Category Archives: Transhuman News

Leading thinkers and so-called futurists are scheduled to meet in Dubai in November to help guide progress towards a more resilient and sustainable future.

The UAE government announced that the Great Narrative meeting, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, will be on November 11-12, 2021, bringing together experts across disciplines including genetics, health, space, economics, urbanisation and climate change. The two-day convention will culminate in a book, titled The Great Narrative.

Mohammad Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, said that the meeting reflects the importance of working together in mapping future trends to build thriving communities.

He said that the UAE government is keen to participate in this global dialogue to help communities, individuals and governments co-create a better future and more diversified economy that can deliver sustainable development.

Climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic have pushed policymakers, businesses and citizens to rethink how a functioning society can and should operate. But socioeconomic gaps are widening, creating an urgent need to come up with solutions.

Brookings, a US think tank, found that wages, food security and children's education were dramatically affected by Covid-19. On average, more than one third of those working before the pandemic in 52 countries stopped working and more than 60 per cent of households reported income losses in 30 countries. A pattern of widening gaps between rich and poor countries emerged.

The pandemic has revealed the acute need to focus on the future and long-term health of our societies," said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.

"The Great Narrative initiative and meeting in Dubai will be a powerful catalyst to shape the contours of a more prosperous and inclusive future for humanity that is also more respectful of nature."

The meeting will be held two months before the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos is expected to return as an in-person event from January 17-21, 2022.

Updated: September 30th 2021, 7:46 AM

Originally posted here:
Leading futurists to meet in the UAE - The National

Nestron is one of my favorite tiny home builders they are modern, minimal, and AI-enabled! The sure in tiny homes is not a design trend but an architectural movement that is here to stay, they are more affordable, more sustainable, and more conducive to our evolving flexible lifestyles when compared to traditional houses. Nestrons latest model is the Cube Two X which has been built upon the existing Cube Twos functionality and aesthetics with more upgrades keeping in mind a bigger family instead of a two-person household. Take the full virtual tour here!

Cube Two XD is a prefab unit available in two models a one-bedroom or two-bedroom configuration, and is clad with steel and fiber-reinforced plastic. The Singapore-based architecture studio has designed this modern home by drawing inspiration from sci-fi and spacecraft imagery. Ever since the launch of their Cube series, the studio received several requests for a larger unit with the option for two bedrooms to accommodate a family of four comfortably and thats why they made Cube Two X.

The companys latest unit builds on the aesthetics and the functionality of their Cube 2 model. We figured it was time to give the Cube 2 line an upgrade, and thus Cube Two X was born, said the Nestron media representative. The compact cubic home looks like if Apple and Pinterest collaborated to create a modern dwelling.

The one-bedroom and two-bedroom Cube Two X models have living space spanning over 376 square feet. The structure consists of a steel frame wrapped with fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) siding which can withstand extreme heat and natural disasters. All of their models are made with high-resistance materials, the FRP exterior wall panels are less likely to rust or corrode while holding up in high temperatures, harsh environments, and extreme weather conditions, including heatwaves, hurricanes, and earthquakes.

The Built-in furniture preserves floor space in the tiny home. The team outfitted the dining area with a built-in table for two and included a sleek built-in sofa for the living area. Optional features include electric-heated flooring, a smart mirror, a music system, and a concealed electric stove. The invisible stove is a unique space-saving idea, its a seamless kitchen counter when youre not cooking, but when you are, the counter transforms into a stovetop, explains the team.

Its curved lines and integrated voice-controlled tech gives the home n ultra-futuristic feel. Like all other models, it is designed to be shipped anywhere in the world and completely move-in ready. Theres no installation needed upon arrival, much like how a washing machine works, the owners just need local contractors to wind up the power sockets and the water supply and then Cube Two X is a fully functioning home!

For how high-tech the tiny home is, it has a relatively low impact on the environment. 90% of the materials used are recyclable for example, the interior wood wall panels are made from non-virgin wood and recycled plastic thats environmentally friendly and 100% recyclable.

The bedroom has a large built-in wardrobe and a recessed wall niche for storage above the bed. We make a big effort to care for the environment because we believe everything starts at home. Living in your home should be an experience thats environmentally friendlyand wed like for people to be able to live a sustainable lifestyle without additional effort, says the team.

The Cube Two X is also prefabricated in a factory environment which helps to reduce material waste. It speeds construction time by up to 50% when compared to on-site construction which takes around one month. Its a faster and more cost-effective process, ensuring there is no construction waste, as the team uses prefabricated molds to shape the units, which also greatly increases accuracy.

Even the bathroom features a smart mirror and an electric pulse toilet every part of the home is a reminder that you are living in the future. If the cinematic worlds of Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey and William Hanna and Joseph Barberas The Jetsons were combined to create a tiny home, it might just be Nestrons Cube Two X tech lovers and digital nomads are going to love this innovative home!

Designer: Nestron

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This AI-enabled tiny home gets a design upgrade making it more spacious and futuristic! - Yanko Design

WINDSOR, ONT. -- Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says the city is dreaming big when proposing a $32.5 million project to give the riverfront Festival Plaza a futuristic facelift.

A proposed design to build a canopy at the Festival Plaza will go before council on Oct. 4 for endorsement and approval to begin seeking public input.

There is no other city like Windsor where you have this amazing waterfront completely open, says Pooya Baktash, Co-founder of Partisans, a Toronto-based architecture studio firm hired by the city to design the canopy and transform the plaza.

The permanent canopy structure designed as a dome will have a capacity of 5,000. With a translucent roof in the centre, the space is created to feel open and bright, with a view of the Detroit River.

Baktash says the layers of digital activation, lighting and multimedia installed will help the canopy light up the skyline at night.

With an asphalt parking lot and no shade at the current Festival Plaza, one of the main concerns is that the space is too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.

We brought in environment engineers to map up the wind and sun, says Baktash.

Click here for photos of the proposed project.

To address this issue, the canopy is designed to attenuate south-west winds in the colder season while allowing the south winds in the warmer months. This will help maintain a comfortable temperature for visitors.

Acoustics and noise studies have also been conducted to improve the quality of sound for the audience while blocking out the outside environmental noise (especially road noise).

Locals may draw comparisons with the Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, which has a capacity of 6,000 and is the epicentre of live summer entertainment in Detroit.

However, the architecture team says Windsors canopy design has significant differences and will serve more functions.

This is not just about a concert, its designing a whole public space that has activation, and people can hang out there, says Batkash. There are no gates, its completely accessible any time of the day.

The project is budgeted for $32.5 million, including a $13.5 million price tag for the construction of the canopy.

It can bring a lot of businesses here and revive the whole downtown Windsor, which I think a lot of people are really excited, says Batkesh.

Continued here:
$32.5 million project: Futurist canopy proposed for Windsor's riverfront Festival Plaza - CTV News Windsor

Whether its flying cars or flying through the stars, retrofuturism has fascinated mankind for decades, and its not hard to see why. But were still coming to terms with what retrofuturism is and what it means for our society.

Retro-futurism isnt some complex scientific phenomenon but rather a blend of science, fiction, and art. If futurism is a type of science, forecasting what may come, then retrofuturism is looking back and recalling what that anticipation was like. Think of how people in the 1920s imagined the world a century on.

In a sense, retrofuturism works as a retrospection for our society, but surprisingly or not, it often leads to innovations, creative ideas, and products that you see or hear about in your daily life. A recent example of a retro-futuristic prototype is Teslas Neuralink, a brain chip that can augment the human brain. We also see it in architecture, urban design, and inventions such as self-driving cars or space suits.

In retrofuturism, science and technology meet nostalgia and it all comes with a distinctive aesthetic flavor the type you easily recognize when you come across it. Sometimes, retrofuturism becomes a sort of faux nostalgia a nostalgia for a future that never happened. Its hard to pin down exactly what is and isnt retrofuturism, but lets see what youd generally find in this current.

Most commonly, retrofuturism can be summarized as the future seen from the past, though sometimes it also incorporates the notion of past seen from the future.

Its common for many of us to wonder what the future will look like and have things like this pop up into mind. How long do I need to wait for flying cars or a transparent smartphone? Will there be a weekly sale event for cybernetic body parts with heavy discounts? Perhaps, I will be able to rent an apartment on Mars; maybe just on the Moon. Many such weird and exciting speculations about the future also give birth to retro-futurism, a concept that allows us to depict the existence of futuristic technology in an earlier time period.

But whats interesting is that when we look at retrofuturism art (especially from the past, but sometimes also in modern and real-life examples), it sometimes looks exactly like real life, while other times it looks completely different.

In the broadest sense, retrofuturism is a current present in all sorts of media (books, movies, comics, etc) that imagines a type of future seeded from a particular present. Its all that could have happened if we designed things in a particular way which is why retrofuturism is more than just an artistic current, its a way to envision how different world designs could look like.

From entertainment to fashion, and technology, the cultural impact of retro-futurism in our world is profound and can be understood through its various sub-genres that are reflected from time to time in the popular media.

Retrofuturism can itself be split into several currents. There are several variants, depending on what era you start from and what theme you focus on. Many of the general trends are owed to the early science fiction works of the likes of Jules Verne or H. G. Wells, as well as the space race of the 20th century. However, retrofuturism has branched out into several different styles, although theres no official classification.

A dark and dystopian retro-future with all the advanced technology that we can ever imagine but still the world is filled with misery, pain, and chaos because evil organizations control the future. This genre is heavily explored in video games, comics, and popular movies like Tron, Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner series, etc. Electronic music, funky clothing styles, and low-key fashion accessories based on the cyberpunk theme are quite popular retro-futuristic themes.

From shiny thunderbird cars to thirst-quenching soda fountains and fashionable chunky glasses, the 1950s were vibrant and full of glamour. Surprisingly, atompunk adds more interesting elements to the retro-futuristic version of the 1950s, the thunderbirds fly and often come equipped with jet propellers, the industries run on clean nuclear power, and the city life is faster than ever with bullet trains.

T-shirts, fashion accessories, and magazines printed in the atom punk theme are adored by fans in the US and beyond. However, the most popular depiction of atom punk is found in Fantastic Four comics, Sean Connerys James Bond films, and famous cartoon shows such as Dexters Laboratory.

What if Einstein is erased from history? How would our lives have been without the internet? Answering such questions, alternate history has always been a popular genre among writers and especially fiction lovers, it explores changed versions of real historical events and reveals the connected consequences. Hundreds of published books including bestsellers such as Stephen Kings 11/22/63 and Kim Stanley Robinsons Years of Rice are based on this intriguing idea.

From aspirin to electric batteries and cameras, the 19th century marks an era that drastically transformed the human lifestyle. This was an incredible time when steam engine trains ran full speed and new industries emerged. Steampunk refers to a future that is based in 19th-century settings with grand steam-powered machines (such as steam aircraft, steam cannons, etc) at play.

Although people have likely imagined what the future would look like since the dawn of time, the crystallized retrofuturism current is relatively recent.

According to many digital publications, the concept was first ever discussed in a late 1960s book named Retro-Futurism authored by T. R. Hinchliffe. However, not enough evidence or historical records exist in the present to validate this fact. However, although it didnt have a name, retrofuturism was still present way before that.

In the year 1983, an ad about Bloomingdales jewelry got published in the New York Times. This was no ordinary piece of advertisement because first, it goes like this silverized steel and sleek grey linked for a retro-futuristic look, and second, the Oxford English Dictionary clearly mentions this ad as the earliest recorded use of a term related to the concept of retro-future.

Filmmakers, designers, artists, and game developers have been actively using retro-futurism as a theme for their artistic creations and products. Whether it is Marty McFlys future visit in 1989s classic hit Back to the Future II or the launch of the first iPhone in 2007, many fictional and real-world events depict retro-futurism in ways you may never know.

Ultimately, retrofuturism serves as an art current, but it can play a surprisingly important role: by showing us what our world could have looked like but doesnt, its highlighting how our societal expectations and decisions change in time. By looking at different versions of our future, we can get a better idea of what our present is and how our society is shaped. Hopefully, when we take a deep look into that societal mirror, well like what we see.

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Retro-futurism and why it matters: a foray into alternative futures seen from the past - ZME Science

Currently rolling across the Bring A Trailer auction block is a futuristic motorcycle that you dont really see often, if youve seen one at all. This 2008 Vyrus 984 C3 2V Razzetto looks like it was ripped straight out of a video game and it can be yours.

Vyrus is known for making expensive bespoke motorcycles that are functional works of art. The bikes look like something that youd see in a sci-fi movie or concept drawings that would never reach production. This 2008 Vyrus 984 C3 2V Razzetto is so strange that you cant possibly stare at it long enough to appreciate all of its details.

The first thing youll notice is that it doesnt work like most motorcycles. Gone is any sort of fork, making the handlebar look disconnected from the front wheel. Hub-center steering is a quirk of Vyrus bikes, and the way it works is pretty neat.

The front wheel is mounted to a swingarm with a shock and an internal pivot point. Steering is achieved using those bright red linkages that turn the wheel on that pivot point. Heres a visual explanation for how that works:

Hub-center steering has been used on motorcycles going back over a century, but take a pillion seat to the popularity of more traditional forks. As noted by the Odd Bike motorcycle blog, Vyrus founder, Ascanio Rodorigo, worked for Bimota as a race mechanic between the 1970s and 1985.

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Rodorigo left Bimota to start his own company and partnered with Bimota on the hub-center-steered Tesi. Vyrus would develop the steering concept even further in its own motorcycles.

But Vyrus isnt just about weird steering. Each bike built by Vyrus is unique as buyers are offered extreme levels of customization. You can get everything from carbon fiber everywhere to bespoke engine mapping. This Vyrus 984 C3 2V is no different, check out the ad from Bring A Trailer:

Additional features include a Double Omega billet aluminum frame, carbon-fiber bodywork, an adjustable caster angle, Marvic magnesium wheels, Brembo brakes, FG Gubellini suspension components, and a Zard exhaust system.

That exhaust system is art all on its own and features carbon fiber mufflers. You could easily lose hours of time looking at every little detail of this thing.

Should you stop staring at the motorcycle long enough to ride it, power is provided by a Ducati dual spark L-twin bored out to 1,079cc and making 100 HP. That moves the 319-pound machine using a six-speed transmission.

Capping it off is the bikes rather fitting name, Razzetto, which translates little rocket. The seller got it in 2020 from her brothers estate and serviced it then. Its said to have accumulated only 1,900 miles since new

Of course theres a huge catch and its the price. Depending on who you ask, a fully customized one can take you into the six figures. This one is $30,500 with about 30 minutes to go on Bring A Trailer. Hopefully, someone buys this and actually takes it on the road wearing gear that matches its style.

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This Futuristic Motorcycle Is The Superbike Of Your Sci-Fi Dreams - Jalopnik

Some of these floating palaces showcase out-of-the-ordinary ideas that we might actually see one day in superyachts. And with how fast technology is advancing, chances are that this might happen sooner than we might think.

Feadship is known for its custom superyachts that meet its clients every desire. The shipyard was officially formed in 1949 when six yards and De Voogt Naval Architects agreed to pitch their high-quality products on the American market under the Feadship name.

Since then, generations of craftsmen who launched iconic boats have grown to be known the world over for their work. Now, Feadship's designers are envisioning a new yacht that blends the experience over the years with the boldest visions of the owners. The result? A 268-foot (81,75-meter) megayacht called Pure.

However, the essence of this futuristic superyacht contains much more than what meets the eye. The shipyard's technical key to make the design work were the two central elements around which the rest of the structure was constructed. These components will also house the main deck bar and staircase and provide separate staff routing.

With five decks in total and a tank deck counting as a fully functioning part, Pure has embraced the idea of openness. An elliptical glass atrium, half inside, half out, links all lines of sight over three decks. The way the massive glass facade crosses through contributes to this feeling of open space.

Moving on to the sun deck, you'll see a large jacuzzi with fire pits surrounding it, a bar space, and a dining area with seating surrounding a massive elliptical skylight. From there, you can directly access the owners' deck, which is right below the sun deck.

What makes Pure stand out is that it lacks a bridge deck. That's because it doesn't need one. The yacht is controlled from a hidden pilothouse where everything is simulated and displayed on screens.

As you might have guessed from the title of this article, the vessel uses smart augmented reality to navigate between locations. Precisely, the information needed is provided by radar, AIS, maps, depth sounders, and cameras, all of which are strategically placed around the vessel. Using all of the data collected, the captain will be provided with situational awareness, motion prediction, routing, and finding the most fuel-efficient way to travel.

Because the market for renewable diesel is growing and is projected to be a viable option in the near future, the first Pure model would be a diesel-electric energy hybrid, with the battery pack and generators powered by either fossil or renewable diesel. The battery pack would be large enough to allow Pure to navigate for 139 miles (222 km) on a single charge.

Then, in 2027, technological advancements should allow for a hybrid of battery packs and methanol-powered generators. Even if methanol engines are already being developed, there is a need for infrastructure that will make it possible to deliver methanol in yachting hotspots. Feadship anticipates that this type of engine will be available within a few years.

Finally, the megayacht will have all-methanol fuel cells with batteries by 2030, but the battery capacity may be reduced to a range of 69 miles (111 km). This will provide room for the fuel cell installation, which is projected to be larger than diesel engines.

These ideas presented by the shipyard's new concept design and many more are set to be addressed in the next edition of Feadship's UnIQ series of live broadcasts, which will take place on October 13th.

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This Futuristic Megayacht Concept Relies on Smart Augmented Reality to Navigate - autoevolution

Image by Getty / Futurism

A woman who gave birth at a hospital that had been brought to its knees by a ransomware hack is now suing over the death of her newborn daughter. The death appears tomark the first official casualty of a ransomware hack, in which hackers seize control of a computer network and demand payment, usually in cryptocurrency, to restore it a crime that, clearly, can be lifethreatening when directed at critical infrastructure like hospitals.

When the hackers took control of Springhill Medical Center in Alabama in 2019, the hospital refused to pay the ransom or acknowledge the attack, The Wall Street Journal reports, opting instead to mitigate the damage by shutting off its network and attempting to carry on as usual. Jobs that used to be automated suddenly fell on junior staffers, and doctors and nurses suddenly had to treat patients without access to crucial digital records or computer equipment.

A week after the attack, Teiranni Kidd went to Springhill Medical Center to deliver her daughter, Nicko Silar, according to the WSJ. Without the monitors that doctors and nurses use to keep an eye on the vitals of patients and their soon-to-be born children, the staff missed that Nicko had a dangerously accelerated heartbeat a sign that Nickos umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. Nicko was born unresponsive and with severe brain damage, and died nine months later.

Since then, Kidd has sued the hospital, and documents revealed that the medical staff texted one another about how the death would have been easily preventable. Had they been able to see the warning signs its unclear if anyone did at the time they would have safely delivered Nicko via caesarian section.

The hacker hasnt been publicly identified, but the WSJ reports that its likely the Russian Ryuk gang, which has targeted at least 235 hospitals and dozens of other healthcare facilities with ransomware attacks since 2018.

Outside of this case, there hasnt been a recorded death caused by a ransomware attack, though Joshua Corman, a senior advisor for the Department of Homeland Securitys Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency told the WSJ that the hacks could make healthcare workers perform worse overall.

We can see that a cyberattack can strain you enough to contribute to excess deaths, he said.

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Hackers Attacked a Hospital and Allegedly Killed a Newborn Baby - Futurism

"People dare not to have children due to increasing economic pressure."Half-Life 30

If a new study is to be believed, China could face a disastrous drop in its population within just 30 years.

Chinas aging population and decreasing birth rate have had its government on high alarm lately, with new census data revealing an even more significant drop in new births than expected, the South China Morning Post reports. Based on that data and an overall reluctance to have more kids, the countrys population could be cut in half as soon as the year 2050, according to research published in the Journal of Xian University of Finance and Economics.

Its an alarming projection that would have grave implications for Chinas stature as a global superpower though,to be fair, the research does involve a fair amount of speculation.

In order to motivate couples to have larger families, China recently expanded its two-child policy up to three. But the researchers behind the new study found that the main impediments preventing couples from forming larger families seem to be economic concerns and a lack of social support systems not the state telling them no.

People dare not to have children due to increasing economic pressure, the researchers wrote in their paper. There are also severe shortages in supporting services for childbearing and care.

The Chinese government has also tried to make housing and education more affordable, but the researchers say the new measures dont go far enough.

Meanwhile, the new census data which SCMP says is likely the most accurate in history thanks to new methodology and cross-referencing practices says that children now make up 17 percent of Chinas population, while people over the age of 60 make up 18 percent.

The researchers say this is the first time in known history that the older group outnumbered the younger, thanks to a declining rate of new births that, according to all available data, is continuing to decline.

READ MORE: Chinas population could halve within the next 45 years, new study warns [South China Morning Post]

More on demographics: Chinas Population Is About To Start Declining, and Its Leaders Are Worried

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China's Population Projected to Fall by Half Within 30 Years - Futurism