The following submission statement was provided by /u/lughnasadh:

Submission Statement

It seems in the next few years we may get to scan dozens of exoplanet atmosphere's for signs of extraterrestrial life. Apart from using the JWST, the other big effort is the SPECULOOS Project using telescopes in Chile and the Canary Islands to scan 1,000 of the nearest ultra-cool stars and brown dwarf stars. Should simple single cell life be common throughout the universe, it seems plausible we will discover evidence of it soon.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yf2b84/astronomers_have_outlined_how_the_jwst_may_be/iu19tpl/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/Ezekiel_W:

>Two major studies published in Nature have uncovered a new level of control of cancer gene activity within tumors, termed cancer's "dark matter."
>
>The revelation shows that epigenetics, cells controlling gene activity, play a crucial role in the development of cancer. Cancers are usually tested for DNA mutations alone, which can miss this level of control, thereby failing to predict how cancers may behave and respond to treatment.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yevfv6/major_breakthrough_in_cancer_research_papers/iu03gra/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/SleekEagle:

Background

The past few years have seen incredible progress in the text-to-image domain. Models like DALL-E 2, Imagen, and Stable Diffusion can generate extremely high quality, high resolution images given only a sentence of what should be depicted in the image.

These models rely heavily on Diffusion Models (DMs). DMs are a relatively new type of Deep Learning method that is inspired by physics. They learn how to start with random "TV static", and then progressively "denoise" it to generate an image. While DMs are very powerful and can create amazing images, they are relatively slow.

Researchers at MIT have recently unveiled a new image generation model that also is inspired by physics. While DMs pull from thermodynamics, the new models, PFGMs, pull from electrodynamics. They treat the data points as charged particles, and generate data by moving particles along the electric field generated by the data.

Why they matter

PFGMs (Poisson Flow Generative Models) constitute an exciting area of research for many reasons, but in particular they have been shown to be 10-20x faster than DMs with comparable image quality

Topics of discussion

1. With the barrier to generate images getting lower and lower (stable diffusion was released only a couple of months ago!), how will the ability for anyone to create high quality images and art affect the economy and what we perceive to be valuable art in the coming years? Short term, medium term, and long term
2. DMs and PFGMs are both inspired by physics. Machine Learning and Deep Learning especially have been integrating concepts from high level math and physics over the past several years. How will the research in these well-developed domains inform the development of Deep Learning? In particular, will leveraging hundreds of years of scientific knowledge and mathematics research be at the foundation of an intelligence explosion?
3. Even someone casually interested in AI will have noticed the incredible progress made in the last couple of years. While new models like this are great and advance our understanding, what responsibility do researchers, governments, and private entities have to ensure AI research is being done safely? Or, should we intentionally not be attempting to build any guard rails to begin with?

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yesiy5/new_deep_learning_method_uses_electrodynamics_to/itznmgg/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/Ganymede2400:

"Green hydrogen is ready to play a major role in global emissions reductions by 2030." This is a much more aggressive timeline than typically discussed. Are electrolysers the next technology to benefit from learning curves as Wind and Solar have?

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yeqwxu/green_hydrogen_is_ready_to_scale_this_decade/itzcpoo/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/UnifiedQuantumField:

SS: Yeah I know, another battery article. However...

The breakthrough here is in the use of magnesium as an anode material.

Putative benefits are:

• Comparative abundance of Mg (vs lithium)

• A high theoretical capacity and negative electrochemical potential.

• Inexpensive material.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yeq42a/breakthrough_by_hku_engineering_researchers_in/itz8r76/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/voterosticon:

The idea that 99.9% of content will be AI-made is very reasonable. When you consider that a lot of AI writing and images is already indistinguishable from human-made content (see scientific studies in the article), we are faced with some scary ideas, such as:

1. AI may be even BETTER than humans at generating interesting and engaging and thought providing and entertaining and addictive art, movies, writing, etc.
2. The AIs will make virtually unlimited amounts of content instantly (for virtually free).
3. The AI's output in terms of ideas, societal values, etc., that they promote will be controlled by perhaps governments, dictators, corporations, etc., that are in control of the AI.
4. The article asks, can we find a solution? Some way to identify content as Human-made?
5. This solution would allow people to search for human-made content only. It would allow them to be exposed to more ideas that fall outside of the officially sanctioned version of the truth. It would also promote human beings to keep being creative and keep discussing ideas and progressing and growing intellectually and creatively as a species.
6. One perspective is that human content will be rarer and it might be perceived as "REAL" and therefore more valuable like a real diamond is more valuable than a synthetic one even when the synthetic one actually looks more perfect and beautiful. Since there will be a perceived greater value for human content, perhaps this will inspire solutions that allow people to search for human content and trust that it is not written by a bot.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yehu4j/999_of_content_will_be_aigenerated_by_20252030/ity5u3z/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/unswsydney:

Hi r/Futurology, cheers for having us!

A team of UNSW researchers led by Professor François Ladouceur have demonstrated that sensors built using liquid crystal and integrated optics technologies can measure neural activity using light – rather than electricity – which could lead to a complete reimagining of medical technologies like nerve-operated prosthetics and brain-machine interfaces.

The team's research has been published in the Journal of Neural Engineering: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1741-2552/ac8ed6

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yebkt0/engineers_at_unsw_have_found_a_way_to_convert/itx3cpz/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/tonymmorley:

The good news: Five-year survival rates have increased globally. Between 1970 to 2013, five-year survival rates have increased from roughly 50% to 67%, so while we still have a long way to go in mastering cancer, we're making slow but steady progress. 🎉

>"Merck is now exercising its option on mRNA-4157, a personalized cancer vaccine in a phase 2 clinical trial for skin cancer. It’s being studied in combination with Merck’s cancer treatment Keytruda, a humanized monoclonal antibody."

​

>" To create each vaccine, Moderna takes a sample of a patient’s tumor. It then uses genetic sequencing technology to identify proteins in the tissue called “neoantigens.” These proteins are found only on the surface of cancer cells, and they are unique to each person’s tumor."

I hope you enjoy this post, I'm a progress studies writer and thinker, and I've genuinely appreciated being part of this subreddit. Keep being awesome team.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/ydt4ei/merck_pays_moderna_250m_for_personalized_cancer/itu0kqh/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/redingerforcongress:

This fueling station has opened for business in Groveport, Ohio.

The station acts as as a replacement for diesel, and is sourced from methane in livestock manure.

> Construction crews will build a large tank to collect manure at the farm. This will trap methane gas as the manure decomposes, preventing it from contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and allowing it to be processed and purified to make RNG locally.

They're turning poop into fuel and selling it today. That's pretty cool to me.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/ydo0xd/move_over_diesel_ohio_gets_first_of_its_kind/ittblgn/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/yourSAS:

The panel seems interesting although I have no idea why they decided to include a boxer (to decide hands-on fight stategy in case human v/s aliens?)

However, it's good to see them being open about this and share their analysis/findings. I hope this a good step in direction of disassociating the stigma that UFO = alien ship

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yda8ap/nasa_announces_its_unidentified_aerial_phenomena/itqyl66/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/DutchTechJunkie:

The fashion industry uses huge amounts of resources. This is not helped by the popularity of fast fashion, which shortens the lifespan of garments. The Belgian start-up Arkai is trying to reverse the trend. A new bra aimed at young girls is made of recycled materials. More importantly, it is adjustable, prolonging its useful life.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yd9j1t/slow_fashion_sustainable_bra_made_of_recycled/itqr692/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/Leprechan_Sushi:

The IEA said the rise in global CO2 emissions this year would have been larger – more than tripling to reach close to 1 billion tonnes – were it not for the major deployments of renewable energy technologies and electric vehicles (EVs) around the world.

Even though Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has propped up global coal demand in 2022 by making natural gas far more expensive, the relatively small increase in coal emissions has been considerably outweighed by the expansion of renewables, IEA said

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yd7f0e/global_co2_emissions_to_grow_less_than_1_on_green/itqdrdq/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/sanatan-47:

Submission Statement

The 7 Biggest Artificial Intelligence Trends in 2022 as someone that’s a futurist that looks at artificial intelligence very carefully, I’ve written two books on the topic the Intelligence Revolution Solution and Artificial Intelligence in Practice.

So we watched space carefully, and we believe that in 2022-23, we will see artificial intelligence continue along the path to becoming the most transformative technology humans have ever developed.

According to Google CEOs, its impact will be even greater than our fire and electricity on the development of our species.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yd6j4p/huge_artificial_intelligence_ai_trends_in_202223/itq8k5i/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/Soupjoe5:

Article:

1

They claim a three-month ad would pay for itself in one month.

Space advertising would cost a lot upfront but wouldn’t be too expensive to turn a hefty profit, according to researchers from the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT).

“As unrealistic as it may seem, we show that space advertising based on 50 or more small satellites flying in formation could be economically viable,” they write in the journal Aerospace.

Space ads: Thanks to cheaper rocket launches and low-cost CubeSats, space is more accessible than ever before, making it easier for scientists, startups, and others to get into orbit — performing groundbreaking experiments in microgravity, for instance.

But the situation is also making space advertising seem viable. The idea is to use CubeSats equipped with sun-reflecting sails as pixels in giant ads, which would be visible to the naked eye below on Earth — kind of like drone light shows.

“Space advertising based on 50 or more small satellites flying in formation could be economically viable."

It sounds like science fiction, but some think it’s becoming a feasible marketing option.

While many have talked about space advertising — including beverage giant Pepsi — no one has actually created one of these off-world billboards, though, so we don’t know exactly how they would work, what they would cost, or whether they’d even be worth it.

Ad it up: The Russian researchers’ new study addresses some of the mystery surrounding space ads.

Based on their calculations, it would cost $65 million to deploy an ad made by 50 satellites equipped with 32-square-meter reflectors — the largest size that’s been successfully deployed on a CubeSat — for 1 to 3 months, including the costs of the satellites, launch, and engineering.

The team then estimated the potential revenue that could be generated from one of the ads.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yd49p6/space_ads_could_earn_2_million_a_day_say_russian/itpuajf/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/lughnasadh:

Submission Statement

I find this interview odd, as it seems to fly in the face of other things we can see happening. We seem to be at an inflection point with autonomous cars. At least two companies, one in China, one in San Francisco, are live testing Level 4 robo-taxis without safety drivers. If this testing is successful, then it's hard not to see this as the start of robo-taxis beginning to eat into the business of human-driven taxis.

I wonder if this interview is a CEO trying to reassure shareholders over a decision he's made? He mentions he sold off Lyft's autonomous tech. Perhaps he's attempting to make the best case for that decision by downplaying that his competitors are making such strides with it?

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yd35v3/lyft_cofounder_says_autonomous_vehicles_wont/itpnr15/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/chrisdh79:

From the article: The vast majority of plastic that people put into recycling bins is headed to landfills, or worse, according to a report from Greenpeace on the state of plastic recycling in the U.S.

The report cites separate data published this May which revealed that the amount of plastic actually turned into new things has fallen to new lows of around 5%. That number is expected to drop further as more plastic is produced.

Greenpeace found that no plastic — not even soda bottles, one of the most prolific items thrown into recycling bins — meets the threshold to be called "recyclable" according to standards set by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation New Plastic Economy Initiative. Plastic must have a recycling rate of 30% to reach that standard; no plastic has ever been recycled and reused close to that rate.

"More plastic is being produced, and an even smaller percentage of it is being recycled," says Lisa Ramsden, senior plastic campaigner for Greenpeace USA. "The crisis just gets worse and worse, and without drastic change will continue to worsen as the industry plans to triple plastic production by 2050."

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yd3b4e/recycling_plastic_is_practically_impossible_and/itpojvz/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/izumi3682:

Submission statement from OP. Note: This submission statement "locks in" after about 30 minutes, and can no longer be edited. Please refer to my statement they link, which I can continue to edit. I often edit my submission statement, sometimes for the next few days if needs must. There is often required additional grammatical editing and additional added detail.

From the article.

>A team of researchers have made a huge breakthrough in data transmission via fiber optics by using a single computer chip to transfer 1.84 petabits of data per second, which is roughly twice the entire internet’s traffic (or approximately 230 million photo downloads per second).

One qualification on the claim that engineering will probably rapidl overcome...

>While not as fast as data transfer rates of 10.66 petabits per second that are currently possible, the beauty of this record-breaking achievement by Jørgensen and his team is miniaturizing. Compared to bulkier equipment currently used to achieve the 10.66 petabits per second speeds, the upscaling of a single chip to match or even exceed that transfer rate is going to remain exceedingly compact.

One of the things that I can't stress enough concerning all of this "incredibly rapid" technological advancement, is that what is happening today is natural and normal. This is what happens as the cumulative impact of all of the giants whose shoulders our science and technology has benefitted from, comes into its own.

Here is what I mean by that. You can sum what is happening now all up in one word. Knowledge. And the astonishingly ever more rapid accrual of it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/4k8q2b/is_the_singularity_a_religious_doctrine_23_apr_16/d3d0g44/

Here are a series of essays and commentaries I have written to help to explain why what is happening today is happening. And why I am pretty convinced that this decade shall see an event that could be the most significant thing to happen in all of human recorded history. (It may happen as late as 2031 to be fair.) Yes, I'm referring to a "technological singularity". See my essays to learn more if you are interested.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/pysdlo/intels_first_4nm_euv_chip_ready_today_loihi_2_for/hewhhkk/

But this kind of computing breakthrough is going to lead to this incredible future that I have envisioned.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/7r42h0/vr_is_going_to_be_like_nothing_the_world_has_ever/

Just the next ten years alone will see the realization of a genuine metaverse. I hope that it comes from "Second Life" rather than from Meta. SL has been doing a 2D metaverse since 2005. It is really good at what it does and only needs the technology to make that level of computing speed available to everyone in VR. SL attempted VR back around 2016-17 but the state of computing then was such that it could not deliver the goods. Hardly anyone had a PC that could handle that level of required computing power. Well, the original Creator of SL, Phillip Rosedale has returned to SL and his stated goal is to make SL into a metaverse. OMG! If successful, it is going to be off the chain insane.

Here is a brief look at what the SL metaverse looks like compared to Meta's cartoonishly lame VR. Imagine the world you see below in VR. :O And then... 8D

This video is from 2014. SL was still pretty primitive even then. Everything has massively developed and improved since. But even this will give you a pretty good feel for the true potential for a VR SL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w88eURokvA

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/ycywya/this_computing_breakthrough_just_transferred_the/itp3uuq/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/fungussa:

SS: Scientists can now 'decode' people's thoughts without even touching their heads. By its nature, this scanning method cannot capture real-time brain activity, since the electrical signals released by brain cells move much more quickly than blood moves through the brain. In additional tests, the algorithm could fairly accurately explain the plot of a silent movie that the participants watched in the scanner.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/ycwpmj/new_technique_for_decoding_peoples_thoughts_can/itosh8z/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/lughnasadh:

Submission Statement

These capsules are designed to be partially reusable, and NASA hopes to get 3 missions out of each. They are for the Artemis VI-VIII missions. Artemis V will be the 3rd crew lunar landing of the Artemis program, and is at the lunar south pole, presumably to assess locations for a base. Its proposed Artemis VI-VIII will land components of that lunar base.

Many people wonder how SpaceX will affect these plans. Presumably, its Starship will be in operation in the second half of this decade, and will ultimately render the SLS obsolete.

China is detailing its plans for a base at the lunar south pole on a similar time frame and options to land commercial payloads with lunar landers are starting up too. It seems likely by the time we get to 2030 today's plans might need updating.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yccynn/nasa_has_made_a_commitment_to_use_the_sls_for/itldwue/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/cartoonzi:

NotCo, a food-tech startup born in Chile, is making a name for itself in the plant-based food industry. The company built Giuseppe, an AI system that creates plant-based recipes to replicate animal-based products like milk and burgers.

NotCo already sells milk, burgers, ice cream, and its other products across South America and North America. If you compared NotCo’s plant-based milk to regular milk, it uses 74% less energy and 92% less water to produce than regular milk. And it generates 74% less CO2.

Earlier this year, Kraft Heinz and NotCo announced a joint venture, the Kraft Heinz NotCo, which will develop co-branded plant-based products at scale. Kraft Heinz chefs and food scientists will get to use Giuseppe and create plant-based recipes for their famous mac & cheese, dressings, and other products.

As the food industry faces challenges including rising food demand, pressure to reduce emissions, and water shortages, a tool like Giuseppe can help them replicate their products while achieving those goals. Kraft Heinz also has the manufacturing scale to hopefully keep those alternatives affordable, because most people won't pay a premium for plant-based alternatives when we're already feeling the effects of inflation on our regular groceries.

What do you think of this partnership?

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/ycajmn/kraft_heinz_announces_a_joint_venture_with_food/itl12ee/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/Techno_Logic-al:

Bio-inspired design is a thing of the future. This new outlook could change the way that we see turbulence, a phenomenon that happens everywhere from the very room you're reading this from to rockets being sent to space, linking it with flocking in biology, something that also happens everywhere from bird murmurations to bacteria movement.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/ybyxf2/linking_biological_flocking_with_turbulence/itjceat/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/tonymmorley:

The team at Zipline, renowned for their truly astounding success in Africa (The Super-Fast Logistics of Delivering Blood By Drone), are beginning operations Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.

>"The startup is promising on-demand deliveries directly to patients’ homes in “as little as 15 minutes,” and plans to gradually e), are beginning operations in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. e years"

Zipline isn't a small-scale proof of concept, it's a game changer with enormous potential, particularly in low and middle-income countries. To date, they have flown a truly amazing 30 million miles, 48 million kilometres, flying 423,409 commercial deliveries with a reach of 25 million serviceable customers.

>"Every four minutes, ‍someone's life is made better by a Zipline delivery"

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/ybue03/ziplines_drones_to_deliver_medicine_in_salt_lake/itikf78/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/mutherhrg:

Fermentation is a process that uses microbes, to break down compounds to create products like protein or alcohol. This allows for basic raw ingredients such as glucose, starch, carbon monoxide or methane to be used to produce complex food like protein.

Traditional fish food for farmed fish is largely comprised of wild fish or soy. This leads to overfishing and massive amounts of land use for the growing of soy. By using industrial scale fermentation, you can vastly reduce the land and water needed to produce fish food. This technology could also be used to feed other kind of livestock as well.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/ybs76j/worlds_largest_protein_factory_uses_fermentation/iti67g4/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/lughnasadh:

Submission Statement

Eliminating Huawei from 5G, as many countries have done, was supposed to make them less vulnerable to Chinese hacking. Instead, it's done the opposite. It also seems to have had another weakening effect. China is racing ahead with 5G adoption, which makes you wonder if banning Huawei is slowing down those countries that have done it?

5G will be the major computing platform of the late 2020s and 2030s. It looks like it could be China dominating it.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/ybnefa/the_cloud_and_5g_security_apocalypse_is_only_a/itha0ki/

The following submission statement was provided by /u/Sariel007:

>Cellular repopulation has been used for years, a process that injects healthy liver cells into the patient’s damaged organ through a portal vein where they adhere themselves to the existing cellular scaffolding and grow into new, functional liver tissue.

>Creating an immediately available and inexhaustible supply of functioning liver cells from autologous tissue would allow early intervention in patients with hepatic failure and would allow liver cells to be infused over a longer period of time,” the 2016 study’s authors note. “Combined with recent advances in genome-editing technology, such liver cells could be used widely to treat devastating liver-based inborn errors of metabolism and to eliminate the need for a life-long regimen of immunosuppressive drugs and their complications.” The downside to this technique is the pace at which the donor cells proliferate, making it a poor tool against acute liver failure.

>Extracellular Vesicle-based therapies, on the other hand, leverage the body’s intracellular communications pathways to deliver drugs with, “high bioavailability, exceptional biocompatibility, and low immunogenicity,” according to 2020’s Extracellular Vesicle-Based Therapeutics: Preclinical and Clinical Investigations. “They provide a means for intercellular communication and the transmission of bioactive compounds to targeted tissues, cells, and organs” including “fibroblasts, neuronal cells, macrophages, and even cancer cells.”

>EVs are the postal letters that cells send one another. They come in a variety of sizes from 30 to 1000 nm and have exterior membranes studded with multiple adhesive proteins that grant them entry into any number of different types of cells. Exploiting the biological equivalent to a janitor’s key ring, researchers have begun tucking therapeutic nanoparticles into EVs and using them to discreetly inject treatments into the targeted cells. However, these treatments are still in the experimental stages and are most effective against acute liver failure and inborn metabolic diseases rather than end-stage liver failure.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/ybjkyw/the_cuttingedge_cellular_therapies_aiming_to_ease/itgodrs/