Daily Archives: June 13, 2020

What is to happen to society over the next decade? The Drum aims to find out by gathering some of the industrys leading futurists and innovators to offer their take on how the world will progress.

As part of The Drums Can-Do Festival, a live session will be held where Daniel Hulm, chief executive of Satalia, Lucie Greene, founder of Light Years and Emma Chiu, global director of Wunderman Thompson Intelligence will each offer their views on how business and society will evolve by the year 2030. Meanwhile Amy Kean, brand and innovation director for AndUs will distill their viewpoints as the futures analyst for the session.

This will be a unique opportunity for the industry to hear what could potentially develop across several themes over the coming years and help them plan ahead as a result.

Commenting on the session, Amy Kean said: Why are we all so addicted to the future? Because futurology places a bizarre line between fact and fiction. That accurate predictions will likely affect us, combined with the blue-sky intangibility of any of it happening any time soon provides a realistic fairytale that every industry has become obsessed with!

But 2030 isnt that far away, and in this session, we want to hear about plausible futures, stuff we can get our teeth into, and not just for the white middle classes, either.

Register here to join the session, which will be available to join live, and will be available on The Drum afterwards for those who cannot make it.

Other sessions planned for Can-Do will see The Drum hear from major live events organisations about how they have been impacted in recent months and how they aim to proceed, including Jon Ola Sand, executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest and head of live events for EBU/Eurovision; Guinness Book of Records SVP global brand strategy, Samantha Fay; and Oliver Davies, head of marketing and development for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

More speakers for The Drums Can-Do Festival can be found on the official registration page.

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Step into 2030: Join The Drum's futurist session to hear what the next decade holds - The Drum

June 12th 20__Jon Christian__Filed Under: Advanced Transport

Israel startup Urban Aeronautics announced this week that its partnering with hydrogen fuel cell maker HyPoint to devise a hydrogen-powered flying car.

And the sleek, retro design will look familiar to fans of the DeLorean Motor Company or anyone whos seen the 1985 time travel blockbuster Back to the Future, featuring one of the companys vehicles. Also, you know, it flies.

The view of the futuristic vehicle changes substantially depending on your angle.

From the side, the electrical vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle looks like a smoothed-down version of a DMC DeLorean but from above or below, its clear that the cars front and rear are taken up by two enormous fans that provide lift. Another apparent DeLorean allusion: though its unclear whether this version will include it, a previous design even included that vehicles iconic gull-wing doors.

READ MORE: Urban Aeronautics moves to hydrogen for its CityHawk eVTOL air taxi [New Atlas]

More on early life: Watch This Flying Taxi Soar Over a German City

Up Next__Scientists Claim to Have Recreated Earths First Life >>>

<<< Scientists Hunting For Signs of the Dark Age Before Stars Formed__Previously

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This Flying Car Looks Like the DeLorean From "Back to the Future" - Futurism

Theres another deadly virus brewing in the Northeastern United States.

Those words may be hard to hear, but theres some good news as well: youre extremely unlikely to catch it.

The eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus can cause a severe brain infection, and it can be transmitted through a mosquito bite, as OneZero reports.

As the virus name suggests, horses are particularly susceptible to infection. Theres a vaccine for horses but no specific treatment plan or approved human vaccine.

Luckily, transmission and infection are both extremely rare. Since it was first discovered in humans in 1938, there have been less than 100 cases in the US, according to OneZero.

In 2019, for instance, there were only 38 human cases recorded and 15 deaths in the US, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 95 percent of those bitten by EEE-carrying mosquitoes never end up developing an infection.

Those numbers couldnt be more different from the current coronavirus pandemic. The United States alone crossed the two million cases threshold this week, with over 1,000 people dying from COVID-19 related deaths every 24 hours.

But once infected, the EEE virus is deadly. Mortality rate is about 33 percent, according to the National Environmental Health Association. Those who survive will have to battle with sometimes crippling neurological impairments.

Scientists are also worried that with rising temperatures caused by global warming, the number of outbreaks of the virus appear to be on the rise in large part due to growing mosquito populations during prolonged summer periods, according to OneZero.

At the end of the day, despite the risks, its important not to take the EEE virus too far out of context.

We try our best to make people aware of the risks without sensationalizing, Catherine Brown, state epidemiologist at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, told OneZero. But there are still people who are so fearful of EEE that they kind of forget that there are other things going on in the world.

Visit link:
Bad News: Another Deadly Virus Is Spreading in the US - Futurism

Basilisk Stare

Amateur photographer Gaurav Agrawal had no idea his spectacular picture of St. Mary Lake in Glacier National Park, Montana could end up mercilessly crashing countless Android phones.

But if it was set as the wallpaper on smartphones running the Android 10 operating system, the phones started acting up, switching off and on repeatedly.

I didnt do anything intentionally, Agrawal told the BBC. Im sad that people ended up having issues.

The image, edited in Adobe Lightroom and uploaded to Flickr, didnt seem to cause any issues on iPhones. But thanks to a tiny snafu during the export of the image, Agrawal unintentionally turned his gorgeous landscape photo into an Android-killing threat.

So what the hell happened? Agrawal uploaded the image in RGB, a color model that Android 10 phones just couldnt cope with rather than the far more commonplace standard RGB (sRGB), as Twitter user Romain Guy explained. RGB is a color model, not a color space, Guy wrote.

A deep dive into the code on Twitter by Android developer Dylan Roussel revealed that the color space may just not be supported on certain devices.

I hoped my photograph would have gone viral for a good reason, but maybe thats for another time, Agrawal told the BBC.

READ MORE: How my photo ended up breaking Android phones [BBC]

More on Android: Google Just Admitted to Tracking Your Location Even When You Have the Settings Disabled

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This Guy Accidentally Took a Photo That Crashes Android Smartphones - Futurism

Flat Universe Society

According to precise new measurements of dark energy, scientists believe that our entire universe is totally flat.

By improving the way astronomers measure the impact of dark energy the force thought to be driving our universes expansion a team of University of Portsmouth scientists found that the universe may be spatially flat rather than shaped like a bubble. And in doing so, they may have solved a major astronomical debate.

Previously, scientists measured dark energy by tracking distant supernovae. Instead, the Portsmouth scientists looked at over a million galaxies and quasars, according to research published last week in the journal Physical Review Letters.

That data reportedly allows for a vastly improved understanding of how dark energy is pushing our universe outward. Therefore, it could finally settle the ongoing debate over the Hubble constant, a contested value that describes how rapidly the universe is expanding.

When scientists say the universe is flat, it doesnt necessarily mean it resembles an infinitely-expanding sheet of paper. More study,for instance, is needed to determine whether the universe could be bent into a torus a donut-like shape still considered flat by cosmological models.

This result shows the power of galaxy surveys to pin down the amount of dark energy and how it evolved over the last billion years, Portsmouth cosmologist Seshadri Nadathur said in a press release. Were making really precise measurements now and the data is going to get even better with new surveys coming online very soon.

READ MORE: Most Precise Tests of Dark Energy and Cosmic Expansion Yet Confirm the Model of a Spatially Flat Universe [University of Portsmouth]

More on the universe: The Universe May Loop Around Like an Old Video Game

Read more:
Scientists Claim the Universe Is Actually Flat - Futurism

Were keeping track of the latest news regarding the coronavirus in South Florida and around the state.

Check back for updates on COVID-19 throughout the day.

Post-coronavirus future in Florida is uncertain. Be flexible, futurist Amy Webb says

3 p.m.: With Florida schools reopening in the fall, youth sports and summer camps getting the OK to resume activity and local governments tip-toeing toward a sense of renewed normalcy, many Floridians ask: what should we expect as we look toward a post-pandemic world?

According to noted futurist Amy Webb, we should not only expect more uncertainty, but lean into it.

We expect today will be similar to tomorrow but amplified, she said during a Miami Herald subscriber-only discussion about the future of Florida after COVID-19. Theres a reluctance to see a world in which all decisions are certain.

Webb is a quantitative futurist and a professor of strategic foresight at the NYU Stern School of Business and Founder of the Future Today Institute. She is also the author of The Signals Are Talking: Why Todays Fringe Is Tomorrows Mainstream, which explains how to forecast emerging technology.

Read the full article here.

Cuba announces reopening plan citing fewer cases of COVID-19. Airports to remain closed

1:25 p.m.: Airports will remain closed during the first phase of a reopening plan presented by Cuban government officials. Tourists will be first allowed to book hotels in the Cuban keys, with no nationals on site.

As of Thursday, health authorities reported 2,219 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 84 deaths. No deaths were reported for several days, but the virus seems to be lingering in Havana, where more than 150 people got infected in several local outbreaks.

Read the .

Florida reports record high 1,902 new coronavirus cases, one day after previous record

12:25 p.m.: Floridas Department of Health on Friday morning confirmed a new daily record high of 1,902 additional cases of COVID-19 surpassing the previous high of confirmed cases by 204, which was reported just a day earlier.

That put the states total number of confirmed cases at 70,971 since the pandemic began in March.

Twenty-nine deaths were also announced, raising the statewide death toll to 2,877.

Read the .

Hard Rock Stadiums COVID-19 testing site is closing early for maintenance, officials say

11:25 a.m.: Hard Rock Stadiums free COVID-19 drive-thru testing site in Miami Gardens will be closing early Friday for maintenance, officials say.

The drive-thru site offers free COVID-19 testing to anyone older than 18, regardless of symptoms and also offers free antibody testing to anyone older than 18.

Officials say the test site will be closing at 1 p.m. Friday for maintenance but wont be closed for long.

Read the .

Republican convention COVID-19 precautions yet to be decided, Jacksonville mayor says

10:55 a.m.: Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry discussed details of the citys plan to host President Donald Trumps nomination acceptance speech hours after the Republican National Committee announced it was moving the event from Charlotte to Florida. Precautions to avoid the spread of the novel coronavirus in Jacksonville during the festivities will be in place this August, but its not yet decided what that will require, the mayor said Friday morning.

Read the .

South Florida casinos, arcades, museums begin reopening but with new COVID-19 rules

10:40 a.m.: A new wave of businesses are reopening or soon will in South Florida as governments relax COVID-19 restrictions, including some casinos like Magic City, museums like Artechouse Miami, bowling alleys and arcades in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

Read the .

COVID-19 numbers trending up since reopening

9 a.m.: Known Florida COVID-19 cases are increasing, data shows. Positive test results as a percentage have been rising as parts of the state enter a second phase of reopening and as many people attend protests without wearing masks or practicing social distancing. The numbers are a troubling indicator that the disease could be spreading more quickly.

Read the.

CATCH UP TO START THE DAY

9 a.m.: Here are the coronavirus headlines to catch you up on whats happening around South Florida and the state as Friday begins:

? Floridians flattened the COVID curve. Then, amid upbeat talk, the numbers began to rise.

? The Florida COVID-19 data said one thing while Gov. DeSantis sometimes said another.

? 1,698 coronavirus cases, highest reported in a single day, bring Florida total to 69,069.

2020 Miami Herald

Visit Miami Herald at http://www.miamiherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Coronavirus live updates: Here's what to know in South Florida on June 12 - msnNOW

Wider Stance

In an exchange on Twitter this week, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk elaborated on the design tweaks his space company is considering to allow its massive Starship spacecraft to safely land on the Moon.

Were working on new legs, he wrote in a tweet. Wider stance & able to auto-level. Important for leaning into wind or landing on rocky & pitted surfaces.

Responding to YouTuber Tim Dodd, better known as Everyday Astronaut, Musk explained that the atmospheric Starship variant meant to one day make it back to Earth or perhaps land on other planets with an atmosphere such as Mars will have forward thrusters to stabilize ship when landing in high winds.

But the Lunar Starship will be different. If goal is max payload to moon per ship, no heatshield or flaps or big gas thruster packs are needed, he added.

Starship, in its final configuration, will have the ability to launch 100 tons of cargo into space or in a different configuration, 100 passengers at one time.

In fact, why make the long trip back when a pressurized vehicle could double as a place for astronauts to weather the harsh conditions on the Moon? No need to bring early ships back, Musk added in the tweet. They can serve as part of moon base alpha.

The news comes after SpaceXs fourth Starship prototype called SN4 blew up during a fuel test on May 29 though it had already been put through its paces.

SpaceX got a lot further with SN4 than previous vehicles, and SN5 seems about ready to go for testing, senior space editor at Ars Technica Eric Berger wrote in a tweet at the time. They also have begun working on a second launch stand in Boca Chica, [Texas].

READ MORE: SpaceX Starship: Elon Musk Details Tweaks to Support Moon Base Missions [Inverse]

More on Starship: Elon Musk in Leaked Email: Starship Now Top SpaceX Priority

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SpaceX Trying to Figure Out How to Land Starship on the Moon - Futurism

Playing God

A team of scientists believe that theyve recreated the biochemical processes that gave rise to the earliest forms of life on Earth.

Researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen recreated the harsh conditions deep within the Earths crust as it existed some 3.8 billion years ago, which is where they suspect life began. Under those conditions, they say they managed to create and destroy 1,500 vesicles bubble-like biological structures similar to a cells membrane over a period of two weeks.

The work, described in a book the duo will publish next month, could shed vital new light into exactly how life began and developed if it holds up under scientific scrutiny.

As they continued to generate and destroy vesicles like vengeful gods, the scientists say some generations were able to better survive the harsh pressures and geochemical conditions they were subjected to. Thats because they had absorbed certain biomolecules into their membranes that gave them an advantage, they say, potentially illustrating how biological structures first managed to survive.

We concluded that this way, the vesicles were able to compensate for destructive pressure, Duisburg-Essen chemist Christian Meyer said in a press release. As a survival strategy, if you will.

The question, then, is how tiny biomolecular blobs forming inside the Earths crust led to a planet rich with life. For that, the scientists credit the activity of the planet itself.

We have simulated in time-lapse, billions of years ago, geologist Ulrich Schreiber said in the release, such vesicles might have become stable enough to come to the surface during geyser eruptions.

READ MORE: Potential beginning of life simulated in lab [Universitt Duisburg-Essen]

More on early life: We May Have Just Uncovered the Earliest Direct Evidence of Life on Earth

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Scientists Claim to Have Recreated Earth's First Life - Futurism

Free Falling

Yet again, scientists have validated a major component of Einsteins theory of general relativity.

Specifically, a trio of two white dwarf stars and a collapsed neutron star demonstrated the concept of freefall, according to research published this month in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. Thats the idea, famously illustrated by Galileos Leaning Tower of Pisa thought experiment, that gravity accelerates every falling object at the same rate. The idea has been challenged under extreme conditions, but incredibly precise measurements of the three stars upheld it and with it, Einsteins theory.

Scientists from the University of Manchester identified the unusual instance of freefall among three stars. First, theres a white dwarf star and a pulsar a dead star 1.44 times as massive as the Sun that collapsed into a 15.5-mile-wide sphere that rapidly orbit each other.

Both also orbit another white dwarf, similar to how the Earth and Moon orbit both the Sun and one another. This presented an unusual opportunity: while astronomers could perform similar experiments on our solar system, scientists have speculated that objects held together by their own gravitational pull like pulsars might violate the universality of freefall.

Such a violation would also violate general relativity, which assumes a constant gravitational acceleration across all scenarios.

But by tracking the three stars positions down to the nanosecond, the Manchester team found that the first white dwarf and the pulsar were both accelerating toward the second white dwarf at the exact same pace validating general relativity yet again.

READ MORE: Astrophysicists confirm cornerstone of Einsteins Theory of Relativity [University of Manchester]

More on general relativity: New Theory Could Solve Universes Biggest Paradox

The rest is here:
Collapsed Star Proves Another of Einstein's Theories - Futurism