CEO Futures Briefing: Amazon’s palm-scans and the downfall of the Yakuza
Each week Nikolas Badminton curates a weekly list of insights and learnings for progressive executives, world leaders and foresight practitioners.
This week we look at Amazon’s new palm-scanning system, generating 1 billion vaccine doses in less than a month, the Morocco to the UK grid,
Also featured is an insightful interview on the Exponential Minds Podcast with Leah Zaidi who talks about using science fiction as prototypes for the future.
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If you have questions about these things we’re sharing, or a challenge with seeing the futures for you and your organization? Reach out to speak with Nikolas today to arrange a time to talk.
Three articles to read
Amazon is bringing palm-scanning payment system to Whole Foods stores
Amazon is expanding its palm-scanning payment system to a Whole Foods store in Seattle, the company announced Wednesday, the first of many planned rollouts at other locations.
Amazon One, which debuted in September and is currently in use at about a dozen Amazon physical stores, allows shoppers to pay for items by placing their palm over a scanning device. The first time shoppers use the kiosk, they have to insert a credit card to link it with their palm print. But after that, shoppers can pay simply by holding their hand over the kiosk.
Amazon One is distinct from the company’s Just Walk Out technology, which allows shoppers to pick up items and walk out of the store without going through a checkout line. However the two technologies can work together, and Amazon employs them both at its cashierless Amazon Go stores.
Read more at CNBC
Breakthrough Sets Stage for Biotech to Generate 1 Billion Vaccine Doses in Less Than a Month
By cracking open a cellular membrane, Northwestern University synthetic biologists have discovered a new way to increase production yields of protein-based vaccines by five-fold, significantly broadening access to potentially lifesaving medicines.
In February, the researchers introduced a new biomanufacturing platform that can quickly make shelf-stable vaccines at the point of care, ensuring they will not go to waste due to errors in transportation or storage. In its new study, the team discovered that enriching cell-free extracts with cellular membranes — the components needed to made conjugate vaccines — vastly increased yields of its freeze-dried platform.
The work sets the stage to rapidly make medicines that address rising antibiotic-resistant bacteria as well as new viruses at 40,000 doses per liter per day, costing about $1 per dose. At that rate, the team could use a 1,000-liter reactor (about the size of a large garden waste bag) to generate 40 million doses per day, reaching 1 billion doses in less than a month.
Read more at SciTech Daily
Submarine cable to connect 10.5 GW wind-solar complex in Morocco to the UK grid
UK-based Xlinks is planning to build a 10.5 GW renewable energy complex linked to 5 GW/20 GWh of storage in Morocco and connect it to the power network in the United Kingdom via a 3.6 GW submarine cable.
The company, which includes among its board members Paddy Padmanathan, the president and CEO of Saudi energy giant ACWA Power, is planning to deploy the project, which would consist of 7 GW of solar capacity and 3.5 GW of wind in Morocco. “Xlinks are in discussions with Moroccan community leaders and government regarding the exact sites of the solar farm and working on permitting with the relevant departments,” the company's CEO, Simon Morrish, told pv magazine.
Read more at PV Magazine
Three videos to watch
The Downfall of the Yakuza (VICE)
The once-feared Japanese mob is on the verge of extinction. Targeted by new laws, rapidly ageing, and unable to find fresh blood, the yakuza has dropped from a height of 180,000 members to less than 30,000. But for some, a life of crime isn't something you can just leave behind.
In this episode of VIOLENT TIMES, Mahmood Fazal travels to Japan to meet with former and current members of the yakuza to understand what happens to those who try to leave, and what is keeping others firmly entrenched in a world of tattoos, honor, and blood.
Stanford Researchers Use Ankle Exoskeleton to Increase Walking Speed
In lab tests, researchers found that an optimized ankle exoskeleton system increased participants’ walking speed by about 40 percent compared with their regular speed. The researchers hope someday to help restore walking speed in older adults. The results of this study were published in IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.
Read the story:https://news.stanford.edu/2021/04/22/…
Self-healing UI: Mechanically and Electrically Self-healing Materials for Sensing and Actuation
Living things in nature have long been utilizing the ability to "heal" their wounds on the soft bodies to survive in the outer environment. In order to impart this self-healing property to our daily life inter```` face, we propose Self-healing UI, a soft-bodied interface that can intrinsically self-heal damages without external stimuli or glue. The key material to achieving Self-healing UI is MWCNTs-PBS, a composite material of a self-healing polymer polyborosiloxane (PBS) and a filler material multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), which retains mechanical and electrical self-healability. We developed a hybrid model that combines PBS, MWCNTs-PBS, and other common soft materials including fabric and silicone to build interface devices with self-healing, sensing, and actuation capability. These devices were implemented by layer-by-layer stacking fabrication without glue or any post-processing, by leveraging the materials' inherent self-healing property between two layers. We then demonstrated sensing primitives and interactive applications that extend the design space of shape-changing interfaces with their ability to transform, conform, reconfigure, heal, and fuse, which we believe can enrich the toolbox of human-computer interaction (HCI).
DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1145/3332165.3347901
WEB:: http://uist.acm.org/uist2019/
A conversation that counts
Each week we dig into the archives of all of the interviews Nikolas has undertaken with the insightful and entertaining Exponential Minds Podcast. This week we feature Leah Zaidi who talks about using science fiction as prototypes for the future.
The last word...
“I have a huge and savage conscience that won't let me get away with things.” Octavia E. Butler
About Nikolas Badminton
Nikolas Badminton is the Chief Futurist at futurist.com and a world-renowned futurist speaker, consultant, researcher, and media producer. He helps trillion-dollar companies, progressive governments and the media shift their mindset from “what is” to “WHAT IF…” The result is empowered employees, new innovative products and incredible growth that leads to more revenues and a more resilient future.
Nikolas advised Robert Downey Jr.’s team for the ‘Age of A.I.’ documentary series, starred in ‘SMART DRUGS – a Futurist’s journey into biohacking’, and features on CTV, Global News, Sirius XM regularly. His mind-expanding research and opinion can be found on BBC, VICE, The Atlantic, Fast Company, Techcrunch, Business Insider, Huffington Post, Forbes, Sputnik and Venturebeat.
Nikolas provides the opening chapter - ‘Start with Dystopia’ in a new book - ‘The Future Starts Now: Expert Insights into the Future of Business, Technology and Society’ for Bloomsbury. He is currently researching and writing a new book that equips executives and world leaders with insights and foresight tools to imagine disruption, strengthen strategic planning, and see unforeseen risks.
Nikolas is a Fellow of The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce - The RSA. The organization has been at the forefront of significant social impact for over 260 years with notable past fellows including Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin, Stephen Hawking, Nelson Mandela, and Tim Berners-Lee.