What's Emerging Mid-December 2021
A newsletter on interesting stuff that is emerging around the world so you can think about strategy
Welcome to our last newsletter for 2021. Our next edition will come out at the end of January.
In the next few weeks, Paul will continue working with a council on their community vision. Paul will also continue working in his role as advisor for foresight and strategy to Save the Children Australia 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 on the new project with Vision Australia on their 10 year vision and strategic planning and working with the General Melbourne Cemetery Trust on strategy.
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.
Stay safe out there. The Omicron variant plus more opening up will mark a whole new phase of the Pandemic and things might be a little tumultuous over the next few months.
Have a safe and happy Christmas and New Year break.
The Emergent Futures Team
In case you missed it. The most popular link from the last edition:
Distilled Thoughts on Hydrogen
This was the equal winner. If you want to understand where hydrogen may or may not fit in the energy transition over the coming years this is a good place to start.……Read more
What are we Writing About?
Paul has posted an article on the current debate over logistics and supply chains and the unintended consequences of what looks like a common sense solution. Go to our Home Page to look under our latest work to read it.
What’s Emerging
Why the demographic transition is speeding up
On November 24th India’s government declared that the country’s fertility rate had dropped to 2.0 children per woman. That is below the replacement rate—at which new births are sufficient to maintain a steady population—and puts India in the company of many richer economies. Indeed, fertility rates are now below replacement level in all four “ bric” countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), with the population probably falling in Russia and China…. read more
Stanford engineers create perching bird-like robot
With feet and legs like a peregrine falcon, engineers have created a robot that can perch and carry objects like a bird..…. Read more
Travel Agents Book Multiple Trips for Clients at Same Time to Hedge Against Covid Closures
That is is one way to deal with uncertainty….. Read more
How Shein beat Amazon at its own game — and reinvented fast fashion
Shein is now one of the world’s largest fashion companies, but little is known about its origins. ..…… Read more
Smart Ute project to begin drive testing in Dubbo
THE state's Central West is fast becoming a hub for driverless vehicles with the world's first driverless ute becoming a reality in the region…..Read more
Early exit for coal as National Electricity Market prepares for renewable future
Coal-fired power generators are expected to shut down nearly three times faster than previously anticipated and will have exited the National Electricity Market (NEM) entirely by 2043, according to an updated plan from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).....….. Read more
Living robots made in a lab have found a new way to self-replicate
The xenobots propel themselves by using tiny hair-like structures known as cilia. They have a tendency to spin in a corkscrew fashion, which "turns out to be pretty good for collecting piles of things," such as other cells, Blackiston says.
So the team used an artificial intelligence-driven computer simulation to see how they might manipulate the xenobots into shapes that would be even better at piling things up..…. Read more
A New Material Can Block Out 94% of Noise. Even in a Jet Engine
This new method is particularly useful in situations where thick heavy walls cannot be used like a jet engine's exhaust vent. Barricading a jet engine is not an option, so, the crew surrounding it wear earplugs to protect their hearing from the powerful roar instead. But, what if there was a way to allow the airflow of the jet engine while blocking the sound? Zhang and Ghaffarivardavagh invented an acoustic metamaterial that could do just that......….. Read more
Immersive Virtual Reality: A Safe, Scalable, Non-opioid Analgesic for Military and Veteran Patients
immersive virtual reality is proving to be an unusually effective non-pharmacologic analgesic that can be used in addition to traditional pain medications to help reduce acute pain, such as during painful medical procedures......…..Read more
Californian firm touts ‘mushroom leather’ as sustainability gamechanger
Vegan alternatives to leather could save more than just animals. The scientists behind fashion’s new latest must-have – the “mushroom leather” handbag – believe that mycelium, a material grown from fungi which can be engineered to look and feel like calfskin or sheepskin, could help save the planet......….….Read more
Amazon Patents “Anticipatory” Shipping — To Start Sending Stuff Before You’ve Bought It
Amazon has filed a patent for a shipping system designed to cut delivery times by predicting what buyers are going to buy before they buy it — and shipping products in their general direction, or even right to their door, before the sales click even (or ever) falls...…….Read more
Bugs across globe are evolving to eat plastic, study finds
The research scanned more than 200m genes found in DNA samples taken from the environment and found 30,000 different enzymes that could degrade 10 different types of plastic....…. Read more
AI connoisseurs are shaking up the prestigious wine industry.
A range of palette-tested robots are stepping up, updating wine tasting experiences with intuitive suggestions for a range of vintages. These AI sommeliers are pouring out precise recommendations for interested crowds.....…Read more
The Atlantic’s vital currents could collapse. Scientists are racing to understand the dangers
The system carries warm, shallow, salty water northward, transporting about 1.2 million gigawatts of heat energy across RAPID’s array of moorings at any moment. That’s equivalent to about 160 times the energy capacity of the entire world’s electricity system. The currents, which heat up the surrounding air as they travel northward, are a major factor (though not the only one) in why Western Europe is warmer than eastern Canada even though they lie at roughly the same latitude.....……. Read more
Business Tips
Figma’s FigJam is a whiteboard tool with a human touch
For years, people have been using the web-based collaborative platform Figma to brainstorm raw ideas, roughing them out in visual form as one might do on a conference-room whiteboard. They did so even though Figma—officially an interface design and prototyping tool—was never meant for that particular purpose. But when the company saw its customers embracing its product for whiteboarding, it put creating something optimized for the task on its to-do list...…… Read more
"Idea: An anonymous "vote to end meeting" button where if 50% of people press it, the meeting ends immediately."
Paul: Not really a business tip but worth wondering why do so many people just go “oh yes” when I mention this……Read more
Unsuck your next work meeting w/ Sam Spurlin
Paul: listened to this podcast on a recent walk and it really struck me as a good way to run action meetings..…. Read more
Flexi pipes are a cheap plumbing hardware for your home but could cost you thousands
Again , not a business tip as such but well worth looking at, especially before you go on holidays. Since January 2018, insurance company RACQ has received 9651 claims for water damage to homes, with burst pipes and hoses connected to dishwashers and taps a common cause of those claims. Spokeswoman Kirsty Clinton said the average cost of flexi hose related claims rings in at $14,145..……Read more
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