Category Archives: Futurist

BOSTON (Project Syndicate) Last month, Twitter TWTR, -1.67% CEO Jack Dorsey announced that the company would allow its employees, currently working from home in accordance with social-distancing protocols, to stay there for good. Several other big businesses from Facebook FB, +1.26% to the French automaker PSA UG, -2.08% have followed suit with plans to keep far more employees at home after the COVID-19 crisis ends.

Rather than welcoming the death of the office, companies should be engineering its rebirth, in a form that strengthens its greatest asset: the ability to foster weak social bonds.

In a sense, the death of the office has been a long time coming. In the 1960s, American futurist Melvin Webber predicted that the world would reach a post-city age, in which it might be possible to locate on a mountain top and to maintain intimate, real-time, and realistic contact with business or other associates.

During the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, the rise of internet-based companies made that future seem closer than ever. As the British journalist Frances Cairncross put it in 1997, the internet meant the death of distance. Once distance doesnt matter, the logic goes, offices and, by extension, cities become irrelevant.

It may seem like we are reaching this point. From newscasters to office workers, jobs once thought to necessitate a shared workplace are being performed from home during the pandemic. And yet anyone who has been on a group Zoom call knows that, despite advances in communication technologies, engaging with colleagues remotely often remains far more difficult than meeting face to face.

The problem runs deeper than time lags or toddler interruptions.

As the sociologist Mark Granovetter argued in 1973, functioning societies are underpinned not only by strong ties (close relationships), but also by weak ties (casual acquaintances). Whereas strong ties tend to form dense, overlapping networks our close friends are often close friends with one another weak ties connect us to a larger and more diverse group of people.

By bridging different social circles, weak ties are more likely to connect us with new ideas and perspectives, challenging our preconceptions and fostering innovation and its diffusion. And while video-chatting or social media may help us to maintain our strong ties, it is unlikely to produce new ones, let alone connect us with as many people from outside our social circles: baristas, fellow train passengers, colleagues with whom we dont work directly, and so on.

An analysis of data from MIT students, professors, and administrators during the pandemic seems to bear this out. My colleagues and I built two models of the same communication network one showing interactions before the campus was closed, and the other showing interactions during the shutdown.

Initial results which will still need additional validation and peer review indicate that interactions are narrowing, with people exchanging more messages within a smaller pool of contacts. In short, existing strong ties are deepening, while weak ties falter.

We have the tools to stay connected from a mountaintop. Our challenge today is to leverage physical space so that we may regularly descend from our isolated summits.

Perhaps in the future, it will be possible to mimic physical serendipity and form weak ties online. But, for now, online platforms appear ill-equipped to do so.

On the contrary, they often actively filter out unknown individuals or opposing ideas a function that was fueling political polarization even before the pandemic. As a result, our lockdown-enforced social bubbles are increasingly opaque.

Shared physical spaces seem to be the only antidote to this fragmentation. Offices, which facilitate deeper interactions among diverse acquaintances, can be a particularly powerful corrective.

And yet demand for shared spaces seems unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels. Companies like Twitter that do not see productivity fall will be eager to lower overhead costs. As for employees, it was never going to take long to get used to living without long commutes, strict corporate schedules, and uncomfortable office attire.

This will have far-reaching implications. Even 10% reduction in demand for office space could cause property values to plummet. But while this would be bad news for developers, designers, and real-estate agents, it could also ease the economic pressures behind urban gentrification.

In any case, companies would be well-advised not to eschew offices entirely, both for their own sake new, innovative, and collaborative ideas are essential to success and for the wellbeing of the societies in which they operate. Instead, they can allow employees to stay home more often, while taking steps to ensure that the time people do spend in the office is conducive to establishing weak ties.

This could mean, for example, transforming traditional floor plans, designed to facilitate solitary task execution, into more open, dynamic spaces, which encourage the so-called cafeteria effect. (Nowhere is it easier to establish weak ties than while eating lunch in a cafeteria.)

More radical redesigns may follow, with designers finding ways to generate serendipity, such as through choreographed, event-based spaces.

The COVID-19 crisis has shown that we have the tools to stay connected from a mountaintop or our kitchen table, for that matter. Our challenge today is to leverage physical space so that we may regularly descend from our isolated summits. That means pursuing the rebirth of the office in a form that enhances its greatest asset: the ability to nurture all the ties that bind.

Read more here:
Working from home is missing something that only offices and cities can provide - MarketWatch

Scarborough Borough Councils cabinet today backed a new strategic vision for the site in order to create an iconic development for the town.

In February the council set up a new cross-party task group to examine all options for the area following an independent review of the councils 2014 decision to demolish the former theatre at a cost of more than 4 million and enter into an agreement with Flamingo Land to build an attraction in its place.

The task groups report has now been endorsed by councils cabinet, and the authority will now move forward with what it is calling the Bay Side South vision.

Flamingo Land will still be part of the negotiations but it could be the end of its plans for a seaside attraction which included a 60m-high Cliffhanger ride, a rollercoaster, and a four-storey building housing restaurants and play areas.

While making no specific proposals about what the development should be, the task group identified several themes that should be met by any plan.

They include enhancing the towns natural heritage assets, enabling residents to live better lives, and promoting good health, education and active lifestyles.

A report prepared for the cabinet meeting noted that the group was keen that the sites redevelopment would result in facilities that would captivate all ages while being accessible and affordable to local residents and visitors.

It would also need to support an all-year-round economy.

Despite Ryedale-based Flamingo Land remaining the councils preferred bidder, the all-party group hoped the future focus didnt just relate to leisure and tourism and wanted provision for other economic growth sectors such as digital, health and engineering, education and skills along with career development for 18 to 25 year olds across the borough.

A desire for the redevelopment to better connect the town centre, beach and harbour forms part of the vision for the site.

Speaking at todays cabinet meeting, cabinet member Cllr Janet Jefferson quoted the findings of the task group when discussing what should replace the Futurist.

She said: We want to see a truly iconic development in this location as an opportunity to embrace innovative solutions to link past, present and future, creating at Bay Side South a vibrant and sustainable environment which will enhance well-being and quality of life for residents and visitors alike.

Council leader Cllr Steve Siddons thanked Flamingo Land for sticking with us while the council went through the process of examining the proposals and said he looked forward to working with them.

Conservative Cllr David Jeffels told the cabinet that he felt the site should be remarketed, both nationally and across Europe, and that a nation-wide architectural competition could be held to generate new interest in this prime site.

He added: The Futurist Site provides Scarborough with a golden opportunity to have a development which will not only be iconic but which will be a catalyst to regenerate not only the Foreshore but the town centre as a whole.

Cabinet member Cllr Liz Colling responded that an architectural competition was not the way to approach a once in a lifetime opportunity and said there were a number of other benefits that had to be addressed as well as how the development looked.

Cllr Colling added that it would be inappropriate to market the site while Flamingo Land remained the preferred bidder and had stood by the council in good faith.

Read the rest here:
Futurist site: Flamingo Land thanked for 'sticking with us'; remarketing the site 'would not be appropriate' says council's deputy leader - The...

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In a world rattled by countless turmoils, anticipating what the future holds is an undertaking as complex as it is daring. In this exclusive interview with Smartbrief, Futurist consultant Edie Weiner and her firmThe Future Hunterstake us on a journey through the major change currents shaping the world for years to come. Here is part 1 of that interview.

As a result of COVID-19, where do you see things going in general over the next few years?

I believe well see trends progress along three distinct pathways: Epidemiological, Preparatory/Remedial and Opportunistic.

The first, Epidemiological, will include what is happening on the scientific scene. This includes things such as the spread of the disease, resurgences, advances in vaccines/prevention and cures. This pathway will also include the political scene domestically and internationally as the science progresses, shaping and reshaping the geopolitical landscape.

Authoritarian figures will seize more control and be met with more public protests, on all political fronts. There will be heightened nationalism and international cooperation, as these wont be seen as mutually exclusive in a time such as this. All of these responses will be specific to this crisis, and for many could be existential, much like climate change, which will remain the number one existential issue of the century.

The first pathway forward is Epidemiological so what is the second pathway?

The second pathway is Preparatory/Remedial, and this is what will be done everywhere because of what we have learned from this crisis. People will question their healthcare systems and international healthcare authorities, demanding more transparency. Data gathered from the COVID-19 crisis will support the need for better medical delivery and supplemental income because of the widescale socio-economic population disparities. There will be angry arguments over how we pay for these changes when economies are strained.

Liability issues will increase, arising from decisions made during the crisis about workers rights, individual and corporate freedoms, broken contractual obligations, customer safety, denial of service, wrongful death and so on. Domestic and international lawsuits will mushroom regarding travel, trade, intellectual property and accountability. Everywhere we will see more regulations, screening and safety precautions to avoid additional lawsuits and gain the confidence of consumers, employees and users of public services. Ultimately, technology will enable HVAC systems to clean indoor air, nanoparticles to be embedded in surfaces that enable them to be self-cleaning, and sensors everywhere that determine whether environments have been cleaned and people are keeping safe distances.

Supply chains will become one of the most important issues of the coming decade. How efficient should they be, with little or no redundancy in the event of a catastrophe? How self-sufficient should they be globally, regionally, locally? Who is friend and who is foe, and how do we look beyond that when were all in something together? How do certain supplies, whether oil or medical gear, get priced and distributed when the free market goes off the rails?

All of these aspects of preparation and remedy will dominate attention, some of them may actually be improved in order to prepare for any future crisis, and some will stagnate and not be resolved. For example, many more parts of the world will build more self-sufficiency into their supply chains, but many will not adequately address the issues of widescale unemployment and poverty, especially among migrant, refugee and marginalized populations. And that will continue to make even the most privileged populations vulnerable to future contagions.

You said the third pathway is Opportunistic. What do you mean by that?

The Opportunistic pathway is the one that has me most excited. This is all about re-imagination and experimentation. It was already taking place in all disciplines and across all businesses, including in every area of product and service design and delivery. Even before this crisis happened, we saw physicists, artists, marketers, architects, and so many more reshaping what we were thinking and doing here on earth and even in outer space. From esports to fintech, from particle theory to virtual reality, from leasing to languages -- in which people have begun to remove gender-specific terms and emojis were replacing words -- the ground was being prepared to jump over renovation and skip to innovation. In supply chains, new materials, AI, and synthetic biology will come together to reduce the need for products from natural sources, whether they be protein or fossil fuels. 3D printing will alter the built environment. Universities will have to reinvent in order to become multidisciplinary, less expensive and technologically enabled. Marketers will have to start all over in defining and understanding life cycles that extend to age 100 with an online life that lingers even after we die. We were already becoming a whole new kind of civilization, and this crisis just gave that transformation a lot more energy.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our interview with Edie Weiner when she discusses private capitalism and her optimism for the global future in the coming decade.

Edie Weiner is President and CEO of the leading futurist consulting group, The Future Hunters. She is acknowledged as one of the most influential practitioners of social, technological, political, and economic intelligence-gathering. She has guest lectured at many prestigious institutions, including Wharton, Harvard, The U.S. Army War College, the Naval War College and the World Economic Forum in Davos. She is the co-author of FutureThink, a global bestseller.

If you enjoyed this article, sign up for theBusiness Transformation SmartBriefto get news like this in your inbox, or check out all of SmartBriefsbusiness newsletters, covering topics such as leadership, human resources, small businesses and policy & advocacy.

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How a global pandemic is changing the world: Part 1 - SmartBrief

What is to happen to society over the next decade? The Drum aims to find out by gathering some of the industrys leading futurists and innovators to offer their take on how the world will progress.

As part of The Drums Can-Do Festival, a live session will be held where Daniel Hulm, chief executive of Satalia, Lucie Greene, founder of Light Years and Emma Chiu, global director of Wunderman Thompson Intelligence will each offer their views on how business and society will evolve by the year 2030. Meanwhile Amy Kean, brand and innovation director for AndUs will distill their viewpoints as the futures analyst for the session.

This will be a unique opportunity for the industry to hear what could potentially develop across several themes over the coming years and help them plan ahead as a result.

Commenting on the session, Amy Kean said: Why are we all so addicted to the future? Because futurology places a bizarre line between fact and fiction. That accurate predictions will likely affect us, combined with the blue-sky intangibility of any of it happening any time soon provides a realistic fairytale that every industry has become obsessed with!

But 2030 isnt that far away, and in this session, we want to hear about plausible futures, stuff we can get our teeth into, and not just for the white middle classes, either.

Register here to join the session, which will be available to join live, and will be available on The Drum afterwards for those who cannot make it.

Other sessions planned for Can-Do will see The Drum hear from major live events organisations about how they have been impacted in recent months and how they aim to proceed, including Jon Ola Sand, executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest and head of live events for EBU/Eurovision; Guinness Book of Records SVP global brand strategy, Samantha Fay; and Oliver Davies, head of marketing and development for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

More speakers for The Drums Can-Do Festival can be found on the official registration page.

Excerpt from:
Step into 2030: Join The Drum's futurist session to hear what the next decade holds - The Drum

June 12th 20__Jon Christian__Filed Under: Advanced Transport

Israel startup Urban Aeronautics announced this week that its partnering with hydrogen fuel cell maker HyPoint to devise a hydrogen-powered flying car.

And the sleek, retro design will look familiar to fans of the DeLorean Motor Company or anyone whos seen the 1985 time travel blockbuster Back to the Future, featuring one of the companys vehicles. Also, you know, it flies.

The view of the futuristic vehicle changes substantially depending on your angle.

From the side, the electrical vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle looks like a smoothed-down version of a DMC DeLorean but from above or below, its clear that the cars front and rear are taken up by two enormous fans that provide lift. Another apparent DeLorean allusion: though its unclear whether this version will include it, a previous design even included that vehicles iconic gull-wing doors.

READ MORE: Urban Aeronautics moves to hydrogen for its CityHawk eVTOL air taxi [New Atlas]

More on early life: Watch This Flying Taxi Soar Over a German City

Up Next__Scientists Claim to Have Recreated Earths First Life >>>

<<< Scientists Hunting For Signs of the Dark Age Before Stars Formed__Previously

Read this article:
This Flying Car Looks Like the DeLorean From "Back to the Future" - Futurism

Theres another deadly virus brewing in the Northeastern United States.

Those words may be hard to hear, but theres some good news as well: youre extremely unlikely to catch it.

The eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus can cause a severe brain infection, and it can be transmitted through a mosquito bite, as OneZero reports.

As the virus name suggests, horses are particularly susceptible to infection. Theres a vaccine for horses but no specific treatment plan or approved human vaccine.

Luckily, transmission and infection are both extremely rare. Since it was first discovered in humans in 1938, there have been less than 100 cases in the US, according to OneZero.

In 2019, for instance, there were only 38 human cases recorded and 15 deaths in the US, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 95 percent of those bitten by EEE-carrying mosquitoes never end up developing an infection.

Those numbers couldnt be more different from the current coronavirus pandemic. The United States alone crossed the two million cases threshold this week, with over 1,000 people dying from COVID-19 related deaths every 24 hours.

But once infected, the EEE virus is deadly. Mortality rate is about 33 percent, according to the National Environmental Health Association. Those who survive will have to battle with sometimes crippling neurological impairments.

Scientists are also worried that with rising temperatures caused by global warming, the number of outbreaks of the virus appear to be on the rise in large part due to growing mosquito populations during prolonged summer periods, according to OneZero.

At the end of the day, despite the risks, its important not to take the EEE virus too far out of context.

We try our best to make people aware of the risks without sensationalizing, Catherine Brown, state epidemiologist at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, told OneZero. But there are still people who are so fearful of EEE that they kind of forget that there are other things going on in the world.

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Bad News: Another Deadly Virus Is Spreading in the US - Futurism

Basilisk Stare

Amateur photographer Gaurav Agrawal had no idea his spectacular picture of St. Mary Lake in Glacier National Park, Montana could end up mercilessly crashing countless Android phones.

But if it was set as the wallpaper on smartphones running the Android 10 operating system, the phones started acting up, switching off and on repeatedly.

I didnt do anything intentionally, Agrawal told the BBC. Im sad that people ended up having issues.

The image, edited in Adobe Lightroom and uploaded to Flickr, didnt seem to cause any issues on iPhones. But thanks to a tiny snafu during the export of the image, Agrawal unintentionally turned his gorgeous landscape photo into an Android-killing threat.

So what the hell happened? Agrawal uploaded the image in RGB, a color model that Android 10 phones just couldnt cope with rather than the far more commonplace standard RGB (sRGB), as Twitter user Romain Guy explained. RGB is a color model, not a color space, Guy wrote.

A deep dive into the code on Twitter by Android developer Dylan Roussel revealed that the color space may just not be supported on certain devices.

I hoped my photograph would have gone viral for a good reason, but maybe thats for another time, Agrawal told the BBC.

READ MORE: How my photo ended up breaking Android phones [BBC]

More on Android: Google Just Admitted to Tracking Your Location Even When You Have the Settings Disabled

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This Guy Accidentally Took a Photo That Crashes Android Smartphones - Futurism

Were keeping track of the latest news regarding the coronavirus in South Florida and around the state.

Check back for updates on COVID-19 throughout the day.

Post-coronavirus future in Florida is uncertain. Be flexible, futurist Amy Webb says

3 p.m.: With Florida schools reopening in the fall, youth sports and summer camps getting the OK to resume activity and local governments tip-toeing toward a sense of renewed normalcy, many Floridians ask: what should we expect as we look toward a post-pandemic world?

According to noted futurist Amy Webb, we should not only expect more uncertainty, but lean into it.

We expect today will be similar to tomorrow but amplified, she said during a Miami Herald subscriber-only discussion about the future of Florida after COVID-19. Theres a reluctance to see a world in which all decisions are certain.

Webb is a quantitative futurist and a professor of strategic foresight at the NYU Stern School of Business and Founder of the Future Today Institute. She is also the author of The Signals Are Talking: Why Todays Fringe Is Tomorrows Mainstream, which explains how to forecast emerging technology.

Read the full article here.

Cuba announces reopening plan citing fewer cases of COVID-19. Airports to remain closed

1:25 p.m.: Airports will remain closed during the first phase of a reopening plan presented by Cuban government officials. Tourists will be first allowed to book hotels in the Cuban keys, with no nationals on site.

As of Thursday, health authorities reported 2,219 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 84 deaths. No deaths were reported for several days, but the virus seems to be lingering in Havana, where more than 150 people got infected in several local outbreaks.

Read the .

Florida reports record high 1,902 new coronavirus cases, one day after previous record

12:25 p.m.: Floridas Department of Health on Friday morning confirmed a new daily record high of 1,902 additional cases of COVID-19 surpassing the previous high of confirmed cases by 204, which was reported just a day earlier.

That put the states total number of confirmed cases at 70,971 since the pandemic began in March.

Twenty-nine deaths were also announced, raising the statewide death toll to 2,877.

Read the .

Hard Rock Stadiums COVID-19 testing site is closing early for maintenance, officials say

11:25 a.m.: Hard Rock Stadiums free COVID-19 drive-thru testing site in Miami Gardens will be closing early Friday for maintenance, officials say.

The drive-thru site offers free COVID-19 testing to anyone older than 18, regardless of symptoms and also offers free antibody testing to anyone older than 18.

Officials say the test site will be closing at 1 p.m. Friday for maintenance but wont be closed for long.

Read the .

Republican convention COVID-19 precautions yet to be decided, Jacksonville mayor says

10:55 a.m.: Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry discussed details of the citys plan to host President Donald Trumps nomination acceptance speech hours after the Republican National Committee announced it was moving the event from Charlotte to Florida. Precautions to avoid the spread of the novel coronavirus in Jacksonville during the festivities will be in place this August, but its not yet decided what that will require, the mayor said Friday morning.

Read the .

South Florida casinos, arcades, museums begin reopening but with new COVID-19 rules

10:40 a.m.: A new wave of businesses are reopening or soon will in South Florida as governments relax COVID-19 restrictions, including some casinos like Magic City, museums like Artechouse Miami, bowling alleys and arcades in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

Read the .

COVID-19 numbers trending up since reopening

9 a.m.: Known Florida COVID-19 cases are increasing, data shows. Positive test results as a percentage have been rising as parts of the state enter a second phase of reopening and as many people attend protests without wearing masks or practicing social distancing. The numbers are a troubling indicator that the disease could be spreading more quickly.

Read the.

CATCH UP TO START THE DAY

9 a.m.: Here are the coronavirus headlines to catch you up on whats happening around South Florida and the state as Friday begins:

? Floridians flattened the COVID curve. Then, amid upbeat talk, the numbers began to rise.

? The Florida COVID-19 data said one thing while Gov. DeSantis sometimes said another.

? 1,698 coronavirus cases, highest reported in a single day, bring Florida total to 69,069.

2020 Miami Herald

Visit Miami Herald at http://www.miamiherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Coronavirus live updates: Here's what to know in South Florida on June 12 - msnNOW

Flat Universe Society

According to precise new measurements of dark energy, scientists believe that our entire universe is totally flat.

By improving the way astronomers measure the impact of dark energy the force thought to be driving our universes expansion a team of University of Portsmouth scientists found that the universe may be spatially flat rather than shaped like a bubble. And in doing so, they may have solved a major astronomical debate.

Previously, scientists measured dark energy by tracking distant supernovae. Instead, the Portsmouth scientists looked at over a million galaxies and quasars, according to research published last week in the journal Physical Review Letters.

That data reportedly allows for a vastly improved understanding of how dark energy is pushing our universe outward. Therefore, it could finally settle the ongoing debate over the Hubble constant, a contested value that describes how rapidly the universe is expanding.

When scientists say the universe is flat, it doesnt necessarily mean it resembles an infinitely-expanding sheet of paper. More study,for instance, is needed to determine whether the universe could be bent into a torus a donut-like shape still considered flat by cosmological models.

This result shows the power of galaxy surveys to pin down the amount of dark energy and how it evolved over the last billion years, Portsmouth cosmologist Seshadri Nadathur said in a press release. Were making really precise measurements now and the data is going to get even better with new surveys coming online very soon.

READ MORE: Most Precise Tests of Dark Energy and Cosmic Expansion Yet Confirm the Model of a Spatially Flat Universe [University of Portsmouth]

More on the universe: The Universe May Loop Around Like an Old Video Game

Read more:
Scientists Claim the Universe Is Actually Flat - Futurism

Wider Stance

In an exchange on Twitter this week, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk elaborated on the design tweaks his space company is considering to allow its massive Starship spacecraft to safely land on the Moon.

Were working on new legs, he wrote in a tweet. Wider stance & able to auto-level. Important for leaning into wind or landing on rocky & pitted surfaces.

Responding to YouTuber Tim Dodd, better known as Everyday Astronaut, Musk explained that the atmospheric Starship variant meant to one day make it back to Earth or perhaps land on other planets with an atmosphere such as Mars will have forward thrusters to stabilize ship when landing in high winds.

But the Lunar Starship will be different. If goal is max payload to moon per ship, no heatshield or flaps or big gas thruster packs are needed, he added.

Starship, in its final configuration, will have the ability to launch 100 tons of cargo into space or in a different configuration, 100 passengers at one time.

In fact, why make the long trip back when a pressurized vehicle could double as a place for astronauts to weather the harsh conditions on the Moon? No need to bring early ships back, Musk added in the tweet. They can serve as part of moon base alpha.

The news comes after SpaceXs fourth Starship prototype called SN4 blew up during a fuel test on May 29 though it had already been put through its paces.

SpaceX got a lot further with SN4 than previous vehicles, and SN5 seems about ready to go for testing, senior space editor at Ars Technica Eric Berger wrote in a tweet at the time. They also have begun working on a second launch stand in Boca Chica, [Texas].

READ MORE: SpaceX Starship: Elon Musk Details Tweaks to Support Moon Base Missions [Inverse]

More on Starship: Elon Musk in Leaked Email: Starship Now Top SpaceX Priority

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SpaceX Trying to Figure Out How to Land Starship on the Moon - Futurism