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- “Molecular Coffee”In Lifestyles and the EnvironmentJanuary 28, 2022I agree. A lot of resources are overused and therefore becoming scarce, so we have to become creative and think “outside-of-the-box” to continue feeding and catering to billions of people need’s. Ohhhh yessss.... let me begin! 20 years ago: I immediately had to think of vinyls (which are now old style and vintage)and walkmans. Now: Smartphones. It developed fast with the iPods, radio, CD players, cassettes, etc. 20 years in the future: I believe we will carry fewer products and maybe have the “product” integrated into us. Then, we can for example change the music via our thoughts. Maybe we will be able to listen to music via Tattoos. I have to think about Neil Harbisson, the first government recognises cyborg who can listen to colours through his implanted antenna as he is color blind. Maybe you can also post this game in one of the groups because this is really fun and I think exciting for others to play as well!11
- What if large scale technical interventions fail? What if new technologies developed will not be promising enough?In Climate & GeoengineeringJuly 29, 2022This question is going to be investigated further at this year's conference on "Large-Scale Scientific Experiments" in Karlsruhe, Germany. Description: This symposium aims to focus on risks of epistemic failure and of potential harms arising from large-scale scientific research as well as on the ways to deal with these risks. Special focus on Climate Engineering: Large-scale experiments in many cases have strong implications for even larger complex systems. This is especially evident in the field of climate engineering which usually deals with experiments that affect the whole globe or large parts of it. Visit the website for more information on the conference: International Conference on Large-Scale Experiments - Reflecting on Theories and Practices (8-10 December 2022): Overview · Indico - Veranstaltungsplaner (Indico) (uni-wuppertal.de)11
- The 'BusKill' USB Cord Protects Laptop Data in the Event of TheftIn General AIJanuary 19, 2022I always have such a USB adapter in my purse, although I never go anywhere :D11
- Shrinking cities - a threat?In SandboxJanuary 27, 2022Looking at Berlin (and Potsdam), I can hardly imagine shrinking. I always have the feeling that people are standing outside the gates with their suitcases packed, waiting to move in finally. At the same time, there are not fewer people. They live somewhere else, outside the cities, need resources and infrastructure. I don't think that solves the problem. It's just postponed.11
- The Rise of A.I. Fighter PilotsIn General AIJanuary 20, 2022hello all, just joined the group and been checking the posts. Have been involved in a few projects related to EMobility ( EVs) and special designed industrial drones. I say that autonomous vehicles are more than ready and waiting for the ecosystem and the regulations, whereas "flying cars" ( actually bigger drones looking lake cars) are already in the air and be operating soon. So my question is, can we relate these technologies and ask this question about autonomous vehicles : Can the technology be trusted ? Or is it too scary because it is on warplanes or in sci-fi movies. Your comments are much appreciated.11
- Slowly getting serious about solar geoengineeringIn Climate & Geoengineering·February 21, 2023The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is looking into understanding reflective particles in the stratosphere, and their effects. Could solar geoengineering cool the planet? U.S. gets serious about finding out | Science | AAAS1129
- Global Hydrogen Trade to Meet the 1.5°C Climate Goal: Green Hydrogen Cost and PotentialIn Hydrogen·June 20, 2022"Hydrogen is an essential component of a net zero energy system and has a key role to play in decarbonising sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as heavy industry and long-haul transport. Vast green hydrogen potential exists around the world, equating to more than 20 times global primary energy demand in 2050. However, the potential within specific countries or regions depends on the land available. This report estimates the potential for green hydrogen production as a function of land availability, considering exclusion zones such as protected areas, forests, wetlands, urban centres, slope and water scarcity. It forms part of a series of three reports focusing on global hydrogen trade in a 1.5°C scenario in 2050. The higher cost of green hydrogen compared to fossil fuels has posed a significant challenge to the deployment of green hydrogen. Various time horizons and scenarios are therefore explored in this report. In the most optimistic scenario, production costs could reach levels of USD 0.65/kgH2 by 2050 in the best locations, while reaching levels of USD 1.15/kgH2 in less optimistic cost assumptions." https://www.irena.org/publications/2022/May/Global-hydrogen-trade-Cost1132
- Flu, cancer, HIV: after Covid success, what next for mRNA vaccines?In The Future of Health·December 8, 2021"It is one of the most remarkable success stories of the pandemic: the unproven technology that delivered the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines in record time, helping to turn the tide on Covid-19. The vaccines are based on mRNA, the molecule that instructs our cells to make specific proteins. By injecting synthetic mRNA, our cells are turned into on-demand vaccine factories, pumping out any protein we want our immune system to learn to recognise and destroy." Source: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/nov/01/flu-cancer-hiv-after-covid-success-what-next-for-mrna-vaccines #Vaccine #mRNA #HIV #Flu #Cancer1110
- Introduce yourselfIn WelcomeJanuary 24, 2022Hi I am Thomas Kramer from the South of the Netherlands. I am founder of artists of space, a company that wants to create space for human growth. My background is mainly in vocational education as a teacher and educational designer. I am hosting the Futures of Talent open space at Futures Space and doing reasearch with a group from the Dutch Future Society on the Future of Thruth. One of the main challenges will be how we leave this earth behind for our childern and their childrens children.50
- The Digital Transition: the big disruptions are yet to comeIn Transhumanist Revolutions·January 10, 2022What is the digital transition? I set off for this post aiming to l share some resources for thinking about the EU narratives on the digital transition - beyond the pages where this narrative is exposed: A Europe fit for the digital age | European Commission (europa.eu). The digital transition is at the same time a project and a phenomenon which is seen as key for the economy, society, sustainability, environment and climate. What kind of futures inform this view? The ideal place to start would have been the Futurium - an on-line platform for constructing digital futures that was established by DG CNECT about a decade ago. However the platform has recently been archived (Your Voice, Our Future | Futurium (europa.eu). Hence, I thought I would create a post based on the 2014 contribution of the Futurium to the foresight towards the 2nd Strategic Programme of Horizon 2020 titled "the big disruptions are yet to come". The Digital Transition: the big disruptions are yet to come Modern electronic communications and online services, including e-government, are important economic sectors in their own right but they are also crucial levers of growth and productivity for the economy as a whole. Lower investment in and use of ICT in Europe, accounts for a large part of the labour productivity gap between the EU and the US. EU investment in state-of-the-art communications infrastructure is also lagging behind that of its main competitors, especially as regards mobile infrastructure. The average mobile data speed in the EU is half of that of the US,17 and Europe has only 6% of the world's 4G mobile subscriptions. In South Korea, 58% of households are connected by fibre to the home, but only 5% in Europe. 54% of European households have access to next generation networks, able to deliver 30 Mbps. In the new, data-based economy, European companies are almost absent from the value chain. Our society, our lives and our economies are being transformed as precision agriculture increases productivity and environmental efficiency, robots continue to revolutionise industry but also mining and aquacultures, and advanced automation finds its way into services. Yet, there is a sense that we are only scratching the surface and the big changes are yet to come. This sense is enhanced when looking into the future contained in “the Futurium”. There are two overlapping processes of integration driven by ICT that pose different sets of issues, challenges, threats and opportunities. The first is the integration of individual people and things in patterns of behaviour which transcend the boundaries of “organizations” as we know them in their legal and physical existence, as can be illustrated by the current on-line social networks. For some, this is only the beginning. Looking into the Futurium, the vision illustrated by the movie "The Matrix" is no longer totally fictional. The internet will soon connect bits and atoms at the speed of light. Its algorithms will orchestrate zillions of smart objects, which will share zettabytes of data every day, thus bridging the physical and virtual worlds instantaneously. Prediction and decision will be easier and faster than ever, based on scientific evidence and people’s aspirations. The integration of individual people and things will evolve. People and objects will have a complete and accurate digital image in the virtual space incorporating all the senses and functions, while at the same-time it will be infinitely malleable, storable, copy-able etc. as digital objects are. The “matrix” as a social space would have massive implications for society in the physical world, for example, as digital communities form and may compete with, or reinforce, community relations based on physical social contact. The second process of integration s between the virtual and the physical world. Interactions between the physical and the virtual world will be facilitated massively by advances in materials and biological sciences and the penetration of 3D printers in society. Human bodies may benefit from artificial parts. New materials may allow the production of soft robots with organic tissues. Artificial and human intelligence may combine and reinforce each-other with totally unpredictable results. Kurzweil[1] argues that the rate of technological progress will grow exponentially. In a few decades, we could be able to enhance our cognitive and physical capabilities with bio-technological add-ons. Robots and cyborgs will perform complex tasks and could take over all routine jobs, from agriculture to construction, from office to industrial automation. The possibilities to apply pre-birth prevention and regenerate and repair organs as needed would enable us to live longer and healthier. We will be able to learn, work and play "from the cradle to the grave". While these are seen as possible long term scenarios, they have massive disruptive potential, and some aspects of them are already visible. First, there is a dislocation of the person from their physical and social surroundings through on-line communities. Second, there are the various technological augmentations of the human body not necessarily confined to medical purposes but possibly extended to applications in leisure and sport, from prostheses to wearable systems. Third, there is the transformation in knowledge creation and creativity that results from the increasing automation of research and innovation. This automation increases massively the productivity of research (at least in terms of data production), changes the balance between labour and capital in the production of knowledge (on the one hand making science more dependent on infrastructures but on the other enabling individuals to generate much more knowledge with much less work than before), and there changes the thresholds of acceptable contributions to knowledge (on the one hand leading to the emergence of citizens-science and fully autonomous machine-creativity, on the other hand underpinning changes to education and scientific institutions). The development of sensors, for example, is already revolutionizing observation based sciences like biology and meteorology. [1] Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity is Near, Penguin Group, 20055079
- Introduce yourselfIn WelcomeFebruary 4, 2022Bonjour ! I am a senior officer at French ministry of higher education, research and innovation. My background is mainly in physical sciences, in tech transfert (and industrial property rights), international scientific cooperation and public policies in science and technology. Even if my background is limited in foresight, my expectations to share some French outlooks and learn from other participants are great ! Christophe40
- Introduce yourselfIn WelcomeJanuary 26, 2022Good Morning, I am Kazim from İstanbul, have been working as Futurist, Strategic Foresight Practitioner, Transformation and Change Facilitator besides being an active Board Member of Futurists Association in Turkey. Futures Thinking, Future Literacy, Future Readiness for the industry and society are my main working areas. I also dedicate much time to work with children and youth on futures thinking studies through specially designed training programs. Dear Erika, I could not agree more with what you said in the introduction about your passion, this is exactly what I am doing too :) Background is Business Administration, Management, Futures Studies. been active in various business areas almost for 40 years working in numerous geographic territories, still learning and trying to see beyond the horizon.40
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