What's Emerging Mid-October 2022
A newsletter on interesting stuff that is emerging around the world so you can think about strategy
Welcome to our mid-October newsletter.
In the next few weeks, Paul will be continuing work with Save the Children on their strategic planning and commencing a project with the RSL on thinking about the future. He also continues to participate in a global research project led by Simon Wardley from the UK and is continuing a year-long foresight advisory role with Vision Australia. He will also be presenting to the CEO Institute Future CEOs Group on De-Risking Global Supply Chains as well as two other CEO Institute groups on Foresight for Practical 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.
The Emergent Futures Team
In case you missed it. The most popular link from the last edition:
The Best Packable Backpacks and Daypacks for Traveling Light
Paul: Those of you who know me will know that I am obsessed with never travelling with checked luggage. However, I always pack a foldable small carry bag in my carry-on luggage so I can walk around at my destination with a few small items. BTW my go to carry on bag is my Pakt One which is one of the best gifts anyone ever gave me. My iPad Pro goes in the special padded pocket.....…. Read more
What are we Writing About?
Paul’s presentation to the European Mapping Community Conference is now up after some technical problems.
What’s Emerging
Unauthorized Shein boutiques are popping up across Mexico
By gaming a competitive fast fashion e-commerce industry that has put traditional retailers out of business worldwide, Mexico’s Shein boutiques are capitalizing on the lack of trust in digital businesses and low connectivity rates in large parts of the country. Four Shein boutique in-store customers in the states of Puebla and Oaxaca told Rest of World why they prefer the in-store experience, even with the hassle of adding an extra step to an already streamlined delivery service..……read more
Global floating offshore wind pipeline doubles inside 12 months
A new report publishe by RenewableUK shows that the total pipeline of floating offshore wind projects has more than doubled in the past 12 months in terms of capacity worldwide, from 91GW a year ago to 185GW now..... Read More
China’ s industrial robots output surges 67.9% in 2021 with revenue of over $11.8 billion
China produced 366,000 industrial robots in 2021......……. Read more
The Clean Hydrogen Ladder [Now updated to V4.1]
Paul: as some may know I am generally sceptical about hydrogen and its uses and some of the grifting and carpetbagging that is going on around it. This is a good summary of what might and might not work that partially changed my mind..……read more
This Australian-designed spacesuit could help NASA take humans to Mars
Science fiction's solution to the lack of gravity in long-term space travel is usually some kind of massive centrifuge creating artificial gravity as it spins. It's a clever and elegant solution, but it is also probably a few trillion dollars and many, many decades away from becoming a reality. Until then work is underway on the next best thing — keeping astronauts in zero gravity but keeping their body (and mind) as healthy as possible. A team of Australian-based scientists has been working on a spacesuit that might be able to help..…..Read more
WHO and partners launch world's most extensive freely accessible AI health worker
The World Health Organization, with support from the Qatar Ministry of Health, launched the AI-powered WHO Digital Health Worker, Florence version 2.0, offering an innovative and interactive platform to share a myriad of health topics in seven languages at the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) in Qatar........…..Read more
Brain cells in dish taught to play Pong in experiment that could simplify research into epilepsy, dementia
Brain cells living in a dish have learned to play the tennis-like computer game Pong, and scientists plan to get them drunk next. The 800,000 brain cells were grown together by a Melbourne-led team of scientists who figured out how to stimulate them to perform goal-directed tasks..........….. Read more
Upset by high prices, GM's Cruise develops its own chips for self-driving cars
Cruise had developed four in-house chips so far - a computing chip called Horta, the main brains of the car, Dune which processes data from the sensors, a chip for the radar, and one that it would announce later....…. Read more
Fitbit integrates new technology linking people in recovery to caregivers
Boston-based behavior analytics company Pretaa announced Tuesday a partnership with Fitbit to give people battling drug addiction a data-driven support tool on their wrist. Pretaa has worked with Fitbit, the Google-owned wearables company, to build special support features into Fitbit’s products, such as the ability to call out to a clinical caregiver (or a friend, support group sponsor, or family member) if the user feels they’re in danger of relapsing.....…..Read more
Megadroughts helped topple ancient empires. There are traces of them in Australia’s past, and expect more to come
Megadroughts can last multiple decades – or even centuries – with occasional wet years offering only brief relief. Megadroughts can also be shorter periods of very extreme conditions...........….. Read more
Human neurons transplanted into a rat's brain influence its behaviour
Human neurons have been transplanted into the developing brains of young rats for the first time. The human neurons can control the rats’ actions and the technique could be used to test new psychiatric drugs...….….Read more
Could rooftop wind give rooftop solar a run for its money?
Aeromine Technologies says its motionless system, which was validated through joint research with Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque and Texas Tech University, easily installs on the edge of a building and can generate up to 50% more energy at the same cost as rooftop solar......…… Read More
PASSIVE COOKING for Pasta
Passive Cooking is an alternative way of cooking pasta that can reduce CO₂e* emissions by up to 80% compared to the traditional cooking method. Paul: This is a marketing push and is paired with a seemingly useless add on device, but I use passive cooking of pasta quite a lot, tied in one with one pot pasta dishes where you cook the “sauce” and then add the pasta in and turn off the heat........…. Read more
Google shows off KataOS, a secure operating system written in Rust
Smart devices need better security and Google thinks KataOS, written in the Rust programming language, could help......…. Read more
TikTok chases Amazon with plans for U.S. fulfillment centers
TikTok is planning to build its own product fulfillment centers in the U.S., creating an e-commerce supply chain system that could directly challenge Amazon, as indicated by more than a dozen new job openings posted in the past two weeks to LinkedIn.....……. Read more
Business Tips
Brisbane City Council releases new Flood Information Online tool
Brisbane City Council's new Flood Information Online tool provides an interactive online flood tool designed to make finding information easier. Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said about 1,100 ground surveys, 21 hydrology models and 21 hydraulic models were used to generate the new maps..…… Read more
For better or worse, asking for things is easier than you think
There are countless books on how to become powerful and influence others. But Vanessa Bohns, author of You Have More Influence Than You Think, isn't interested in how to acquire more power. Instead, she's curious about the influence we already have — and how we can use that influence more responsibly. Bohns' research shows us that people tend to be more agreeable than we think, and that while asking for things might be hard, so is saying "no.".……Read more
How to unlock the best Qantas seats using the ‘T-80’ rule
Want to snare a great seat at the front of the plane on your next Qantas flight but don’t have the Platinum or Gold status which unlocks those first few rows?There’s a simple and completely free way to gain access to the full Qantas seat map, and without paying extra for those better seats. Known as the Qantas T-80 rule, or sometimes just as the ‘Qantas seat selection hack’ it’s a favoured trick of savvy travellers.....…. Read more
Rest Isn’t the Opposite of Work
Rest is not the opposite of work. It's an integral piece of great work. Our best ideas don't come from working non-stop. Our best ideas show up when you take a shower, go for a walk, sleep, etc. Yet, when we need to get something done, our default instinct is to hustle harder, which leaves us feeling burned out and uninspired. It's time we stop utilizing rest as a last resort and instead recognize what a critical part rest plays in great work……..Read more
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