Category Archives: Futurism

These are the key areas where jobs are predicted to grow across Australia in the future, as businesses realise the benefits of a broad skill set and ability to adapt.

With Australias employment landscape in for a major overhaul, futurists predict people with a broad range of skills will be favoured over specialists in the new job market.

Futurist Chris Riddell said: Being a specialist in one area now will narrow you into a much more siloed field than being a generalist.

(Choose something) part technology, part interpersonal skills, and focus on emotional intelligence and soft skills as well as functional skills.

Ten years ago being a generalist was a bad career move but now it will serve you well. Things are changing so quickly a better plan is to have a broad set of skills you can use to pivot and adapt.

Experts have also predicted a renewed respect for science, increasing reliance on technology, and newly-discovered gaps in supply chains will create demand in sectors from manufacturing and logistics to medical technology and finance.

Already, Australians are preparing for the post-coronavirus job market by upskilling and retraining.

Exclusive LinkedIn data revealed a 57 per cent increase in time spent on LinkedIn Learning courses since isolation began in March.

Mr Riddell and Ideas With Legs reinvention expert and innovation futurist Nils Vesk shared their predictions for the jobs and skills of the future:

MANUFACTURING

We are going to see an up-swell of manufacturing in Australia, Mr Riddell said.

But I have to put a big caution sticker on that it wont be a return to manufacturing of cars or any of those industries that have left Australia, it will be an uprising of more boutique manufacturing.

I think there is a going to be a general appetite for that swing back and I can assure you governments will throw their weight behind making that as easy as possible.

Mr Vesk said demand would likely centre on advanced manufacturing experts with backgrounds in robotics, mechatronics, automation and quality assurance.

LOGISTICS

Mr Vesk said the need for a stronger domestic supply chain was likely to create roles in logistics and systems analysis.

He predicted people would also not return to face-to-face retail at the same levels as before the pandemic, creating jobs in delivery and warehousing.

People will think Unless you can wow me with a physical experience, I am going back to (online shopping), Mr Vesk said.

Shipping costs are going to come down because there is that much more demand for it, so there will probably be an increase in warehousing and consignment.

HEALTH

Mr Riddell said roles for nurses, doctors and midwives would continue to grow at previous rates, but there would also be added demand for the technology side of healthcare.

He predicted FitBit-style wearables that collected health data would become more widely used and create new work.

Mr Vesk said social distancing regulations had brought teleconsultations into the mainstream and he expected they would remain into the future.

We are finding all kinds of online applications that will continue post-coronavirus, he said.

There will definitely be more jobs looking at teleconsulations.

He also predicted an increase in roles surrounding mental health.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Software programmers and cloud computing experts would be needed as new technologies were introduced to combat workplace safety issues and allow people to work productively from home.

For example, Mr Vesk predicted demand for voice activation technology in hygiene-friendly applications such as contactless entry to work buildings.

IT security is another big one as well, he said.

With so may people working online and predictions for that to continue post-coronavirus, there will be big demand there.

SCIENCE

Mr Vesk said the pandemic had renewed Australias respect of science and this could translate into job growth, too.

People have more of an understanding that science has an important role to play, he said.

Over the last five years with climate sceptics, people have been disrespecting what science is. People in the scientific and technical services will probably find more funding maybe not in all areas of research (but around things like) epidemiology, data, statistics.

FINANCE

As people and businesses reassessed their financial situation amid the pandemic, Mr Vesk predicted a need for professionals who could help.

There will be some personal finance coaches that will get a lot of (business), he said.

There will be a lot more insolvencies and certain businesses bought out so activation on all different levels there.

START-UPS

Budding entrepreneurs could also take advantage of gaps left in the market by the pandemics economic fallout.

Businesses that were OK and established but didnt have huge capital may be wiped out (so) smart operators will set up their own (version), Mr Vesk said.

(Start ups) are flexible, have the technology and can partner with larger companies.

We will find a bit of movement in that so there might be associated work for example, marketing for start-ups.

DELIVERING JOBS INTO THE FUTURE

Drive Yello courier Gustavo Sanches has experienced first hand the increased demand for deliveries since COVID-19 reached Australia.

He originally joined the app-based platform in December to earn extra money on the side of his two other jobs, but these were both in the tourism sector so are now on hold.

I used to do courier jobs complementing my wages but now its my first option, he said.

Its saving me.

Mr Sanches, 32, lives on the Gold Coast but often drives to Cleveland to increase his chances of being assigned delivery jobs.

Usually, I park nearby somewhere I know there is a Woolworths or BWS and wait, he said.

They call me when they need me and if I am around I accept it.

I arrive at the supermarket and they have already put it in the trolley so I just need to handle the trolley and put it in my car.

I think Australians are getting used to ordering online and demand is getting higher and higher.

Drive Yello had a 2000 per cent increase in businesses signing up for its software and pool of drivers since the pandemic.

More than 2000 new couriers also joined but Drive Yello is still seeking about 700 more in areas such as Townsville and Rockhampton in Queensland; Wollongong, Woy Woy and Toronto in New South Wales; Darwin in the NT, and Bunbury in Western Australia.

Founding chief executive Steve Fanale said they were looking for people who wanted flexible work and could supply their own van, car or bicycle.

We are seeing a massive increase in demand on the back of the crisis and lockdowns, but I see that continuing to grow post-COVID-19, he said.

Retailers that have adapted their systems and changed the way they conduct business to cater for this period are not going to just stop doing it.

On the consumer side, once you have a taste for that level of convenience, sometimes its harder to go back to the norm.

We are currently estimating we will see continued growth for the next 12 months that would be higher than we could have expected otherwise.

News Corp, in partnership with recruitment technology provider Shortlyster, is launching the Australian National Talent Registry to connect jobseekers with employers in a new way that recognises their skills and experience and matches them to vacancies as they are advertised.

TO SIGN UP TO THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TALENT REGISTRY, CLICK ON YOUR STATE NSW, VICTORIA, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, QUEENSLAND.

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Futurists predict the jobs that will emerge in Australia in the future - PerthNow

Our consciousness is the ability to visualize the future and plan for that future in a methodical and rational way.

(Newswire.net -- May 22, 2020) -- Our consciousness is the ability to visualise the future and plan for that future. Of course; we cant plan for every eventuality but we can anticipate trends and adapt to these changes through initiating effective change management. In fact, it is todays most revered leaders that help not only change their own companies but the industry they work in and even the world; simply because they are able to turn their visions into reality through the use of futurism.

Futurists possess highly creative mindsets that speculate businesss strategies over years and decades. This wide-range vision creates products, processes and services that they can adapt and fit into a long-term vision and so a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy is begun. This story although not yet true, when repeated often enough, will have the effect of acclimatising staff, stakeholders and customers minds to this vision of futuristic growth, which has the positive effect of cementing its actual success.

Fascinating research has revealed that our brains change more when we reflect on the possibilities of the future than they do when we think about the past which, after all, has been and gone. It is our ability to look ahead that actually creates and establishes our personal and business worlds. There can however, be some difficulty for businesses to use futurism effectively in order to bridge the gap between the thoughts of the future and how to make improvements starting today. This is where change management training can be invaluable.

Many businesses think they are adopting a futuristic approach but actually embracing innovation. However, the two approaches are not the same. Innovation is a gradual process that uses existing resources and technology; taking a step by step approach to get ahead of the competition and ahead of the market. Futurists however, anticipate what is to come and then build towards these different scenarios turning their predictions into reality even if they have to amend them during the innovation pipeline. So, one method uses the past to get ahead and one works back from the future instead.

Futurism however, is not an isolated experience where one simply decides to be a futurist and go it alone. Futurists can and do use tools to brainstorm ideas and then consult experts who deal with the field of experience of those ideas to help build the future in mind. A change management specialist can explain and show you how to implement the different tools of futurism which include methods such as Scenario Planning, Environmental Scanning and the Dephi Survey Method.

It is now said we are in the 4th revolution of the industrial/business age which is proving to be far more technologically fast-paced than ever before. This is why futurism and the ability to use this skill effectively is proving to be an essential part in taking responsibility for creating our own successful business futures.

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Futurism and change management what you need to know - Newswire

Robot Barista

As South Korea recovers from the deadly coronavirus, businesses are getting creative to ensure their customers are safe. Case in point: a caf in Daejon, South Korea has hired a robot barista to take care of making and busing drinks around, Reuters reports.

Thanks to the robot, the caf only has to employ a single human, who takes care of making pastries, as well as servicing and refilling their robot coworker. The robot can make 60 different types of coffee and deliver them to customers around the caf.

The company behind the robot, Vision Semicon, is hoping its fleet of mechanical workers could help while South Korean society adjusts to what officials are calling distancing in daily life the next phase of the governments efforts to relax social distancing rules.

Our system needs no input from people from order to delivery, and tables were sparsely arranged to ensure smooth movements of the robots, which fits will with the current untact and distancing campaign,Lee Dong-bae, director of research at Vision Semicon, told Reuters.

A downside: even more jobs could be lost as a result of the coronavirus. South Koreas unemployment rate was not spared by the pandemic, which in April saw its largest decline since 1999.

READ MORE:South Korean cafe hires robot barista to help with social distancing [Reuters]

More on robots: Biobots Will Serve Alongside South Korean Soldiers by 2024

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This Cafe Is Using a Robot Barista to Avoid Spreading COVID - Futurism

The Reopening

In a pair of emails blasted out to all US-based employees, Elon Musk-led carmaker Tesla outlined its plans to get production back on track. Around 30 percent of the regular workforce will return starting today, according to CNBC.

In light of Governor Newsoms statement earlier today approving manufacturing in California, we will aim to restart production in Fremont tomorrow afternoon, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said, according to a shorter second email. I will be on the line personally helping wherever I can.

The early reopening, which comes days after Musk and musician Claire Grimes Boucher had a baby, is a dicey subject since California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that manufacturing could reopen in the state only Thursday evening.

But that reopening wont override county-level rules,according to CNBC. That means its still unclear if Tesla opening the doors at its factory in Fremont, California would be in violation of any shelter-in-place orders.

The company says it wont penalize anybody for not getting back to work.

However, if you feel uncomfortable coming back to work at this time, please do not feel obligated to do so. These are difficult times, so thanks very much for working hard to make Tesla successful! Musk wrote.

Tesla also described an enhanced reopening strategy in the longer communications email. Any employee in defiance of these protocols would be sent home and be put on unpaid leave, it said.

READ MORE: Teslas Fremont plant will resume limited operations on Friday [CNBC]

More on the factory: SHRUGGING OFF PANDEMIC, TESLA PREPARES TO RESTART CA FACTORY

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Elon Musk Says He'll Be Working on the Tesla Assembly Line Today - Futurism

Were getting close to the halfway point of 2020, and so far this year has beenwell, you know. But believe it or not, things could actually be a lot worse. If this were, say, 2005, there would be no Netflix. There would be no Tik Tok. There would be no UberEats. There would be no Amazon Prime. There would be no Animal Crossing. And perhaps worst of all, there would be no CBD gummies to order off the internet and have delivered right to your door.

As you probably know, people take CBD because they believe it provides gentle, side-effect-free relief from a wide variety of conditions, including stress, anxiety, insomnia, pain, and inflammation. According to a Gallup poll conducted last summer, 20 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 said they used CBD products on a regular basis, while 16 percent of adults between the ages of 30 use it. Chances are, if they conducted another poll right now, the numbers would be much higher.

Shorthand for cannabidiol, CBD is one of 113 cannabinoid compounds found in cannabis and hemp plants. However, unlike THC, which is the active ingredient in marijuana, CBD does not get you high. Instead, it works by modulating your endocannabinoid system, which is a kind of inter-cellular communications system that helps the brain regulate immune function, stress, anxiety, pain, inflammation, and memory.

Of course, these days there are lots of different ways to take CBD. You can get it in pills, ointments, energy shots, tinctures, bath oilsyou name it. However, the most delicious way to get your daily dose of calming, stress-reducing CBD is via gummies. And when it comes to CBD gummies, nothing beats Penguin CBD Gummy Worms.

With so many different CBD products on the market, it can be difficult for consumers to figure out which brands they can trust. Thats why Penguin is completely transparent about how they make their products.

The CBD used in Penguin gummies is produced using the most advanced isolation process in the industry. It all starts with 100-percent organic, 100-percent THC-free industrial hemp, which is grown locally in Oregon without the use of toxic chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Penguin then uses advanced machinery and CO2 to extract CBD from the hemp. The CBD extract then undergoes a cutting-edge nanoemulsification process that breaks it down into microscopic particles that are easily absorbed by human cells.

Once the production process is complete, all Penguin CBD products undergo third-party testing by ProVerde Laboratories. This ensures that their gummies are certified to be clear of any unwanted chemicals and totally safe to consume.

Each Penguin CBD Gummy Worm contains 10mg of their potent CBD extract, and each jar contains 30 worms. If you love sour candy loaded with tropical flavors and coated on sweet and sour sugar crystals, you will love these gummies. But if you dont, Penguin offers a 100-percent satisfaction guarantee. If youre not satisfied, simply return them within 30 days and theyll give you a full refund. Penguin will even pay for the return shipping.

So if youre looking for a high-quality CBD product that tastes as good as it makes you feel, give Penguin CBD Gummy Worms a try. If you love them, you can subscribe to monthly shipments and save 15-percent off the regular price. So really youve got nothing to lose.

Futurism fans: To create this content, a non-editorial team worked with Verma Farms, who sponsored this post. They help us keep the lights on. This post does not reflect the views or the endorsement of the Futurism.com editorial staff.

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Stressed Out? Get These Delicious, High Quality CBD Gummies Delivered to Your Door. - Futurism

Blackjack Network

DARPA, the research wing of the U.S. Military, is preparing to launch an orbital mesh network similar to SpaceXs Starlink.

The first satellite for the Blackjack network will launch later this year, C4ISRNET reports. While theres still lots of testing, simulation, and launching to be done before Blackjack is complete, the move could be an important first step toward a new global military communication network.

Like the Starlink network, Blackjack will ultimately become a constellation of low-orbit satellites that blanket the globe.

Blackjack seeks to develop and validate critical elements of global high-speed autonomous networks in [Low Earth Orbit], reads a DARPA statement provided to C4ISRNET, proving a capability that could provide the Department of Defense with highly connected, resilient, and persistent overhead coverage.

The upcoming launch of the satellite Mandrake 1, as well as the next three launches planned for 2021, will serve as prototype demonstrations for some of the technological capabilities expected of a complete Blackjack network. Those include as supercomputer processing, communication with tactical radios, and inter-satellite communication.

Its important that we get the design right, Blackjack Program Manager Paul Thomas told C4ISRNET. We focused first on buses and payloads, then the autonomous mission management system, which we call Pit Boss. We anticipate well begin integrating the first two military payloads next summer with launch via rideshare in late 2021, followed by the remainder of the Blackjack demonstration sub-constellation in 2022.

READ MORE: DARPA set to launch first Blackjack satellite later this year [C4ISRNET]

More on orbital networks: Elon Musk Says SpaceX Could Launch Orbital Observatories

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DARPA Is About to Launch a Military Version of SpaceX's Starlink - Futurism

Futurism was launched by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti in 1909. On 20 February he published his Manifesto of Futurism on the front page of the Paris newspaper Le Figaro.

Among modernist movements futurism was exceptionally vehement in its denunciation of the past. This was because in Italy the weight of past culture was felt as particularly oppressive. In the Manifesto, Marinetti asserted that we will free Italy from her innumerable museums which cover her like countless cemeteries. What the futurists proposed instead was an art that celebrated the modern world of industry and technology:

We declarea new beauty, the beauty of speed. A racing motor caris more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace. (A celebrated ancient Greek sculpture in the Louvre museum in Paris.)

Futurist painting used elements of neo-impressionism and cubism to create compositions that expressed the idea of the dynamism, the energy and movement, of modern life.

Chief artists associated with futurism were Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Gino Severini.

Vorticism was essentially the British equivalent to futurism, but Wyndham Lewis the founder of the vorticists was deeply hostile to the futurists.

After the brutality of the first world war, many artists rejected the avant-garde notions of futurism and other pre-war movements, by using more traditional and reassuring approaches, a phenomenon described as the return to order.

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Futurism Art Term | Tate

Not content with merely taking over the urban and modernist themes of Futurist painting, the writers who embraced Italian literary Futurism sought to develop a language appropriate for what they perceived to be the speed and ruthlessness of the early 20th century. They established new genres, the most significant being parole in libert (words-in-freedom), also referred to as free-word poetry. It was poetry liberated from the constraints of linear typography and conventional syntax and spelling. A brief extract from Marinettis war poem Battaglia peso + odore (1912; Battle Weight + Smell) was appended to one of the Futurists manifestos as an example of words-in-freedom:

Arterial-roads bulging heat fermenting hair armpits drum blinding blondness breathing + rucksack 18 kilograms common sense = seesaw metal moneybox weakness: 3 shudders commands stones anger enemy magnet lightness glory heroism Vanguards: 100 meters machine guns rifle-fire explosion violins brass pim pum pac pac tim tum machine guns tataratatarata

Designed analogies (pictograms where shape analogically mimics meaning), dipinti paroliberi (literary collages combining graphic elements with free-word poetry), and sintesi (minimalist plays) were among other new genres. New forms of dissemination were favoured, including Futurist evenings, mixed-media events, and the use of manifesto leaflets, poster poems, and broadsheet-format journals containing a mixture of literature, painting, and theoretical pronouncements. Until 1914, however, output fell far short of the movements declared program, and Futurist poetsin contrast to Marinettiremained largely traditionalist in their subject matter and idiom, as was demonstrated by the movements debut anthology I poeti futuristi (1912; The Futurist Poets).

Marinetti was for some time primarily associated with his African Mafarka le futuriste (1910; Mafarka the Futurist), a tale of rape, pillage, and battle set in North Africa. Apart from its misogyny, racism, and glorification of a cult of violence, the novel is remembered for its heros creation of a machine brought to life as a superman destined to inherit the future. Only when Marinetti started grounding his avant-garde poetry in the realities of his combat experiences as a war reporter during World War I, however, did a distinctly innovative Futurist idiom emerge, one that represented a significant break from past poetic practices.

The title of literary Futurisms most important manifesto, Distruzione della sintassiimmaginazione senza filiparole in libert (1913; Destruction of SyntaxWireless ImaginationWords-in-Freedom), represented Marinettis demands for a pared-down elliptical language, stripped of adjectives and adverbs, with verbs in the infinitive and mathematical signs and word pairings used to convey information more economically and more boldly. The resultant telegraphic lyricism is most effective in Marinettis war poetry, especially Zang tumb tumb and Dunes (both 1914). A desire to make language more intensive led to a pronounced use of onomatopoeia in poems dealing with machines and waras in the title of Zang tumb tumb, intended to mimic the sound of artillery fireand to a departure from uniform, horizontal typography. A number of Futurist painter-poets blurred the distinction between literature and visual art, as Severini did in Danza serpentina (1914; Serpentine Dance). While Marinettis poetic experiments revealed an indebtedness to Cubism, he elevated Italian literary collage, often created for the purpose of pro-war propaganda, to a distinctively Futurist art form. The culmination of this tendency came with Carrs Festa patriottica (1914; Patriotic Celebration) and Marinettis Les Mots en libert futuristes (1919; Futurist Words-in-Freedom).

A typographical revolution was also proclaimed in the Futurists 1913 manifesto; it grew out of both a desire to make form visually dynamic and a perceived need for visual effects in type that were capable of reflectingthrough size and boldnessthe noise of modern warfare and urban life. A diverse series of shaped poetic layouts depicted speeding cars, trains, and airplanes, exploding bombs, and the confusions of battle. Apart from Marinettis work, the most accomplished typographical experiments are to be found in the poetry of Francesco Cangiullo and Fortunato Depero.

During its first decade, Italian literary Futurism remained a largely homogeneous movement. By contrast, Russian Futurism was fragmented into a number of splinter groups (Ego-Futurists, Cubo-Futurists, Hylaea [Russian Gileya]) associated with a large number of anthologies representing continually regrouping artistic factions. While there was an urbanist strand to Russian Futurism, especially in the poetry of Vladimir Mayakovsky and Yelena Guro, Russian writers were less preoccupied with machines, speed, and violence than their Italian counterparts. The dominant strain of primitivism in Russian Futurism led some to conclude that the two movements have little in common apart from the word Futurism. While there was a shared interest in the renewal of language, the Italians innovations were invariably designed to express an ultramodern sensibility, whereas Russian Futurist poets and playwrights confined their attentions to The Word as Such (the title of one of their most famous manifestos, Slovo kak takovoye, published in 1913). A number of these writers, most impressively Velimir Khlebnikov, explored the archaic roots of language and drew on primitive folk culture for their inspiration.

As was the case in Italy, the main achievements of Russian Futurism lie in poetry and drama. As it did in Italy, neologism played a large role in Russian attempts to renew language, which in turn aimed at the destruction of syntax. The most-famous Futurist poem, Khlebnikovs Zaklyatiye smekhom (1910; Incantation by Laughter), generates a series of permutations built on the root -smekh (laughter) by adding impossible prefixes and suffixes. The result is a typical (for Russian Futurism) concern with etymology and word creation. Khlebnikovs and Alexey Kruchenykhs radical forays into linguistic poetry went hand in hand with an interest in the word as pure sound. Their invented zaumthe largely untranslatable name given to their transrational languagewas intended to take language beyond logical meanings in the direction of a new visionary mysticism. Kruchenykhs opera Pobeda nad solncem (1913; Victory over the Sun) and Khlebnikovs play Zangezi (1922) are two of the most-important examples of the Futurist blend of transrationalism with the cult of the primitive. Mayakovsky, the greatest Russian poet to have gone through a Futurist phase, was coauthor of the manifesto Poshchochina obshchestvennomu vkusu (1912; A Slap in the Face of Public Taste), and his poems figure in many of the movements key anthologies. While sharing an Italian-influenced Futurist sensibility with the Ego-Futurists and belonging more, on account of their concern with verbal innovation, to the body of works by the Cubo-Futurist painter-poets, his poetry and plays are, above all, Futurist in their provocative rejection of the past and their subjectivist approach to the renewal of poetic language.

During the 1920s, Marinetti and those around him gravitated toward fascism, whereas the Soviet communist regime became increasingly intolerant of what it dismissed as avant-garde Formalism. While relations between Italian and Russian Futurism were, on the whole, strained, the Italian Futurists exercised a strong influence on German Expressionism, English Vorticism, and international Dada.

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Futurism - Literature | Britannica

According to leaked information obtained by STAT, the antiviral drug remdesivirmay be an extremely effective treatment for severe cases of COVID-19.

In lab test conducted at the University of Chicago Medicine, 125 people who tested positive COVID-19, 113 of which had severe cases, were given daily infusions of the drug.

The best news is that most of our patients have already been discharged, which is great, Kathleen Mullane, the University of Chicago infectious disease specialist who supervised the study, said during a leaked video discussion for faculty membersobtained by STAT. Weve only had two patients perish.

The researchers also noted that fevers were quickly subsiding.

We have seen people come off ventilators a day after starting therapy, Mullane noted in the discussion. So, in that realm, overall our patients have done very well.

Its still far too early to draw any greater conclusions,experts say.

What we can say at this stage is that we look forward to data from ongoing studies becoming available, read a Thursday statement by Gilead, the maker of remdesivir.

Drawing any conclusions at this point is premature and scientifically unsound, the University of Chicago Medicine said in a statement, echoing the sentiment. Theres also no control group that was given a placebo, further undermining the validity of these early results.

Gilead is conducting a number of COVID-19 trials, some of which are collecting data from thousands of patients from across the globe.

Despite the caveats, remdesivir still looks promising as a treatment for severe COVID-19 cases.

The severely hit patients are at such high-risk of fatality, Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute who was not involved in the trials, told STAT.

So if its true that many of the 113 patients were in this category and were discharged, its another positive signal that the drug has efficacy, he added.

But Topol noted that its too early to draw conclusions.

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Leaked Research: This Drug May Be Saving COVID Patients' Lives - Futurism

After a long period of uncertainty, a growing number of Americans can finally go to their doctor and get checked for past or present cases of COVID-19.

So far, just over 3.1 million Americans have been tested for the coronavirus. And with newly-developed COVID antibody blood tests that can measure a persons immune response to the disease, it may become possible to determine whether or not people have actually built up resistance to the coronavirus, which many expect will be the case as the immune system equips itself against future infections.

One of those blood tests recently went to Brandan Robertson, an author and the Lead Pastor of Missiongathering Christian Church in San Diego, California, who took the time to chat about the experience.

Heres our conversation, which weve lightly edited for clarity.

Futurism: Hey Brandan, thanks for taking the time to chat about your experience getting an antibody test for the coronavirus. Before we jump into anything too meaty, do you mind telling me what the timeline was like for you? For instance, where did you have to go, and were you able to get tested while you were sick? Or was this something that happened after the fact?

Brandan Robertson: In February, I was traveling in Europe right when coronavirus was starting to get bad over there. I came back, and a few weeks later started developing worrisome symptoms. Just a cough and some chest pressure. On about March 6, it got more severe. I started having a fever so I called my doctor. They did a phone call instead of having me come into the office. They said essentially that there werent very many tests and because I was young, they told me to stay home, quarantine for 14 days, and see if I got better.

I did that. I stayed in bed for two weeks. It was not terrible, it was like a bad cold. Really that was the end of it: Ive been going around for the past month, not really being sure if I had it or not but doing all the things youre supposed to do. Social distancing, masks, all that.

And it was last week, I got an email from my primary care provider that they had gotten a number of these antibody tests and that I could make an appointment. I scheduled one for the next day. They basically had me do a phone screening before I went in to make sure I wasnt displaying symptoms of coronavirus and not currently sick, then had me go into their office.

It felt a little sketchy in that I went to their office, and they said okay, go around to the back parking lot and go to the table there. I went to the parking lot, and there was a table there with two nurses who did the finger prick. Ten minutes later, they came back and told me I had been sick.

Sorry, wait, it was just a table?

It was definitely odd. I think it was meant to be a drive-up kind of thing, but I lived close enough that I just walked. There were a few people sitting in their cars. It was an interesting medical experience for sure.

The idea of a table in a back parking lot conjures the image of a slapdash operation. Did you still feel that things were handled well or like a proper medical procedure?

Yeah totally. When I got there, they had me sign consent forms, sanitized hands and put on gloves. And then it was just the quick prick of the finger, which took a minute. It was the best I could imagine for what drive-in medical care might look like.

How did those nurses describe your results? Theres been talk of immunity and potential immunity passports. Did they suggest at all that you were resistant to the coronavirus now?

The tests had the potential for three different results. Im going to describe this in a non-medical way so it may be a little inaccurate. One outcome was negative, that you didnt have it. One was that you had it, and you had an antibody in your system that suggests youre still fighting it to some degree, and the third is that you had it and have the antibodies that suggest you recovered.

They warned that the jurys not out in the complete accuracy of these tests, but they were fairly confident in the accuracy of the results. They mentioned there were no scientific results that immunity actually exists, but there was the potential I might be immune. But they said keep doing all the things youre doing, social distancing and masks, all that.

Not to go run free?

Unfortunately.

So ever since you got your results, have you been living differently at all? Have you felt comfortable going outside more, maybe, or are you still keeping put as much as before?

I have felt more comfortable, not because I think I have more immunity, but because Im quite confident now that Ive had it, I know what it was like for me, and how my body responds. If there is a little less fear, its because if I do get it again, if thats possible, it wont be as traumatic as what weve heard in the media, for me at least.

If these tests finally became more accessible, how do you think that would change society right now? Do you think people with positive results would act differently en masse?

I think on one hand, from all the reading that I think weve all been doing, I think testing is the obvious way to deal with this. What this test reveals for me is that significantly more people have probably had the virus than numbers show. But we havent gotten the test while we were sick, and well never really know until we start doing accurate antibody tests. And the other thing is my test still cost me $50 with insurance, which makes it prohibitive to lots of people.

If were going to get back to normal life, its going to require that we know these things. Especially if youre studying whether immunity is real or not. You cant study immunity if you dont know who had the virus.

Listen, given your theological background, I have to ask: a lot of churches, especially those megachurches, have been getting flak recently for either continuing to hold services or arguing that they ought to be. Is this something that youve encountered in your own community or among your peers? Where do you land in that debate?

Ill be honest, the first week which was right when I came down with the virus in early March that we shut down our services, it was one of the hardest decisions. On one hand, our calling is to be a spiritual community for people and people need that in times of crisis. And on the practical side, were a small church. Knowing were not going to hold services means our finances are going to take a hit. I may have to lay off staff or not be able to pay bills.

I was actually very impressed by my colleagues, conservative and liberal, here in San Diego who said that the best way to love our neighbors is to be distant from them in this time. The bishop of San Diego ordered every episcopal church to shut down. We normally do a joint service, and we were planning to livestream just with four clergy from their church. And we werent able to do that.

Still, me and three colleagues meet on Sunday mornings and do a livestreamed service for our community. The few megachurches in the country who have far-right pastors, they get a lot of press but I dont think thats a big trend across the country.

Having been through the testing process, is there anything that you would want to say to people currently dealing with the uncertainties of staying quarantined and wondering whether or not theyre sick?

Whats been helpful for me is that as a church, weve been providing opportunities to connect digitally. So even elderly people who live by themselves can have some sense of normalcy in their lives and a chance to connect with others.

Ive also been getting out a lot. I take walks by my office. Nobodys there, of course, and its been good for me.

I think this big reset that were going through as a global society not to make light of it but its a bit of a gift. None of us could have imagined that the world would stop for a couple of months. So Ive been urging my community to use this time, even in the midst of the hardship, of the stress, to reset. To envision what life looks like on the other side of this.

Thats what keeps me hopeful. One: the excitement of seeing folks again, but also two: developing new habits. To make sure that life is better on the other side of this than before I went into it.

Hey, I really appreciate you sharing all of this today. Before I let you go, is there anything else you want to get through to people?

My understanding is COVID testing, at least for those who are sick, is more widely available now. People have this idea that its still not accessible. If youre sick, go get tested. I think thats just so essential. It will clear up your fears about whether you have the virus or not, and it will really help us flatten this curve and get us out of it.

Read more from the original source:
Here's What It's like to Get a COVID Antibody Test - Futurism