ready to get off the couch. But is it too early to go for a run? Here’s what to consider when getting back to exercising after illness..……….Read More
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