In Brief In a time of financial instability, many individuals are turning to the decentralized bitcoin to store their wealth. Due to this as well as its potential to revolutionize the finance system, bitcoin has enjoyed stratospheric growth in recent years. Modern Gold

Tom Lee, a Wall Street strategist who works at Fundstrat, has predictedthat the price of bitcoin will continue its exponential rise until it reaches $55,000 by 2022. He bases his prediction on the economic principles of scarcity and market instability.

Lee argues, essentially, that bitcoin is subsuming the role that gold previousplayed in the economy. It has become a solid and dependable store of wealth in a time when we have seen recessions and market turbulence effecting peoples savings in their own currency. This is particularly the case in countries where the government controls the currency to achieve a desired effect, as is the case in China and Japan.

Many have criticized bitcoin for its turbulence it has now reached a volatility of 75 percent and argue that, for this reason, it cannot be the safe store of value that Lee sees it as. Lee, though, told Coin Telegraph that golds volatility approached 90 percent from 1971 to 1980 as the U.S. abandoned the gold standard hence, we expect this [bitcoins volatility] to improve over time. Coincidentally, bitcoin exceeded the value of gold earlier this year.

Bitcoins rise has been so meteorotic that it is quite unlike any other currency or asset, depending on who you ask in recent memory. To give a quirky example, in May of 2010, a developer bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoin. These, in total,would now be worth around $25 million, which is enough to buy a 720-year-old Magna Carta given that one sold for$21 million in 2007.

Bitcoin arguably lead the vanguard for cryptocurrenies moving from a quirky financial system in tight-knit tech communities to a talking point for major financial planners. It is now fundamentally changing the way we look at economiesin addition tobeing the leading example of blockchain technology.Simon Taylor, co-founder of a blockchain venture capital fund,said in an interview with Government Office for Science that the techbrings us near instant asset transfer, asset movement, and security of data movement, and that blockchainwill have a similar effect on exchange that the internet did on communication.

Bitcoin has now become large enough for entire countries to consider upending transaction systems that have been in place since the advent of currency itself.India and Sweden in particular are looking to mimic the systems to produce the first cashless societies in modern history. This is perhaps the ultimate testament to how significant the cryptocurrencyhas become.

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Wall Street Expert Predicts Bitcoin Will Reach $55,000 in 5 Years - Futurism

Jaguar is releasing its Model X competitor in 2018 and the vehicle is absolutely gorgeous.

The SUV will be Jaguars very first electric car. Jaguar is smart to start with an SUV at a time where US consumers are consistentlyopting for more space.

The move puts Jaguar in direct competition with Teslas Model X, which has also experienced strong demand.In fact,Tesla soldroughly the same number of Model X SUVs (11,550) as Model S sedans (13,450) in the first quarter.

Heres what you need to know about Jaguars very first electric car:

Behold: Jaguars I-PACE, a five-seat SUV. Here it looks somewhat similar to Teslas Model X.

See what I mean?

The I-PACE is a preview of Jaguars electric, five-seat production car coming in 2018. That production car will be Jaguars first ever battery-powered vehicle. The brand new red I-PACE debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

The car features a cab-forward design. Jaguar was able to execute this design because the car doesnt need an engine upfront. Jaguar said in a statement that taking a cab-forward design approach frees up room in the interior to make it more spacious.

The I-PACEs design is why many will consider the vehicle a crossover SUV. It has a compact body and is fairly low to the ground for a traditional SUV, but it still seats five while offering plenty of cargo space.

The Jaguar I-PACE has the same suspension system as the F-PACE, whichBusiness Insiders Matt DeBordcalled the most beautiful SUV on planet Earth in 2015.Jaguar has admitted the design it chose is unique in that sense.

The I-PACE Concept is, however, something altogether new: not a traditional sports car, saloon or SUV and absolutely not a traditional Jaguar, the automaker wrote in a press statement.

The car comes with a 90 kWh battery pack that powers two, 200 hp electric motors sitting over each axle.

Jaguar claims the car has a range of 220 miles, allowing it to compete most closely with the Model X 75D that offers 237 miles of range and starts at $85,500.

Theres no word on how much the Jaguar electric SUV will cost yet, so its hard to really compare it to the competition just yet. But Joe Eberhardt, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover North America, said in a Business Insider interview it will be comparable to luxury offerings from brands like Porsche.

AsBusiness Insiders Benjamin Zhangpointed out, that meansyoure looking at an asking price north of $50,000, which, again, not to beat a dead horse, really places it as a competitor with the luxury Model X in both offerings and price.

Jaguar said the car will offer 400 hp and 516 lb./ft. of torque, allowing it to accelerate to 60 mph in 4 seconds. That outpaces the Model X 75D and 90D, which can accelerate to 60 mph in 6 seconds and 4.8 seconds, respectively.

The I-PACE comes with a rear spoiler and a full-length panoramic sunroof.

Using a 50 kW DC rapid charger, it will charge the car in two hours.

The interior itself is striking. The seats are made of fine Windsor leather that matches the light color palette used inside.

The cockpit comes with two touchscreens on the center console.

The traditional drivers instrument was also replaced with a virtual screen that can be controlled using buttons on the steering wheel. The buttons offer haptic feedback when in use.

Heres another shot of the cockpit, which was finished with dark walnut veneers.

Its easy to see the attention to detail, from the stitching on the seats

To the seamless integration of metal and wood

To Jaguars personal engraving etched with laser on the instrument panels wood surface.

From what we know about the car so far, it seems Jaguars car has the potential to be a real contender in the electric car space when it arrives in 2018.

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Jaguar is Releasing its Tesla Rival in 2018 and it's Stunning - Futurism

In Brief An unknown cryptocurrency trader reportedly made more than $200 million in earnings in just over one month. The anonymity of cryptocurrencies, however, raises a lot of questions about the use of bitcoin and ether in the mainstream. 0x00A651D43B6e209F5Ada45A35F92EFC0De3A5184

Nope, that header isnt a typo. Thats the identification code for the virtual wallet of an anonymous cryptocurrency trader thats made more than $200 million in just over a month. Supposedly, this unknown trader was able to raise their cryptocurrency assets from $55 million to $283 million in that short span of time; a 413 percent accumulated profit from Ethereum blockchains digital money, ether.

In an Instagram post, someone (or maybe several people)purporting to be the trader in question said, I get many private messages asking how much ether I have. One of the cool things about Ethereum is that all wallets around the world are transparent and open for everyone to see. And this is my wallets savings.

While the amount of earnings from cryptocurrency trading is incredible, it isnt at all impossible. Recently, the values of both bitcoin and ether have been going up. The total value of cryptocurrencies reached an all-time high on June 6 when it surpassed$100 billion,according to Bloomberg.

Faced with the growth of cryptocurrencies, experts are askingwhether anonymity is beneficial or not. Its certainly one of the key reasonscryptocurrencies are becoming so popular. One of its more important features is that you dont have identities tied to this, Spencer Bogart, research head at venture firm Blockchain Capital, said inBloombergThis financial privacy is an important characteristic.

Thatsalso the source of some of its troubles, though: there have been a handful of cyberattacks that asked for ransom inbitcoin, and that trend could continue as it becomes more widely used. The credibility of virtual currencies will not rise if they are used for criminal purposes, adraft online currency legislation by the European Parliament noted. In this context, anonymity will become more a hindrance than an asset for virtual currencies.

To this end, would tying digital wallets to identifiable persons be a problem for a mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies? For a cryptocurrency like ether which is used to pay for applications that run on the Ethereum blockchain it may not be such a big deal. It could evenhelp ether avoid having its reputation sullied by cyberattacks like bitcoin. At present, ether seems to bemoving into themainstream. The rise of Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is helping, and Ethereum is working to make their transactions even more efficient and powerful.

For now, though, it wouldnt hurt to be careful. As Peter Denious from Aberdeen Asset Management told Bloomberg, A lot of lessons will be learned. A lot of money will be lost before a lot of money can be made.

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An Anonymous Ether Trader Just Made $200 Million in One Month - Futurism

In BriefResearchers from China successfully teleported a photon fromEarth to a satellite 500 km away. The work is an essential steptowards establishing a global-scale quantum internet. A Quantum Record

Not long ago, in the early 1990s, scientists only speculated that teleportation using quantum physics could be possible. Since then, the process has become a standard operation in quantum optics labs around the world. In fact, just last year, two separate teams conducted the worlds first quantum teleportation outside of a laboratory.

Now, researchers in China have taken the process a few steps further: theysuccessfully teleported a photon from Earth to a satellite orbiting more than 500 km (311 mi) away.

The satellite, called Micius, is a highly sensitive photo receiver capable of detecting the quantum states of single photons fired from the ground. Micius was launched to allow scientists to test various technological building blocks for quantum feats including entanglement, cryptography, and teleportation.

This teleportation feat was announced as one of the first results of these experiments. Not only did the team teleport the first object everfrom the ground to orbit, they also created the first satellite-to-ground quantum network, smashing the record for the longest distance for which entanglement has been measured.

Long-distance teleportation has been recognized as a fundamental element in protocols such as large-scale quantum networks and distributed quantum computation, says the Chinese team to MIT Technology Review.Previous teleportation experiments between distant locations were limited to a distance on the order of 100 kilometers, due to photon loss in optical fibers or terrestrial free-space channels.

What comes to mind when you think of teleportation?

Your brain might conjure images of Scotty beaming up the Enterprise crew in Star Trek, but its actually quite a different process than sci-fi films present.

Quantum teleportation relies on quantum entanglement a situation where one set of quantum objects (such as photons) form at the same instant and point in space. In this way, they share the same existence. This shared existence continues even when the photons are separated meaninga measurement on one immediately influences the state of the other, regardless of the distance between them.

This link can be used to transmit quantum information by downloading the information associated with one photon over an entangled link to another photon. This second photon takes on the identity of the first.

Voil. Teleportation.

In this particular instance, the Chinese team created entangled pairs of photons on the ground at a rate of about 4,000 per second. They then beamed one of these photons to the satellite, and kept the other photon on the ground. Finally, they measured the photons on the ground and in orbit to confirm that entanglement was taking place.

Its worth noting that there are some limits to this technology. Transporting anything large, for instance, is a ways off. In theory, theres also no maximum transportation distance, but entanglement is fragile, and the links can easily be broken.

Despite these limits, this research paves the way for even more ambitious studies of quantum teleportation. This work establishes the first ground-to-satellite up-link for faithful and ultra-long-distance quantum teleportation, an essential step toward global-scale quantum internet, says the team.

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Scientists Just Teleported a Photon from Earth to Orbit for the First ... - Futurism

In Brief A report by analysts from Morgan Stanley confirms a bright future for renewable energy. According to the report, the global adoption trend is fueled by the decreasing cost of renewables and the more attractive economic options it presents when compared to fossil fuels. An Unstoppable Trend

After U.S. president Donald Trump decided to pull the country out of the Paris Climate Agreement, many expected a reduction in the nations efforts to transition to clean and sustainable energy. That hardly seems the case now, however, as a number of U.S. states and even private institutions have decided to pursue initiativesthat reinforce those outlined in the international climate deal.

In Renewable Energy: What Cheap, Clean Energy Means for Global Utilities, a report published Thursday by financial services firmMorgan Stanley, analysts confirm that renewable energy is fast becoming the cheapest option.

Numerous key markets recently reached an inflection point where renewables have become the cheapest form of new power generation, the report noted. A dynamic we see spreading to nearly every country we cover by 2020.The report continued:

By our forecasts, in most cases favorable renewables economics, rather than government policy, will be the primary driver of changes to utilities carbon emissions levels. For example, notwithstanding president Trumps stated intention to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, we expect the U.S. to exceed the Paris commitment of a 26-28% reduction in its 2005-level carbon emissions by 2020.

Indeed, the cost of renewables particularly solar has recently decreasedsignificantly, with the price of solar panels dropping by 50 percent in just two years, according to the report. This certainly makes reaching the carbon emission limitsset by the historic climate accord much easier, and the increased affordability is helping major polluters like India and China step uptheir renewable energy efforts.

The impact ofrenewable energy adoption extends beyondthe environment it also benefits the economy.

Renewables are providing better investment opportunities for utility companies while loweringcosts for consumers. The ability to lower customer bills from utilizing low-cost renewables can improve utilities regulatory environment and provide related investment opportunities in grid modernization initiatives, the analysts wrote. Aside from this, renewables are also generating more jobs than their fossil fuel counterparts in the U.S., they account for even more jobs than tech giants Google, Apple, and Facebook combined.

So, despite the U.S. officially withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, the Morgan Stanley analysts believe that industries in the country will continue to see renewable energy as the more economically attractive and environmentally sound alternative to fossil fuels. Not even politics can stop this trend.

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Report: The US Will Exceed Its Paris Accord Goals Despite Trump's Official Withdrawal - Futurism

A Timely Move

On Friday, the United Nations passed the first-ever treaty imposinga total nuclear weapons ban. With North Korea openly continuing totest its arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles, each capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, the decision couldnt be more timely. In a press briefing Thursday, U.N. conference president Elayne Whyte Gomezsaid thatwe are on the verge of adopting the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons.Click to View Full Infographic

This will be a historic moment and it will be the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty to be concluded in more than 20 years, Gomez added, according to Time. The world has been waiting for this legal norm for 70 years.

The decision to pass this treaty is a historic one:the U.N. recently reopened discussions of a global nuclear ban back in March, after more than 2,500 scientists from 70 countries signed a petition in favor of total nuclear disarmament.

I am really confident that the final draft has captured the aspirations of the overwhelming majority of those participating in the conference, including civil society, Gomez said, referring to the final review of the draft last Wednesday. After Fridaysvote to formally adopt it, the draft is now a 10-page documentcalled the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

More than 120 countries are ready to adopt the treaty despite a boycott from countries that are supposedly armed with nuclear weapons: theUnited States, Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, and, as we already know,North Korea. These countries have proposed strengthening the almost 50-year old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that gives only the five original nuclear powers the U.S., Russia, Britain, France and China the right to keep their destructive arsenal.

The voting results, however, seemed to be more encouraging: 122 member states voted in favor of negotiating a legally-binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons. Of the nine supposed nuclear-armed nations, only North Korea didnt participate in the voting. Eightnationsvoted yes, the Netherlands voted against the decision, while Singapore abstained.Still, the U.S., Britain, and France released a joint statementafter the treaty was adopted, stating We do not intend to sign, ratify or ever become party to it.The three nations explained that a purported ban on nuclear weapons that does not address the security concerns that continue to make nuclear deterrence necessary cannot result in the elimination of a single nuclear weapon and will not enhance any countrys security, nor international peace and security.

Would the U.N.s historic treaty be a wasted effort? As the executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Beatrice Fihn said, If the world comes together in support of a nuclear ban, then nuclear weapons countries will likely follow suit, even if it doesnt happen right away.

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The UN Passes the First-Ever Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons Worldwide - Futurism

In BriefThe adoption of digital currencies on both the individual andinstitutional level in China and Japan is propellingcryptocurrencies to ever greater heights. However, some are stillskeptical that they are the finance systems of the future due totheir current volatility. China and Japans Crypto Craze

The age of cryptocurrencies is upon us, and two countries in particular have been instrumental in their stratospheric rise: China and Japan.

Cryptocurrencies have become popular in China due to the governments stringent control of the yuan a power they occasionally exercise by artificially devaluing the currency for trading purposes. With private wealth in China growing, affluent individuals have found a more stable and accessible alternative to the yuan in cryptocurrencies.

Additionally, China has an abundance of cheap energy and hardware, which facilitates crypto mining (the process throughwhich new blocks in the blockchain are created and transactions are verified). Chinese exchanges runmining poolsto generate these blocks, and these efforts constitute 60 percent of Bitcoins total hashrate (the speed at which Bitcoin operations are completed).

Japan got its foot in the cryptocurrency door at the beginning of 2017 when the market in China experienced an institutional and systematic crackdown, with the most potent measure being a ban on all cryptocurrency withdrawals. This caused an increase in Japans trading volume, which grew from one percent to as high as six percent.

Cryptocurrency adoption was further amplified by currency turbulence in the country. Quantitive easing lead to extremely low interest rates, which have occasionally even become negative, meaning that it costs an individual to save money. As in China, cryptocurrencies therefore became viewed as a more stable asset than the native currency, so morepeople have chosen to invest and store their money in them.

The final piece in the cryptocurrency success puzzle for both countries is increasing institutional acceptance. In China, this takes the form of the countrys Royal Mint, which has invested resources and money into digitizing the yuan and promoting blockchain technology. Japan, meanwhile, began accepting payments in stores using cryptocurrencies earlier this year, and its three largest banks MUFJ, Mizuho, and SMBC have all backed the countrys largest Bitcoin exchange, bitFlyer.

The enthusiasm with which China and Japan have embraced cryptocurrency systems has contributed totheir worldwide success. Virtual currencies have become more popular and valuable than the vast majority of people could have anticipated upontheir inception around a decade ago. The value of a single bitcoin has risen from roughly $0.00075 to $2,500, and the market cap for all cryptocurrencies has exceed $100 billion.

The success of cryptocurrencies is also reflected in their increasing adoption by formal institutions. Wall Street is making moves to start using cryptocurrency systems by next year, a Swiss town called Zug has begun to accept payments in bitcoins, and the Gemini Trust in New York has been licensed to trade ether.

However, some worrying news concerning cryptocurrencies has emerged as well. Recently, in spite of claims that the systems are highly secure, hacks have lead to personal information being leakedand exchanges have been robbed, one to the tune of$79 million.

In addition, while cryptocurrencies may be more stable assets than the native currency in Japan and China, they are not absolutely stable. In fact, they are currently far from it, and though prices continue to rise, rapid drops are not uncommon, and public opinion can have a major impact on value.

Mark Cuban illustrated the issue perfectly when he took to Twitter to assert that Bitcoin wasnt a currency, its valuation dropped rapidly. Even more recently, Ethereum lost $4 billion worth of market value when a bogus story that its founder, Vitalik Buterin, had died in a car crash was published on 4chan.

Cryptocurrencies are clearly on the rise, and due to their successes, they can no longer be dismissed as a niche monetary system. The pertinent question is will this rise will lead to the worldwide adoption of an entirely new currency and finance system?

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China and Japan Are Largely Responsible for the Current Success of Cryptocurrency - Futurism

In BriefA study has found that it would be fairly simple to programautonomous vehicles to make similar moral decisions as humandrivers. In light of this, the question becomes whether we wantdriverless cars to emulate us or behave differently. Programming Morality

A new study from The Institute of Cognitive Science at the University of Osnabrck has found that the moral decisions humans make while driving are not as complex or context dependent as previously thought. Based on the research, which has been published inFrontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience,these decisions follow a fairly simple value-of-life-based model, which means programming autonomous vehicles to make ethical decisions should be relatively easy.

For the study, 105 participants were put in a virtual reality (VR) scenario during which they drove around suburbia on a foggy day. They then encountered unavoidable dilemmas that forced them to choose between hitting people, animals, and inanimate objects with their virtual car.

The previous assumption was that these types of moral decisions were highly contextual and therefore beyond computational modeling. But we found quite the opposite, Leon Stfeld, first author of the study, told Science Daily. Human behavior in dilemma situations can be modeled by a rather simple value-of-life-based model that is attributed by the participant to every human, animal, or inanimate object.

Alot of virtual ink has been spilt online concerning the benefits of driverless cars. Elon Musk is in the vanguard, stating emphatically that those who do not support the technology are killing people.His view is that the technology can be smarter, more impartial, and better at driving than humans, and thus able to save lives.

Currently, however, the cars are large pieces of hardware supported byrudimentary driverless technology. The question of how many lives they could save is contingent upon how we choose to program them, and thats where the resultsof this study come into play. If we expect driverless cars to be better than humans, why would we program them like human drivers?

As Professor Gordon Pipa, a senior author on the study, explained, We need to ask whether autonomous systems should adopt moral judgements. If yes, should they imitate moral behavior by imitating human decisions? Should they behave along ethical theories, and if so, which ones? And critically, if things go wrong, who or what is at fault?

The ethics of artificial intelligence (AI) remains swampy moral territory in general, and numerous guidelines and initiatives are being formed in an attempt to codify a set of responsible laws for AI.The Partnership on AI to Benefit People and Society is composed of tech giants, including Apple, Google, and Microsoft, while the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure has developed a set of 20 principles that AI-powered cars should follow.

Just how safe driverless vehicles will be in the future is dependent on how we choose to program them, and while that task wont be easy, knowing how we would react in various situations should help us along the way.

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Study Finds That Human Ethics Could Be Easily Programmed Into Driverless Cars - Futurism

An Alternative to Quantum Entanglement

The quantum world is full of phenomena scientists are still largely grappling with on a theoretical level. One such quantum theory is quantum entanglement. Although there are a number of tests that demonstrate what Einstein called spooky action at a distance, many merelyassume that it happens, without being able to explain how. At least not yet. But two physicists have proposed an alternative that might just be able to explain this quantum effect.

Essentially, quantum entanglement assumes that measurements of quantum properties within thestate of one entangled particle occurs simultaneously withits entangled pair, regardless of how far apart they are. There isnt any known mechanism that would explain that kind of influence, though, which is why physicists Matthew S. Leifer at Chapman University and Matthew F. Pusey at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics have offered an alternative: the team has asserted theidea of retrocausality as a possible explanation for this spooky action. Theirfindings werepublished in the journal Proceedings of The Royal Society Ain June.

There is a small group of physicists and philosophers that think this idea is worth pursuing, including Huw Price and Ken Wharton [a physics professor at San Jos State University], Leifer told Phys.org. There is not, to my knowledge, a generally agreed upon interpretation of quantum theory that recovers the whole theory and exploits this idea. It is more of an idea for an interpretation at the moment, so I think that other physicists are rightly skeptical, and the onus is on us to flesh out the idea.

Simply stated, retrocausality assumes that influences can travel backwards in time. When an experimenter decides how to measure a particle, that choice can influence the properties of that particle or,an entangled particle in the past. This, therefore, makes the action at a distance part of Einsteins definition unnecessary. Instead, the entanglement effect becomes retrocausal influence. That being said, its not the same thing as sending signals back in time.

Retrocausal theory, then, could offer a better quantum theory. The only options seem to be to abandon realism or to break out of the standard realist framework, Leifer explained. Abandoning realism is quite popular, but I think that this robs science of much of its explanatory power and so it is better to find realist accounts where possible. Retrocausality entails a number of assumptions, though:including one that reformulates the idea of time symmetry.

At any rate, Leifer and Pusey think that retrocausality can offer a generalized standard quantum theory. This might be needed to construct the correct theory of quantum gravity, or even to resolve some issues in high-energy physics given that the unification of the other three forces is still up in the air in the light of LHC results, Leifer added. Perhaps it could even help improve quantum computing technology.

Needless to say, as is the case with most everything in the world of quantum physics, the work is largely theoretical. As far as direct experimental tests of retrocausality go, the status is not much different from other things in the foundations of quantum mechanics, Leifer said. We never test one assumption in isolation, but always in conjunction with many others, and then we have to decide which one to reject on other grounds.

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Physicists May Have Discovered One of the Missing Pieces of Quantum Theory - Futurism

In BriefIBM representatives are meeting with congress to challenge thelawmakers' apocalyptic perceptions about artificial intelligence(AI). IBM paints a different picture of the future in which AI willcreate jobs, drive progress, and help us develop as a species. IBM to Meet Washington

IBMis taking a stand for artificial intelligence (AI). The technology giant islobbying Washington with the hope of challenging the view of fearful prophets envisioning massive job loss, or even an eventual AI overlord that controls humanity as David Kenny, the vice president for IBM Watson, wrote in an open letter to congress.

He went on towritethat the real disaster would be abandoning or inhibiting cognitive technology before its full potential can be realized. Kenny is also participating with the bipartisan Artificial Intelligence Caucus.

Kennys arguments center around three core principles. The first is that past technologies likethe bar code scanner and ATM have vastly improved efficiency and drove job creation. The second is that taxing or otherwise inhibiting the process of AI will cost the U.S. its competitive advantage. Instead, there should be a change in education and training to prepare the country for the technology. The third is any AI company should be transparent about their systems decision-making process and promote a principle of individual data governance.

IBM isweaved into the history of AIs development. Its engineerspioneered some of the earliest AI systems, including Deep Blue, which was responsible for beating world chess champion Gary Kasparov one of AIs greatest achievements to date. Currently, IBMs Watson is one of the leading cognitive computing systems in the world, with applications stretching from diagnosing disease, to writing cookbooks and creating recipes, to tackling the data-heavy tasks of the federal government.

IBMs proposal to inform congress about AI is not the first high-profile venture to do so. Numerous think tanks, meetings, and summitshave occurred to discuss the ethics of AI and promote responsible integration of the technology.

Last year, representatives from Google, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, and Facebook formed the Partnership on AI to Benefit People and Societywith the goal of developing a possible set of guidelinesfor AI development. There have also been more individual attemptsto investigate AI such as those by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, and Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, both of whom have invested millions in AI research.

Despite the minds and the money devoted tosolving the problem, the ethics of AI remains a remarkably sticky moral bog, which involves questions of personhood, sentience, and rights that have troubled philosophers for centuries.

However, IBMsefforts represent a positive step toward apragmatic approach to solve a problem before we are amidst it. Our regulation of and relationship with AI is likely to govern our future. We can take solace that the industry leaders are at least taking it seriously and thinking about the implications of their decisions.

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IBM is Challenging Congress's Apocalyptic Perceptions of AI - Futurism

In Brief A decrease in vaccination levels has lead to an increase in measles and other preventable diseases taking lives across Europe. To combat this, numerous countries are implementing legislation to ensure their citizens are protected. Europes Vaccine Nightmare

Frances Prime Minister douard Philippe has announced that the government will make the 11 vaccines universally recommended by health authorities mandatory from 2018 onward. The announcement comes in response to measles outbreaks across Europe, with 79 cases reported in France in January and February alone. Philippe branded the state of affairs unacceptable.

The resurfacing of diseases like measles is believed to be caused by people believing less and less in the power of vaccines. In France, a recent surveyfound that three in 10 people dont trust vaccines, with only 52 percent stating they believed that the benefits outweighed the risks.

Italy has also seen a worrying increase in measles infections the number of cases in April was five times higher than the same month in 2016. Beatrice Lorenzin, the Italian health minister, said that the rapid increase was an emergency generated by fake news and cited the Five Star Movement (MS5), a political party that opposes vaccines, as a contributing factor.

The shift in public perception in Italy and France is symptomatic of a Europe-wide trend that has been attributed to the growing anti-vaccine movement. The genesis of the skepticism was Andrew Wakefield, who stated in a1998 research paper that there was a link between the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine and the development of autism. The claim has been irrefutably debunked, although dubious science and scare tactics like those used by MS5 are perpetuating the findings of the report.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that vaccines saved more than 10 million lives between 2010 and 2015, and thanks to vaccines, were on the brink of completely eradicating some diseases, such as polio.Despite this, countries in both the developing and developed world remain doubtful of their effects.

In response, many countrieshave taken measures to increase the use of vaccines. Italy has made 12 vaccinations obligatory for children, whileAustralia has introduced a financial incentive by offering parents $129 for every child who meets recommended vaccination levels between the ages of 18 months and 24 months, with the payment being repeated if the same requirements are met between the ages of four and five.

Slovenia, in Eastern Europe, has the worlds strictest vaccination policy, with fines being issued to any parents who fail to provide their children with the nine mandatory vaccines. This has resulted in a compliance rate of 95 percent.

Dr. Farah Jameeltold doctors attending the British Medical Associations annual meetingin June that deaths in Wales from measles in 2013 were a waste of life. This is arguably true for all deaths that could have been easily prevented through vaccination, especially giventheir ever-decreasing price and new delivery methods.

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France Just Announced a New Law Making 11 Vaccines Mandatory - Futurism

In Brief The world is facing an overpopulation crisis that is only set to become more severe: the UN has predicted the global population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050. Thus far, proposed solutions to overcrowding on Earth has proven to be a knotty ethical problem. Musks Warning

Arecent article inNew Scientistgot the attention of Elon Musk on Twitter this week, prompting him to tweet out the link.

The article argues that decreasing fertility rates are indicative of the worlds population slowly imploding rather than exponentially rising a trend that will continue until we reach some form of crisis point. As it stands, half of the worlds countries have fallen below the replacement rate for developed nations (which is, on average,2 children per woman).If this trend continues on, countries like Germany and Italy will see their populations decrease by half over the next 60 years.

This is not the first time Elon Musk has discussed overpopulation: in March he warned that we face a demographic implosion, because in many countries you have a very high dependency ratio, where the number of people who are retired is very high relative to the number of people who are net producers.

The world isfacing an overpopulation crisis that is only set to become more severe:the UN haspredicted theglobal population will reach9.7 billion by 2050. In recent years therehave been a number of somewhat apocalyptic predictions and statements made by high profile members of the scientific community:David Attenboroughissued a warning in a 2013 Radio Times interview, saying thateither we limit our population growth, or the natural world will do it for us.

Population affectsevery resource imaginable: from our planets stores of energy and environment to the financial sector, to the amount of food we need to produce, and issues likegeographical overcrowding. As for theissue of limiting population, its proven to be aknotty ethical problem.So far, none of the proposed answers to itsuch as introducing a limited child policy, moving to new planets, or introducing a child tax have beenparticularly attractive or easily executable.

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Elon Musk: The World's Population is Accelerating Towards Collapse - Futurism

In Brief Bitcoin's stunning year continues as Goldman Sachs head of technical strategy Sheba Jafari predicts a fifth wave for the cryptocurrency. After a temporary drop, Bitcoin could hit a record-high value of almost $4,000 per coin, according to Jarari.

Were barely past the halfway mark, and already Bitcoin is having a big year. The value of the cryptocurrency soared past $1,000 in January and then again in February. By March, its value surpassed that of gold, and on May 10, it hit what was then a record-high value of more than $1,700 per coin. In June, Bitcoin set a new record, closing above$3,000 beforefinishing the month at close to $2,500.

In all, Bitcoins first-half gain was approximately 168 percent this year, which has led various commentators,including Mark Cuban and Charles Schwab chief global investment strategist Jeffrey Kleintop, to suggest that the cryptocurrencyis in a bubble.

The latest expert to weigh in on the future of Bitcoin is Goldman Sachs head of technical strategy Sheba Jafari, who sent a note to clientson Sunday, July 2, advising that while the value of Bitcoin may drop, it is ultimately likely to go even higher.

According to Jafaris note, which waspublished by Zero Hedge, Bitcoin is still in the midst of a corrective 4th wave during which the value may fallas low as $1,857 a drop of around 25 percent.According to Jafari, Bitcoin investors shouldnt worry about this drop very much, though, because the currency couldhit a record value during its fifth wave, perhaps as high as $3,915.

Whether the value of Bitcoin does soar toward the $4,000 mark or not, 2017 will still go down as a historic year for digital currency.

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Finance Expert Predicts Bitcoin's Value Could Soar as High as $4000 - Futurism

In Brief Starting 2019 onwards, all vehicles manufactured by veteran automaker Volvo will either be hybrid or electric. According to Hkan Samuelsson, Volvo Car Group's president and CEO, "We are convinced that the future of Volvo is electric." Committed to Electrification

Electric vehicles are quickly becoming the future of automobiles, thanks to efforts by both veteran car manufacturers and startups. Perhaps taking acue from electric car manufacturing leaderslike Tesla, traditional auto industry heavyweight Volvo has decided to focus on electric and hybrid vehicles from 2019and beyond.

Volvo cars is taking a bold step forward, the company explained in a video onVolvos official Twitter account,heralding the end of an era for the pure internal combustion engine.

While other companies have yet to take the leap,Volvo knows investing in electric car production makes good sense from a business perspective: This is about the customer, Hkan Samuelsson, Volvo Car Groups president and CEO,said in a press release. People increasingly demand electrified cars and we want to respond to our customers current and future needs.

Its also a decision rooted in a sense of environmental responsibility,We are determined to be the first premium car maker to move our entire portfolio of vehicles into electrification, Samuelsson said in the video. This is a clear commitment towards reducing our carbon footprint, as well as contributing to a better air quality in our cities.

For a car company like Volvo to commit to hybrids and EVs is no small feat. It could easily translate to over 500,000 cars turned electric, if we base the numbers on Volvos 2016 sales. According to the EPA, a single passenger vehicle produces an average of 4.7 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. With their committment to electric vehicles, Volvo could potentially remove about 2.3 million metric tons of carbon emissions in just one year. The company hasalready set a sales target of 1 million hybrid and electric cars by 2025.

Will other car manufacturers follow suit?Several other companies already have their own EVs in the works: German automaker Volkswagen aims to produce one million EVs by 2025and already hasthree concept vehicles. Chevrolet has also been working to perfect its Bolt EV, and Honda is hard at work on anew charging system that could give electric cars unlimited range.

This could, indeed, herald a new era for passenger vehicles. At the very least, this proves that EVs are no longer just a pipe dream.They are the future of clean transportation at least for these automakers. As Samuelsson said, We are convinced that the future of Volvo is electric.

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Volvo Becomes the First Premium Car Maker to Go All Electric - Futurism

In BriefThe startup Tezos needs funding for its new blockchain, andit's raising it through an "initial coin offering" crowdsale. Thesale has already brought in more than $200 million incryptocurrencies, making it the largest "crypto-funding" to date. Revolutionizing Blockchain

The growing popularity of cryptocurrencies owes everythingto the system that makes it all possible the blockchain. Basically, thisis a highly secure digital ledger thats decentralized because of the way it records information and transactions. Its already impressive as it is, but the innovatorsbehind blockchain startup Tezos want to take the technology even farther.

Tezos is a new crowdfunded blockchain. It allows for consensual upgrades to its protocols, which empowersit to govern itself via what the Tezos white paper calls a self-amending cryptoledger.It facilitates formal verification, a technique which mathematically proves the correctness of the code governing transactions and boosts the security of the most sensitive or financially weighted smart contracts, Tezos claims.

Now, to get its blockchain up and running, Tezos is running an initial coin offering (ICO) through Bitcoin and Ethereum funding. At the time of this writing, the Tezos ICO has already received 53,418 Bitcoins and 273,068 Ethereum. Thats roughly $207 million at current valuation, making the Tezos ICO the largest crypto-funding to date. Moreover, the Tezos ICO is uncapped theres no upper limit to how much funding the company can raise, given the remaining eight days of crowdfunding it has left.

What is an ICO, anyway? Laura Shin describes it wonderfully in an article she wrote for Forbes. An ICO is what you get if bitcoin and Kickstarter had a baby a crowdsale of a new crypto asset (with a cryptocurrency like bitcoin being one type of crypto asset) that powers some kind of peer-to-peer blockchain network, she wrote.

Essentially, Shin wrote, it enables companies to develop new business models while making a lot of money for the developers and entrepreneurs who are launching them. Instead of relying on the usual funding channels, ICOs give businesses a huge amount of leeway. However, its not without its dangers. And were not really sure how legal they are, Shin added.

ICOs which are uncapped are dangerous as they imply and show a complete disregard for corporate discipline and to an extent an element of disrespect for the investor, Charles Hayter, CEO of CryptoCompare, told Mashable. The question that needs to be asked is can the job be done with less money () and that throws a spotlight on the fairness andtruthfulness of the proposition being offered.

But despite its yet unsolved legalities, ICO crowdsales have become popular. Prior to Tezos, there was that recent Bancor ICO which raised $153 million. Its proof that blockchains and cryptocurrencies are, indeed, changing the way we conduct business.

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The Tezos ICO is Already Worth $200 Million, Making it the Largest Crypto-Funding Ever - Futurism

In Brief Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg learned a thing or two about universal basic income from his recent trip to Alaska. The entrepreneur believes the rest of the U.S. should take a closer look at how the northern state makes basic income work. An Approach Worth Emulating

An excursion is always a learning experience. That was certainly true for Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan when they visited Alaska. The social media entrepreneur was impressed by the various social programs he found in Americas Last Frontier, particularly a basic income initiative that Alaskas been running since 1982.

The Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) is a basic income program that allots $1,000 or more per citizen. [A] portion of the oil revenue the state makes is put into [the PFD], Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. Rather than having the government spend that money, it is returned to Alaskan residents through a yearly dividend.

Another basic income Zuckerberg learned about is by Native Corporations in Alaska. These privately owned corporations that develop land run and owned by Native Alaskans give annual dividends to to their native shareholders according to the resources they develop. So if youre a Native Alaskan, you would get two dividends: one from your Native Corporation and one from the state Permanent Fund, Zuckerberg wrote.

Under a universal basic income (UBI) program, individuals receive a fixed amount of income regardless of their social or employment status. UBI is an old idea thats become more popular recently as a potential response to unemployment due to automation, but it is not without critics. An issue these critics often bring up is funding. Zuckerberg was impressed by howthe Alaskan basic income model solves this. [I]ts funded by natural resources rather than raising taxes, he wrote.

This means that running a UBI program isnt impossible, at least in some cases. In fact, a number of countries already have trial programs to test UBI most notably Finland, which launched the program in 2016. Canada has two initiatives in the works, while Hawaii recently passed legislation that will study implementing UBI in the state.

In the end, Zuckerberg thinks its all about mentalities. [W]hen youre profitable, youre confident about your future and you look for opportunities to invest and grow further. Alaskas economy has historically created this winning mentality, which has led to this basic income, he noted. That may be a lesson for the rest of the country as well.

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Mark Zuckerberg: The US Should Learn From This State's Basic Income Program - Futurism

In Brief The quirky bus that went viral last year when videos appeared showing it straddling two lanes of traffic is no more. Reports have emerged that, in light of the company's illegal investments, the project has ground to a halt and the tracks have been dismantled. Bus Bust

Chinese officials in Qinghuangdao have stated that the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) which made headlines after it conducted its first road test in August 2016 was probably a scam, along with the platform it used to attractinvestment. The officials have made over 30 arrests in connection to the hoax, including Bai Zhiming CEO of the company and patent owner of the bus.

Specifically, the company behind the TEB isbeing investigated for illegal fundraising on Huaying Kailai, an online fundraising platform, which was using private investment opportunities to finance the development of the bus, promising investorsthat they would see a 12 percent return. Law suits against the company are already being filed by 72 individual investors, and Autek, the company that designed the bus, is still owed money.

The 300-meter (985-foot) stretch of track that the bus traveled on has started to be dismantled, and any investors in the project have been advised to approach authorities with any complaints or queries.

While this is sad news for what appeared to be a promising solution to Chinas traffic congestion crisis, it is a small failure in the much wider field of innovative transportation which is currently booming. There are still numerous viable options fordealing with congestion: most of which, like the TEB, seek to make use of developing transports for spaces other than on roads.

Dubai has targeted the skies as the next arena for transportation by developing autonomous flying taxis that will follow set routes: they are rumored to begin testing later this year. In a sense, this is the extreme version of the TEB, travelling hundreds of meters above traffic instead of two or three.

In the U.S., we can see the emergence of the inverse of the TEB: Elon Musks boring tunnels, which opt for traveling under traffic rather than over it. The tunnel system will contain a hyperloop, sleds, and elevator shafts, as well as roads for the cars of the future to travel.

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Owners of China's Traffic Hopping Bus Project Arrested - Futurism

In Brief Due to the Earth's rotation being slowed by tidal movement, the Moon is moving further away, which means that the days of total solar eclipses are numbered. This makes catching the event in August even more important. Elusive Eclipse

Solar eclipses have been vital to humanitys study of the Sun and the workings of our solar system. But over the course of future millennia this phenomenon will change forever.

Due to the Moon moving away from the Earth at a rate of 3.8 cm (1.5 inches) a year, total solar eclipses will decrease in frequency and annular eclipses, during which the Suns ring of fire remains visible, will increase in frequency. Although humans probably wont be on Earth when the last total eclipse occurs in 620 million years because well probably be living on Mars, where annular eclipses occur almost daily the inevitable cut-off date may make it slightly more pressing for you see them while they still happen.

The discovery of the lengthening time between solar eclipses began with Edmond Halley in 1695, who realized that according to the contemporary dates that eclipses were on, eclipses in ancient Greece and Rome were occurring on the wrong days. Due to his faith in Isaac Newtons principle of general gravitation, he concluded that days on Earth must be getting longer because the planets rotation was slowing.

Halleys hypothesis was later definitively proven by using the laser measuring instruments that the Apollo astronauts left on the Moon. Scientists discovered that tides are responsible for the rotation slowing. The cumulative effect of shallow waters around a land mass (continental shelves) colliding with high tides create a force that slows the rotation.

As the rotation slows, the Moon gains angular momentum to preserve equilibrium in the Earth-Moon system. As it gains more momentum, it moves further away. Eventually, this means that it will be too far away to obscure all of the Sun meaning total eclipses can no longer occur.

The next solar eclipse is on August 21st, and is remarkable because it is the first eclipse that will be visible the U.S. since 1979. As solar eclipses will become more and more infrequent, its important to try to witness the cosmic intricacy while you still can.

Our understanding of the relationship between the Earths rotation, the Moons position, and solar eclipses is an example of generations of scientists building on discoveries that proceeding them and working towards truth in a collaboration across time. Due to the nature of space in which things happen slowly it is only through long-term study that we can come to know universal details and occurrences like these.

There are several projects and missions underway currently that will probably also need this multi-generational approach to understand all the ramifications of their discoveries. An example is the multiple Mars missions. While the NASA project Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) has shown us that Mars atmosphere was robbed by solar winds and the Suns energy, it is only through observation over multiple lifetimes that we will understand the precise nature of these phenomena.

Despite our years of research, our solar system and the star at the heart of it continue to baffle and amaze us. Even as we move closer to our goal of touching the Sun, we can rest assured that our perspective of it will continue to change even millions of years into the future.

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Total Solar Eclipses Are on the Path to Extinction - Futurism

In Brief The Tesla Model 3 is about to hit the streets. CEO Elon Musk announced via Twitter that, after passing all regulatory requirements, the first series of Model 3s could be out by Friday this week. Arrival of the Tesla Model 3

When it comes to Elon Musks ventures, it seems like theres alwayssomething to look forward to. This past weekendSpaceX launched itsthird mission in nine days which came after their historic doubleheader last weekend.Then theres the progress on MusksBoring tunnels under L.A.But the most recent announcement hadmore than 400,000 peoplein wait; those who have signed up for pre-orders for the Tesla Model 3.

In a tweet Sunday night, Musk said that the Model 3 has already passed regulatory hurdles.

He expects that the serial number 1 (SN1) for Teslas electric vehicle will be finished by the end of this week. Musk also said in a second tweet that the handover party for the first 30 Model 3 customers will take place on the 28th of this month.

Musk was clearly pleased to make the announcement, and hed done the legwork ahead of potential questions, too. He also shared on Twitter just how manyModel 3s are expected to berolled out by the end of 2017. Continuing on in his Twitter thread, the Tesla CEO said that they expect 100 cars by August and over1,500 by September. By December, Tesla hopes to be producing20,000 Model 3s per month.

It should come as no surprise that Tesla has ramped up production for the Model 3. Previous reports revealedtheModel 3 production line runs onwhat Musk called an alien dreadnaught of Kuka robots. This was certainly the right move,considering the amount of pre-orders Tesla received for the Model 3 was staggering.

While the Model 3 is Teslas most affordable EV yet, the energy company isnt going cheap in terms of its design and capabilities, which will includeTeslas self-driving Autopilot software.

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Get Ready. The Tesla Model 3 Goes on Sale This Week. - Futurism

A Hub of Ideas

Dubai is already leading the world in a number of innovative conceptsthey have plans for a Hyperloop system, a robot police force,a store that changes shape,self-driving electric vehicles,flying taxis,a space agency that will work towards getting people to Marsand this is just the beginning.

Now, its looking to continue that trend through a unique and innovative program that gathers the worlds industry leaders with key figures in government in order to solve some of humanitys greatest challenges.

The Dubai Future Accelerators is an intensive nine-week program that aims to connect the most innovative companieswith partners in the government in order to bring to life viable futuristic prototypes at a city-wide scale. Their goal is to actually testthe technologies that could be the solutions to some of thechallenges that plague modern society.Our mission is to imagine, design and create the future by facilitating partnerships between forward-thinking entrepreneurs and the government using the city of Dubai as a living testbed, the programs website notes.

For the program, they are focusing on seven key opportunities of the 21st century. This includes the application of cutting edge technologies like AI and robotics, genomics, 3D printing, distributed ledgers, biomimicry, and biotechnology, as well as new business models and ways of working, notesthe programs organizer, the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF).

Together, these focal points represent the most pressing sectors that could accelerate society into a new age of efficiency,productivity, and abundance. Each of the seven sectors act as umbrellas, housing a number of opportunities for innovation beneath them.

Applications for the third run of the program, which will go from October 1 to November 29, are already open. Interested companies have to be familiar with the challenges defined by the DFFs government partners and then choose one theyd like to focus on before filling out the application form.

The challenges come from a number of Dubais government offices, including the Roads and Transport Authority, the Dubai Police, the citys Health Authority, and the Department of Economic Development.

In the official release, Maha Khamis Al Mazeina, Project Manager at Dubai Future Foundation, noted that the program is really all about setting a course and tone for the future: The Dubai Future Accelerators program embodies the strategies set by the UAE as the country aims to lead the global charge to build the future, focusing on the strategic sectors that most affect peoples lives in the UAE and abroad.

To that extent, the program is doing a lot more than uniting governing officials with tech execs. They are inspiring the coming generations. For example, events held by the Dubai Future Accelerators will include members of the community, such as their Masterclass a series of interactive workshops that are meant to provide a comprehensive introduction to some of the technologies of the future and how to use them to benefit society.

Other events will be less like classes and more like discussion panels, where individuals can come together to ask the best and brightest about their ideas regarding how to build a better tomorrow. Such sessions will be hosted by international experts and participants in the Accelerators program, and they will explore the impact that these latest trends will have (and are having) on people today and tomorrow.

This is not a traditional accelerator. This isnt about how to write a business plan or how to pitch your startup. Its not about coding languages or search engine optimization. We arent going to tell you how to run your business or how to develop your website, the DFF says.This is about changing the world. Today.

So, if youthink that you might be able to help address one of the problems listed above, consider applying at the website by sending along a proposal,and if selected, you could be heading toDubai to help usher in a better tomorrow.

Disclosure: The Dubai Future Foundation works in collaboration with Futurism and is one of our sponsors. This post was not paid for or edited by DFF.

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Dubai Announces Accelerator to Solve the 21st Century's Most Pressing Challenges - Futurism