Category Archives: Futurism

In BriefElon Musk released a string of tweets and Instagram postsgiving updates on the Boring Company's progress in constructing ahigh-speed underground transportation system. So Boring

Our modern-day DaVinci, Elon Musk, is hard at work bringing his latest venture,the Boring Company,to fruition. The companys aim is to create a network of tunnels to accommodate a high-speed transit system, and Musk just sent out a torrent of updates via Twitter and Instagram containing pictures and video of its latest achievements.

His first tweet signaled that the beginningsof the tunnel are complete. The tunneling machine, Boring 1 (or Godot), now has a proper entry hole, staging area, and starting tunnel.

Musk plans for the first tunnel to run from LAX to Culver City, Santa Monica, Westwood and Sherman Oaks and for future extensionsto cover the entirety of greater Los Angeles, an area spanning87,940 square kilometers (33,954 square miles).

Naturally, given the nature of the geography of Southern California, many commenters are concerned about how the tunnels would stand up to earthquakes. Musk allayed those fears by responding in the affirmative when asked if the tunnels will be earthquake-proof.

Godot is a massive machine whose speed has been compared to that of a snail. However, Musk has plans to ratchet up its pace by a factor of ten. The machine, once completely assembled, will be more than 100 feet long.

The purpose of the Boring Company is to cut travel time in the notoriously congested Los Angeles area. To that end, Musk claims the tunnel will allow travel between the L.A. neighborhood of Westwood and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in only five minutes.

Vehicles will be transported through the tunnels on platforms, called skates or sleds, powered by electricity at speeds of up to 200 kmh (125 mph). He posted a video of a skate at work.

It seems like Musk is a man of his word. Less than six months after tweeting that he was going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging, he has done just that. At the beginning, even he emphatically admitted, We have no idea what were doingI want to be clear about that. Now, he is well on his way to making this dream a reality.

With a hand inSpaceX, Tesla, Hyperloop, and now the Boring Company, Musk seems poised to monopolize the future of ground (and apparently underground) transportation.

Read more here:
Elon Musk Just Released Breakthrough Updates About His New Company - Futurism

In Brief MIT engineering students have invented a portable device that translates text into braille in real time, and they hope to sell it for less than $200. This cheap alternative to existing technologies will make both books and braille more accessible to the blind community. Team Tactile

Six engineering undergraduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) have designed a portable device that converts text to braille in real time. Their first prototype was created in a 15-hour hackathon in early 2016. Since that time, the device, called Tactile, has undergone extensive development. Now, its the size of a candy bar and completely portable. The students have applied for a patent for the device, although they are already working on its next iteration.

What really sets Tactile apart from other braille translators, though, is its low cost. Most of these devices are expensive and limited to the translation of text that is available digitally. For example, the HumanWare Braillant attaches to a computer or mobile device to translate text into braille, and it costs $2,595. Tactiles creators hope to sell their device for less than$200.

The students who invented the translation device have plans to improve Tactile, and theyve also got the means to do it. They recently won one of the $10,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prizes for 2017, which they will spend refining and improving the device.

Currently, the camera only takes a picture of its field of view,team member Chandani Doshi explainedin an email to Smithsonian.We are aiming to make the device similar to a handheld scanner that allows the user to scan the entire page in one go. If theyre successful, this would make the device simpler to use and eliminate the readers need to remember where they are on the page.

Accessibility for people with disabilities is getting more attention now than it has in the past as the movement for inclusion grows. The European Union has drafted rules that will mandate that products and services be more accessible to people with disabilities, including the blind. The Womens March on Washington even added a virtual branch so people with disabilities could attend that way if they chose to.

There are 1.3 million legally blind people in the U.S., and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 285 million people worldwide are visually impaired 39 million of them are blind, and the remaining 246 million have low vision. The American Foundation for the Blind estimatesthat fewerthan 10 percent of blind people can understand braille, mostly due toa chronic teacher shortage in this area.

Even so, Tactile, which should be on the market within two years, will make any book in any library accessible to those who do understand braille and it will also make braille itself far more accessible and easy to learn. In fact, using Tactile might be the revolution braille needs to bring a higher level of literacy back to the blind community.

Read the rest here:
MIT's Portable Translator Can Convert Text to Braille in Real-Time - Futurism

In BriefSigns of extra dimensions may reveal themselves in the waythey impact gravitational waves. Scientists hope that further studyof these waves might allow for a single, coherent theory of theuniverse. Hunting for Extra Dimensions

As important as gravity is to us here on Earth, it is actually surprisingly weak in comparison to other fundamental forces in our universe, such as electromagnetism. In fact, as researchers struggle to unite quantum effects and gravity in single theories that make sense, they find that extra dimensions, usually with gravity, are implied.

However, theorizing the existence of these extra dimensions is much easier than actually proving that they exist. Scientists were hopeful that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) might reveal evidence of their existence.After all, the device gives them the abilityto run specialized experiments searching for massive particle traces, microscopic black holes, and missing energy caused by the migration of gravitons to higher dimensions. So far, however, definitive proof has not been discovered with the LHC.

In their search for answers, researchers Gustavo Lucena Gmez and David Andriot at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam, Germany, have honed in on two strange effects: high frequency gravitational waves and the breathing mode, a modification of how gravitational waves stretch space.

The researchers calculated that extra dimensions should result in the creation of extra, high frequency gravitational waves. Unfortunately, we dont currently haveobservatories that can detect frequencies in the range they predict, nor are any in development.

However, we do have the tech needed to observe the breathing mode. Space changes shape as it reacts to gravity passing through it. The breathing mode is seen when, in addition to stretching and squishing, space expands and contracts in reaction to additional gravitational waves.With more detectors we will be able to see whether this breathing mode is happening, LucenaGmez told New Scientist.

Based on the researchers calculations, the additional waves at high frequencies wouldpoint decisively to extra dimensions. However, the breathing mode could have explanations beyond those theoretical dimensions, but its detection would be a significant clue pointing toward their existence.

Even without definitive proof, were making progress in our hunt for other dimensions. Since 2015, scientists have been able to observe gravitational waves, and becausegravity probably exists in other dimensions, observing and analyzing the behavior of these waves under different conditions might provide clues about those extra dimensions. The existence of another dimension makes weak gravitational force more understandable if gravity exists throughout all of these extra dimensions as well, it should be weaker.

Put another way, the existence of extra dimensions would allow for a coherent, comprehensive theory of the universe. It would also explain uncertainties about the nature of gravity. It would even put us on the road to explaining why the universe is expanding faster and faster. If extra dimensions are in our universe, this would stretch or shrink space-time in a different way that standard gravitational waves would never do, explainedLucena Gmez.

Proof of an extra dimension would be extraordinarily exciting for physicists working to explain the laws of the universe with a single, coherent theory. If we were able to reconcile the conflicts between quantum field theory and general principles of relativity, for example, things like antigravity, instantaneous communication and transport, transmutation of matter, and faster-than-light travel might all be possible. For now, we dont havea definitive answer, but understanding the behaviors of gravitational waves would be aremarkable step in the right direction.

View post:
Ripples in Space-Time Might Indicate That We Live in a Multiverse - Futurism

In Brief Astronomers have discovered an exoplanet that defies previously established trends. Although a hot Neptune, the exoplanet HAT-P-26b has an atmospheric composition that's more Jupiter-like, giving clues as to how it was formed. Warm and Unusual

The easiest way to make sense of the various unfamiliar objects we find floating around in the cosmos is by thinking about them in the context ofcelestial bodies we are familiar with. Our Solar System has become the starting point for our analysis of other bodies, especially exoplanets.

Thats how the termhot Neptunecame about its our way of describing exoplanets as massive as Uranus or Neptune but that orbit closer to their stars. Weve already come across a number of these hot Neptunes, but one of the most recently discovered defies all expectations astronomers have about the exoplanets.

Located about 437 light-years away from Earth, HAT-P-26b is a hot Neptune that has a primordial atmosphere composed mostly of hydrogen and helium an unusual mixture for planets very close to their stars. Astronomers have just begun to investigate the atmospheres of these distant Neptune-mass planets, and almost right away, we found an example that goes against the trend in our Solar System, said researcher Hannah Wakefordfrom NASAs Goddard Space Flight Centerin a news release.

Usually, massive planets have lower metallicities a lower presence of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium in their atmosphere. For example, Jupiter and Saturns are five and ten times than that of the Sun, respectively. Smaller planets like Uranus and Neptune, on the other hand, have higher metallicities, about a hundred times greater than the Sun.

For hot Neptune HAT-P-26b, however, this standard fails. Its metallicity is only about 4.8 times that of the Sun much closer to Jupiters than to Neptunes.

Such a discovery just confirms that theres so much we dont know about the universe and whats in it. Assumptions that may be true for Earth or for the planets in our solar system may not necessarily be true for others out there. This analysis shows that there is a lot more diversity in the atmospheres of these exoplanets than we were expecting, which is providing insight into how planets can form and evolve differently than in our solar system, said University of Exeters David K. Sing, second author of the paper, which is published in Nature.

For Wakeford, its discoveries like this that make her work exciting. This kind of unexpected result is why I really love exploring the atmospheres of alien planets, she said.

See the original post:
Astronomers Just Found a Planet They Didn't Know Was Possible - Futurism

Dreams of the future reveal more about the mind of the dreamer than the future itself.

This subreddit focuses on the futurist visions of eras past. However posts may also contain contemporary art with a retrofuturist theme.

Futurism was born out of humanity's reaction to a sudden thrust into technological revolution. To the many that witnessed the rapid change, it seemed technological utopia was fast approaching. This unbridled optimism caused the collective imagination to run wild.

Although many of these visions seem almost comical now - the spirit in which they were created is part of the reason you are currently looking into a glowing rectangle with unlimited, instant access to the sum of all human knowledge.

POSTING GUIDELINES:

Vintage =/= Retrofuturism

Vintage Sci-fi =/= Retrofuturism

Please avoid posting vintage technology, unless it has a intentionally and obviously "futuristic" design.

I will work to prevent default sub syndrome: clickbait titling, meme-ification, etc. So please watch the titling and try to be as informative as possible! Vast majority of submissions have been perfect for the sub and the community is great. Just want to nip any trends in the bud. I reserve the right prune low-quality and/or questionable content to keep the frontpage looking good!

Post only:

1. Futurist visions from eras past.

2. Contemporary art with a retrofuturist theme.

3. Discussion threads related to retrofuturism.

Related Subreddits:

r/ImaginaryTechnology - Sci-Fi and Fantasy art featuring robots, cyborgs, mechanisms and spaceships.

r/FuturePorn - A subreddit for futuristic concept designs.

r/WorldOfTomorrow - Present day predictions of what the future might hold.

r/ImaginaryHistory - If the infinite multi-verse theory turns out to be true, all of this actually exists.

Read the rest here:
RetroFuturism: For the fantastic, delusional dreams of our ...

In Brief Instead of just being regional, why not go international? That's the idea behind ET3's tube transportation concept, which it calls the "mag-lev limo." It would be capable of traveling from New York to Beijing in 2 hours. International and Global

Transportation of the future is being developedtoday: autonomous electric vehicles, flying cars, and thefuturistic pods that make up the Hyperloop are just a few notable examples. Theres another ideavying to be the next generation of public transportation, and while it might look something like the Hyperloop,this tube transport companys CEO Daryl Oster explains why its different:

ET3: we call it a mag-lev limo, where its a car-sized vehicle that operates in a network of tubes much [like] cars on a freeway, Oster told TechRepublic at the 2017 Smart Cincy Summit. But, it would be international and global in scope.

Our vision is being able to travel from, say, here in Cincinnati to the Taj Mahal in under three hours for 50 bucks, Oster added. Essentially, its a network of tubes that serve as a freeway whichcan be accessed viavarious points along its many routes.

While the ET3 is still in the concept phase, the Hyperloop has already moved further along the innovation highway. Since the idea was first pitched by serial entrepreneur and innovator Elon Musk in 2012, there are now two notable companies developing their own Hyperloop in the United States to Dubai.

One of these is Hyperloop One, which hasalready finished its test track in Nevada, as well as established plans for its future transport system in the U.S. Hyperloop One also hopes to develop a Hyperloop network in Dubai, with pods capable of traveling on roads. Meanwhile, Hyperloop Technologies Inc. (HTI) plans to connect all of Europeby way of a tube transportation network.

All of these move us closer to what Transit X CEO Mike Stanley calledthe impossible dream of making car-free cities within five years, as he toldTechRepublic.Maybe not exactly car-free: itll be more like a future with flying cars, autonomous cars, and tube cars but thats still pretty cool.

Read the original:
A New Tube Transport System Could Get You From New York to Beijing in 2 Hours - Futurism

In Brief

Early adopters of Bitcoin, the novel currency sweeping the globe, have plenty to celebrate this year. The cryptocurrency has grown in value by 85 percent in 2017. It has enjoyed steady growth, topping $1,700 for the first time ever today. This is the latest milestone for the digital currency, however back in March, Bitcoin surpassed the value of gold for the first time in its history. And, there are no indications of it slowing down.

The previous success of the currency has been tied to the uncertainty in markets after the results of the 2016 US elections. However, that explanation cant continue its potency for thatlong. Even more, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) still has to rule on whether or not they will reverse a previous decision to reject a high profile exchange-traded fund (ETF), so the reasons behind the currencys burgeoning strength remain unclear.

Last month, Japanese policymakers made Bitcoin a legal method of payment. This was followed closely by an announcement that Russia would consider adopting Bitcoin (among other cryptocurrencies) in 2018. However, not all countries are readily willing to consider legitimizing Bitcoin. China, for example, has recently decided to restrict its trade.

Even with some minor hiccups, Bitcoin is set to revolutionize the way that we pay. Its footing keeps getting stronger as it continues to be the top-performing currency since the start of the decade, save for 2014.

The Japanese adoption of the currency could be a considerable boon toward it hitting the mainstream. Experts are expecting retailers in more than 260,000 stores across the country tobe accepting Bitcoin. The ease afforded by the currency being international could make it a favorite for travelers as well.

The future of Bitcoin may not be entirely clear. But, if this upward trend continues, it will be difficult for policymakers to deny its rightful place in the pantheon of finance.

Excerpt from:
Bitcoin Prices Continue to Surge, Regularly Breaking Records - Futurism

In Brief SpaceX is planning to re-launch a Falcon 9 rocket into space for its second trip in the space of five months. Reusable rockets are another step along the route to cheaper, faster, easier space travel that's accessible to everyone.

SpaceX has plans to re-launch a used Falcon 9 rocket booster. This will be the Falcon 9s second trip since its launch five months ago, on January 14. The re-launch will also signify the transition of reusable rockets from the realm of the historically notable into the routine business of space exploration.

SpaceX has re-launched a rocket before, but the previous re-launch took place about 12 months after the initial launch. The agency has since cut down the time it requires to re-launch and reassemble its rockets. Ultimately, SpaceX plans to re-launch within a 24-hour period.

More than speed is on the table here; the ability to reuse Falcon 9 rockets saves the company about 75 percent of the total costs of the rocket, $46.5 million of the $62 million total. The end goal will be faster, cheaper, easier space travel thats accessible to consumers and space agencies alike.

After the March re-launch, Elon Musk remarked at a news briefing, I hope people will start to think about it as a real goal to establish a civilization on Mars. Each successful re-launch gets us closer to this aim.

See the original post:
SpaceX Is Cutting Its Turnaround Time for a Rocket Re-Launch in Half - Futurism

The Power of Thought

Meditation,in its most basic sense, is clearing your mind of all thoughtor at least, trying to. The practice is used in cultures around the globe for both religious and secular purposes. While it may be best known for its spiritual uses, it is this latter purpose that has recently ignited a firestorm of interest, as scientific research seems to indicate that meditation changes your brain on a fundamental, biological level.

Dr. Robert Puff, a licensed clinical psychologist, notes in Psychology Todaythatdescriptions of meditation techniques date back at least some 3,000 years, to Indian scriptures written inapproximately 1000 BCE. However, the practice itself appears to be far, far older. Some evidence suggests that individuals were describing the practice as long as 5,000 years ago. Unfortunately, the exact date of its inception is lost to the annals of time, but we do know that it wasnt until the 6th century BCE that it truly started its global spread. And it wasnt until the 20th century that mainstream scientists started researching the impact that it has on the human bodyspecifically, the impact it has on the human brain.

To date, a host of medical uses have been found for meditation. The most obvious use is,perhaps, stress management and reduction, which is supported by a plethora of scientific evidence. Ina study published in Clinical Psychology Review,researchers at Boston University and Harvard Medical School found that the technique helps alleviateanxiety and allows individuals to better cope with stressfulsituations.

Along these same lines, a 2011 study by Dr. Fadel Zeidan, assistant professor of neurobiology and anatomy at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, found that meditation helps individuals cope with, and better tolerate, physical pain. This work was published in theJournal of Neuroscience.But this is just the start of the research that has been conducted in relation tomeditation.

In a 2015 study published inFrontiers in Psychology, researchers from UCLA found that individuals who meditate over extended periods have more gray matter volume in their brains than those that do not. The work looked at individuals who been meditating for an average of 20 years, and the impact was pronounced. As study author Florian Kurth notes:

We expected rather small and distinct effects located in some of the regions that had previously been associated with meditating. Instead, what we actually observed was a widespread effect of meditation that encompassed regions throughout the entire brain.

Other studies support these findings. A 2011study inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which was conducted by Yale University, discovered that meditation decreases activity in the default mode network (DMN) in the brain. In the paper, the team noted that this reveals the actual biological impact of meditation and helps bring to light a unique understanding of possible neural mechanisms of meditation.

And still, the evidence does not end.

Sara Lazar, a neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, recently conducted work which found that individuals who meditate ultimately have more gray matter in the frontal cortex and, most notably, that this gray matter is preserved in spite of aging. The significance is overwhelming. As Lazar asserts in an interview with the Washington Post, Its well-documented that our cortex shrinks as we get older its harder to figure things out and remember things. But in this one region of the prefrontal cortex, 50-year-old meditators had the same amount of gray matter as 25-year-olds.

In other words, as a result of transformations in the brain, individual who meditate have a better chance of retaining their memory function in old age. And it doesnt take much for individuals to reap the benefits. Lazarstates that, in her study, the average meditation time was just 27 minutes a day and results were obtained just 8 weeks after the individuals started the practice. So, how can you reap the benefits?

Scientists assert that using proprioceptive input (also know asdeep touch pressure (DTP))to ground your body is helpful when attempting to reach a meditative state. Research has shown that this kind of pressure results in a reduction in cortisol levels and an increase in serotonin production, decreasing yourheart rate and blood pressure.

Thus, the relaxed physical state that comes from peroprioceptive input can make it easier to achieve a calm mental state thats conducive to meditation, and one of the most effective ways to get this proprioceptive input isby using a weighted blanket.

As Amber Martin, an occupational therapistfrom Utica College, notes, peroprioceptive input is good for pretty much everyone and anyone. It can be very calming and organizing. By helping youreach a state of peaceful relaxation more quickly, Gravity Blanket makes it easier for you totake advantage of every valuable moment of meditation before you have to return to the busy world outside your mind.

Theres little debate in the science regarding the benefits of meditation. According to research published in theJournal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology,meditation has beenlinked to reduced feelings of depression, anxiety, and physical pain.

Other studies have explored connections betweenmeditation andimproved focus, lowered blood pressure, strengthened memory, reduced fatigue, andwell, the list goes on and on. Yet, reaching a meditative state generally takes a lot of work, and truly clearing your mind is far from easy. A weighted blanket is just one thing that can help you get there.

Futurism only supports products that we use and love. We may collect a share of the sales from the items featured on this page.

Read more:
Harvard Neuroscientist: Meditation Reduces Stress and Literally Changes Your Brain - Futurism

In Brief A world-renowned theoretical physicist and professor at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) has a theory about how the universe will end. Based on the current rate of expansion, he predicts we'll eventually be left alone in an "island universe" that will be swallowed up by black holes after our stars burn up their fuel. The Nature of Black Holes

A world-renowned theoretical physicist and professor at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) has a theory on how the world will end, and while its not with the same Big Bang that began it, the event will be no less dramatic.

Mathematical physicistRobbert Dijkgraaf is director and Leon Lery Professor at the IAS. His research is largely focused on how mathematics and particle physics intersect, and he has made important contributions to the study of string theory. He has also developed formulas that have contributed to a greater understanding of the nature of black holes. Its black holes, in fact, that Dijkgraaf believes hold the key to the end of the world as we know it or, more accurately, the end of the universe as we know it.

Dijkgraaf explained his theory that black holes will eat up everything else in the universein a video forBusiness Insider.

Dijkgraaf explained that physicists have discovered in recent years that not only is the universe expanding, but forces are pushing it apart. The forces exist within voids and seem to be accelerating the universes expansion. Eventually, theyll reach speeds so fast (faster than the speed of light, he theorizes) that the distant galaxies we may not even be aware of yet will fade away, then the galaxies closer to us, until were living in what Dijkgraaf calls something of an island universe.

The implications of such cosmic expansion are not insignificant. When the galaxy is left alone in this kind of empty universe, the stars will go out one by one because they will burn their fuel. And if all the stars are done burning their fuel, the only force thats left is the force of gravity, Dijkgraaf explains. And it will slowly pull them in, and the black holes will eat up everything else in the universe, and this will be it.

Its a very desolate future for the universe, he adds, And I think thats why many physicists were very hesitant to believe that this is actually the true future history of the universe. But it turns out, that the experiments are all pointing in that direction.

As doomsday prophecy as Dijkgraafs assertions may sound, even if the universe does ultimately reach this rather dark (literally and figuratively) end, the event will no doubt be a thing of great beauty, too.

The rest is here:
World-Renowned Physicist Explains How Our Universe Will End - Futurism