Category Archives: Futurism

It's an extremely unpopular idea.Cashing Out

Social giant Facebook-now-known-as-Meta is attempting to sell off its ill-fated cryptocurrency project Diem, Bloomberg reports the end of the road, seemingly, for the social media giants efforts to cash in on blockchain.

According to Bloombergs sources, the Diem Association, formerly known as Libra, is trying to figure out ways to return money to its investors and perhaps find a new home.

Facebook made a huge splash in 2019 when it announced Libra, a stable digital cryptocurrency meant to revolutionize global financial technologies. Even the likes of Uber, Spotify, PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard were on board, signing on as corporate partners with a $10 million stake each.

But the ambitious venture imploded after facing fierce backlash from US regulators and even governments around the world.

First, high-profile backers started to jump ship. Then in October 2019, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg got grilled in front of Congress for what they called a blatant attempt to circumventregulatory approvals. By April 2020, Libra was scaled back significantly to a shadow of what it once was.

Last year, the US Federal Reserve buried any chances of Diem Libras newly adopted name taking off after striking down a potential deal with holdings company Silvergate Capital, according to Bloomberg.

The initiative kept looking for issuers of what had since turned into a US dollar-backed stablecoin. Government officials, however, were still unhappy with the plans, warning that regulators may never give it the greenlight, Bloomberg reports.

According to the outlet, Meta still owns a third of the Diem Association, but the ventures future is still looking grim, given its sheer unpopularity.

READ MORE: Mark Zuckerbergs Stablecoin Ambitions Unravel With Diem Sale Talks [Bloomberg]

More on Libra: Facebooks Cryptocurrency is Collapsing in Front of Our Eyes

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Facebook Is Reportedly Trying to Sell Off Its Botched Cryptocurrency - Futurism

They also want to overthrow the president of Belarus. Trains, Planes, and Military-Grade Weaponry

Tensions are high between Ukraine and Russia right now and hacktivists are trying to tip the scales.

As the Russian military gathers forces near the Ukrainian border, a hacktivist group known as Cyber Partisans are claiming theyve hacked a Belarusian railway system to disrupt weaponry buildup, Ars Technica reports.

The railway is allegedly used by the Russian military to funnel weapons into a region of Belarus, a key strategic area for Moscow if they want to invade Ukraine. The hacktivist group called on Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to stop aiding the Russian military.

The government continues to suppress the free will of Belarusians, imprison innocent people, they continue to unlawfully keep thousands of political prisoners, a spokesperson for the hacktivists told Ars. They added that they want to overthrow Lukashenkos regime.

Cyber Partisans appears to have used ransomware to shut down the railway. While the Belarusian government has yet to publicly acknowledge the attack, the railway itself did release a statement to travelers announcing technical reasons for delayed travel.

Its yet to be confirmed conclusively whether ransomware was used, but one cybersecurity expert told Ars that the images the group used to establish their hack show that ransomware could be used as a tool for the underdog in what amounts to a revolutionary struggle.

Lets be clear: this is very unlikely to deter Russian forces for long. However, its still a very scrappy, cyberpunk way to try and thwart a military takeover of Ukraine and at least slow down the potential onslaught of World War III.

READ MORE: Hacktivists say they hacked Belarus rail system to stop Russian military buildup [Ars Technica]

More on hacktivists: Nazis Exposed After Their Web Host Gets Hacked

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Hackers Trying to Prevent War by Disrupting Railway Used by Russian Military - Futurism

The trainingwheels are starting to come off.

The Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets, a Washington, DC-based lobbying group representing a number of auto industry heavyweights, has renamed itself to the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association (AVIA), a notable shift away from the term self-driving, The Verge reports.

While the group didnt directly mention Tesla in its announcement, the move is likely a response to the Elon Musk-led companys efforts to market its Full Self-Driving feature, a highly controversial driver assist feature that has landed the company in hot water with lawmakers on a number of occasions.

While Musk has been promising that fully self-driving cars will be available the next year every year since 2014, Tesla vehicles are still unable to fully drive themselves in 2022.

In other words, the term self-driving has clearly accrued quite a bit of baggage and has contributed to the erosion of consumer confidence at least in the eyes of lobbying groups.

The association recently called on all stakeholders to clearly distinguish between AVs and driver-assist to boost consumer trust and understanding, a statement by the group reads.

AVIA advocates for autonomous vehicles, which perform the entire driving task, it continues. AVs do not require human operators, not even to serve as a backup driver; the people or packages in the vehicle are just passengers or freight.

In other words, the group is framing autonomous vehicles as something akin to living rooms on wheels, which wouldnt even need steering wheels.

Self-driving technologies like Teslas Autopilot, however, still require the drivers attention and are simply assisting not taking over driving duties entirely.

The news also comes after Waymo, one of the biggest proponents of self-driving technologies, announced last year that it would stop using the term self-driving car, a move it characterized asusing more deliberate language.

It may seem like a small change, but its an important one, because precision in language matters and could save lives, the companys statement read at the time. Were hopeful that consistency will help differentiate the fully autonomous technology Waymo is developing from driver-assist technologies (sometimes erroneously referred to as self-driving technologies) that require oversight from licensed human drivers for safe operation.

There have been several instances of Tesla owners misusing the companys self-driving features over the last couple of years, from falling asleep at the wheel to doing reckless stunts for social media clout.

Regulators are unsurprisingly not impressed with those antics.

In fact, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened a formal investigation into Teslas Autopilot assisted driving software in August, following a series of accidents in which Teslas have smashed into emergency response vehicles that were pulled over with sirens or flares.

The White House is also unhappy with the likes of Tesla marketing self-driving technologies to consumers despite dragging its feet so far on enacting any policies to hinder such moves.

I keep saying this until Im blue in the face: anything on the market today that you can buy is a driver assistance technology, not a driver replacement technology, US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg told The Verge. I dont care what its called. We need to make sure that were crystal clear about that even if companies are not.

Tesla now finds itselfincreasingly alone, marketing a misleadingly named driving assistance feature as self-driving and whether that strategy will end up paying off in the long run remains to be seen.

READ MORE: The self-driving car industry is abandoning the term self-driving and leaving it to Tesla [The Verge]

More on self-driving: Watch Elon Musk Promise Self-Driving Cars Next Year Every Year Since 2014

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Automotive Lobbying Group Abandons the Term "Self-Driving" - Futurism

While it may seem that the iPhone is ubiquitous, Apple accounts for 23 percent of the global smartphone market. That means that when it comes to mobile, Google, and its operating system Android, reigns as king. This makes finding the best Android phones a little trickier than it needs to be.

The technical prowess of Android phones is unmatched, even in affordable models. And while these Google-powered devices offer far more freedom than the iOS competition, picking out the right one can still be challenging. Weve compiled a list of the best Android phones to fit your special smartphone needs. From Samsung to OnePlus, this deep dive will illuminate what makes a great Android phone, and which premium options are worth the investment.

Best Overall: Google Pixel 6 Pro Best Premium: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Best Battery Life: Moto G Power Best Value: OnePlus 9 Best Budget: Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite Best Sustainable Option: Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Renewed)

As previously mentioned, the Android phone market is massive. If youre not sure what kind of operating system any given smartphone has, you can bet its more than likely going to be an Android phone. The Android OS is as reliable as Google, so long as the manufacturer doesnt cheap out on the phone tech. Here are a few things I looked for when picking the best Android phone.

Speed: Any modern smartphone is only as good as its operating speed. After all, a smartphone is more often than not a way to keep us connected when were out on the go. Applications and the internet browser should be quick, even when you have a fair amount of them open in the background. Pricier models even come with processors that can handle more complex apps and even console-quality games.

Graphics: It doesnt matter what phone youre looking at nowadays. Dollars to donuts, theres a good chance the front of the phone will consist of a giant screen thats usually borderless. Pretty as a bright and shiny screen may be at first glance, that doesnt mean that it will always be easy on the eyes.

Nowadays, smartphones pride themselves on being complete multimedia devices, for surfing, streaming, and occasionally gaming. Theres a good chance that your Android phone is one of the screens youre going to be staring at longer than others, so it shouldnt hurt your eyes.

Camera: While phones in camera arent quite DSLR-quality yet, cameras are getting better, and perhaps more importantly, bigger. The Samsung Galaxy S21 contains two big cameras inside it, a 108MP f/1.8 main camera, and a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide number. This allows for tons of freedom when it comes to snapping pictures on the go, especially for those who love to stunt on the haters for Instagram. And while rear cameras pack serious photo punch, even the front-facing camera on an Android phone should be at least halfway decent, for Google Duo calls and the occasional selfie.

Battery Life: Android phones are lauded for their processing power. But what good is all that power if the battery drains to nothing in a matter of hours? Some phones, like the Moto G Power flaunt a battery life so long it sounds fake (Three days?) Even the best phones will usually need to charge overnight. If an Android phone requires multiple charges a day, it may not be worth the hassle of buying it, let alone owning it.

Related: Energize with the best wireless chargers.

Why It Made The Cut: Google Pixel 6 Pro is designed from the ground up to provide a seriously powerful smartphone at an excellent price.

Specs: Weight: 7.4 ounces Dimensions: 6.5 inches L x 3 inches W x 0.4 inches H Screen: 6.7 inch LTPO OLED Refresh Rate: 120Hz Camera: 50MP primary, 12MP Ultra-Wide, 50MP Telephoto RAM: 12GB Storage: 128-512GB

Pros: Professional camera system Advanced AI Gorgeous build-quality

Cons: Less than stellar battery life

Youd think that Google would have the market cornered considering it programs the OS for Android phones. And while the Google Pixel line isnt awful, it always lagged behind competitors like Samsung and Motorola in terms of specifications and build-quality. Google finally cracked the code with the Google Pixel 6 Pro.

The 6.7-inch LTPO OLED screen is one of the biggest on the market, being just barely smaller than the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. The screen is also thicker than before, with twice as much scratch resistance to previous Pixel models. Performance is optimized whether youre playing a game of Fortnight, watching YouTube, or looking to conserve battery. But the Google Pixel 6 Pro trulystands apart when you look at its camera. The primary, ultra-wide, and telephoto lenses capture up to 150 percent more light which renders richer and more vivid colors, even at night. It makes a professional photographer out of the novice, with easy-to-use editing tools. The one downside is the battery life almost ensures you need to plug this in at least a couple of times a day. For a phone at this price point, its still an unbeatable value.

Why It Made The Cut: The Samsung S21 Ultra is unmatched in its speed, camera, and graphic capabilities, as long as youre willing to make the investment.

Specs: Weight: 2.8 pounds Dimensions: 2.97 inches L x 6.5 inches W x 0.35 inches H Screen: 6.8 inch AMOLED Refresh Rate: 120Hz Camera: Wide Angle: 108MP Laser AF, Telephoto 1: 10MP AF, Telephoto 2: 10MP AF, Ultra-Wide: 12MP AF RAM: 12-16GB Storage: 128-512GB

Pros: The most gorgeous smartphone screen on the market Lightning fast processor High-quality cameras

Cons: Astronomical price No SD card slot

The Samsung Galaxy line is synonymous with quality, and the S21 Ultra is the most premium option available. And while the price is so high it may have you glancing at the latest iPhone, the big upgrades in this not-so-little-marvel make it a worthy upgrade.

The first stark thing about the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is its massive screen. If it looks bigger and brighter, its because it is. The AMOLED screen offers serious display power, incredible color clarity, and adapts to any lighting environment so your eyes wont suffer after prolonged viewing. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor redefines fast processing. Expect load times to become a thing of the past. While other smartphones lack one good camera, the Galaxy S21 packs four powerful cameras in the rear alone. A 108MP wide angle lens will work for most tasks, but the 12MP ultra wide lens and two telephoto lenses may make you hang up your DSLR. Despite all these features, the absence of an SD card slot is a near-criminal.

Why It Made The Cut: While it may lack the technical luster of pricier models, it can run up to three days without needing to be plugged in.

Specs: Weight: 7 ounces Dimensions: 6.6 inches L x 3 inches W x 0.4 inches H Screen: 6.4 inch FHD+ Max Vision display Refresh Rate: 90Hz Camera: 16MP Rapid-Focus, 2MP Macro Vision, 8MP 118-degree ultra-wide angle RAM: 4GB Storage: 64GB

Pros: Nearly endless battery life Surprising level of performance Durable and reliable

Cons: Outdated graphical capabilities

No matter how much money you spend on an Android phone, there are going to be at least a few instances a week where you scramble for your charger as your devices battery dips into the red. Motorola designed an entire Android phone to alleviate this anxiety with the Moto G Power.

Not only will this phone charge up and stay charged, but it will hold it for up to three days. Thats a stark difference against even the most premium models, which will last for a single day, in the best cases. For a phone that puts battery life above all else, its capabilities are still impressive. The Qualcomm 665 processor and 4GB of RAM is enough for quick app usage, and even a fair amount of gaming capabilities. Even the 16MP camera is way better than it needs to be. The place the Motorola lacks power is in its screen, which is not only 720p, but even looks pixelated from certain angles. As ancient as the visuals feel, its a sturdy and powerful workforce. And its so affordable that it may be prudent to invest in one to use in emergencies.

Why It Made The Cut: A premium design, built-in Hasselblad mobile camera, and lightning fast charging capabilities make the OnePlus 9 worth the upgrade.

Specs: Weight: 6.7 ounces Dimensions: 6.4 inches L x 2.9 inches W x 0.34 inches H Screen: 6.5 inch Fluid AMOLED Refresh Rate: 120Hz Camera: 48MP Main Camera, 50MP Ultra-Wide, 2MP Monochrome Camera RAM: 8GB Storage: 128GB

Pros: Exclusive built-in Hasselblad camera Fast performance, never overheats Charges to full in as little as 15 minutes

Cons: No telephoto lens Glossy shell attracts fingerprints like magnets

The OnePlus brand, for all its faults, has always put out pretty solid devices. While the brand itself doesnt have the sheen of a Samsung Galaxy or a Google Pixel, the OnePlus 9 is one of the best Android phones for the money.

The Qualcomm 888 processor makes the OnePlus 9 purr even when its running demanding apps and games. Not that youd ever know it, considering that its built to remain cool even as you put it through the ringer. Better yet, even if youre using it for hours and the battery drains, you can charge it back to full in as little as 15 minutes. These quality-of-life improvements alone make it a stellar choice, but what truly sets it apart is the built-in Hasselblad camera. Swedish camera titans Hasselblad worked with OnePlus to create stunning photography on a mobile device. It calibrates color to look more natural than ever to capture breathtaking natural scenes, detailed portraits, and everything in between. Despite this, its one of the few cameras in this price point without a dedicated telephoto lens. It also attracts fingerprints pretty easily, but thats nothing a good case cant alleviate.

Why It Made The Cut: This featherweight class Android phone packs plenty of features in a small package, and within reach of many budgets.

Specs: Weight: 5.5 ounces Dimensions: 6.32 inches L x 2.98 inches W x 0.27 inches H Screen: 6.55 inch FHD+ AMOLED DotDisplay screen Refresh Rate: 60/90Hz Camera: 64MP Primary Camera, 8MP Ultra-Wide Camera, 5MP Telemacro Camera RAM: 6-8GB Storage: 64-128GB

Pros: Elegant and sleek design Detailed AMOLED DotDisplay screen Sturdy and reliable performance

Cons: Lackluster camera system

Are there Android phones that are less expensive than the Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite? Absolutely. But for a few dollars more, this budget-friendly phone will stand close to even some of the most premium Android phone offerings.

At a mere 5.5 ounces, you may forget youre even carrying a phone, if it wasnt for that big 6.5-inch AMOLED screen. Its easy on the eyes in more ways than one, as it adjusts to different light levels so you wont strain your peepers, especially since theres a good chance youll be looking at it for hours. The Xiaomi Mi Lite 11 can run video for up to 16 hours before needing to charge, making it a great go-to for on-the-go streaming. The Snapdragon 732 is not as powerful as the newer processors in the Qualcomm line, but it may be more than you need. While the camera system isnt terrible, its not as good as it could be. The Ultra-Wide camera doesnt stand up to the same quality found in Google Pixel Pro. Its a fair trade off, as just about every other feature in this camera is pretty stellar. If you want an inexpensive Android device to play around with, the Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite offers tons of possibilities for fun.

Why It Made The Cut: When it comes to sustainability in Android phones in the states, buying a refurbished model is tech and eco smart.

Specs: Weight: 6.6 ounces Dimensions: 6.2 inches L x 2.9 inches W x 0.3 inches H Screen: 6.2 inch Quad HD+ Super AMOLED Refresh Rate: 60Hz Camera: Super Speed Dual Pixel 12MP AF, Dual Aperture 12MP RAM: 6GB Storage: 64GB

Pros: Sustainable choice Extremely affordable Stellar tech specs

Cons: Used products occasionally a gamble

With new phones coming out year after year, last years models often end up in landfills. Companies like Fairphone manufacture their phones sustainably, but theyre only available if you live in Europe. There is one avenue you can take that qualifies as sustainable: buying a refurbished phone like the Samsung Galaxy S9+.

Lateral thinking with withered technology, is a philosophy that Nintendo has used to become a multi-billion dollar gaming company. It basically means that you dont need high end specs to have fun. And what is a smartphone but fun in your pocket? The Samsung Galaxy S9+ is three years old, but it still definitely holds up. A 12MP camera is good enough for most jobs, and even records in 4K. The Snapdragon: Adreno 630 packs a surprising amount of power and speed. This means its great for gaming and playing media. Yes, its been refurbished, but its also got a bit of a battery upgrade which exceeds its original battery life by 80 percent. Of course, it may come with a little wear and tear, but its nothing that a nice case cant solve in many cases.

This is perhaps the most crucial thing to consider when buying an Android Phone online. Many phones, especially when a massive discount is applied, will only work with certain cellular carriers such as AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint among others. Luckily, retailers will tell you if a phone is unlocked, which allows you to use it across multiple different carriers at will. All you need to do is put in whatever SIM card your carrier provides. It doesnt hurt to double check which carriers any given phone is compatible with before purchasing, especially if you already have a phone number you want to keep.

What do you need out of an Android phone? This is a question you should ask yourself before you decide to simply drop the big bucks on the fanciest available model. Phones like the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra have a gorgeous built-in camera, but if youve got a solid DSLR it may not be worth splurging on it. Unless you plan on doing some serious gaming on them, you probably dont need a top of the line processor. At this point, a new or newish Qualcomm Snapdragon line processor will be more than enough for folks who just want to surf, stream, and message.

Many new phones are made with AMOLED screens. It stands for Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diodes, and its a style of OLED thats made for smartphones. Anyone that owns an OLED device can tell you that the difference is rather stark. A wider array of colors display, and they come in even more vibrant than before. This translates to better resolution, and a better viewing experience overall. Its why everything from TV screens to Nintendo Switch models have these big, bright screens. Once you experience the crisp color clarity, its hard to go back to a non-OLED screen.

One of the biggest selling points of an Android phone is that they provide so much freedom. You can front-load apps that arent on the Google Play store, customize your UI to look and feel the way you want it no matter the OS. The allure hit me last year when I turned a OnePlus phone into a portable retro gaming machine. I was able to play Metroid Prime in bed, which was worth the cost of admission alone.

Endless as the avenues for customization may be, I just had to go back to an iPhone after a couple of months. Im a dedicated Macbook Pro and iPad user, and the way iOS devices talk with each other simply cant be matched. Yes, Android phones often have better specs, and allow for far more in the realm of independence. Apple doesnt make it easy to play with your tech the way Android devices do. Still, if youre an Apple fanatic that works across multiple devices, it may be difficult to betray the brand.

Q: What is the fastest Android phone?What is the fastest Android phone? Many top of the line Android phones contain fast processors. Of our picks, the OnePlus 9 and the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra are incredibly fast.

Q: How much does an Android phone cost?How much does an Android phone cost? New Android phones run from a couple hundred to just over a thousand dollars. Our budget pick is the Xiaomi Mi Lite, and our premium pick is the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Q: Which phone has the best battery?The phone that has the best battery is easily the Moto G Power, which can run up to three days before it needs to be charged.

Q: What is the lifespan of an Android phone?The lifespan of an Android phone is, on average and if taken care of, two to three years. The Europe-exclusive environmentally friendly Fairphone 5 is supported for up to five years.

Related: The best modems for speedy connections.

Theres a good chance that no matter what youre looking to get out of an Android phone, theres a model built just for you. For an unfathomable amount of battery life, the Moto G Power will dazzle and amaze, with up to three days of juice on a single charge. After countless tries, Google finally cracked the code with the Google Pixel 6 Pro, which is our overall favorite when it comes to performance, look, and perhaps most importantly, price. If youve got the cash to spare, the allure of the coveted Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra may be impossible to ignore. As far as Android phones go, its the epitome of excellence.

This post was created by a non-news editorial team at Recurrent Media, Futurisms owner. Futurism may receive a portion of sales on products linked within this post.

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Experience True Smartphone Freedom with the Best Android Phones - Futurism

These forward thinkers including Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and the creators of the most important work of postwar futurism, The Jetsons thought that humanity in the 2020s would be well on its way to becoming a nuclear-powered, spacefaring civilization of super-smart, super-healthy humans enjoying vast material abundance and an ever greener and cleaner earth. (Zipping about in flying cars, too, of course.) Yet for decades it appeared those futurists were wildly wrong. No human, American or otherwise, has left near earth orbit since the crew of Apollo 17 in December 1972. Nuclear reactors, the fission kind, dont produce much more of Americas power than they did when the Three Mile Island accident happened in 1979. And as the saying goes, they promised us flying cars and instead we got Twitter. Some economists refer to the past half century of slower economic and productivity growth as the Great Stagnation.

But maybe all those recent advances show that reality is finally catching up to the fantastic forecasts of the immediate postwar decades. Thats why when I recently visited Futures, the Smithsonian Institutions massive new exhibit in Washington, D.C., I expected not only creative displays about the latest stunning discoveries and emerging technologies but some serious speculation about what might be next. What diseases might be cured? Will a spate of fusion reactors help solve climate change? How soon before the earth is ringed with orbital factories and humanity has planted itself permanently on the moon, Mars, and beyond?

Well, the exhibit does show a flying car, in the form of an air-taxi concept vehicle with four spinning fans in ducts. Theres also an experimental hyperloop train pod from one of Richard Bransons Virgin companies. But little else in the 32,000-square foot, nearly 150-item exhibition suggests that humankind is ready to take any sort of giant leap forward.

Most exhibits seem to be about sustainability: a display showing how washing machines could be used to create a closed wastewater system for growing a garden of wetland plants; a biodegradable wall of bricks made from mycelium mushroom fibers, basically; one of the 32 solar panels that President Jimmy Carter had installed on the White House roof in 1979, later removed during the Reagan administration.

Its strange, then, that the Smithsonian would name the exhibition Futures, plural, when it shows just one vision of the future as possible and desirable. Its a vision about sustainable cycles, rather than endless growth a concept firmly rooted in the eco-pessimist 1970s.

Back then, books such as Rachel Carsons Silent Spring and Paul Ehrlichs Population Bomb, along with the 1972 Limits to Growth report based on MIT resource modeling, helped launch an environmental movement that assumed humanity was rapidly exhausting the resources of Spaceship Earth. A display of buttons from that era at Futures captures the zeitgeist with messages such as Recycle or Die, Consume Less, and Solar Employs, Nuclear Destroys. But the eco-pessimists were as wrong as the techno-optimists. The invention of high-yielding crop varieties prevented the worldwide famines that Ehrlich had predicted. And the biggest economic story of the past half century has been the massive decline in global poverty. Faster Asian economic growth from the embrace of market economics has lifted more than a billion out of extreme deprivation.

Nor is there much evidence that were running out of resources. Even though the worlds population has doubled and the global economy has quadrupled since 1970s, copper, chromium, nickel, tin, and tungsten cost about 25 percent less in 2015 than they did in 1980. Back then, Ehrlich and the economist Julian Simon made a bet on whether resource depletion would send those commodity prices soaring. Simon thought humanity could innovate its way out of potential shortages; Ehrlich disagreed. Simon won the bet. Its true that pandemic-induced bottlenecks and a tsunami of government stimulus have sent commodity prices spiraling higher lately, but Simons view on innovation has held for decades. In relation to global income, the price of a broad basket of key commodities fell by two-thirds between 1980 and 2017.

And while climate change has continued unabated, more and more environmentalists see advanced nuclear energy as key to tackling it. The lesson here: Economic growth and technological progress may cause problems like inequality and pollution but they also provide the solutions to those problems. And humanity continues to move forward even if not as quickly as some optimists predicted. The pessimists overlook that, I think.

Its not as if Futures is trying to present a dystopian vision. Its walls are covered with uplifting quotes about the future. But the curators clearly have accepted the basic eco-pessimist argument and tried to fashion an uplifting vision of tomorrow based on those constraints. Maybe thats why there arent any quotes from Elon Musk on the walls. The boss of Tesla and SpaceX not to mention Times Person of the Year offers a vision more in line with that of the postwar futurists.

Does it matter that the Smithsonian Institution is unable or unwilling to create an exhibition that promotes a possible future built around creating abundance rather than managing scarcity? Similarly, does it matter that Hollywood churns out a never-ending series of films about civilizational collapse, whether from climate change, plague, or zombies?

It matters because progress is disruptive. Economic growth and technological change alter the status quo. The guilds of preindustrial Europe helped make sure Europe stayed preindustrial by blocking new technologies until governments started embracing the gains, including military ones, from the Industrial Revolution. One can imagine todays populist politicians stirring up fears about automation much as some have done with trade and calling for taxes on AI or robots. Or maybe theyll claim building a space economy is frivolous, despite the potential to move dirty industries off the planet, harvest vast new resources across the solar system, and develop new ways to create energy, such as space-based solar power. Even worse would be a broader societal rejection of progress, a view perhaps best summarized by climate activist Greta Thunbergs stern lecture about fairytales of eternal economic growth.

Dutch futurist Fred Polak said any culture without a positive vision for the future has no future. Thats especially true when too much of the world is still desperately poor and big challenges from stabilizing the climate to preventing pandemics require market-driven innovation and growth. As Alec Stapp of the new Institute for Progress notes, higher gross domestic product per person is correlated with basically everything we really want as humans, including higher life expectancy, lower child mortality, greater literacy, and more expansive human rights.

There are images of the future out there that should excite us, even beyond the prospect of higher living standards. For example, a road map to the future recently published by Prime Movers Lab, a deep tech venture capital firm, speculates that well get the first commercial nuclear fusion power plant in the 2030s, near earth asteroid mining in the 2040s, and genetic technologies to restore lost species and ecosystems by 2050.

Smithsonian curators and Hollywood producers should check it out. After all, had disruptive innovators owned the day earlier in history, we might have already conquered hunger, poverty, and climate change. We might even already be a multiplanetary civilization. As Musk puts it, Believe in the future! Lets get busy inventing an amazing future worth living in.

James Pethokoukis is the Dewitt Wallace Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of the Faster, Please! newsletter on Substack. Follow him on Twitter @JimPethokoukis.

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Lets make the future what it used to be - The Boston Globe

Good luck with that!Fire in the Hole

After fifty years of continuous burning, Turkmenistan officials are finally trying to close up a 230-feet wide fiery sinkhole in the Karakum Desert known hyperbolically but only somewhat as the Gates of Hell.

No one is entirely sure how the hellish pit, located about 150 miles north of the Central Asian countrys capital, started burning, according to Metro. But one theory is the Soviet Union set it on fire in the 70sin a bid for resource extraction.

The rumor is that Soviet operatives went looking for natural gas deposits and found the sinkhole, which would have been filled with dangerous gas. As the theory goes, they set it on fire, thinking it would burn out pretty quickly but couldnt have been more wrong.

In the past, Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov had declared the pit a tourist destination after unsuccessfully trying to stop the burning in 2010, with Metro reporting that thousands of people visit it every year. Apparently, Berdimuhamedov even did donuts in a rally car outside the crater to dispel a rumor that hed died.Heres the video:

If Turkmenistan can actually figure out how to put out the half-century old fire, the US might actually be able to learn a thing or two. Turns out we have some long-term fires here, including the Centralia fire in Pennsylvania. According to History.com, Centralia was a booming coal town about a century ago. But it was mostly abandoned after the town accidentally set an underground coal seam on fire in 1962, and its been burning ever since a ghastly phenomenon that reportedly inspired the Silent Hill horror franchise.

According to the US Department of Environmental Protection, the Centralia fire could continue burning for another century and is one of about 38 such coal fires in the state. Although coal and natural gas deposits are different, perhaps the US could benefit from whatever wild plan Berdimuhamedov comes up with to stop his own raging flames.

More on fiery pits: Oil Company That Caught Ocean on Fire Has Staggeringly Long History of Death, Accidents

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Authorities Attempting to Close Fiery "Gates of Hell" - Futurism

"Yes, I potentially could unlock the doors and start driving the affected Teslas."Assuming Control

A teen hacker named David Colombo claims to have uncovered a software vulnerability that allowed him to take control of numerous Teslavehicles around the world.

The researcher tweeted earlier this week that he gained full remote control of over 20 Teslas in ten countries and there seems to be no way to find the owners and report it to them.

Tesla neither confirmed nor denied the hack toBloomberg, but Colombo told the publication that he was in touch with the carmaker about the security flaw.

Colombo was quick to clarify in a followup tweet that this is not a vulnerability in Teslas infrastructure. Its the ownersfaults.

Colombo says he figured out how to disable Sentry Mode, a security feature that uses the vehicles many cameras to keep an eye out for intruders, as well as opening the doors and windows.

He also claimed he was able to start Keyless Driving. Yes, I potentially could unlock the doors and start driving the affected Teslas, he wrote in a tweet.

But taking them for a longer ride, fortunately, seemed to be impossible.

No I cannot intervene with someone driving (other than starting music at max volume or flashing lights) and I also cannot drive these Teslas remotely, he wrote.

Tesla is on the case, according to Colombo, and will issue an update. Hopefully well learn more about the vulnerability soon.

This will be described more in detail in my writeup, he told Bloomberg. But glad to see Tesla taking action now.

READ MORE: Teen Hacker Claims Ability to Control 25 Teslas Worldwide [Bloomberg]

More on Tesla: Tesla FSD Appears to Ask Drivers Whether It Should Break the Law

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Hacker Claims to Have Seized Control of Teslas Around the World - Futurism

Researchers are thinking outside the box to fight the opioid epidemic and it might even result in a vaccination to treat addiction.

Scientists are developing a vaccine that targets oxycodone addiction, CBS News reports. The team is currently testing the experimental drugs on volunteers with substance abuse disorders.

The way the vaccine works in theory is simple: it prevents the oxycodone from stimulating the pleasure centers of the brain. If users dont feel better after taking a drug,the idea goes, theyre less likely to use it.

The idea behind the vaccine is that after a while, the body will produce an antibody to that particular chemical structure, Sandra Comer, professor of neurobiology at Columbia University, told the broadcaster. If somebody uses oxycodone, the antibody will bind to that molecule and it wont allow it to get into the brain.

Comer and her research partner Marco Pravetoni, an associate professor of pharmacology and medicine at the University of Minnesota, hope that the drug will cut down the relapse rate from medically-assisted addiction treatments.

Currently, the relapse rate for such treatments is roughly 50 percent, according to Comer.

If they relapse, the vaccine hopefully will provide still some level of protection, at least against overdose, she told CBS. And maybe an opportunity for us to re-engage them in treatment.

The team hopes to build off of the research in potential future treatments for other opioids such as heroin and fentanyl.

While not a cure per se, the experimental vaccine does offer some hope as the US continues to reckon with a grim opioid crisis. More than 800,000 Americans have died from drug overdoses in the past two decades, with 73 percent percent of those deaths caused by opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Its still in its early stages, but a vaccine that could help treat addictions while cutting overdoses down would be gamechanging and could end up saving a lot of lives.

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Scientists Are Testing a Vaccine to Treat Opioid Addiction - Futurism

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One adaption astronauts bodies make during trips into space is giving them space anemia when they return to Earth, a new study in the journal Nature found. Essentially, astronauts bodies are destroying their own blood at higher rates, and dont seem to stop once they get back home, which could have major implications for longer-term space travel in the future.

As humankind plans extraterrestrial travel, understanding the health implications of living in space will be critical to planning safe journeys, wrote the studys authors from the University of Ottawa. Anemia in astronauts has been noted since the first space missions, but the mechanisms contributing to anemia in space flight have remained unclear.

Space anemia is one of a suite of issues astronauts face, and NASA even has a name for it: RIDGE stands for Space Radiation, Isolation and Confinement, Distancefrom Earth,Gravityfields, and Hostile/Closed Environments,and describes the most common physical and mental problems explorers run into off world.

Lower gravity in space also causes a loss in bone density, and authors of the study think this may be connected to space anemia as well.

Hemolysis, according to Britannica, is the breakdown or destruction of red blood cells so that the contained oxygen-carrying hemoglobin is freed. According to the study, hemolysis happens in four parts of the body: bone marrow, blood vessels, liver, or spleen. Of these four, researcher Guy Trudel, a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Ottawa Hospital and a researcher at the University of Ottawa, thinks that bone marrow or the spleen are probably the problem areas, and wants his team to continue researching.

What causes the anemia is the hemolysis, but what causes the hemolysis is the next step, Trudel told Ars Technica. Theres a knowledge gap for longer missions, for one-year missions, or missions to the Moon or Mars or other bodies.

More on astronaut problems: NASA Says Its Running Out of Astronauts

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"Theres a lot of parallels between whats going on with NFTs now versus Beanie mania in the 90s."Beanie Craze

Remember the Beanie Babies craze of the 90s, when people thought their plushstuffed animals would appreciate in value and make them millionaires?

As it turns out, collectors are still going nuts over the little animals, but this time, some are hoping to turn them into NFTs.

Its history repeating itself, in other words: a flourishing market of gimmicky toys maturing into,well,its logical 21st century conclusion.

The parallels between the two phenomena hasnt gone over the heads of collectors.

Theres a lot of parallels between whats going on with NFTs now versus Beanie mania in the 90s, Beanie Babies collector Arthur Suszko, who is trying to create Beanie Babies NFTs, told Vox.

With that amazing insight, Suszko is in the process of setting up a company that would allow people to buy the ownership rights over physical Beanie Babies in the form of an NFT.

Its a merger of my childhood dreams and modern passions coming together, he told the publication.

The 90s Beanie Babies craze may still be alive today, but its a mere shadow of what it once was. While some stuffed toys that used to retail for $5 are still being bought for over $1,000 according to Vox, the plushies are simply not changing hands very much these days.

Worse yet, Beanie Babies scams are around every corner on the internet. To anybody following the NFT saga, that should sound pretty familiar.

Will Suszkos NFT marketplace experience the same fate? Even he isnt exactly convinced theres a bright future ahead for the digital tokens.

Nobodys going to care about random jpegs that might be selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars right now, he told Vox.

READ MORE: After the Beanie Baby bubble burst [Vox]

More on NFTs: Startup Will Store Precious Artifacts in Vault Aboard the International Space Station

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In Proof That Irony Is Dead, People are Trying to Make Beanie Babies NFTs - Futurism