What's Emerging mid-June 2023
A newsletter on interesting stuff that is emerging around the world so you can think about strategy.
Welcome to our mid-June newsletter
In the next few weeks, Paul will continue working on a large foresight and strategic planning program for RSL Victoria and a strategic board review with a health sector foundation.
He will also be convening a group to look at experiments in futures thinking using new AI models to generate questions rather than answers. An approach beyond the current ChatGPT hysteria. Places will be limited, so please contact us if you wish to participate. First come, first served.
Paul will also be continuing his work in his position as Chair of Social Venture Partners Melbourne, which supports innovative not-for-profit startups to scale their operations through engaged philanthropy.
After an extremely busy start to the year, he will also be taking a couple of weeks off.
If you are interested in talking to us about any of these approaches, please Contact Us.
The Emergent Futures Team
In case you missed it. The most popular link from the last edition:
Lawyer cites fake cases invented by ChatGPT, judge is not amused
A lawyer asked ChatGPT for examples of cases that supported an argument they were trying to make. ChatGPT, as it often does, hallucinated wildly—it invented several supporting cases out of thin air. When the lawyer was asked to provide copies of the cases in question, they turned to ChatGPT for help again—and it invented full details of those cases, which they duly screenshotted and copied into their legal filings.........…..Read more
What are we Writing About?
As all work in the last two weeks has been private, and Paul has been on leave we have nothing in this section this edition.
What’s Emerging
‘Almost magical’: chemists can now move single atoms in and out of a molecule’s core
An explosion of skeletal editing methods to insert, delete or swap individual atoms in molecular backbones could accelerate drug discovery..…..Read More
VOLARIS LAUNCHES NEW FLIGHT SUBSCRIPTION DEAL
The Mexican ultra-low-cost airline Volaris announced Wednesday the launch of an annual subscription service that allows travelers to enjoy unlimited one-way flights to all the airlines’ destinations for a discounted introductory fee of $400. Seats in the program are based on availability. Subscribers will be able to book domestic flights one day before departure and international flights three days before departure, up until a few hours before takeoff...…..Read More
Astronomers discover rare planet that resembles fictional Star Wars planet Tatooine
One of the most exciting things about BEBOP-1c is that it's a circumbinary planet. Unlike planets in our solar system, planets in circumbinary systems revolve around two stars instead of one..........……. Read more
Massive autonomous robot is 3 to 5 times faster than a human construction crew
California-based startup Built Robotics has unveiled a huge autonomous construction robot that speeds up the creation of utility-scale solar farms — accelerating the transition to a clean energy future and making workers safer, too.......……. Read More
Quantum physics proposes a new way to study biology – and the results could revolutionize our understanding of how life works
Imagine using your cellphone to control the activity of your own cells to treat injuries and disease. It sounds like something from the imagination of an overly optimistic science fiction writer. But this may one day be a possibility through the emerging field of quantum biology......…..Read more
DRONE FLIES FOR FIVE HOURS WITH HYDROGEN FUEL CELL
Multirotor drones have become a regular part of daily life, serving as everything from camera platforms to inspection tools and weapons of war. The vast majority run on lithium rechargeable batteries, with corresponding limits on flight time. A company called Hylium hopes to change all that.........…..Read more
City in Sierra Leone covers buildings in mirrors to fight extreme heat
People in Freetown, Sierra Leone, are increasingly exposed to extreme heat due to climate change and the urban heat island effect, but covering homes in a reflective film significantly cut indoor temperatures........….. Read more
Another major insurer is halting new policy sales in California
Allstate, one of the nation's largest insurance companies, has joined State Farm in deciding to halt sales of property and casualty coverage to new customers in California, saying it's too pricey to underwrite policies in the state which has seen thousands of natural disasters in recent years. Allstate was the fourth-largest insurer in California, according to the most recent 2021 state data. It earned $4.3 billion in premiums that year and incurred $2.6 billion in losses....…. Read more
New biocomputing method uses enzymes as catalysts for DNA-based molecular computing
In new research published in Nature Communications, a team of researchers at the University of Minnesota has developed a platform for a third method of biocomputing: Trumpet, or Transcriptional RNA Universal Multi-Purpose GatE PlaTform.......…..Read more
US admins give green light to gene-edited pig sausages for human consumption
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved CRISPR-modified pig meat to be turned into sausages ready for human consumption. The meat, or rather the pigs that were slaughtered to provide it, was genetically modified by researchers at Washington State University.............….. Read more
Chinese scientists produce desalination-free hydrogen from seawater
Working with seawater to make hydrogen can be challenging due to its complex composition of microorganisms and suspended particles. This can result in low electrolysis efficiency and equipment lifespan. The Chinese team, however, utilized an innovative new hydrogen production technology process that forms the platform's beating heart. The nuts and bolts were previously published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature in November 2022. Paul: This is important if we are going to use significant amounts of hydrogen in the future (and I am sceptical about the more bullish forecasts). Recently worked with a water company concerned that hydrogen production could impact on their fresh water supply if customers rejected recycled water.........….….Read more
Toyota’s Newly Revealed EV Plans Include 900-Mile Batteries
Toyota has been under constant fire from environmentalists and shareholders in the previous 12 months because of its feet-dragging approach to the electrification of its lineup. But now it’s fighting back with an ambitious plan that envisions EVs with over 600 miles (965 kilometers) of range from 2026 and around 900 miles (1,448 km) on a single charge after 2028. Paul: How much is hype and PR and how much will be delivered remains to be seen.….…Read more.
China's installed non-fossil fuel electricity capacity exceeds 50% of total
Non-fossil fuel power sources, such as wind and solar power, account for 50.9% of the country's total installed capacity, marking the early completion of a government target proposed in 2021, under which renewable capacity was planned to exceed fossil fuel capacity by 2025.……...…Read more.
Researchers create new robotic bee with full freedom of movement
The Bee++, a new insect-sized robot, has the full six degrees of movement that a real insect has. At just 95mg and possessing a 33mm wingspan, the bee robot is still larger than your average bee by a factor of nearly ten, but it's an important step in the development of functional robots at this scale, and one of the biggest hurdles to their development has been cleared...............…Read more.
Business Tips
Gmail will help you write your emails now: How to access Google's new AI tool
Originally announced by the company's CEO, Sundar Pichar, during Google I/O in May, Help Me Write is a feature that leverages generative AI to create emails from a prompt within the new message window. ...…..read more.
'Smart drugs' make you worse at solving complex problems, new study finds
Users expended more cognitive effort and showed more frantic activity, but in general the drugs made their output worse. ……Read more
Generational stereotypes can do harm in the workplace — here's how to avoid them
Generational profiling implies homogeneity across age groups that doesn't exist, argues Kristi DePaul, CEO of marketing agency Founders. "It's a really convenient way to put people in boxes. People … are so diverse and complex, it's really difficult to try to consider what someone else's perspective might be. When you're able to put people into a cohort, whether or not that cohort actually exists, it helps people to make assumptions about how others will behave and what they prioritise." Paul: I have long argued that the generational labels make a great marketing tool for selling books or workshops but they are not much more than that...…. Read More
Fridays Off? Fewer Meetings? 10 Tips for Nonprofits to Test a 4-Day Week
“We can’t compete on wages” with businesses, says Adam Jespersen, associate director of the Montana Nonprofit Association. A four-day week, he adds, is the equivalent of a 20 percent raise …... Read More (free signup required)
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