What's Emerging mid-October 2023
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 completing a strategic board review with a health sector foundation and presenting on the future of regional business investment in Albany. He will also be working with the I CAN network on the future of their online mentoring program, as well as exploring the business model for a new social enterprise he is thinking of establishing. He will also be continuing to work with RSL Victoria on implementing their new strategic plan.
Paul also has two new invite codes for the social media network Bluesky. Click on Contact Us below if you want to get one so you can explore that new space.
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:
‘Grey divorce’ is on the rise. But why are so many older couples calling it quits?
Figures released by the Australian Institute of Family Studies in March show more than one-quarter of the 56,244 divorces granted in 2021 involved couples who were married for 20 years or more, up from about one in five in the 1980s and 1990s. And while divorce rates dropped in other age demographics, there was an upward trend for all 50+ age groups getting divorced in 2021....…. Read more
What are we Writing About?
As none of our recent work is public, there is nothing in this section of this edition.
What’s Emerging
Report: Spotify is being used by criminal gangs to launder money in Sweden
Gang members take the money they make through criminal activity, including drug deals and contract killings, convert it into Bitcoin, and then pay for false Spotify streams of songs published by artists with ties to the gangs. They then take the money paid out by the platform having had it effectively cleaned in the process.........…..Read More
New Power Generator Produces Continuous Electricity From Natural Atmospheric Humidity
The team determined that the POM power generator can effectively collect the natural atmospheric humidity and produce continuous electrical signals by the uneven distribution and directional movement of ions. This work provides new ideas for the continuous use of low-value energy and a new research angle for polyoxometalate chemistry..........…..Read More
The global costs of extreme weather that are attributable to climate change
“We find that US$$ 143 billion per year of the costs of extreme events is attributable to climatic change. The majority (63%), of this is due to human loss of life. Our results suggest that the frequently cited estimates of the economic costs of climate change arrived at by using Integrated Assessment Models may be substantially underestimated”............……. Read more
ARS scientists develop ever-flowering fruit to feed astronauts
According to Dardick, most fruits that are key components of our diet, such as apples, pears, peaches, cherries, grapes, plums, raspberries, oranges, and bananas, grow on trees or vines that take years to grow. Many of these fruit trees also require long periods of cold annually to flower and renew their growth. To get from space farm to fork more quickly, Dardick’s team borrowed an idea from a common backyard garden staple, the tomato. ......……. Read More
Dutch feed additive Bovear cuts cattle methane emissions in Australian testing
A Dutch product is providing some tough competition for a methane-busting seaweed, asparagopsis, being developed in Australia to reduce emissions in cattle..........…..Read more
6x Tougher Than Kevlar: Spider Silk Is Spun by Genetically Modified Silkworms for the First Time
Chinese scientists have successfully synthesized spider silk from genetically modified silkworms, producing fibers far stronger than Kevlar. Published in the journal Matter, this groundbreaking study showcases a potential eco-friendly alternative to commercial synthetic fibers. The findings have vast implications, ranging from surgical sutures to innovations in the military, aerospace, and biomedical fields.........…..Read more
Nestlé, Danone and other major food companies commit to framework for regenerative agriculture
Food industry giants are aligning on a definition of regenerative agriculture as they face criticism for a lack of progress on efforts to address farming’s impact on climate. Paul: Lack of clarity over what the term regenerative farming means has frustrated people in the agriculture sector. Maybe this will help….....….. Read more
The UK has installed 50,000 public EV charge points, Zapmap reports
The 50,000th charging device was recently installed at a service station in Weston-super-Mare, marking a 68% increase in ultra-rapid charge points since September 2022. Simultaneously, the number of slow chargers rose by nearly 68%.....…. Read more
How drone submarines are turning the seabed into a future battlefield
As drone submarines or “uncrewed underwater vehicles” (UUVs) become cheaper, more common and more sophisticated, Australia’s 34,000km of coastline will face a significant future threat........…..Read more
Spotify’s AI Voice Translation Pilot Means Your Favorite Podcasters Might Be Heard in Your Native Language
Voice Translation for podcasts, a groundbreaking feature powered by AI that translates podcasts into additional languages—all in the podcaster’s voice. ...........….. Read more
Europe’s largest solar thermal energy plant opens in Belgium
Dutch packaging and materials manufacturer Avery Dennison has opened what it claims to be Europe’s largest concentrated solar thermal platform and storage unit at its factory in Turnhout, Belgium. The new thermal solar energy plant comprises 2,240 surface mirrors, with a peak energy yield of 2.7GWh thermal power. It also contains six thermal modules that store energy for when the sun isn’t shining. ........….….Read more
How BookTok trends are influencing what you read – whether you use TikTok or not
BookTok is a community on the social media app TikTok. Creators make short videos recommending, reviewing, or just generally chatting about books. This community has become one of the biggest on the platform and its hashtag (#BookTok) has been used on over 60 billion videos. BookTok’s influence over the publishing industry and what young people are reading is staggering.….…Read more.
The brain gets its own broadband: Electro-quasistatic fields enable broadband communication for brain implants
A research team at Purdue University recently introduced a new approach to enable communication between the human brain and computers via wireless neural implants. Their proposed approach, outlined in Nature Electronics, relies on a two-phase process that slowly unfolds in the brain, allows a small sensor implanted in the brain to sense and transfer information to a wearable headphone-shaped device, without disrupting the human body's physiological processes....……...… Read more.
500,000x Smaller Than a Human Hair: Game-Changing Electronic Sensor the Size of a Single Molecule
In a nationwide initiative, researchers led by Dr. Nadim Darwish from Curtin University, Professor Jeffrey Reimers from the University of Technology Sydney, Associate Professor Daniel Kosov from James Cook University, and Dr. Thomas Fallon from the University of Newcastle, have developed a piezoresistor that is about 500,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Dr. Darwish said they had developed a more sensitive, miniaturized type of this key electronic component, which transforms force or pressure to an electrical signal and is used in many everyday applications.....……...… Read more.
Business and Other Tips
Magnifier app rolls out for Pixel phones, and it's a fantastic leap in accessibility
Magnifier functions much like a camera app in that there's a capture button in the middle, a toggle button to switch between front and rear cameras, zoom in and out buttons – pinching also works – and a button to turn on the flashlight (side note, it has a brightness slider). But it's a vast improvement over just using your phone to zoom in......…..read more.
Airports are joining the work-from-anywhere party
If you’ve ever tried to take a work call while trapped at an airport, you know it’s the absolute worst. Constant overhead announcements, screaming children (and adults), and general chaos make it nearly impossible to get quality work done on the go.To solve for this, coworking companies are moving into airports to give flyers more space to concentrate. And they’re moving quickly — the number of airport workspaces has nearly doubled in the last year....…. Read More
Automate your workflow with Airtable
From sending notifications to orchestrating cross-functional work, Airtable automations are a powerful rules engine that can help you and your team stay connected. ……Read More
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