Category Archives: Futurist

Uranus is a fascinating place.

Planetary scientists are captivated by the ice giants unusual methane-rich atmosphere, sporadic weather, and magnetic field that interacts with the Sun all the way from its distant orbit.

And, unfortunately, it also has a name that lends itself really well to dirty jokes. It can be pronounced either urine-us or your-anus, both of which open up endless possibilities for potty humor.

NASA Data Shows Something Leaking Out of Uranus, read one Futurism headline that resonated with readers last year. Scientists have also miscellaneously found that Uranus expels gas, harbors mysterious fluids, and forms puzzling mushballs. In some cases, it feels impossible to avoid sounding risqu, even if you try.

The phenomenon might be sophomoric, but it raises an intriguing question: what do the scientists whove dedicated academic careers to studying Uranus make of all this crude humor?

I think at first I found it quite frustrating, Lancaster University researcher Chris Arridge told Futurism. There was a little bit of that Were doing serious stuff here, and were trying to push for a mission to a really scientifically interesting place. And in some sense, the butt jokes do they devalue that in some sense? Does it make it less likely that you end up with a new space mission to study somewhere that many of us who study planets think is a really important piece of the puzzle to understanding our solar system?

Arridge said that hes gradually softened up on the jokes, but he also raised an alarming possibility: that lowbrow humor about the planet could undermine public funding for genuine research into it.

Ultimately the public pays the vast majority of this work, Arridge said. The public is invested and the public is a major stakeholder. So its a little bit symbiotic. If your stakeholder thinks its a big joke, I think that can be a concern for some people.

Arridge clarified that he doesnt personally feel this way, but he understood the concerns and wanted to articulate them all the same.

If the public thinks its a joke, he added, the next thought in that thread is Do they think its a waste of money?'

Another concerned astronomer is Heidi Hammel, a prominent Space Science Institute and Planetary Society astronomer and a top expert on Neptune and Uranus,who helped craft NASAs 2010 decadal survey, in which she issued a full-throated recommendation for NASA to visit Uranus.

I truly do worry that it will make it difficult to actually get a mission to study this planet because I think that NASA would be sensitive to these headlines, Hammel told Futurism, and sensitive to all the ridicule that they would get if they wanted to get a mission to this planet. We do want to send atmospheric probes, and we do call them probes, and its impossible to separate that from the whole aliens probing humans thing.

The really serious thing is that I do think it could hamper our ability to get a mission to this planet, she added. I dont think thats insurmountable, but its something that we worry about. Maybe well just go to Neptune so we dont have to worry about the whole thing.

Still, Hammel continues to stand behind the scientific arguments for a mission to Uranus. She conceded that there hasnt been a tangible indication that Uranus jokes pose a threat to such a mission, but she believes theres reason for concern.

As of this articles publication, multiple NASA spokespeople havent responded to Futurisms specific questions about whether theres any validity to those concerns, but most of the astronomers Futurism spoke to think that those concerns are just overly cautious researchers blowing innocuous jokes out of proportion.

There are a couple of people whose opinions I respect and whose knowledge of how things really work in Washington DC is much greater than mine, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory planetary scientist Mark Hosfstadter, who published a 2019 paper arguing for a mission to Uranus, told Futurism. They will say that when you go to Congress and try to argue for funding, you will take a hit because of the word Uranus. And for that reason, if you want to study an ice giant, its better to go to Neptune.

That argument, I dislike, Hofstadter continued. I will accept any scientific argument that says oh if you want to study an ice giant, Neptune is more important because of dot dot dot, and the answer is usually [its moon] Triton. Thats an argument that I can accept and respect. But to say that Im going to choose a mission to Neptune over a mission to Uranus just because of the name, I dont think thats a good reason.

But for the most part, Hofstadter said, its all in good fun. His wife,he said, once bought him a t-shirt emblazoned with the claim that 63 Earths can fit inside Uranus. 64 if you relax.

The correct number, Hofstadter explained, is actually 63.5.

Theres a joking t-shirt that conveyed a fact about the planet! So thats okay by me, he said. Its the same as this sort of tongue-in-cheek title you used. Its a way to get people to relax and learn something about science.

Many other Uranus scientists also enthusiastically supported nasty jokes about their favorite gas giant. From a scientific communication point of view, several said, a sense of humor can even be a winning strategy.

I guess, coming from the general public I kind of love it, University of California astronomy PhD candidate Ned Molter told Futurism. I think its good to get engagement in my work in any way. Thats sort of the way that I see it. Obviously, do the jokes get really tired and repetitive? Absolutely. But the thing is, the fraction of the time that I talk to the public about my work is small enough where it doesnt affect me that much. I wouldnt say I get frustrated at all. It starts a conversation.

And when journalists have some fun with the topic? Thats also fine by Molter.

If thats the clickbait that people want, they learn something! Molter said. Ninety percent of people might be Ha ha, thats hilarious and ten percent will go Oh thats really interesting. I think it can only help, really.

You should use whatever headline you want that gets people to read the article, as long as it isnt crap or a lie, he added. Honestly, making a butt joke is the most innocent way to do that. I cant think of a way that making a butt joke is going to misrepresent the work that I did.

Its also just good to have a sense of humor about your work, scientists said.

To me, astrophysics seems like everyones having fun, University of Zurich PhD candidate Deniz Soyuer told us. We make these jokes all the time, and not just about Uranus. There are a bunch of objects in the universe. There are also yo mamma jokes about black holes and stuff.

Soyuer wondered aloud whether there was a generational split that might explain why some astronomers get bothered by the jokes, adding that he and his peers are from the internet generation and laugh at anything.

One thing that all seven experts we talked to, all of whom have published research on Uranus, agreed on is that both ice giant planets planets Uranus and Neptune are immensely important from a scientific standpoint yet constantly get overlooked. Only one spacecraft, Voyager 2, has ever flown past Uranus and Neptune, and that was nearly 40 years ago.

Neptune and Uranus are ridiculously underexplored compared to what we call the gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, Soyuer said.

Even the scientists who were more critical of Uranus jokes said that they saw the value in humorous scientific communications, arguing that they could help breathe life into a field otherwise dominated by extremely dense and technical papers and research.

It would be quite a boring world if it was all fairly dull and bland and factual, Arridge said. I do see these articles about Uranus and leaking fluids and it gives me a chuckle from time to time.

More on Uranus: NASA Data Shows Something Leaking out of Uranus

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Here's What Uranus Scientists Think About Your Disgusting Jokes - Futurism

The potential for human ingenuity is limitless. Just think how much progress weve made in just one century! A mere hundred years ago, it was impossible to take flight across an ocean or even travel more than ten miles from your house without getting tired.

Now there are robots on Mars surveying whether the planet is ready for our arrival. Its enough to make us believe nothing has limitations. After all, inventions continue coming out at such high rates that anything seems possible.

Its difficult to believe that two decades ago, the iPhone didnt exist. Now, we are all equipped with a supercomputer in our pockets, full of high-tech games. Some people even say our phones will soon be able to do everything from taking care of you when your heart fails to diagnosing Alzheimers disease, and maybe more too!

This innovative technology has been exponential for centuries now. What does tomorrow have lurking around its corner? Lets have a look at some more fanciful ideas.

Personal jet packs for commuting

Its truejetpacks do exist, but they are not producible or at all practical. Every single version of the tech developed so far has needed fuel and money in equal amounts and it also tends to be somewhat loud, with its volume sometimes being too high for some peoples liking.

On top of all this bad news, theres more. These things can kill you if misused, and because of that, no sane company would take that risk, especially since there were numerous accidents involving these types of devices when they were prototypes, proving personal jet packs are not financially viable yet.

Self-flying cars

The most famous attempt to create a flying car resulted in two entrepreneurial men dying during an early test. The technology has not yet been perfected and is still considered too dangerous for public use.

The idea behind creating futuristic vehicles like these may not be as far off as we think. After all, there have already been experiments with cars that can fly. Electronic engineer Henry Smolinski and mechanical engineer Hal Blake amalgamated parts from an old Cessna aeroplane and a Ford Pinto into one vehicle known as the Frankenstein Plane. However, when it took off on its second test flight, everything went wrong and they both diedno surprise there really

Traveling faster than light

Its a fact, trying to travel faster than light is physically impossible. Even if it were possible to travel at such relative teleportation velocity (which its not), travelling beyond the speed of sound would cause humans to explode into fragments. Under those circumstances, our bodies cannot metabolise food or water or indeed keep our guts in our stomachs. Meaning thered be no way for us to survive.

A more practical application might have some interesting consequences. Imagine using this form of transportation as a means around natural disasters by simply being able to jump back and forth between countries, without crossing international borders or going through passport control.

Hoverboards

Hoverboards do exist (in theory anyway) and can do a whole lot more than fly. These hands-free Segways dont excel at hovering. And if were lucky enough to see something like this come out of the prototype stage anytime soon, it would literally cost an arm and a leg. So dont hold your breath, because its likely to kill you too

Time travel

Yeah, its not happening this year or anytime soon either. But why? Because its impossiblean excellent idea, though. That being said, we realise that you can technically travel to the future by blasting off from Earth and going fast into space in your rocket ship chasing after light speed (like Marty McFly in Back To The Future).

However, you have to accept that unless things change, time travel only appears in the movies or on the Starship Enterprisebecause we arent atoms just yet, captain.

Becoming invisible

Mad inventors say that they have found a way to make objects invisible by creating an elaborate system that distracts your eye with other images. Youll need refracting material, like glass or metal filings in front of light; energy-consuming projectors and cameras for capturing environmental cues before they happen (to match whats happening around you); so lots of equipment, tons upon tons worth!

Researchers demonstrated this past year that there are steps being taken towards the ultimate goal of invisibility. But, this is never going to happen in real termsits just smoke and mirrors (or maybe just mirrors).

A pill instead of dinner

Human beings are a bit of a curious bunch, always looking to save time. We like to find shortcuts, and theres no food more tempting than the one-shot deal, be it in pill form or otherwise. However, while this sounds fun, its actually a bad idea; eating is one of the pleasures in life, so we are delighted that this almost reality is not coming to UberEats anytime soon.

Human cloning

Have you always wanted a twin? The news of human cloning has been around for years, and many people are sceptical about it. However, in the late 1990s, scientists from South Korea claimed they had successfully cloned a human embryo. When we looked into the story, we found it was only 4 per cent true as The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) reported that the experiment resulted in only four living cells after being created through scientific fertilisation techniques. The NHGRI goes on to say, Theres currently no solid scientific evidence anyone else has cloned embryos.

There was, however, a successful attempt at cloning a sheep. The sheeps name was Dolly, and scientists cloned her from cells taken from the mammary gland of a six-year-old Finn Dorset sheep and an egg cell from a Scottish Blackface. Dollys surrogate mother gave birth to the furry little clone making controversial history way back in 1996.

Perhaps one day they will perfect human cloning, but we hope they dont. After all, it will only be the mega-rich who will be able to afford it, and we dont need more megalomaniacs in this world than we already have.

Futuristic technology that would be cool if it existed now

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Futuristic technology that would be cool if it existed now - Screen Shot

In a post today, a redditor posed an provocative question: could you paint your face on the Moon,so that it was visible from Earth, and get away with it?

Lets say that Elon musk Does [go] to the moon and paints his face on it, read the post, before it was deleted by the trigger-happy mods of r/space. The space treaty says no one owns the moon or can claim it, so could someone get away with doing something like this.

The question of whether or not Musk would do something like that is probably pretty obvious. Of course he would. Imagine the meme potential. Itd be wild, and another thing he could lord over Jeff Bezos.

Whether the billionaire SpaceX foundercould do it, though, is another question entirely. There are three barriers that need to be examined:

First, you need to consider the technical aspects. Is it even possible to paint something large enough on the Moon that we could see it from Earth? Theres no reason to even consider the other two barriers if youre doomed to fail.

Short answer: Probably though if Musk wants to plaster his mug on the entirety of the Moons surface visible during a full moon, hes going to need an ungodly amount of paint. That might be prohibitively expensive enough, so lets assume he decided to save money and resources with a clever hack.

Jim Garvin, chief scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, spoke to The New York Times in 2008 about a similar proposal that purportedly planned to projectbeer ads onto the lunar surface. He said that scientists had indeed bounced lasers off the Moon before, lighting up areas about the size of tennis courts.

Scaling up, though, would pose a challenge.

In order for an advertisement to be seen by people on earth, Garvin told the NYT, the laser light would need to cover an area about half the land size of Africa.

Of course, Musk would need a dizzyingly large array of laser systems to light up the Moons surface from the Earth but it would likely be possible, albeit expensive.

But what about the law? Luckily for the Tesla CEO, he might be okay to deface the Moon with his,well, face.

For one, no country owns the Moon. That means no one specific governing body can enforce laws on it.

That said, it doesnt mean that youre allowed to commit any crime you want on the lunar surface. On the Moon, the principle of extraterritorial jurisdiction would apply to Musk. That means that the laws of a persons home country apply to them if theyre in a territory not owned by a country.

But he might not be committing any crimes if he decides to project or even paint his face onto its surface, since no one owns the Moon. So hes probably in the clear legally.

Then that leaves the ethical: is it right to plaster your face all over a celestial body that has been a source of joy and wonder to billions of people over the lifetime of our species?

This one is an unequivocal no. Not at all. What a silly question. One would be hard pressed to even come up with an argument otherwise. Its the Moon, after all! Its not there for one person to enjoy and use for themselves. Its for everyone.

So, could Musk paint a giant picture of his face on the Moon? Yes. Will he do it? Probably not though we would never put an opportunity to promote himself (and memeify the solar system) past him.

More on the Moon: Florida Man Returns Missing NASA Moon Rock He Bought at Garage Sale

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Could Elon Musk Paint a Giant Picture of His Face on the Moon? - Futurism

"If it's about the Moon, let's go to the Moon, if it's Mars, let's go to Mars."Martian Movies

Mere days after wrapping the first-ever feature film with scenes shot in space, the movies director already has his sights set even further into the cosmos.

KlimShipenko, the Russian director of The Challenge, which was filmed aboard the International Space Station (ISS) this month, told reporters at a news conference that hed be willing to shoot a sequel on the Moon or even Mars, according to Reuters. The filmmaker, along with actress Yulia Peresild and cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, returned to Earth on Saturday, where they continued to film additional scenes immediately after landing.

Were ready, Shipenko said in comments at the news conference obtained by Reuters. We believe space cinema should be filmed in space. If its about the Moon, lets go to the Moon, if its Mars, lets go to Mars.

He added, Why not? Why should cinema be filmed in a studio?

While little news came out during the production aboard the ISS, Shipenko did reveal some of the struggles and learning experiences the crew had while aboard the orbital outpost, saying that it showed him methods of filmmaking.

Some scenes that I imagined one way on Earth came together completely differently, he said at the news conference. People can be face to face [in space] but one of them is head up and the other is horizontal and the camera can be on a different plane, and that transforms your consciousness completely.

For me it was a cinematic discovery, to realize scenes in a completely different way in three or four planes, he added.

Hopefully, hell be willing to share some of his cinematic discoveries and insights with Tom Cruise as the Hollywood actor prepares for his big space movie.

READ MORE: Russian space movie director says moon or Mars could be next [Reuters]

More on Russian space film: Russian Actress Boards Space Station, Says She Feels like Shes Dreaming.

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Russian Director Who Filmed Movie on ISS Says He's Doing the Moon or Mars Next - Futurism

PostedFriday, October 15, 2021 2:18 pm

Josh Haner

Meaghan Looram and Steve Duenes | The New York Times

We are delighted to announce a new role for Josh Haner, who will become The Times first photo futurist. In this newly created role, Josh will join the leadership team of the photo department and will be our lead for all technology initiatives, partnerships, workflow enhancements and tool development related to photography and visual storytelling.

The Times photo department is unrivaled, known for our high-impact visual enterprise and our essential live news coverage. Josh will help ensure that our practices are best positioning us for continued competitive advantage in both areas. He will do so by leading the photo staff in experiments designed to improve workflows and develop innovative approaches to the gathering and presentation of our visual journalism. And his work will be aimed at facilitating a more collaborative and inclusive environment that encourages broader participation in the visual curation of our report.

Josh will work closely with photo leadership, publishing product leadership, the photo tools team and NDS (Newsroom Development and Support) to plan and coordinate the continued design and newsroom wide rollout of the new suite of photo tools. He will also work with R&D on journalistic applications of emerging technologies. He will investigate tools and workflow to advance real-time photojournalism presentations to deploy in our live coverage. He will spearhead equipment and technology explorations for staff photographers in the field. He will clarify and streamline technical processes and filing protocols for photojournalists gathering video. And he will oversee continued efforts to digitize and make discoverable our treasured photo archive.

Josh brings a unique set of qualifications to this role as an experienced photo editor, an award-winning photojournalist and a gifted technologist. Josh began his career at The Times as a photo editor in 2006. He was one of the co-founders and editors of The Lens Blog, and became a staff photographer in 2010. In 2014, Josh won the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for his work documenting the recovery of Jeff Bauman, a survivor of the Boston Marathon bombing. He has spent the last seven years documenting the global effects of climate change, engaging in ambitious cross-functional newsroom collaborations, and often utilizing video, drone work and time lapses in his storytelling. Josh has also been instrumental in shaping our live event photo coverage. He built the original remote-streaming backpack that has, over many iterations, allowed us to set the industry standard for high-speed visual news publishing.

Joshs depth of experience across so many facets of our work is invaluable, and his innovative thinking will help shape the future operation of the department.

Please join us in congratulating Josh on his exciting new role.

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Josh Haner will be The New York Times' first photo futurist - Editor And Publisher Magazine

Its a compelling (and scary) theory.Advanced Civilizations

A Harvard scientist has an interesting theory as to how our universe was formed: in a laboratory by higher class of lifeform.

Avi Loeb, bestselling author and the former chair of Harvards astronomy department, penned an op-ed in Scientific American this week positing that the universe could have been formed in a lab by an advanced technological civilization. If true, he said the origin story would unify the religious idea of a creator with the secular idea of quantum gravity.

Since our universe has a flat geometry with a zero net energy, an advanced civilization could have developed a technology that created a baby universe out of nothing through quantum tunneling, Loeb wrote.

One of the more interesting ideas posited in an article chock full of them is the civilization classification system. Loeb said that as a low-level technological civilization, humans are class C (or a civilization dependent on its host star).

If and when our technology progresses to the point where we can become independent of the Sun, wed be class B. If we can create our own baby universes in a laboratory (like our theoretical creators) wed be class A.

Of course, theres a wide number of things in our way the biggest hurdle being our inability to create a large enough density of dark energy within a small region, said Loeb. However, if and when we do ever get there, wed be able to join our theoretical creators in class A!

In any case, the theory is compelling, humbling, and a little bit frightening as well. If Loebs past theories are also to be believed, were likely not the only ones out there gunning for class A status either.

READ MORE: Was Our Universe Created in a Laboratory? [Scientific American]

More on the universe: Scientists Create 3,000 TB Simulation of the Universe You Can Download

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Harvard Scientist Suggests That Our Universe Was Created in a Laboratory - Futurism

In other news, New Zealand had an official wizard.Wandering Wizard

For the last 21 years, the now 88-year-old Ian Brackenbury Channell has dutifully served as the official wizard of New Zealand.

But no more, The Guardian reports, as the Christchurch city council has decided to strike him from the payroll, daringly running the risk of drawing a sorcerers wrath. However, The Wizard, as hes come to be known, says he still plans to show his face around the center of town, railing against the idea thathe, as a living tourist attraction, has grown outdated.

The city plans to celebrate The Wizards tenure with a free exhibit about his life at Christchurchs Arts Centre, according to The Guardian. But it seems that the government wants to move on from a historic, enchanted vibe and project the city as being a bit more modern.

Council spokesperson Lynn McClelland told The Guardian that the council wants to showcase a vibrant, diverse, modern city that is attractive to residents, domestic and international visitors, new businesses, and skilled migrant workers.

But in the words of The Wizard, he says that the council stopped paying him because hes too much of a provocateur to match the vibes of the city.

It implies that I am boring and old, but there is nobody else anything like me in Christchurch, he told The Guardian. Its just they dont like me because they are boring old bureaucrats and everyone likes me and no one likes them.

There are also troubling allegations about Channell. The Guardian reports that he joked about hitting women back in April.

Its unclear whether thats part of why hes no longer getting paid by the city but it wouldnt be that surprising.

READ MORE: New Zealand council ends contract with wizard after two decades of service [The Guardian]

More on wizardry: Scientists Stored The Wizard of Oz on a Strand of DNA

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New Zealand Just Fired Its Official Wizard - Futurism

While the term Gen C was first introduced circa 2012 by futurist Brian Solis as a way of describing a generation of connected consumers defined not by their age, geography, or income but by their hyper-connected, mobile-first mentality, its increasingly being used to describe post-pandemic-born babies. Its also been applied to the mindset and expectations of consumers in the wake of the pandemic.

More recently, it has been used to label kids coming of age during the pandemic and how their expectations and experiences are different from ours.

But Id argue that the pandemic has changed all of us. People have seen whats possible by way of such pandemic-spawned conveniences as virtual visits, online scheduling, digital sharing of records and texting, while providers have seen more clearly than ever that convenience is the new currency.

In the broadest sense, were all Gen C now (Generation Covid). Our expectations of how we experience healthcare have been irrevocably altered, the differences only being ones of degree across demographics.

Last fall, a national survey of patients and providers (The State of Patient Access Survey 1.0) conducted by Experian Health found that more patients were able to schedule appointments through patient portals, complete preregistration tasks online, make payments from mobile devices and even have initial consultations with clinicians through telehealth.

Somewhat surprisingly, however, the survey also revealed that while some had been hesitant to use self-service technology prior to the pandemic, they were relieved during the first half of it that they were able to access healthcare from the safety of their own home. Whats more, consumers were used to using online interaction and wondered why healthcare couldnt offer the same level of convenience, autonomy, and security that they otherwise enjoy in their other online activities.

Providers appear to be taking note. In a follow-up survey this past summer, 93% of providers said improving the patient experience is a top priority, up slightly from 90% in 2020. More than 8 out of 10 providers say their patients prefer an online registration experience, compared to 6 in 10 last year, and more providers are offering online and mobile scheduling. A growing majority are planning to invest further in patient intake capabilities because of the pandemic. Interestingly, the number of providers who dont plan to offer self-scheduling has also risen, from 8% to 29%, suggesting that they may already have such systems in place or are focusing on different priorities.

Lets dissect what adapting to Generation Cs engagement expectations means.

Patients are ready for more engagement

Just like consumers have embraced unlimited access to online shopping from the convenience of their homes and smartphones, the arrival of the pandemic sped up healthcares adoption of similar digital access for scheduling appointments. It also elevated patient expectations for this type of access and convenience, paving the way for alternative or emergent service providers, like pharmacies, to enter the market of digital access for patients.

Its known in the consumer world that people are very unlikely to give up benefits once theyve enjoyed them. Its fair to expect that a significant majority of patients will never return to the old days of calling doctors offices and patiently waiting on hold to schedule appointments.

At least 18% of patients we surveyed cited the ability to see a practitioner quickly as their top challenge, registering a nearly 20% increase in that sentiment over November 2020. While a doctors availability is limited by the laws of physics, there are innovative ways to use technology to speed or otherwise improve patient assessment experiences and our survey found that patients are amendable to them. The findings indicated that theyre ready for more as well.

It may not be surprising that expanded telehealth services continue to significantly reduce patients difficulty in scheduling interactions, staying almost constant at nearly half of survey responses, and there was almost a 20% increase in use of online/mobile scheduling. Health app usage varies by age group, with 3345-year-olds a whopping 80% more likely to use them than other demographics.

How will healthcare adapt?Providers are responding to some of these expectations from Generation C while facing opportunities for improvement and competitive differentiation on others. There are four broad areas in which these insights are most notable:

The pandemic forever changed the way we think about and access healthcare and will in large part dictate the paths our care journeys follow in the coming years. For the younger demographic of patients who are only now at the age where they will handle their own healthcare, what has been an evolution or revelation for the rest of us will be the status quo.

This means digital transformation really isnt a new phenomenon anymore; this dynamic is not something that gets done apart from or in parallel with providers other work and responsibilities. Digital innovations play a role in every aspect of patient engagement and will eventually play the central role in how patients interact with their healthcare.

Its key to everything because were all Generation C now.

Photo: phototechno, Getty Images

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Who is Generation C and how will healthcare adapt to meet their expectations? - MedCity News

Her model could unify two structures in the sky previously thought to be unconnected.Tunnel-Like Structure

An astronomer has proposed a bold model suggesting that the entire solar system is surrounded by a massive, magnetic tunnel.

The model focuses on two major structures in the sky: the North Polar Spur and the Fan Region, according to a press release from the University of Toronto. While the structures were seemingly unconnected since their discoveries in the sixties, a team of researchers at the university led by astronomer Dr. Jennifer West now suggests that theyre actually a part of a huge, tunnel-like magnetic field surrounding the solar system.

If we were to look up in the sky we would see this tunnel-like structure in just about every direction we looked that is, if we had eyes that could see radio light, West said in the press release. She and her team have published a paper of their findings in Science.

To come to their conclusions, West built her own computer model to simulate what the radio sky looks like from Earth. Using this, the team was able to surmise that the two structures were connected with rope-like magnetic filaments, according to the release.

West estimates the structures are roughly 350 light-years from our solar system and nearly 1,000 light-years long. Thats the equivalent distance of travelling between Toronto and Vancouver two trillion times, West said in the release.

The team is planning on completing even more complex modeling in the future with the hopes of uncovering and understanding what role the magnetic tunnel plays in the galaxy.

Magnetic fields dont exist in isolation. They all must connect to each other, West said in the release. So a next step is to better understand how this local magnetic field connects both to the larger-scale galactic magnetic field, and also to the smaller scale magnetic fields of our Sun and Earth.

She added, I think its just awesome to imagine that these structures are everywhere, whenever we look up into the night sky.

READ MORE: Dunlap Astronomer discovers we may be surrounded by tunnel-like structure [University of Toronto]

More on the galaxy: Scientists Baffled by Radio Waves Coming from Our Own Galaxy

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Scientist Says the Solar System Is Surrounded by a Huge Magnetic Tunnel - Futurism

Alloysius (A.J.) Lloyd is the Co-Founder of Kiji Ventures. - Photo courtesy AJ Lloyd / Thomas Herd

Opinions expressed byDigital Journalcontributors are their own.

Alloysius (A.J.) Lloyd is the Co-Founder of Kiji Ventures, international leader of the Regenerative Development Movement, and a young black millennial mogul owner of an original Warhol. Despite experiencing childhood hardships growing up in abject poverty in the DMV area, Lloyd has brilliantly found ways to make use of the intersection of various industries in order to help preserve the environment, improve conditions for marginalized communities, and push the boundaries of technology, art, fashion, culture, & finance.

Understanding the importance of experiential knowledge and making connections with genuine and creative people, Lloyd left the states and began his international journey as soon as he was able to.

Now the American is fully engrained in and familiar with the social intricacies of many international business and art hubs, like Paris, London, Geneva, Tokyo, Singapore, and Seoul. These international experiences serve Lloyds ability to vertically integrate himself in and find the connections between many, seemingly different, industries such as environmental preservation, cutting-edge technology, high art, and international finance as well as to build his network along the way. Lloyds international experience does not end at the London business scene or at Frances haute socit as Lloyd was actually a technical advisor and creative consultant for an unnamed African Country, that of his fathers birth.

Between his very real and formative experiences growing up in poverty as a child, his adventures as a young black man navigating throughout Europe, brushing shoulders with billionaires, and his experience as an advisor, Lloyd can make connections in every single room he enters; His ability to relate to anyone from any walk of life, his unrivaled eye for art, his keen business sense, and his authentic desire to make a difference is precisely what sets Lloyd apart.

Now, as an international power player, Lloyd intends to use the power and resources he has acquired to help facilitate a future that is filled with opportunity and meaning for marginalized communities as well as humanity in general as was his plan all along. This is precisely why he joined the Regenerative Development movement. According to Lloyd himself, Regenerative Development is the natural, but very imperative step forward past sustainable development.

While the Regenerative Development Movement and the Sustainable Development Movements are cousins, Lloyd knows that, as a society, we need to be more ambitious and forward-thinking than the sustainability mindset calls for. Despite understanding that the sustainability movement and millennial development goals helped many individuals, Lloyd believes that these movements fell short of achieving some of their most important objectives and that society needs to go further than aiming for sustainability by being more inventive, high-reaching, and understanding of the connections across industries and individuals while thinking about the future.

While sustainability may connote the preservation of the status quo, in some sense, Lloyd wants to completely delete the status quo.

This means that Lloyd is focused not only on climate change, clean water, and clean air, but he is also focused on the effects that the digital age and technology have on identity as well as on the potential for decentralized autonomous systems and game theory to improve societal conditions. With his creative mind, Lloyd also spends time attempting to implement and utilize these ideas in the worlds of art, fashion, and architecture.

Recently, Lloyd received recognition for his work in the Regenerative Development field as he was featured in UNICEFs partnership with Gucci along with Wilson Oryema and as he was named one of the top 100 voices in the field. Lloyd truly believes that his work, as well as the work of others, in the field of regenerative development can help bridge the gap to the better future promised by previous generations and other social impact movements. Lloyd started Kiji Ventures and joined the Regenerative Development movement precisely to push these ambitious goals forward.

Utilizing the network and connections he gained by working in a plethora of interesting and market-moving industries, as well as gained from his time traveling and living in international cities, Lloyd is easily able to find advantageous partners for his projects as well as make meaningful, sometimes life changing, introductions for other people. To this point, Lloyd spends a great amount of time facilitating exposureships for individuals who do want to break into an industry, but do not have all the resources available to do so themselves.

The only thing that makes Lloyd happier than one of his creative and philanthropic projects finding success, is helping open doors for other individuals with similar backgrounds that will lead to long-term stability and generational wealth for them and their families

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Alloysius Lloyd is the technologist and futurist taking his financial and philanthropic efforts in a more creative direction - Digital Journal