Researchers say they are close to solving the intractable problem of building lunar infrastructure. Beijing researchers say they have developed and tested the technology to build a highway on the moon. “I have often dreamed […]
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Digital, tech & innovation narratives curated from across the web
Category: Futures
It’s Africa’s Century – for Better or Worse
Asia gets the attention, but the real economic revolution is the inevitable growth of an overlooked continent. When Nigeria has a population of over 300 million its fortunes matter on the global scale. That population […]
Missions to Mars, Uranus, and a Saturn Moon Could Take Off in the Next Decade
Every 10 years, scientists decide which planetary research missions to develop for the next decade. The new Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey, released today, will help identify those future missions. Get ready for more […]
Chris Dixon Thinks Web3 is the Future of the Internet. Is it?
Andreessen Horowitz generally is responsible for a ton of money flowing into Web3, but Chris Dixon is one of the solo decision-makers so is personally are responsible for a lot of it. Chris Dixon leads […]
The UAE’s Plan to Terraform Mars
The UAE’s Mars 2117 program, announced in 2017, claims humans will have liveable environments, and 60,000-strong colonies, on Mars within the century. “If we are going to dream about Mars, let’s not have a mediocre […]
Russia is Risking the Creation of a “Splinternet”
If Russia disconnects from — or is booted from — the internet’s governing bodies, the internet may never be the same again for any of us. Facebook has been blocked entirely by Russian authorities, while […]
Why Werner Herzog Thinks Human Space Colonisation “Will Inevitably Fail”
Werner Herzog talks about Last Exit: Space, a new documentary on Discovery+ that explores the possibility of humans colonizing planets beyond Earth. Since it is produced and narrated by Werner Herzog (director of Grizzly Man, […]
What’s Coming in Neuroscience, Bio-Tech and Psychedelics?
We turned to some of the visionaries and innovators who normally help us see deeply into the future and asked them to make some predictions about the coming months months. Our question was simple: What […]
Musk’s Biggest Space Gamble
Starship is threatening NASA’s moon contractors, which are watching its progress with a mix of awe and horror. Elon Musk is planning yet again to rocket beyond the status quo. And if he succeeds, the […]
The Ultimate Elevator ride
The Space Elevator has been a dream of scientists for centuries. A new design may finally make it a reality — at least, by the next century. It’s hard to summon the will to build […]
Towards a Digital Pluriverse
A manifesto against the metaverse and toward a “pluriverse” of “open digital spaces of collective autonomy and shared ownership”. We gather to build these alternatives, to challenge the monoverse, and reach towards brighter technological futures: […]
An Initiation to Game B
The journey to Game B is a story about the relationship between humanity, technology and Nature. We’re gaining the power of gods, but without the love, wisdom and discernment of gods—that is a self-extinctionary scenario. […]
Jeff Bezos is Reportedly Paying to Make Humans Immortal
The founder of Amazon has reportedly made an investment in a biotech startup focused on “cellular rejuvenation programming to restore cell health and resilience, with the goal of reversing disease to transform medicine,” With $3 […]
Life on Mars
In October, an international cohort of thinkers beamed into the virtual 2021 conference of the Mars Society, which has advocated colonizing the planet since 1998. In an age of low-cost rocket launches and Shatner space […]
Our Future in Space
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and a range of panelists gathered to address the “Final Frontier,” and humankind’s search for the unexplained. The event, titled “Our Future in Space” and presented by The Paul […]
The Rise of The Aligned Web
The modern web is best thought of as an adversary. Every nanosecond we spend on it, it’s sizing us up in order to do things to us that will benefit it at our expense. The […]
Will You Be Able to Leave the Metaverse?
Faster than any of us can imagine, we will become thoroughly dependent on the virtual layers of information projected all around us. It will feel no more optional than internet access feels optional today. You […]
Kevin Kelly: The Case for Optimism
It is extremely difficult to create a desirable future without first envisioning it. To imagine is really the first step in creating anything. Therefore an essential chore for making a future we want to live […]
China marches on towards 4th Industrial Revolution
Pundit predictions of China’s demise are the latest self-consoling illusions of a lazy elite who can’t see the AI writing on the wall. A generation from now, the Chinese won’t remember the misery of Ant […]
Facebook Spending $50M to ‘Responsibly’ Build the Metaverse
Facebook wants people to think it is a responsible platform owner. Facebook has announced a $50 million fund that it says will help it develop the metaverse more responsibly. It’s officially called the XR Programs […]
All Possible Views about Humanity’s Future are Wild
Holden Karnofsky argues that it’s “wild” to think we’re assured of never spreading throughout the galaxy, but also that it’s “wild” to think that we have a decent chance of spreading throughout the galaxy. In […]
China Plans ‘Ultra-Large Spacecraft’ Spanning Miles
The National Natural Science Foundation of China has called on scientists to join a five-year project to study the mechanics of an “ultra-large spacecraft spanning kilometres”. “[Such a spacecraft] is a major strategic aerospace equipment […]
What’s Next for Lab-Grown Human Embryos?
Researchers are now permitted to grow human embryos in the lab for longer than 14 days. Here’s what they could learn. In May, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) released new guidelines1 that […]
An Impending “Intelligence Explosion”
In this century, humanity is predicted to undergo a transformative experience, the likes of which have not been seen since we first began to speak, fashion tools, and plant crops. This experience goes by various […]
“A Robot is Just a Tesla Without Wheels”
After a dense presentation about the undeniably impressive work Tesla is doing with AI, Elon Musk capped the evening by bringing out a dancer in a spandex suit. Behold, said Musk: my Tesla Bot. Even […]
China Plans Crewed Mission to Mars in 2033
China is planning regular crewed missions to the Red Planet and wants to build a base there. China plans to send its first crewed mission to Mars in 2033 as it continues to boost its […]
Fake Humans Herald a New Age in AI
Firms like Datagen offer an alternative to the expensive, time-consuming process of gathering real-world data. They will make it for you. Once viewed as less desirable than real data, synthetic data is now seen by […]
Bezos, Musk and Branson Scramble for Space Supremacy
Experts say three billionaires have upended the traditional model for human spaceflight and are shaping a thriving new era. It was a week in which two space-faring billionaires tussled again in their futuristic game of […]
Advertisers are Coming for Your Dreams
A group of 40 dream researchers have released an online letter, calling for the regulation of commercial dream manipulation. “People are particularly vulnerable [to suggestion] when asleep,” says Adam Haar, a cognitive scientist and Ph.D. […]
What Can I Be Hopeful About in the 2020s?
It’s difficult to avoid pessimism in a lethargic, shell-shocked, post-pandemic world. So I turned to the experts. We’re only at the beginning of a strange and demanding decade. Should we—can we—be hopeful? Here’s what they […]