Category Archives: Futurism

Disclaimer: Futurism only supports products that we trust and use. This post is in partnership with Abundance 360, and Futurism may get a small percentage of sales. Want to take a class with Peter Diamandis? Click here to learn more! Reinventing Humanity

As we close out 2016, if youll allow me, Id like to take a risk and venture into a topic Im personally compelled to think about, a topic that will seem far-out to most readers.

Todays extraordinary rate of exponential growth may do much more than just disrupt industries. It may actually give birth to a new species reinventing humanity over the next 30 years.

I believe were rapidly heading towards a human-scale transformation, the next evolutionary step into what I call a meta-intelligence, a future in which we are all highly connected brain to brain via the cloud sharing thoughts, knowledge, and actions.

In this blog, Im investigating the driving forces behind such an evolutionary step, the historical pattern we are about to repeat, and the implications thereof. Again, I acknowledge that this topic seems far-out, but the forces at play are huge and the implications are vast.

Lets dive in

About 4.6 billion years ago, our solar system, the Sun, and the Earth were formed. Four steps followed

Today, at a massively accelerated rate some 100 million times faster than the steps I outlined above life is undergoing a similar evolution. In this next stage of evolution, we are going from evolution by natural selection (Darwinism) to evolution by intelligent direction.

Allow me to draw the analogy for you:

Four primary driving forces are leading us towards our transformation of humanity into a meta-intelligence both on and off the Earth:

Lets take a look at each.

Today, there are 2.9 billion people connected online. Within the next six to eight years, that number is expected to increase to nearly 8 billion, with each individual on the planet having access to a megabit-per-second connection or better.

The wiring is taking place through the deployment of 5G on the ground, plus networks being deployed by Facebook, Google, Qualcomm, Samsung, Virgin, SpaceX, and many others.

Within a decade, every single human on the planet will have access to multimegabit connectivity, the worlds information, and massive computational power on the cloud.

A multitude of labs and entrepreneurs are working to create lasting, high-bandwidth connections between the digital world and the human neocortex (I wrote about that in detail).

Ray Kurzweil predicts well see human-cloud connection by the mid-2030s, just 18 years from now.

In addition, entrepreneurs like Bryan Johnson (and his company Kernel) are committing hundreds of millions of dollars towards this vision.

The end results of connecting your neocortex with the cloud are twofold: First, youll have the ability to increase your memory capacity and/or cognitive function millions of fold; second, via a global mesh network, youll have the ability to connect your brain to anyone elses brain and to emerging AIs, just like our cell phones, servers, watches, cars, and all devices are becoming connected via the Internet of Things (IoT).

Next, and perhaps most significantly, we are on the cusp of an AI revolution.

Artificial intelligence, powered by deep learning and funded by companies such as Google, Facebook, IBM, Samsung, and Alibaba, will continue to rapidly accelerate and drive breakthroughs.

Cumulative intelligence (both artificial and human) is the single greatest predictor of success for both a company or a nation. For this reason, beside the emerging AI arms race, we will soon see a race focused on increasing overall human intelligence.

Whatever challenges we might have in creating a vibrant brain-computer interface (e.g. designing long-term biocompatible sensors or nanobots that interface with your neocortex), those challenges will fall quickly over the next couple of decades as AI power tools give us every increasing problem-solving capability.

It is an exponential atop an exponential. More intelligence gives us the tools to solve connectivity and mesh problems and in turn create greater intelligence.

Finally, its important to note that the human race is on the verge of becoming a multiplanetary species.

Thousands of years from now, whatever weve evolved into, we will look back at these next few decades as the moment in time that the human race moved off Earth irreversibly.

Today, billions of dollars are being invested privately into the commercial space industry. Efforts led by SpaceX are targeting humans on Mars, while efforts by Blue Origin are looking at taking humanity back to the Moon and plans by my own company, Planetary Resources, strive to unlock near-infinite resources from the asteroids.

The rate of human evolution is accelerating as we transition from the slow and random process of Darwinian natural selection to a hyper-accelerated and precisely directed period of evolution by intelligent direction.

In this blog, I chose not to discuss the power being unleashed by such gene-editing techniques as CRISPR-Cas9. Consider this yet another tool able to accelerate evolution by our own hand.

The bottom line is that change is coming, faster than ever considered possible. All of us leaders, entrepreneurs, and parents have a huge responsibility to inspire and guide the transformation of humanity on and off the Earth.

What we do over the next 30 years the bridges we build to abundance will impact the future of the human race for millennia to come. We truly live during the most exciting time ever in human history.

Disclaimer: Futurism only supports products that we trust and use. This post is in partnership with Abundance 360, and Futurism may get a small percentage of sales. Want to take a class with Peter Diamandis?Click here to learn more!

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Humanity Is About to Transition To Evolution by Intelligent Direction - Futurism

In BriefResearchers from China successfully teleported a photon fromEarth to a satellite 500 km away. The work is an essential steptowards establishing a global-scale quantum internet. A Quantum Record

Not long ago, in the early 1990s, scientists only speculated that teleportation using quantum physics could be possible. Since then, the process has become a standard operation in quantum optics labs around the world. In fact, just last year, two separate teams conducted the worlds first quantum teleportation outside of a laboratory.

Now, researchers in China have taken the process a few steps further: theysuccessfully teleported a photon from Earth to a satellite orbiting more than 500 km (311 mi) away.

The satellite, called Micius, is a highly sensitive photo receiver capable of detecting the quantum states of single photons fired from the ground. Micius was launched to allow scientists to test various technological building blocks for quantum feats including entanglement, cryptography, and teleportation.

This teleportation feat was announced as one of the first results of these experiments. Not only did the team teleport the first object everfrom the ground to orbit, they also created the first satellite-to-ground quantum network, smashing the record for the longest distance for which entanglement has been measured.

Long-distance teleportation has been recognized as a fundamental element in protocols such as large-scale quantum networks and distributed quantum computation, says the Chinese team to MIT Technology Review.Previous teleportation experiments between distant locations were limited to a distance on the order of 100 kilometers, due to photon loss in optical fibers or terrestrial free-space channels.

What comes to mind when you think of teleportation?

Your brain might conjure images of Scotty beaming up the Enterprise crew in Star Trek, but its actually quite a different process than sci-fi films present.

Quantum teleportation relies on quantum entanglement a situation where one set of quantum objects (such as photons) form at the same instant and point in space. In this way, they share the same existence. This shared existence continues even when the photons are separated meaninga measurement on one immediately influences the state of the other, regardless of the distance between them.

This link can be used to transmit quantum information by downloading the information associated with one photon over an entangled link to another photon. This second photon takes on the identity of the first.

Voil. Teleportation.

In this particular instance, the Chinese team created entangled pairs of photons on the ground at a rate of about 4,000 per second. They then beamed one of these photons to the satellite, and kept the other photon on the ground. Finally, they measured the photons on the ground and in orbit to confirm that entanglement was taking place.

Its worth noting that there are some limits to this technology. Transporting anything large, for instance, is a ways off. In theory, theres also no maximum transportation distance, but entanglement is fragile, and the links can easily be broken.

Despite these limits, this research paves the way for even more ambitious studies of quantum teleportation. This work establishes the first ground-to-satellite up-link for faithful and ultra-long-distance quantum teleportation, an essential step toward global-scale quantum internet, says the team.

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Scientists Just Teleported a Photon from Earth to Orbit for the First ... - Futurism

Jaguar is releasing its Model X competitor in 2018 and the vehicle is absolutely gorgeous.

The SUV will be Jaguars very first electric car. Jaguar is smart to start with an SUV at a time where US consumers are consistentlyopting for more space.

The move puts Jaguar in direct competition with Teslas Model X, which has also experienced strong demand.In fact,Tesla soldroughly the same number of Model X SUVs (11,550) as Model S sedans (13,450) in the first quarter.

Heres what you need to know about Jaguars very first electric car:

Behold: Jaguars I-PACE, a five-seat SUV. Here it looks somewhat similar to Teslas Model X.

See what I mean?

The I-PACE is a preview of Jaguars electric, five-seat production car coming in 2018. That production car will be Jaguars first ever battery-powered vehicle. The brand new red I-PACE debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

The car features a cab-forward design. Jaguar was able to execute this design because the car doesnt need an engine upfront. Jaguar said in a statement that taking a cab-forward design approach frees up room in the interior to make it more spacious.

The I-PACEs design is why many will consider the vehicle a crossover SUV. It has a compact body and is fairly low to the ground for a traditional SUV, but it still seats five while offering plenty of cargo space.

The Jaguar I-PACE has the same suspension system as the F-PACE, whichBusiness Insiders Matt DeBordcalled the most beautiful SUV on planet Earth in 2015.Jaguar has admitted the design it chose is unique in that sense.

The I-PACE Concept is, however, something altogether new: not a traditional sports car, saloon or SUV and absolutely not a traditional Jaguar, the automaker wrote in a press statement.

The car comes with a 90 kWh battery pack that powers two, 200 hp electric motors sitting over each axle.

Jaguar claims the car has a range of 220 miles, allowing it to compete most closely with the Model X 75D that offers 237 miles of range and starts at $85,500.

Theres no word on how much the Jaguar electric SUV will cost yet, so its hard to really compare it to the competition just yet. But Joe Eberhardt, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover North America, said in a Business Insider interview it will be comparable to luxury offerings from brands like Porsche.

AsBusiness Insiders Benjamin Zhangpointed out, that meansyoure looking at an asking price north of $50,000, which, again, not to beat a dead horse, really places it as a competitor with the luxury Model X in both offerings and price.

Jaguar said the car will offer 400 hp and 516 lb./ft. of torque, allowing it to accelerate to 60 mph in 4 seconds. That outpaces the Model X 75D and 90D, which can accelerate to 60 mph in 6 seconds and 4.8 seconds, respectively.

The I-PACE comes with a rear spoiler and a full-length panoramic sunroof.

Using a 50 kW DC rapid charger, it will charge the car in two hours.

The interior itself is striking. The seats are made of fine Windsor leather that matches the light color palette used inside.

The cockpit comes with two touchscreens on the center console.

The traditional drivers instrument was also replaced with a virtual screen that can be controlled using buttons on the steering wheel. The buttons offer haptic feedback when in use.

Heres another shot of the cockpit, which was finished with dark walnut veneers.

Its easy to see the attention to detail, from the stitching on the seats

To the seamless integration of metal and wood

To Jaguars personal engraving etched with laser on the instrument panels wood surface.

From what we know about the car so far, it seems Jaguars car has the potential to be a real contender in the electric car space when it arrives in 2018.

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Jaguar is Releasing its Tesla Rival in 2018 and it's Stunning - Futurism

In Brief A report by analysts from Morgan Stanley confirms a bright future for renewable energy. According to the report, the global adoption trend is fueled by the decreasing cost of renewables and the more attractive economic options it presents when compared to fossil fuels. An Unstoppable Trend

After U.S. president Donald Trump decided to pull the country out of the Paris Climate Agreement, many expected a reduction in the nations efforts to transition to clean and sustainable energy. That hardly seems the case now, however, as a number of U.S. states and even private institutions have decided to pursue initiativesthat reinforce those outlined in the international climate deal.

In Renewable Energy: What Cheap, Clean Energy Means for Global Utilities, a report published Thursday by financial services firmMorgan Stanley, analysts confirm that renewable energy is fast becoming the cheapest option.

Numerous key markets recently reached an inflection point where renewables have become the cheapest form of new power generation, the report noted. A dynamic we see spreading to nearly every country we cover by 2020.The report continued:

By our forecasts, in most cases favorable renewables economics, rather than government policy, will be the primary driver of changes to utilities carbon emissions levels. For example, notwithstanding president Trumps stated intention to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, we expect the U.S. to exceed the Paris commitment of a 26-28% reduction in its 2005-level carbon emissions by 2020.

Indeed, the cost of renewables particularly solar has recently decreasedsignificantly, with the price of solar panels dropping by 50 percent in just two years, according to the report. This certainly makes reaching the carbon emission limitsset by the historic climate accord much easier, and the increased affordability is helping major polluters like India and China step uptheir renewable energy efforts.

The impact ofrenewable energy adoption extends beyondthe environment it also benefits the economy.

Renewables are providing better investment opportunities for utility companies while loweringcosts for consumers. The ability to lower customer bills from utilizing low-cost renewables can improve utilities regulatory environment and provide related investment opportunities in grid modernization initiatives, the analysts wrote. Aside from this, renewables are also generating more jobs than their fossil fuel counterparts in the U.S., they account for even more jobs than tech giants Google, Apple, and Facebook combined.

So, despite the U.S. officially withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, the Morgan Stanley analysts believe that industries in the country will continue to see renewable energy as the more economically attractive and environmentally sound alternative to fossil fuels. Not even politics can stop this trend.

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Report: The US Will Exceed Its Paris Accord Goals Despite Trump's Official Withdrawal - Futurism

A Timely Move

On Friday, the United Nations passed the first-ever treaty imposinga total nuclear weapons ban. With North Korea openly continuing totest its arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles, each capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, the decision couldnt be more timely. In a press briefing Thursday, U.N. conference president Elayne Whyte Gomezsaid thatwe are on the verge of adopting the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons.Click to View Full Infographic

This will be a historic moment and it will be the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty to be concluded in more than 20 years, Gomez added, according to Time. The world has been waiting for this legal norm for 70 years.

The decision to pass this treaty is a historic one:the U.N. recently reopened discussions of a global nuclear ban back in March, after more than 2,500 scientists from 70 countries signed a petition in favor of total nuclear disarmament.

I am really confident that the final draft has captured the aspirations of the overwhelming majority of those participating in the conference, including civil society, Gomez said, referring to the final review of the draft last Wednesday. After Fridaysvote to formally adopt it, the draft is now a 10-page documentcalled the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

More than 120 countries are ready to adopt the treaty despite a boycott from countries that are supposedly armed with nuclear weapons: theUnited States, Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, and, as we already know,North Korea. These countries have proposed strengthening the almost 50-year old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that gives only the five original nuclear powers the U.S., Russia, Britain, France and China the right to keep their destructive arsenal.

The voting results, however, seemed to be more encouraging: 122 member states voted in favor of negotiating a legally-binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons. Of the nine supposed nuclear-armed nations, only North Korea didnt participate in the voting. Eightnationsvoted yes, the Netherlands voted against the decision, while Singapore abstained.Still, the U.S., Britain, and France released a joint statementafter the treaty was adopted, stating We do not intend to sign, ratify or ever become party to it.The three nations explained that a purported ban on nuclear weapons that does not address the security concerns that continue to make nuclear deterrence necessary cannot result in the elimination of a single nuclear weapon and will not enhance any countrys security, nor international peace and security.

Would the U.N.s historic treaty be a wasted effort? As the executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Beatrice Fihn said, If the world comes together in support of a nuclear ban, then nuclear weapons countries will likely follow suit, even if it doesnt happen right away.

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The UN Passes the First-Ever Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons Worldwide - Futurism

In Brief In a time of financial instability, many individuals are turning to the decentralized bitcoin to store their wealth. Due to this as well as its potential to revolutionize the finance system, bitcoin has enjoyed stratospheric growth in recent years. Modern Gold

Tom Lee, a Wall Street strategist who works at Fundstrat, has predictedthat the price of bitcoin will continue its exponential rise until it reaches $55,000 by 2022. He bases his prediction on the economic principles of scarcity and market instability.

Lee argues, essentially, that bitcoin is subsuming the role that gold previousplayed in the economy. It has become a solid and dependable store of wealth in a time when we have seen recessions and market turbulence effecting peoples savings in their own currency. This is particularly the case in countries where the government controls the currency to achieve a desired effect, as is the case in China and Japan.

Many have criticized bitcoin for its turbulence it has now reached a volatility of 75 percent and argue that, for this reason, it cannot be the safe store of value that Lee sees it as. Lee, though, told Coin Telegraph that golds volatility approached 90 percent from 1971 to 1980 as the U.S. abandoned the gold standard hence, we expect this [bitcoins volatility] to improve over time. Coincidentally, bitcoin exceeded the value of gold earlier this year.

Bitcoins rise has been so meteorotic that it is quite unlike any other currency or asset, depending on who you ask in recent memory. To give a quirky example, in May of 2010, a developer bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoin. These, in total,would now be worth around $25 million, which is enough to buy a 720-year-old Magna Carta given that one sold for$21 million in 2007.

Bitcoin arguably lead the vanguard for cryptocurrenies moving from a quirky financial system in tight-knit tech communities to a talking point for major financial planners. It is now fundamentally changing the way we look at economiesin addition tobeing the leading example of blockchain technology.Simon Taylor, co-founder of a blockchain venture capital fund,said in an interview with Government Office for Science that the techbrings us near instant asset transfer, asset movement, and security of data movement, and that blockchainwill have a similar effect on exchange that the internet did on communication.

Bitcoin has now become large enough for entire countries to consider upending transaction systems that have been in place since the advent of currency itself.India and Sweden in particular are looking to mimic the systems to produce the first cashless societies in modern history. This is perhaps the ultimate testament to how significant the cryptocurrencyhas become.

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Wall Street Expert Predicts Bitcoin Will Reach $55,000 in 5 Years - Futurism

In Brief An unknown cryptocurrency trader reportedly made more than $200 billion in earnings in just over one month. The anonymity of cryptocurrencies, however, raises a lot of questions about the use of bitcoin and ether in the mainstream. 0x00A651D43B6e209F5Ada45A35F92EFC0De3A5184

Nope, that header isnt a typo. Thats the identification code for the virtual wallet of an anonymous cryptocurrency trader thats made more than $200 million in just over a month. Supposedly, this unknown trader was able to raise their cryptocurrency assets from $55 million to $283 million in that short span of time; a 413 percent accumulated profit from Ethereum blockchains digital money, ether.

In an Instagram post, someone (or maybe several people)purporting to be the trader in question said, I get many private messages asking how much ether I have. One of the cool things about Ethereum is that all wallets around the world are transparent and open for everyone to see. And this is my wallets savings.

While the amount of earnings from cryptocurrency trading is incredible, it isnt at all impossible. Recently, the values of both bitcoin and ether have been going up. The total value of cryptocurrencies reached an all-time high on June 6 when it surpassed$100 billion,according to Bloomberg.

Faced with the growth of cryptocurrencies, experts are askingwhether anonymity is beneficial or not. Its certainly one of the key reasonscryptocurrencies are becoming so popular. One of its more important features is that you dont have identities tied to this, Spencer Bogart, research head at venture firm Blockchain Capital, said inBloombergThis financial privacy is an important characteristic.

Thatsalso the source of some of its troubles, though: there have been a handful of cyberattacks that asked for ransom inbitcoin, and that trend could continue as it becomes more widely used. The credibility of virtual currencies will not rise if they are used for criminal purposes, adraft online currency legislation by the European Parliament noted. In this context, anonymity will become more a hindrance than an asset for virtual currencies.

To this end, would tying digital wallets to identifiable persons be a problem for a mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies? For a cryptocurrency like ether which is used to pay for applications that run on the Ethereum blockchain it may not be such a big deal. It could evenhelp ether avoid having its reputation sullied by cyberattacks like bitcoin. At present, ether seems to bemoving into themainstream. The rise of Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is helping, and Ethereum is working to make their transactions even more efficient and powerful.

For now, though, it wouldnt hurt to be careful. As Peter Denious from Aberdeen Asset Management told Bloomberg, A lot of lessons will be learned. A lot of money will be lost before a lot of money can be made.

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An Anonymous Ether Trader Just Made $200 Million in One Month - Futurism

In Brief Digital camera maker RED wants to make it possible for you to produce holograms from the palm of your hand. The company's first phone, the Hydrogen One, is being touted as the world's first glasses-free hologram projector, and it should be ready to ship by early 2018.

With all the confirmed and unconfirmed leaks circulating on the internet, the iPhone 8 might be the frontrunner for most highly anticipated phone of the year. However, a newly announced device might be more worthy of your attention than Apples 10-year-old phone this ones got holograms.

Professional digital camera maker REDjust announced that its building the Hydrogen One, and theyre calling itthe worlds first holographic phone.It is expected to have a retina-display screen that can switch from 2D content to holographic multi-view content, 3D content, and interactive games.

Even more exciting is that it doesnt require special glasses. Its no longer necessary to carry (or charge) another device to enjoy multi-dimensional content, RED said in a press release. Experience look around depth in the palm of your hand, no glasses or headsets in sight.

As for specs, details are limited. What we know is that the Hydrogen One would be a 5.7-inch phone that runs Android and has a headphone jack. It comes in a low-tier version, priced at $1,195, and a higher-end one at $1,595. The phones expected to ship by early 2018.

If the Hydrogen One delivers, its going to be the device of our holographic dreams. Theyre talking about holograms in trueHelp me, Obi Wan fashion. Who doesnt want that? Most hologram technology today still requiresa separate viewing device, butsome studiesare working towardprojected holography RED just may have already figured it out.

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You Could Own the World's First Glasses-Free Holographic Phone by Early 2018 - Futurism

In Brief New research shows that the thin Mars atmosphere interacts with perchlorates, chemicals on the planet's surface, to create a toxic environment for bacteria. This confirms that the search for life on Mars should include digging beneath the surface. Toxic Cocktail

New research shows that our aspirations togrow potatoes on Mars may be a little premature. Results of a new study indicate that the thin Martian atmosphere and the ultraviolet radiation it allows to reach the planets surface interact with chemical compounds called perchlorates to create a deadly environment for bacteria.

We have known that there were perchlorates on the surface of the Red Planet since the 1970s when the Viking 1 and 2 spacecraft landed there. Weve confirmed this with other probes since that time, and until recently that fact has actually been viewed in an encouraging light. Thats because although perchlorates made from oxygen and chlorine are toxic to humans, bacteria tend to thrive in their presence, using them for energy. Perchlorates also lower the point at which water melts, which offered still more hope for the existence of bacterial life on Mars.

This, however, isnt the end of the search for life on Mars. I cant speak for life in the past, co-author of the study Jennifer Wadsworth said to The Guardian. As far as present life, it doesnt rule it out but probably means we should look for life underground where its shielded from the harsh radiation environment on the surface. The ExoMars rover will look for bacteria by digging approximately 12 feet into the ground during its 2020 mission.

Its also possible that an extremophile bacterium could survive these conditions. The common Bacillus subtilis is no extremophile, and the Martian environment may have created its own extremophiles that are even tougher than any found on Earth. Life can survive very extreme environments, Wadsworth told Popular Science. The bacterial model we tested wasnt an extremophile so its not out of the question that hardier life forms would find a way to survive.

Meanwhile, the ExoMars orbiter is on track to carry out its mission: finding biochemical signs of life on Mars, or beneath its surface. The Mars 2020 rover will also be digging deep in the search for past life. NASA is developing a lidar system for the search for life on Mars. Hopefully, with this many research irons in the fire, well get some exciting answers soon.

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This Mars Discovery Could Have Major Implications for Search for Alien Life - Futurism

In Brief NASA just approved the first-ever mission to test the possibility of deflecting or redirecting an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Dubbed the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) the project is moving into its preliminary design phase after receiving approval on June 23. A Plan for Asteroids

Both science and science fiction have made us familiar with what could happen if a large enough asteroid were to hit the Earth. Just look at the fate of dinosaurs and youd glean the prospective outcome would not be a pleasant one. Not wanting us to go the way of the dinosaurs, NASA asks: how do we defend the planet from such a threat?

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) would be the first-ever mission to test the possibility of deflecting or redirecting an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. The plan is being designed by the The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, who would also manage DART. The projectreceived approval from NASA on June 23, and is now moving from concept development to the preliminary design phase.

DART would be NASAs first mission to demonstrate whats known as the kinetic impactor technique striking the asteroid to shift its orbit to defend against a potential future asteroid impact, Lindley Johnson, planetary defense officer at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in press release. This approval step advances the project toward an historic test with a non-threatening small asteroid.

In order to figure out if such defense system could work, NASA aims use DART to target a twin asteroid called Didymos. Its expected to have adistant approach to Earth in 2022, and again in 2024. This binary asteroid system includesa larger component(Didymos A, about 780 meters in size) and a smaller one orbiting it (Didymos B, roughly 160 meters).

Using an on-board targeting system, DART would aim atDidymos B after launch. The goal is to shift the asteroids trajectory using kinetic impact; changing its speed by a small fraction of its overall velocity. If the DART mission works, scientists would be able to predict just how much of a nudge a threatening asteroid needs to avoid hitting Earth.

DART is a critical step in demonstrating we can protect our planet from a future asteroid impact, DART investigation co-lead Andy Cheng said in the press release. Since we dont know that much about their internal structure or composition, we need to perform this experiment on a real asteroid. With DART, we can show how to protect Earth from an asteroid strike with a kinetic impactor by knocking the hazardous object into a different flight path that would not threaten the planet.

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NASA is Moving Forward With Its Plan to Deflect an Asteroid From Earth - Futurism