Category Archives: Transhuman News

A less tolerant world

Despite the proliferation of strong and loud opinions on social platforms, 42% of people say they wont speak up about their beliefs if they think others will disagree with themand that number was even higher among Gen Z respondents. Worldwide, 64% of adults agree that In the future, people will be less tolerant of opposing viewpoints than they are today.

When asked last year, mid-pandemic, when life would return to normal, 8% of respondents said never. What got Connellys attention: This year the number is even higher, with 13% of people saying that life will never return to normal. Work is the most likely element of life influencing that number, but its more than that. Some 12% of respondents said travel will never return to normal, and 11% said the same about retail, she said.

Across the globe, 81% of respondents say climate change makes them worried about the future. Even more startling, a large percentage of womenmore than 40% in Canada, and more than 30% in France and Indiasay they dont want to have children in a world whose future is jeopardized by climate change.

At the same time, 70% of people say they are changing their behaviors to fight climate change. But when we dug deeper, we found that people might say, Sure, Ill give up my plastic straw or Ill carry my own bags to the grocery store, but theyre not willing to make any sacrifice thats inconvenient to them, Connelly says. In terms of electric vehicles, she and Ford hope that consumers lukewarm interest will heat up with a broader and more affordable portfolio of EVs. The all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E crossover, for instance, tells car buyers they can have beautiful design with zero emissions, she says. Its how we can meet consumers where they are.

The future of transportation, of course, is of prime interest to Ford. In looking at private ownership of cars, Connelly says, When we think about the future, there are signals to suggest that people are becoming less dependent on it. For instance, she says, 31% of Gen Z and millennial respondents say todays kids will not need to learn how to drive. And when asked about owning or sharing a vehicle, one in four among that age group said theyd rather use some sort of car-sharing option in the future, instead of owning a carassuming cost neutrality.

People love cars. Were enchanted by this romantic vision of putting the pedal to the metal. But the reality is that the average speed traveled around the world is about 30 miles per hour. When youre stuck in traffic, it comes down to thinking: Ive got better things to do with my time, Connelly says. And although the industry has suffered from bad publicity connected to self-driving technology, consumers acknowledge the fact that human error is the biggest factor in traffic accidents. Some 45% of consumers say they think theyll feel safer in a self-driving vehicle, and two-thirds of parents say theyd rather have their children driven in a self-driving vehicle than by a stranger.

Respondents expect more changes in their personal lives. Some 52% of Gen Zers and millennials believe that gender assignments will be gone within their lifetimeand 46% of that group say marriage will become an outdated concept by 2035. Among Gen Zers and millennials who dont yet have children, 27% say they dont want to have children, with 61% saying theyre just not interested in being a parent.

One final headline for marketers looking ahead to 2022: Connelly says brand values and purpose matter for consumers. Our relationships with brands can be really important when this chaos exists around us, she says. Brands can be a lighthouse in the storm. She goes on to say to marketers, The values of your brand and your organization are going to be increasingly important in terms of who wants to work for you, buy from you, be part of your supplier network. They need to know where you stand. For decades, people thought it was safe to stay on the sidelines during contentious political or religious or social debates. But today, people want to know your values. And when you find yourself caught in the crosshairs, brands dont have time to figure it out.

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Ford's futurist on consumer trends to watch in 2022 - AdAge.com

"Ordinarily, taking a telescope and pointing at the sun would be incredibly dangerous."Black Hole Sun

Famed astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy has truly outdone himself with his latest picture of the Sun.

McCarthy, who calls himself just a normal guy with a telescope on his Instagram account, stitched a whopping 150,000 images of the Sun together to form a massive 300 megapixel image he titled Fire and Fusion.

The result is a glorious swirling mess of hot gases that almost appear almost organism-like an angry ball of energy that gave life to everything around us billions of years ago.

What makes it all the more impressive was the fact that it was taken from a backyard, rather than by an orbital telescope or space probe that had to travel almost 100 million miles to get up close.

Believe it or not, McCarthy risked a lot to get his shots.

Ordinarily, taking a telescope and pointing at the Sun would be incredibly dangerous, McCarthy told NPR in a recent interview. It can lead to blindness and potentially starting a fire.

So what Ive done is I applied different filters within the telescope that only lets in a very narrow portion of that light, and that allows me to capture details on the sun that would be otherwise impossible, he added.

To McCarthy, its all about highlighting the wonder in ordinary life.

Sometimes, we take the beautiful things in our life for granted, he added. We all see the Sun every single day.

READ MORE: We meet a man who photographs the sun [NPR]

More on the Sun: This Photo of the Sun Is Unlike Anything Youve Ever Seen

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This Photo of the Sun Is so Absurdly Detailed That It Looks like a Living Organism - Futurism

It took 10 whole days to fuel it up due to how dangerous the propellant is. Ready to Launch

The James Webb Space Telescope is all fueled up and ready to go.

NASA announced on Monday that the controversial spacecrafthas been loaded with a propellant itll use for its thrusters to move around while in orbit, according to ablog post from the agency. These thrusters will be crucial as the craft makes precise course corrections shortly after launch.

The loading of propellants into the Webb observatory is complete at the Arianespace launch facilities in Kourou, French Guiana, Randy Kimble, the Webbs integration, test and commissioning project scientist, said in a separate update. This is an important step in the path toward launch.

The telescope is slated to launch later this month from Europes spaceport in French Guiana. The craft will be placed on an Ariane 5, a European heavy-lift launch vehicle operated by the European Space Agency, which will yeet it to its new home in orbit.

Fueling the telescope itself was an incredibly delicate procedure, as the propellants are extremely toxic. In fact, it took 10 days in order to pressurize the Webbs propellant tanks all the way.

While the telescope is expected to provide the clearest and furthest views into space ever, it has attracted a ton of controversy due to its namesake: former NASA administrator James Webb.

Hes believed to have played a role in ostracizing LGBT+ employees in the agency, and played a large role in developing methods of psychological warfare for the US government. However, NASA said that it discovered no strong reason to change the telescopes name after an investigation.

Still, the Webb will be the most advanced orbital observatory in history when it launches. Its so sophisticated that some even believe itll discover evidence of human life which almost makes up for its terrible name. Almost.

READ MORE: NASAs James Webb Space Telescope Fully Fueled for Launch [NASA]

More on the Webb: Influential Astronomers Call Out NASA for Telescope with Offensive Name

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The Mighty James Webb Space Telescope Is All Fueled Up for Launch - Futurism

NASAs Mars itty bitty scouting helicopter has outlived its life expectancy seven times over and when it does finally cross the cosmic rainbow bridge, things are probably gonna get emotional.

This heartwrenching insider scoop comes from Christopher Hamilton, an associate professor of planetary sciences at the University of Arizona whos witnessed other tearjerker endings at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

Ingenuity, the four-pound helicopter that acts as a scout for the Perseverance Rover, was only supposed to last for 30 days when it was first took to the Martian skies more than seven months ago. As Hamilton toldUnited Press International, Ingenuitys surprisingly-long lifespan will make its final transmission, whenever it comes, that much more bittersweet.

When the day comes that Ingenuity makes its final flight on Mars, the cosmologist told UPI, there will be a mixture of emotions sadness that such an exceptional spacecraft has reached the end of its journey, but also triumph in that Ingenuity opened a new paradigm in Mars exploration.

This little chopper that could is special for more reasons than its lifespan. It was also, asUPI noted, designed as an experiment into whether such a tiny and high-tech robot could survive Mars notoriously thin atmosphere at all. Seven-and-a-half months and 17 flights around Mars Jezero Center crater later, Ingenuity has demonstrated that ability in spades.

Much of Ingenuitys worth lies in the fundamental things it can do that terrestrial rovers cannot, chief of which being that it can fly and take high-resolution photos while the Perseverance Rover can only move on the ground. In doing so, Ingenuity has shown the way for the Rover in ways JPL drivers on Earth could not.

What was planned as a what-if experiment turned into an important complement for Perseverance, an article in IEEE Spectrum magazine noted.

And whats more, the researchers who have worked with Ingenuity have become very attached to the little rotorcraft on an emotional level.

The whole team, we all love it! Olivier Toupet, a Mars Rover driver at the JPL, toldSpectrum. We didnt know we were going to love it.

As the publication pointed out, Ingenuitys timeline has been repeatedly extended, first from 30 days to a few months, and now indefinitely. Thats been a big surprise, Olivier said.

Extended missions are nothing new for the JPL, the rover driver noted, but the limits of Ingenuitys design mean that it could last for months or years more or die at any moment.

Ingenuitys achievements cannot be overstated, and it will be remembered as one of the great pioneering vessels of all time, Hamilton told UPI. One day, Ingenuity will make its last flight on the Red Planet, but it will not be the last aircraft to fly on Mars its just the beginning.

If thats not enough to make astrophysicists cry, I dont know what is.

READ MORE:NASAs eventual farewell to tiny Mars helicopter could be emotional [UPI]

More on this cute little guy:NASA Mars Helicopter Flies Super High, Spots Rover Way Down on the Ground

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NASA Scientists Are Gonna Bawl Their Eyes When the Tiny Mars Chopper Dies - Futurism

Switzerland is one of a handful of countries that supports physician-assisted suicide. However, one company wants to take the doctors out of the process and allow patients to kill themselves at the push of a button.

Exit International, a nonprofit dedicated to assisted suicide advocacy, has developed a 3D-printed suicide chamber dubbed Sarco, according the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). The capsule just recently cleared legal regulatory approval in Switzerland, and is set to launch in the country as soon as next year.

Sarco allowspatients to lay comfortably inside. When theyre ready to die, they press a button that fills the chamber with nitrogen gas, resulting in what the nonprofit says will be a painless death via oxygen deprivation with 30 seconds.

There is no panic, no choking feeling, Dr. Philip Nitschke, founder of Exit International, told the SBC.

The chamber can be transported to different locations, too, allowing patients to choose where they might want to die such as a beach, forest, or their own home.

While the thought of an honest-to-god suicide booth is fascinating in its own right and evokes numerous touchpoints in popular culture perhaps the most eyebrow-raising part is the companys goal of de-medicalizing the suicide process.

In order to obtain a medically assisted suicide in Switzerland, you currently need to have a doctor confirm your mental capacity and then prescribe you liquid sodium pentobarbital, a drug can kill you in two to five minutes.

However, Exit International wants to create an AI-powered online mental capacity test. If you pass, it gives you a code that allows you to access Sarco. Thats still in the conceptual stages, though.

We want to remove any kind of psychiatric review from the process and allow the individual to control the method themselves, Nitschke told the broadcaster.

Assisted suicide and euthanasia are still incredibly controversial issues. While some might bristle at the Sarco suicide capsule, itll give folks a new option to go out on their own terms and, at the end of life, thats a compelling concept.

You can click herefor a list of resources from the Suicide Prevention Resource Center.

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Assisted-Suicide Chamber Approved by Authorities in Switzerland - Futurism

Eye drops that could potentially replace reading glasses for millions of people were approved by the Food and Drug Administration in October,and hit the market this week.

The drops, called pilocarpine and marketed as Vuity by pharma outfit Allergan, could come to the aid of some 128 million Americans who are farsighted. According to the company, one drop in each eye can sharpen closeup vision for six to 10 hours, CBS News reports.

The drops work by using the eyes existing ability to reduce its pupil size.

Reducing the pupil size expands the depth of field or the depth of focus, and that allows you to focus at different ranges naturally, George Waring, principal investigator of a clinical trial for the drug involving 750 participants, told CBS.

The drops arentthe cheapest, but arent prohibitively expensive, either, at $80fora 30-day supply.

It isnt a miracle drug, however. Reported side effects include headaches and red eyes. The company is also warning not to use the drops while driving at night.

The drops are also mostly effective for middle-aged people. Those above the age of 65 wont see as much of an effect, according to CBS.

The value proposition is a matter of convenience wearing reading glasses can be a pain for millions of people, so ditching them is intriguing.

Its definitely a life changer, trial participant Toni Wright told CBS. I would not need my readers as much, especially on the computer, where I would always need to have them on.

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FDA Approves Eye Drops That Replace Reading Glasses - Futurism

"It's a nightmare."Total Collapse

A group of scientists say that the Amazon Rainforest is on the brink of collapse and could transform into a dry savannah in just five years.

Luciana Gatti, a senior climate change researcher at the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research, is one of the many echoing this dire prediction. Speaking to New Scientist, she asserts that the Amazon could be just five years away from a total environmental disaster.

We are about to collapse, she told the magazine. We are in an emergency, we need action now.

Its a nightmare, she added.

Gatti was one of 200 climate experts who took part in the Science Panel for the Amazons (SPA) bleak assessment report of the worlds largest rainforest, published last month.

The comprehensive report identified a variety of different factors pointing to the rainforests collapse, with the primary drivers being the rising global temperatures due to climate change and the massive deforestation efforts by Brazil, where much of the Amazon is located.

One scientist told New Scientist that it would take just between 20 to 25 percent deforestation to reach an ecological tipping point due to the level of warming the forest is experiencing.

This is a recipe for savannisation a process that describes a forest drying up due to reduced rainfall, and transforming into a dry, arid savannah grassland, according to the magazine.

So, we have five years. What if anything can we do?

There is a narrow window of opportunity to change this trajectory. But action must be exponential, Mercedes Bustamante, a biologist at the University of Brasilia and SPA member, told New Scientist.

At minimum, this would mean halting all deforestation efforts immediately. This would also need to be followed by an aggressive reforestation campaign in order to restore the rainforest.

Our assessment: good luck getting any of that done within five years. Its cynical, but the truth is any effort to prevent the Amazon rainforest from collapsing needed to be done decades not years ago.

That doesnt mean we shouldnt try to push world leaders to end deforestation completely. Efforts by world leaders at the recent UN climate summit shows that nations can agree on at least slowing down deforestation. However, we also shouldnt expect the situation to get any better before it gets much, much worse.

READ MORE: The Amazon is turning into savannah we have 5 years to save it [The New Scientist]

More on the Amazon: Facebook Vows to Stop Selling the Amazon Rainforest

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Amazon Rainforest on the Verge of Becoming a Dry Savannah, Scientists Say - Futurism

Scientists have accidentally discovered that men spread COVID-19 more than women and children.

The Colorado-based study,CBS News reported, was intended to look into COVID transmission at performing arts events. But when measuring the number of aerosols emitted by its 75 participants, researchers found something surprising: the adult male subjects spewed way more particles than adult women or children.

And the explanation is likely simple. Adult men just tend to have larger lungs than women or children.

Adults tend to emit more particles than children, John Volckens, a mechanical engineering professor at Colorado State University, told CBS. The reason men tend to emit more particles is because we have bigger lungs.

He also added that people speaking or singing at higher volumes will spread more aerosols because the energy they exert to project their voices translates to more particles coming out of your body. In other words, loud guys are gonna be the ones spreading the most COVID.Quiet down, lads!

Overall, though, the takeaway was clear. The enclosed spaces where people are talking, singing, or shouting loudly are the sites of the highest rates of COVID transmission.

The CSU researchers also found that in particular, singing loudly does as the cases of choir superspreader events seemed to suggest emit more aerosol particles than just talking loudly.

Using lots of cool instruments in an aerosol testing chamber, researchers brought in singers, brass instrument players, and actors to measure aerosol emission. The next phase of the study will focus on which instruments are more likely to spread COVID-19 than others, researchers toldCBS.

Lest we forget the difficult path weve trod so far, let us have a moment of (ironic) silence for the monthsthat global and national health authorities spent ignoring the overwhelming research showing that COVID-19 is transmitted via aerosol droplets that float in the air, and especially so in poorly-ventilated indoor spaces.

Without that knowledge, we could never have gotten this incredible burn on the least-fair sex.

READ MORE: Study shows men spread COVID particles more than other populations[CBS News]

More on men and COVID:Catching Coronavirus Makes it Harder for Men to Have Kids

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Ugh, Men! Study Finds That Dudes Spread Way More COVID - Futurism