Five Interesting Things: Today’s Scan Hits
Here are five indicators, observations or articles that caught the eye of FA futurists today.
- Josh Freedman and Michael Lind consider America’s next social contract in The Atlantic.
- Joel Kotkin observes that increasingly Democratic Silicon Valley will pose challenges for progressives. Digital plutocrat supporters and rhetoric condemning the “1%” could eventually lead to stress within the Democratic coalition.
- BBC Future has published an infographic that maps its view of humanity’s possible future in 1,000 years, 10,000 years and 10 quadrillion years.
- Researcher Christopher Bettinger of Carnegie Mellon University has detailed his vision for an “edible battery” that could be used to power biomedical devices. The battery, which uses pigment from the cuttlefish, could power swallowed devices from 5 to 24 hours, based on use. Bettinger’s paper outlining the idea was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
- In the wake of a raft of new connected, “smart” devices showcased at last week’s CES, Ars Technica takes a deeper look at the security questions and concerns the Internet of Things raises.