This is the first of two articles on this theme by Henk van Houten, Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, Royal Philips. The second article, which focuses more on human beings than machines will also be posted here in the … Continued
Social supermarkets have emerged in Britain in the past five years as a response to food poverty and food waste. These non-charitable initiatives sell food “surplus” to people on low incomes at heavily discounted prices, alongside providing them with social … Continued
New York City is taking to court the globe’s five largest oil companies, holding them responsible for current and impending damages to the city as a result of alleged oil-driven climate change. The lawsuit filed this week against Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, … Continued
The futures foundation first reviewed Stewart Brand’s book “The Clock of the Long Now” when it came out in 1999. The actual clock is now being constructed in the USA. The entire article about the construction of the clock can … Continued
EARTH is observed as never before. Satellites track typhoons, monitor volcanic-ash plumes and catalogue the changing ways in which human beings use the land. The sort of high-quality imagery that, a couple of decades ago, was the preserve of spies … Continued
At the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, work is almost finished on a huge new solar plant that’s set to provide one megawatt of renewable power for the local electricity grid. The new plant sits just a hundred metres … Continued
Self-driving cars are now a regular fixture in some American cities, but they are heavily reliant on high-precision 3D maps of the roads. That means they can’t tackle the vast majority of the country that hasn’t been charted, but MIT … Continued
Coal, which fueled the world’s biggest economies for more than a century, is increasingly losing out to renewables. The latest example of how one of the dirtiest fossil fuels is being squeezed out of the market came this week in … Continued
Scientists found that neurons in mammalian brains were capable of producing photons of light, or “Biophotons”! The photons, strangely enough, appear within the visible spectrum. They range from near-infrared through violet, or between 200 and 1,300 nanometers. Scientists have an exciting suspicion that our … Continued
s it a tram, or is it a train, or even a fancy bus? The world’s first electric-powered ‘trackless train’ has been launched in China. Using virtual rail lines on the streets of Zhuzhou, Hunan Province, the new Autonomous Rail … Continued
Humanity has been fascinated by Mars since long before we stepped foot on the Moon. Our planetary neighbor has been the subject of innumerable works of sci-fi and inspired countless dreams of adventure and exploration. Now, after decades of determination, research, and scientific breakthroughs, … Continued
Vattenfall deployed the first of two Vestas 8.8-megawatt wind turbines at its European testing center. Swedish energy giant Vattenfall announced Tuesday that it successfully installed an 8.8-megawatt capacity offshore wind turbine from Vestas at the European Offshore Wind Deployment Center (EOWDC) off … Continued
Last 2016, solar power saw a resurgence — from cheaper solar panels to innovative roofing for houses and cars, to solar powered roads, and even to powering an entire island. It seems we have entered a new age in solar energy. Well, it doesn’t end there. In the … Continued
In 2016 the futures foundation re-posted an article about efforts being made to clean up the world’s oceans (https://futuresfoundation.org.au/worlds-first-ocean-cleaning-system-will-deployed-2016/ ). We have recently been contacted by a US based not for profit organisation doing much more in this space than we … Continued
10 March 2018 The Economic, Education and Skills Committee, Inquiry into career advice activities in Victorian Schools Dear Members of the Inquiry Panel Our reading of submissions already made to this inquiry suggests they fall into two broad groups: … Continued
The Warren Centre has published a new report, The Circular Economy: Global Trends and Future Challenges, investigating how improvements to supply chains could vastly reduce financial and environmental waste. The term “circular economy” refers to a system where resources are … Continued
The nation’s strong agricultural and mining sectors laid the foundations for 26 years of continuous economic growth, but without undertaking significant risks in innovation, this growth would not have occurred. The Brookings Institute examines why it is difficult to measure … Continued
As we adapt our cities for the next 100 years, it’s important and thrilling to remind ourselves that this is a rare moment in technology where an innovation can be designed to build community. If we play our cards right, … Continued
The trouble with the future is that it never seems to arrive. That’s why we call it the future. We consequently have this bad habit of taking the present, and all the wondrous and horrific things it has to offer, … Continued
Colouring books and crayons often have a hard time competing against smartphone games and YouTube videos, especially as children come into contact with mobile devices from a very early age. Researchers at the Game Technology Center have combined the advantages … Continued