Impact Lab – Page 555 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Science & Technology News, Tourism, Travel

Inside the vineyard hotel where guests can spend the night in giant wine barrels

July 30, 2019

The giant wine barrels have been transformed into luxury hotel rooms and they’re right in the heart of a vineyard

The wine barrels have been transformed into glamping pods

The Wine House Hotel – Quinta da Pacheca , in Portugal’s famous Douro Valley, has transformed a series of its giant wine barrels into cosy hotel rooms, so you can sleep in the heart of the vineyard. Basically, it’s the ultimate glamping experience for any wine connaisseur. The wine barrels are nestled amidst the Quinta da Pacheca vineyard, meaning that guests can open up the doors and enjoy unrivalled views of the breathtaking landscape.

Inside, there’s everything you need for a comfortable stay; a large double bed, a shower room, sink and toilet. It’s got a rustic chic vibe thanks to the wooden interiors, but still plenty of little luxurious touches for a luxury feel.

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Amazon.com, drones, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Amazon just got FAA approval to fly drones for deliveries

July 29, 2019

Your Amazon prime packages are one step closer to being delivered by drones.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a certificate to Amazon Prime Air on Wednesday, allowing the company to operate its MK27 unmanned aircraft for package deliveries, the federal agency said in a statement.

On the same day, Amazon (AMZN) announced it will begin delivering packages to customers by drone “within months” at its artificial intelligence, robotics and space conference re:Mars in Las Vegas. Amazon’s certificate is valid for one year and is eligible for renewal, according to the FAA.

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Automation, Employment, new technology, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

The threat to the $100,000-a-year tech worker

July 29, 2019

Much of the discussion around the future of work focuses on what is already disappearing: jobs in factories, on farms, and in restaurants.

But coming automation-fueled job losses and changes will reverberate far beyond — and eventually reach seemingly safe workers in Silicon Valley and on Wall Street.

And those in-demand workers may not be prepared for what’s coming, as the bulk of government and company reskilling efforts are targeted toward the lower end.

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Automation, Business, Employment, Science & Technology News

The Future Of Work: 5 Important Ways Jobs Will Change In The 4th Industrial Revolution

July 29, 2019

5 Ways Work Will Change in the Future

In many respects, the future of work is already here. Amid the headlines exclaiming the predicted loss of jobs due to automation and other changes brought by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and autonomous systems, it’s clear that the way we work and live is transforming. This evolution can be unnerving. Since we know change is inevitable, let’s look at how work will likely change and some ideas for how to prepare for it.

At least 30% of the activities associated with the majority of occupations in the United States could be automated, which includes even knowledge tasks that were previously thought to be safe according to a McKinsey Global Institute report. This echoes what executives see as well and prompted Rick Jensen, Chief Talent Officer at Intuit to say, “The workforce is changing massively.” Here are just a few of the ways:

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Business, Ecological Products, Electric Vehicles, Green Friendly, Science & Technology News

Giant shipper bets big on ending its carbon emissions. Will it pay off ?

July 26, 2019

The Danish company Maersk has been shipping goods around the world since the age of steamships. Now it wants to usher in a new era, with carbon neutral transport.

Maersk — the world’s largest container shipping company — has an astonishing goal. By 2050, the company vows to send goods — everything from electronics to soybeans to sneakers — around the world with zero carbon emissions.

The environmental logic behind such a promise is straightforward: Shipping contributes substantially to global climate change.

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Analysis, Big Problems, Hot Issues, Money Talk, Science & Technology News

The writing on the wall: America’s retirement crisis by the numbers

July 26, 2019

Thousands of Americans are at risk of going broke in retirement, and it’s only going to get worse.

These days, overwhelming student loan debt and the uncertain future of Social Security’s solvency garner most of the attention, but there’s another equally severe financial crisis looming on the horizon for millions of Americans. Thousands of people retire every day, and many don’t have the savings they need to last the rest of their lives.

When that well runs dry, they’ll need to lean on their family members to support them or seek government assistance to cover their basic living expenses. It’s a fate thousands of Americans are already experiencing, and based on data from the latest Northwestern Mutual Planning & Progress survey, tens of thousands more are set to join them in the coming decades.

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Electric Vehicles, Green Friendly, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Your UPS deliveries may soon arrive in electric trucks

July 26, 2019

Through its multiple partnerships with EV startups, the company is precipitating a sustainable transformation in the delivery industry.

A new UPS truck now rolling around the streets of London looks like an ordinary delivery vehicle. But at night, the truck plugs into a new smart grid at the company’s hub in the center of the city, where it pulls in enough charge to drive up to 150 miles the next day.

The smart grid and the battery infrastructure inside the truck are made by the U.K.-based startup Arrival. They will soon fully debut in a pilot fleet of custom trucks equipped with other features, including a wraparound front window that makes it easier for a driver to see other vehicles and pedestrians. This pilot is just one piece of UPS’ larger experimentation with electric vehicles.

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government, Healthcare, Legal Issues, Science & Technology News

Netherlands passes law making everyone an organ donor by default

July 26, 2019

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch senators have approved a new law that makes everybody a potential organ donor unless they decide to opt out of the system.

The new system narrowly passed a vote in the upper house of the Dutch parliament Tuesday. The lower house last year passed the legislation with a one-vote majority.

The new law’s drafter, lawmaker Pia Dijkstra, says under the new system — which is similar to donation laws in Belgium and Spain — every person over 18 who is not yet registered as a donor will receive a letter asking if they want to donate their organs after death.

Those who do not respond will be considered organ donors, although they will be able to amend their status at any time.

Via Canoe.com

Analysis, Business, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Tata: Most valuable Indian brand in 2019

July 26, 2019

It is not unusual for the Tata group to top brand valuation charts, as it has done several years in a row. But what has come as a surprise, in the 2019 study by UK-based Brand Finance of the nation’s leading 100 brands, is the sharp jump in brand valuation achieved by the salt-to-software business house.

The 2019 list, released exclusively to Business Standard, shows a 37 per cent jump in brand value for the Tata group, to $19.55 billion for 2019, the highest in the top 25. Last year, the group had achieved a brand value of $14.23 billion, which was a jump of nearly nine per cent over the previous year.

“The Tata group’s presence across sectors makes it a pioneering force to reckon with,” says David Haigh, chief executive officer, Brand Finance, about the conglomerate’s performance this year.

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Energy, Engineering, Green Friendly, Science & Technology News

Energy abundance : The future of nuclear

July 26, 2019

Yes, I want nuclear energy *in my back yard*!

Extraordinary new innovations are giving us failsafe nuclear fission and the potential to achieve our age-old dream of fusion.

This year, Bill Gates commented: “Nuclear is ideal for dealing with climate change, because it is the only carbon-free, scalable energy source that’s available 24 hours a day. The problems with today’s reactors, such as the risk of accidents, can be solved through innovation.”

This blog is about convincing you to re-consider nuclear as a viable and critical idea. The upside of success is extraordinary, which is why, for the first time, we’re beginning to see venture capital make massive investments in the field.

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Amazon.com, Employment, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Education vs. Training: Corporate America’s role

July 26, 2019

What do you really need to know? Would a sixth-grade education give you enough basic skills to enable you to use online tools to learn a trade or become a service worker or a knowledge worker? Would you need eighth-grade skills? Tenth-grade? Perhaps a four-year college degree?

How much education do you need to learn to create and configure a new Aurora Serverless DB cluster on AWS? One of our engineers just taught a high-school intern how to do it in a few hours. This particular intern is about 150 hours of training away from being in a position to earn about $90k annually. With what he has learned in the past 50 hours of training, this young man could earn enough during the rest of the summer to pay for his first year of college – which he may not actually need.

But if he doesn’t need to go to college, or even finish high-school, what kind of education does he need? We need to shift the conversation from education to training – and that is precisely what corporate America is starting to do.

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Automation, Driverless vehicles, Robots, Science & Technology News

Meet your future package delivery team: A self-driving vehicle and a robot

July 26, 2019

Digit uses its hands made of rubber balls to lift boxes that weigh up to 40 pounds, and has the ability to sidestep objects in its path and walk up staircases.

In may, damion shelton, the CEO of Agility Robotics, watched nervously as his new robot, Digit, attempted a groundbreaking feat: delivering a package from a self-driving vehicle to a front porch. “The robot has only been assembled for a couple months,” he says. “Now, it needs to stand and walk on its own. Will it fall and damage itself or deliver the package?”

Digit, a five-foot-tall, 88-pound bipedal robot, stands upright on thin, long, ostrich-like legs. It has 3D-printed rubber balls instead of fingers, a laser-range (LiDAR) sensor, a 3D camera for its head, and a battery-pack that lets it run for three hours on a single charge. Capable of picking up packages that weigh up to 40 pounds, Digit is designed to work in sync with self-driving vehicles, unfolding itself from the trunks of cars to deliver items across short distances within neighborhoods.

Continue reading… “Meet your future package delivery team: A self-driving vehicle and a robot”