Category Archives: Futurism

In BriefTesla's annual shareholders meeting took place yesterday, andfor many, the highlight of the event was CEO Elon Musk taking thestage. In addition to answering questions from Twitter, hedelivered updates on several forthcoming Tesla projects. An Annual Update

Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk is a showman, perhaps on par withApples Steve Jobs when it comes to big reveals during public appearances.

His usual platform is Teslas annual shareholder meeting, but yesterday, he didnt deliver much by way of reveals. Still, Musk didpaint the general direction Tesla would be taking in the next several months while addressing the shareholders and responding to questions from Twitter.

If you missed the livestream of the presentation, dont fret. Heres everythingyou need to know from it.

Musk mentioned three upcoming vehicles that Tesla has been working on: the Model 3, the Model Y, and an electric semi truck (that last ones so exciting it deserved an article all to itself).

The Model 3 is expected to be releasedby the end of the month, andMusk emphasized the vehicles relative simplicity. I should say that weve kept the initial configurations of the Model 3 very simple, said the CEO. A big mistake we made with the X, which is primarily my responsibility there was way too much complexity right at the beginning. That was very foolish.

Attendees were then treated toa first look at the Model Y, Teslas electric crossover SUV. Theimage is decidedly lacking in detail, so we still have very little to go on with this model, but we do know that its slated for a 2019 release and would be built on a completely new platform. In fact, Tesla would build an entirely new factory for its production.

Oh, and an electric plane somewhere down the road is also not inconceivable, according to Musk.

Musk also offered updates on Teslas Autopilot, claiming that the company will be rolling out improvements to the system for its Hardware 2 vehicles. Since its split with Mobileye the Israeli software maker responsible for the earlier versions of Teslas self-driving system Tesla has been developing its own semi-autonomous software. While some consumers have had some issues with the autonomous system in Teslas new vehicles, Musk said that its now almost better than the Mobileye version.

Usually, after Musk points out a problem, he shares a solution for it(see: traffic and the Boring Company). At yesterdays meeting, Musk shared his criticisms of todays music algorithms and playlist quality, and in typical Musk fashion, he plans to do something about it. He says Tesla will release a music service or feature later this year, and its gonna be the music you want to listen to.

After being asked about how he spends his time, Musk made reference to his late-night tweets. He admitted that he would sometimes go crazy on Twitter, but he blames it on music, wine, and a sedative. You know, [when] theres a little red wine, a vintage record player, some Ambien. Magic. Magic happens, he said, later echoing the sentiment (where else?) in a tweet.

Musk also explained that he generally spends 90 percent of his time working on Tesla and SpaceX, whiledividing therest betweenNeuralink (3 to 5 percent), the Boring Company (2 percent), and Open AI (less than 2 percent).

Like a true showman, Muskwas sure toinclude a cliffhanger in his presentation to keep the people wanting mroe. Theres a few other things I havent mentioned here. I just like, really recommend showing up for the semi truck unveiling, he said. Maybe theres a little more than were saying here. Maybe. Could be. Who knows?

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Here's Everything You Missed From Tesla's Annual Shareholder Meeting - Futurism

In BriefMark Cuban has attacked Bitcoin on Twitter, claiming it is nota currency, it is a bubble, and that the whole system of valuationconcerning it is wrong. But is he right? Mark Cubans Twitterstorm

Mark Cuban has recently raised a series of criticisms of bitcoin on Twitter, which has resulted in the cryptocurrencys exchange rate dropping rapidly illustrating many of the issues with the currency that he discussed in the Tweet themselves.

Mark Cuban rose to wealth by selling his start-up businesses MicroSolutions (a PC company that he sold to CompuServe for $6 Million) and Broadcast.com (which transmitted sports games over the internet, and was subsequently sold to Yahoo for $5.7 Billion) in the 1990s, and rose to prominence by becoming owner of the NBA team the Dallas Mavericks.

Earlier today he took his opinions of Bitcoin toTwitter:

Cuban crucially differentiates between blockchain and Bitcoin: the former being a means of transaction that is more secure, transparent, and distributive, and the latter a cryptocurrency.

However, Cuban likens bitcoin to the religious worship of gold as an asset and describes it as a stock, which is fundamentally different from a currency currencies measure how much of an asset you have. This is why Cuban progresses to state I am not questioning value. Im questioning valuation.

Just because bitcoins exchange rate has reached thousands of dollars, this doesnt mean that anyone would be willing to give you thousands of dollars for your bitcoin. Currencies are universal measures of value in the country you operate which allows anyone to trade with anyone as part of a universal system of value. This is in contrast to assets which you can buy with that value system but not necessarily trade anywhere as easily.

Currencies, in order to operate in this way, need to be relatively stable which Cuban showed bitcoin was not due to the almost instant drop after his tweetstorm. To analogise: can you imagine the dollar, pound, or euro drastically dropping in a matter of hours just because of a few tweets?

On the surface, Bitcoin looks monumentally impressive: it has grown every year apart from 2014, has climbed 141 percent in value this year alone, even peaking at $2,900 this past week. However, the precise reason for this success is the reason for its potential failure it is too turbulent, too successful.

This means that while Bitcoin may seem extremely seductive it has been billed as, among other things, the ultimate investment and a universal currency we must be careful when investing in it (particularly because it is difficult to convert back into dollars), putting faith in it, and being overoptimistic about its potential.

Bitcoin is one particularly famous use of a potentially more promising and widely applicable system called blockchain, which has the potential to revolutionize everything from the music industry to sustainable development and even banking accountability.

According to many, it is blockchain, not bitcoin, that has the potential to revolutionize future transactions: If the internet bought us near instant digital communication, then the blockchain brings us near instant asset transfer, asset movement and security of data movement said Simon Taylor, the previous head of Barclays cryptocurrency division.

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Business Expert Asserts That Bitcoin is Not Currency - Futurism

In BriefPurdue researchers have developed a flow battery that wouldallow electric cars to be recharged instantly at stations likeconventional cars are. The technology is clean, safe, and cheap. Go With The Flow

Purdue researchers have developed technology for an instantly rechargeable battery that is affordable, environmentally friendly, and safe. Currently, electric vehicles need charging ports in convenient locations to be viable, but this battery technology would allow drivers of hybrid and electric vehicles to charge up much like drivers of conventional cars refill quickly and easily at gas stations.

This breakthrough would not only speed the switch to electric vehicles by making them more convenient to drive, but also reduce the amount of new supportive infrastructure needed for electric cars dramatically. Purdue University professors John Cushman and Eric Nauman teamed up with doctoral student Mike Mueterthies to co-found Ifbattery LLC (IF-battery) forcommercializing and developing the technology.

The new model is a flow battery, which does not require an electric charging station to be recharged. Instead, all the users have to do is replace the batterys fluid electrolytes rather like filling up a tank.This batterys fluids from used batteries, all clean, inexpensive, and safe, could be collected and recharged at any solar, wind, or hydroelectric plant. Electric cars using this technology would arrive at the refueling station, deposit spent fluids for recharging, and fill up like a traditional car might.

This flow battery system is unique because, unlike other versions of the flow battery, this one lacks the membranes which are both costly and vulnerable to fouling. Membrane fouling can limit the number of recharge cycles and is a known contributor to many battery fires, Cushman said in a press release. Ifbatterys components are safe enough to be stored in a family home, are stable enough to meet major production and distribution requirements, and are cost effective.

Transitioning existing infrastructure to accommodate cars using these batteries would befar simpler than designing and building a host of new charging stations which is Teslas current strategy. Existing pumps could even be used for these battery chemicals, which are very safe.

Electric and hybrid vehicle sales are growing worldwide and the popularity of companies like Tesla is incredible, but there continues to be strong challenges for industry and consumers of electric or hybrid cars, Cushman said in the press release. The biggest challenge for industry is to extend the life of a batterys charge and the infrastructure needed to actually charge the vehicle.

When can we expect to see these batteries in use? The biggest hurdle isnt the materials, which are cheap and plentiful, but person power. The researchers still need more financing to complete research and development to put the batteries into mass production. To overcome this problem, theyre working to publicize the innovation in the hopes of drawing interest from investors.

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New Instantly Rechargeable Battery Deals a Fatal Blow to Fossil Fuels - Futurism

In Brief A new train that operates autonomously is expected to begin serving a Chinese city next year. The train follows a pre-set route laid out by white dots on the road. The technology provides small and medium-sized cities with a cheaper public transport

The state of public transportation has arrived at an exciting juncture. It seems that technologies have finally advanced to the point that truly never before seen solutions are starting to pop up all around the world. Were seeing the likes of autonomous taxis, flying taxis, and high-speed trains like themag-lev limo concept, which promises to deliver travelers from New York to Beijing in 2 hours time.

Another option is readying itself to transport people around the Chinese city of Zhuzhou as soon as 2018. The smart bus is being developed by Chinese rail transit firm CRRC to combine the economical ease of bus systems with the modularity of subway trains, as well as the convenience and safety of autonomy.

The smart bus, or Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART), will follow a preset path guided by white dots lining the roads picked up by sensors in the trains. ART is an excellent option for smaller to medium sized cities who cannot afford to invest in the infrastructurenecessary to have a subway system.

The three-car trains will be able to hold 300 people along its 6.5 km (4 mile) track. More carriages could be added to allow for a greater numbers of passengers.

This project seems like a stepping stone solution between our current transportation systems and the forthcoming high(er)-tech possibilities.

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China to Reveal Its Autonomous Bus/Train Hybrid in 2018 - Futurism

In BriefLab-grown meat prices have dropped by 96% in just four years.Although they are still too costly to be fully scalable, this willsoon change, and lab-grown meats will provide a real solution toenvironmental harm caused by livestock agriculture. Cost Of Cruelty-Free Meat Technology is teaming up with cuisine to provide realistic alternatives to meat, and the first prototype products are starting to interest consumers. Mimicking the taste, texture, look, and smell of meat isnt easy, and creating these first few products demands a significant investment from companies. However, more companies are taking a chance on synthetic meats, hoping for major returns in the long run. In 2016, Beyond Meat became, arguably,the first startup to bring a plant-based meat alternative one that could really stand in for real meat to grocery stores. Impossible Foods, its main competitor, is insteadapproaching restaurants first with the intention of penetrating the grocery market later. Other companies are literally growing synthetic meats, called cellular-agriculture meats, fiber by fiber in labs. These are extremely expensive to produce, but their prices are falling fast. The price of the first lab-grown beef burger, created by Mosa Meats, was equivalent to about $1.2 million per pound, retail. Now, lab-grown hamburger runs forabout $11.36 per pound, similar to the Beyond Meat alternative which goes for about $12 per pound although both are still out of reach for most consumers. In contrast, ground beef retails for around $3.54 per pound on average. Meanwhile, Memphis Meats is currently in the process of growing chicken meat in the lab. Although comparatively, its retail price of $6,000 per pound is much more accessible than $1.2 million, it still has a way to go before it will be attainable for consumers. Kinder To The Environment According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), livestock feed production eats up 26% of the ice-free land on Earth, and 13 billion hectares (32.1 billion acres) of forest are lost to land conversion for pastures or cropland annually. Livestock farming also contributes to about 14.5% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. All of this damage could be alleviated by transitioning to lab-grown meats. Scaling the ability to consistently meet demand in a cost-effective way is the main problem holding lab-grown meats back. Although companies are working toward solutions, animal-free meat will not be affordable for average consumers before 2020. Still, Impossible Foods CEO Patrick Brown aims to completely replace the meat industry by producing more realistic meat alternativeswith products like whole turkeys, and companies like Tyson are investing in his idea. For now, thats just a pipe dream, but if lab-made and plant-based meats can prove to be friendlier to the environment, healthier, and cost effective, they might just have a fighting chance.

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Are Lab-Grown Meats Really the Future of Food? - Futurism

In BriefHyperloop One has released a shortlist of nine proposed routesfor European systems. These routes could potentially connect 75million people via cutting-edge, high-speed transport. Euro-Hyperloop

Europealready enjoys an extensive and diverse system of railways. Still, there is always room for improvement, and an Elon Musk-inspired company is looking to introduce the continent to the next generation of travel.

Hyperloop One has unveiled their shortlist of potential European routes for their high-speed transportation project. Shervin Pishevar, the companys co-founder and executive chairman, told CNBC, Our vision is to, one day, connect all of Europe with our Hyperloop One system, networking the entire continent.

The list was compiled through a global challenge initiated by Hyperloop One to find the cities that would benefit the most from the cutting-edge transportationsystem. According to CNBC,the proposed cities would connect more than 75 million people in 44 cities, spanning 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles).

The nine finalists range from a 1,991 km (1,237 mile) route through Germany to a 90 km (56 mile) route connecting Estonia to Finland. Other proposed routes would connect parts of Poland, cities in the Netherlands, the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, Spain and the north African country of Morocco, and several points in the United Kingdom.

Hyperloop One shared 11potential locations in the United States for Hyperloop routes a few months ago, and in March, the company announced talks with India, adding yet another country into the fortuitous futuristic fold.

Its no wonder so many countries are eager to welcomethis technology to their regions. If the system can perform as promised, it would revolutionize how we transport not only people but also cargo. At its peak speed, a Hyperloop is expectedto be capable of traveling more than 1,000 kmh (700 mph). The company boasts on its website that a trip between theAustralian cities of Melbourne and Sydney, a distance of 878 km (546 miles), would take only 55 minutes.

A system of Hyperloops would not only make traveling easier, it would also have a positive impact on a regions environment and economy. Ideally, the system will be able to generate more solar power than it consumes, making it an excellent green travel alternative to automobiles, trains, and airplanes. Tickets to ride could also cost as little as $25, often making the clean choice easily the best choice for travelers.

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One of These Nine Routes Could Be Home to the First European Hyperloop - Futurism

In Brief Japanese car giant Toyota has officially divested from Tesla as of the end of last year. The company has begun its own electric car division and may also be helping to bring a flying car into reality.

Toyota officially ended its relationship with Elon Musks Tesla by selling off its remaining shares of the company by the end of last year. The Japanese automaking company began with a $50 million investment for a three percent stake in the company.

In a statement, Toyota spokesman Ryo Sakai said, via Reuters, Our development partnership with Tesla ended a while ago, and since there has not been any new developments on that front, we decided it was time to sell the remaining stake. Interestingly, late last year, Toyota formed an electric car division of its own. So, it looks like Japans biggest automobile company is looking to compete for Teslas market share.

News from the BBC points to Toyota investing in Cartivatorto develop a flying car. The startuphas been crowdfunding their vehicle, the Skydrive, which has projected speeds of about 100 km/h (62 mph) and the ability to fly 10 meters (33 feet) off the ground.

Credit: Cartivation

This move directly opposes previous statements made by Elon Musk regarding flying cars. In an interview with Bloombergearlier this year he said, Obviously, I like flying things. But its difficult to imagine the flying car becoming a scalable solution.

Electric cars have quickly become the clear front runner in the future of personal transportation. Still, it is exciting to see that flying cars may not altogether be DOA.

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Toyota Severs Ties With Tesla, Launches Their Own Electric Car Division - Futurism

In Brief IBM has unveiled the world's first 5nm silicon chip. The chip offers a 40% performance boost at the same power, or consumes 75% less power at the same level of performance, enabling more powerful devices that are smaller. Scaling Down, Powering Up

In partnership with GlobalFoundries and Samsung, IBM has unveiled the worlds first 5nm silicon chip. The chip is notable in that it is smaller than previous versions yet more dense and powerful, therefore offering higher performance. Its also the first practical application of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography and horizontal gate-all-around (GAA) field effect transistors (FETs).

Tri-gate finFETs, now used in most chip designs sized at 22nm and below, will probably be unsuitable at around 7nm. In contrast, GAAFETs particularly in tandem with EUV could work all the way down to 3nm. Below that size, no one yet knows what will function properly. FinFETs originally solved the volume issues older 2D transistors faced because they are 3D, increasing the volume of silicon atoms which can carry electricity by protruding from the substrate. GAAFETs can revert back into 2Ds using stackable silicon nanowires.

According to IBM, the new 5nm tech offers a 40 percent performance boost at the same power, or a 75 percent drop in power consumption at the same performance. Density is also significantly improved: IBM states that it can now fit up to 30 billion transistors onto a chip 50-square-millimeters across about the size of a fingernail. In the past, a similarly sized chip would hold 20 billion transistors at most.

As this technology continues to shrink, we will be able to fit more of it into less space. This will mean computers and other devices can becomemore powerful,but at the same time smaller and more portable. IBM is already on the job, having pointed out that GAAFETs are ripe for scaling down even further.

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IBM Created a Chip the Size of a Fingernail That Holds 30 Billion Transistors - Futurism

In Brief Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully launched its Dragon spacecraft on its second mission to the International Space Station. The launch further solidifies SpaceX's goal to make space travel cheaper and more accessible. History in the Making

SpaceX is wasting no time on their mission to reinvent and revitalize space travel. The company has once again made history by successfully launching the previously-flown Dragon Cargo ship.The crafts first mission, back in September 21, 2014, successfully delivered 2.5 tons of cargo to the International Space Station.

According to CBSNews, for todays launch,the craft was filled with nearly 6,000 pounds of cargo including supplies, equipment, special telescopes to study neutron stars, mice, and even thousands of fruit flies.The craft launched from the historic Kennedy Space Centers launch pad 39A, the same pad from which the Apollo 11 mission launched in 1969.

The craft was successfully launched today, June 3rd at 5:07 PM EDT. Falcon 9 has just touched back down at the time of publishing and Dragon is well on its way in itstwo and a half day journey to the ISS.

TheDragon spacecraft now joins a prestigiousgroup of multi-orbit space flight craft like NASAs Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery, and Endeavour firmly planting SpaceX as a formidable force in the new space race.

This is just the latest move by SpaceX that is poised to completelytransform spaceflight. In March, the company made history by successfully launching and landing a recycled rocket for the first time. The relaunch of the Dragon has proven that SpaceX can continue to make missions to space cheaper, and therefore, more accessible.

SpaceXs plans dont just stop at restocking the ISS. The company has much bigger plans involving putting people back on the moon next year and sending the first humans to Mars by 2025. While SpaceX is no doubt celebrating this latest achievement, they are hard at work preparing their next feat: launching theFalcon Heavy rocket this summer.

The SpaceX team is truly revolutionizing space travel for the betterment of all of humanity. Witha clear goal to make history and push the boundaries of whats possible on Earth and in space, SpaceX is rapidly cementing its legacy while becoming a forerunner in the race toward the future.

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The Launch was Successful. SpaceX Just Made History. - Futurism

In Brief Spintronic researchers have found a material that possesses the exact properties that are needed for the data storage and transferal process to work. This could lead to more efficient technology. A Miracle Material for Spintronics

A team lead by the University of Utah has discovered a new group of materials called organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites that could bring spintronics from a largely conceptual concept into reality. Spintronics aims to use the magnetic properties of electrons rather then their ability to conduct electricity to store and transmit information. Instead of using the ebb and flow of electrical current (charge, recorded using ones and zeros) through thousands of electrons, spintronics uses the up or down orientation of far fewer electrons.

The problem spintronics has encountered is that a material could not be found that could have its spin changed easily and retain the change in spin.Sarah Li, assistant professor of the Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Utah and lead author of the study, told Newswise thatwhat makes this discovery special is that the material can be manipulated and, at the same time, have a long spin lifetime.

The electrons in perovskites can be changed many times within a nanosecond, meaning they can have lots of information imparted and altered in them. This was surprising, as perovskites are a heavy metal, which usually has good spin alterability, but a bad spin lifetime.

Spintronic materials can be used to process much more information than classical materials that use charge because they can operate more reliably on a smaller scale. Although Moores Law states that transistors (whichcontrol the current) per square inch in integrated circuits approximately double every year, we are currently approaching the limit.Li says, The silicon technology, based only on the electron charge, is reaching its size-limit. The size of the wire is already small. If gets any smaller, its not going to work in a classical way that you think of.

Spintronics could, therefore, allow data to be processed faster and increase random-access memory (RAM, which allows you access the specific pieces of information you want on computers and phones). This would have the effect of increasing the efficiency, speed, and memory capacity of nearly all computational devices, which would use less power and increase battery life. Finally, materials that spintronics usedont emit an external magnetic field, even though they use magnetism on an atomic level; this means that they do not interfere with other devices and should make it harder for them to be spied on.

If mass production is possible, spintronics could mark the end of the silicon transistor age.

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This Could Mark the End of the Silicon Age - Futurism