Future Today #031 - Paradox, Mammoths, Biohacking, Telosa

Welcome to Future Today!?A newsletter for those curious about social innovation, disruptive technologies and futures studies. In it I will share weekly blog articles, interesting links and recommendations for books, movies, series and courses.

?? Future proof: Solving the ‘adaptability paradox’ for the long term. Individuals and organizations need to be ready. That doesn’t mean reacting to the next challenge that comes our way but rather being prepared to meet it when it arrives. Five actions can transform your relationship with uncertainty and help you thrive.?

?? Woolly Mammoths Will Walk the Arctic Tundra Again. Using breakthrough advances in CRISPR genetic engineering, a new wave of thoughtful disruptive conservation and restorative biology aims to rewild degraded ecosystems to help combat the effects of climate change and loss of biodiversity.

?? Mercedes-Benz Is Experimenting With Mind Control in Vehicles. Concept vehicles demonstrate what could be possible in the future rather than what will be in next year's vehicles, and the Vision AVTR is exactly that. There's no wheel, buttons, or dials inside the car, just smooth surfaces capable of acting as a display. Interacting with the car's systems will be achieved through a brain-computer interface (BCI).

?? Building the future. With the pandemic, the time seems to have come to reflect on how to face a tomorrow that is already here: we live in possibly the era with the greatest number of urgent challenges and the least time to face them. The planet and those of us who live on it depend on the right decisions being made in the coming decades.

?? The biohacker who implanted more than 50 chips in her body to become a cyborg. Lepht "a British wetware hacker with no face or gender, no gods or money, who likes people, science and practical transhumanism" is an active transhumanist who has been seeking to "transcend the limitations" of the human body for 14 years. Like her, there is a whole movement of people who believe that the future lies in merging with technology.

?? This is Telosa, the sustainable, cutting-edge metropolis that could be built in the middle of the U.S. desert. Telosa is being designed as the ideal city. It is the sustainable, cutting-edge, inclusive city that billionaire Marc Lore wants to make a reality. Adopting the Aristotelian term telos in his name, the idea is to create a vibrant metropolis that brings individuals together and draws from them their full potential to create and be a better society. That is the city envisioned by Lore, the brainchild of renowned Danish architect Bjarke Ingels.

?? Sustainability is not enough: we need regenerative cultures. I began to realize that what we are actually trying to sustain is the underlying pattern of health, resilience and adaptability that maintain this planet in a condition where life as a whole can flourish. A regenerative human culture is healthy, resilient and adaptable; it cares for the planet and it cares for life in the awareness that this is the most effective way to create a thriving future for all of humanity.?

?? A Startup That’s Storing Energy in Concrete Blocks Just Raised $100 Million. A startup called Energy Vault is working on a unique storage method, inspired by pumped hydro, which has been around since the 1920s and uses surplus generating capacity to pump water up into a reservoir. When the water is released, it flows down through turbines and generates energy just like conventional hydropower.

?? What will California look like in the next 100 years? Together, we can co-create an innovative, sustainable, and equitable next century for all Californians. A California where transformative ideas move freely and people inspire each other to enact meaningful change in their own lives and in all of our communities.

?? How will we use artificial intelligence in 20 years’ time? One of the most prominent figures in China’s tech sector and author of “AI 2041” tells Anne McElvoy how artificial intelligence will have changed the world in twenty years’ time. They discuss the impact machine learning will have on jobs and why an algorithm could spot the next pandemic. Plus, can a robot ever replicate human emotion?

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