Impact Lab – Page 484 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Coronavirus, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News, Uber

Uber Connect lets you deliver things to friends and family

May 5, 2020

Uber has announced a duo of new services as the company chases fresh revenue streams to offset the impact of COVID-19.

With billions of people around the world forced into lockdown during the coronavirus crisis, tech firms across the spectrum have been adapting to this “new normal.” For platforms that enable remote working, this has meant catering to a surge in demand. But for Uber, which relies significantly on physical interactions, it has had to get creative. Shelter-at-home policies enforced by the COVID-19 pandemic has decimated Uber’s core ride-hailing business, leading the company to fast-track the global launch of Uber Eats for business, accept phone orders for food deliveries, and even expand into grocery deliveries.

Now, Uber is looking to deliver pretty much anything, from pet food and medical supplies — and it even wants to deliver goods between friends and family living at different addresses.

Continue reading… “Uber Connect lets you deliver things to friends and family”

2020 Predictions, Coronavirus, Futurist, Science & Technology News

How futurists think we will be working after the coronavirus pandemic is over

May 5, 2020

Gerd Leonhard says the pandemic has led to the widespread adoption of remote work practices.

The speed with which the world of work has changed since the introduction of coronavirus restrictions has been breathtaking, even for futurists whose job it is to anticipate developments ahead of the pack.

Key points:

Even futurists are having to adapt to the changes brought on by COVID-19
But they say those changes will create an opening for a raft of new jobs
Black swan scenario planners and privacy guardians are two examples

Continue reading… “How futurists think we will be working after the coronavirus pandemic is over”

Coronavirus, Economy, Higher Education, Science & Technology News

Another thing the virus could kill : More than 1,000 Colleges and Universities

May 4, 2020

CHANGED FOREVER?

COVID-19 has disrupted our world in big and small ways. We have shut down as a nation to save lives. We watch the news and hear of deaths in the hundreds and thousands and wonder if we are at the peak yet. Simple acts, such as going to the grocery store or walking the dog, have become significant sources of anxiety. Food insecurity has intensified as increasing lines at food banks demonstrate. We have new respect for service workers. We cheer our new heroes, the first responders, doctors, and nurses who are our frontline soldiers in this war.

And we celebrate our teachers, but we have ignored university professors, who have also had to refocus the way they teach, do research and spread knowledge.

Higher education as a sector is getting hammered. Our national focus is rightly on the current frontline health providers. But we need to realize that despite some federal funding, many universities and colleges may never recover from COVID-19.

Continue reading… “Another thing the virus could kill : More than 1,000 Colleges and Universities”

Business, Employment, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

Marc Andreessen : It’s time to build

May 4, 2020

IT’S TIME TO BUILD

Marc Andreessen

Every Western institution was unprepared for the coronavirus pandemic, despite many prior warnings. This monumental failure of institutional effectiveness will reverberate for the rest of the decade, but it’s not too early to ask why, and what we need to do about it.

Many of us would like to pin the cause on one political party or another, on one government or another. But the harsh reality is that it all failed — no Western country, or state, or city was prepared — and despite hard work and often extraordinary sacrifice by many people within these institutions. So the problem runs deeper than your favorite political opponent or your home nation.

Part of the problem is clearly foresight, a failure of imagination. But the other part of the problem is what we didn’t *do* in advance, and what we’re failing to do now. And that is a failure of action, and specifically our widespread inability to *build*.

Continue reading… “Marc Andreessen : It’s time to build”

Big Problems, Coronavirus, Employment, Science & Technology News

Here comes the retirement crisis, coronavirus-style

May 4, 2020

Will COVID-19 deepen the retirement crisis? Yes and no — here’s how

The coronavirus crisis may worsen an already impending retirement crisis.

Remember when Americans struggled to save for retirement because they were juggling high housing costs, student loan payments, credit card debt and scanty access to workplace savings? Add in a global pandemic, record unemployment and an economic lockdown. How’s that for a retirement crisis?

The coronavirus poses a threat to many Americans’ health and current financial well-being, but it also has the potential to derail an individual’s future retirement security.

Many Americans were already underprepared for retirement, not having saved enough for their futures by the time they were ready to leave the workforce. The global pandemic may make it even harder to afford to retire. In the past four weeks alone, 22 million U.S. workers have filed for unemployment benefits, and people without jobs are not able to contribute to their workplace investment accounts, nor do they have any extra money to put away. People may also have to take distributions or loans from their retirement plans, which lowers their potential returns in the long-run.

Continue reading… “Here comes the retirement crisis, coronavirus-style”

Automobiles, Electric Automobile, Science & Technology News, Tesla

Tesla’s electric cars require far less maintenance than gas-powered vehicles. Here are all the differences between them.

May 3, 2020

Traditional cars come with elaborate maintenance schedules that require owners to develop a close relationship with dealers and mechanics.

Tesla vehicles are mechanically simpler than gas-powered cars. As a result, they require less attention. Tesla also routinely improves its vehicles using over-the-air software updates.

Still, there are some areas of maintenance that Tesla owners need to keep an eye on.

Continue reading… “Tesla’s electric cars require far less maintenance than gas-powered vehicles. Here are all the differences between them.”

Business, Employment, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Skill gap 2020″ 5 soft skills and 10 hard skills companies need now

May 3, 2020

What are the most critical soft and hard skills that organizations are hiring for and training for in 2020?

In the recently released LinkedIn Learning 2020 Workplace Learning Report, LinkedIn analyzed data from 660+ million professionals and 20+ million jobs to map the 15 most in-demand skills. More specifically, they looked at the skills that are in demand relative to the supply of people who have those skills—in other words, the skill gap.

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Cancer, Healthcare, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

Cancer study stumbles onto potential way to regenerate heart cells

May 3, 2020

New research could lead to a gene therapy treatment for heart disease

Unfortunately for heart attack patients, heart cells don’t naturally replenish, so this vital organ stays permanently damaged. But now, Cambridge researchers have stumbled onto a gene that appears to trigger heart cell regeneration – and they did so by accident, while researching cancer treatments.

After a heart attack, the human heart will patch itself up with scar tissue. That helps keep the organ together, but this tissue doesn’t beat like healthy heart cells do. Over time, this leads to further attacks, heart failure and often death.

Scientists have been experimenting with ways to replenish heart cells, and promising leads so far include bioengineered scaffolds, placental stem cells, and boosting other cells around the heart.

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Automation, Coronavirus, Driverless vehicles, Food, Science & Technology News

Robot deliveries might end up being common, post-Coronavirus Pandemic

May 2, 2020

Having an unoccupied vehicle deliver your food makes a lot more sense now.

Delivery robots helped deliver food and medicine in Wuhan, China, during the coronavirus-related quarantine.

In the United States, autonomous shuttles from the French company NAVYA have been repurposed as delivery robots to transport COVID-19 tests.

Most of these delivery robots still have human controllers keeping track of them and driving them when needed.

While the Wuhan district in China was under quarantine, news surfaced of robots delivering food and, later, medical supplies. Meanwhile, in the United States, the French company NAVYA configured its autonomous passenger shuttles in Florida to transport COVID-19 tests to the Mayo Clinic from off-site test locations. As the weeks of stay-at-home orders and recommendations slip into months, the delivery robots that were seen as a joke, fad, or nuisance have in some instances found a way into the public consciousness as important tools to combat the spread of coronavirus. The question is, will their usefulness extend post-lockdown?

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Coronavirus, Great New Product, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Avoid touching anything with this $18 antimicrobial hand tool

May 2, 2020

Save 28% on a device that you can use to press buttons, open doors and pull levers. If only 2018 could see us now.

Since the start of the coronavirus, I’ve had the immortal words of Sgt. Apone ringing in my head, when he admonished the Colonial Marines in the movie Aliens: “Nobody touch nothin’.” Good advice when exploring a deserted space colony, and good advice when venturing outdoors during a global pandemic. I never imagined I’d ever write these words, but here goes: If you want to avoid having to press buttons, open doors and generally touch stuff with your bare hands, add a hand tool to your key ring. Right now, you can get CleanKey’s Antimicrobial Brass Hand Tool for $18 when you use discount code CHEAP10 at checkout.

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Engineering, new technology, quantum computing, Science & Technology News

Hot qubits break one of the biggest constraints to practical quantum computers

May 2, 2020

Most quantum computers being developed around the world will only work at fractions of a degree above absolute zero. That requires multi-million-dollar refrigeration and as soon as you plug them into conventional electronic circuits they’ll instantly overheat.

But now researchers led by Professor Andrew Dzurak at UNSW Sydney have addressed this problem.

“Our new results open a path from experimental devices to affordable quantum computers for real world business and government applications,” says Professor Dzurak.

The researchers’ proof-of-concept quantum processor unit cell, on a silicon chip, works at 1.5 Kelvin—15 times warmer than the main competing chip-based technology being developed by Google, IBM, and others, which uses superconducting qubits.

Continue reading… “Hot qubits break one of the biggest constraints to practical quantum computers”

Coronavirus, Future, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

The coronavirus butterfly effect: Six predictions for a new world order

May 1, 2020

The world may soon pass “peak virus.” But true recovery will take years—and the ripple effects will be seismic. Parag Khanna and Karan Khemka forecast the aftershocks.

In chaos theory, the butterfly effect describes a small change that can have massive, unpredictable consequences. An insect flaps its wings and, weeks later, causes a tornado.

The coronavirus is more like an earthquake, with aftershocks that will permanently reshape the world.

If we are lucky, the world will pass “peak virus” within the next six months. But the economy, governments, and social institutions will take years to recover in the best-case scenario. Indeed, rather than even speak of “recovery,” which implies a return to how things were, it would be wise to project what new direction civilization will take. That too will be a bumpy ride. The next 3-5 years will remind us that COVID-19 was the lightning before the thunder

Continue reading… “The coronavirus butterfly effect: Six predictions for a new world order”