Category Archives: Futurist

Amid a pandemic that was all but predicted by biosecurity experts, there has been an obsession with the kind of thinking that attempts to forecast such catastrophes. We see it everywherefrom journalism, to advertising, to defense planningsuggesting that a future world we once could only imagine is imminent. Look no further than the Economist, which advertised its annual What If? issue as offering compelling predictive scenarioswith an eye to what could happen. A recent Nike commercial opens with the word TOMORROW splashed across the screen, then envisions a world in which incredible athletic records are set and running shoes grow on trees. As the pace of the commercial picks up, the announcer breathlessly proclaims I dont know what this is but it looks amazing! as people riding hobby horses compete to cross a finish line, apparently unaware that it is already an organized sport.

This fascination with the future extends to the U.S. Department of Defense, which has been seeking science fiction writers to help predict the nature of tomorrows conflicts. Calls for proposals have asked consultants to imagine how artificial intelligence (AI) will change how decisions are made on the battlefield. NATO recently published a set of short stories on the future of warfare in 2036, and the Army Cyber Institute commissioned an Invisible Force graphic novel to explore the role of cyberattacks in a 2030 conflict scenario.

What is going on here? Is the future arriving, is humanity falling prey to the futures power of seduction, or is this wishful thinking and cynical escapism from confronting difficult problems?

Four reasons why we are future obsessed

1. The Jetsons Effect: Prior expectations of the future were wrong or disappointing

For those of us who grew up watching the Jetsons, the future is long overdue. In the futuristic cartoon, Rosey the Robot was the Jetsons robotic rent-a-maid. She washed dishes, cooked dinner, and cleaned up after the Jetson family when fully charged. Fast forward to today, and youre bound to be disappointed: The AI-enabled Roomba, which scurries around the floor, vacuuming away dirt and debris, working around obstacles and changing direction when it encounters walls, only arrived in 2002and then took almost 20 years to add sensors and improve the AI to the point where it can avoid smearing dog poop all over your floor. Even now, it is still a far cry from the robotic maid we thought wed have when we grew up.

2. The future is here-ish, but better technology is predicted to be right around the corner

Artificial intelligence is everywhere. Want to play a video game, ask Google to play you some music, or have Siri remind you about your dentist appointment? Youre already using AI. While China dwarfs the United States in online to real-world implementation of automation and machine learning, in the U.S. weve gotten just enough of a taste to make us hunger for more.

Moreover, advanced versions of AI seem to be just around the corner, continuing to stoke dreams of truly breakthrough technology. Tesla, for example advertises its autopilot AI as the Future of Driving. It has sold full self-driving (FSD) capabilities to buyers since 2016 and promised a demonstration of a fully autonomous drive from Los Angeles to New York by the end of 2017. But in the face of social complexity, these promises have fallen far short of reality. In November, 12,000 Teslas had to be recalled during the FSD beta test due to unexpected activation of the cars emergency braking system. Nevertheless, according to AI Superpowers author Kai-Fu Lee, our current AI-era has set ablaze the popular imagination when it comes to AI and has fed a belief that were on the verge of achieving what some consider the Holy Grail of AI research, artificial general intelligence (AGI)thinking machines with the ability to perform any intellectual task that a human canand much more.

The allure of futuristic technology, including AI, extends to the defense innovation and planning domain. The Terminator films, which debuted in 1984, were early adopters of battlefield AI imagineering. After the first film, AI-enabled robots were both good and bad guysand the good guys always prevailed. In defense circles, the Information Age (the shift to an economy based on information technology) has been upon us since the early 90s. But widespread adoption and awareness of all this information and the algorithms that do stuff with it, giving rise to smartness, is comparatively recent. The U.S. Department of Defense has now embraced initiatives that envision future technologies in a big way.

3. Catastrophic risks are more apparent

Mutations have kept COVID-19 in the headlines and at the top of most national policymakers agendas. The global democratic decline, led by U.S. allies, made the 2021 Summit for Democracy a front-page feature. The discovery of nearly 300 nuclear missile silos in remote areas of China, Irans enrichment of uranium to weapons-grade levels, and recent tests of new nuclear weapons delivery systems by China and Russia, have put nuclear weapons back in the news and raised the specter of a new arms race. Constant and catastrophic wildfires, floods, heatwaves, and deadly tornadoes remind citizens and policymakers that the effects of climate change are upon us. The variety and severity of the threats facing humanity makes alternative visions of the future more urgent than ever.

4. Overcorrection is fueling our zeal

We are slowly learning not to dismiss fantastical predictions of the futureparticularly in the defense domain. When the novelist Tom Clancy wrote about terrorists piloting planes into the Capitol in 1994s Debt of Honor, the possibility of such an attack was dismissed by the intelligence community as outlandish. When biosecurity experts who advised on the film Contagion helped craft a watertight storyline for a realistic pandemic scenario in the wake of the anthrax attacks, it seemed entertaining rather than foreshadowing. Clancy was later interviewed about 9/11 as a terrorism expert, and today Contagion appears prescient. In 2015, Peter Singer co-wrote the dystopian thriller Ghost Fleet with August Cole to help the U.S. prevail in a war driven by weapons of the future.

However, much like a heart attack victim who adopts a vegan diet, defense planners and decisionmakers are now openly and methodically placing our security in the hands of futurists. With the zeal of the converted, they are relying on science fiction writers, scenario planners, and wargamers to help get the future right where AI is concerned.

Four problems with future obsession

So whats the problem with envisioning the future? Dont we need to do that to steer innovation and avoid paths that could lead to disaster? Or is the embrace of future visions simply a cynical move by complacent policymakers who are avoiding making decisions that require tradeoffs?

1. Not preparing for current crises

Future obsession can lead to a lack of preparation for contemporary dangers. Despite a raging pandemic, preparation for the near future of COVID-19 is limited to deeply flawed technological solutions rather than ones that take into account social and political complexity. While we are assured that futuristic mRNA vaccines can be quickly adapted to new mutations, they cannot prevent those mutations from happening; only a concerted global push for vaccination can do that. Rather than focusing on doing the difficult but doable diplomatic work of arms control to keep the latest arms race from turning into a crisis, the U.S. reaction to China and Russia testing hypersonic glide weapons has been to advance hypersonic capabilities with national pride at stake, misunderstanding that U.S. actions can cause complex political reactions that can spiral out of control.

2. Kicking the can down the road

One response to the threat of climate change is that future generations will have better technologies to curb greenhouse gas emissions or remove them from the atmosphere, arguing for technical rather than political and social solutions. This assertion often does not account for the incentives to innovate that may be required for this to be true. Imagining the future to possess better, cheaper, and more efficient technologies allows policymakers to avoid making difficult decisions, ignores the tradeoffs of business-as-usual, and underestimates the amount of progress that could be made with current technologies. Approaches such as stabilization wedges that attempt to envision solutions for climate change using current technologies could counter this potentially catastrophic procrastination.

3. The drunkards search

Another, more subtle, problem with future obsession is the tendency to lock on to particular scenarios, like the drunkard looking for their keys under the lamppost because the light is better there. In the 1960s, 90% of RANDs nuclear war scenarios assumed an (unlikely) surprise attack on the U.S. homeland. Similarly, 9/11 led to a hyperfocus on unlikely airplane-based attacks, resulting in massively increased security at airports. Yet there is still no vaccine mandate or testing requirement for flying, almost two years into a pandemic. It took almost a year for the CDC to focus on airborne transmission for COVID rather than fomites, despite a Chinese report in early January 2020 and the Japanese experience with the Diamond Princess cruise ship indicating that airborne transmission was the primary vector for spreading the virus. Preparations for pandemics in the U.S. had envisioned influenza or bioweapons such as anthrax or smallpox, leaving us unprepared for a novel, airborne coronavirus.

Even now, we are unprepared for future pandemics. No country scores above 80 out of 100 in the 2021 Global Health Security index, which measures the biosecurity preparedness and capacity of 195 countries. Despite having recorded almost 800,000 deaths from COVID-19, the United States scored lower in 2021 than in 2019 due to a decreasing ability to prevent zoonotic disease, poor risk communication, and harmful trade and travel restrictions. Meanwhile, the current pandemic has been described by at least one science reporter as merely a dress rehearsal for the next pandemic.

4. Escapism over engagement

Finally, future obsession can lead to escapism. Instead of investing in security and stability now on Earth, private entrepreneurs engage in space races, envision colonizing the Moon and Mars, and build a 10,000-year clock which offers a pleasant distraction from the dangerous trajectory of the world we occupy today.

Looking to the future is fundamentally a good thing to do: We need to prepare for what lies ahead. Where national security and vital interests are at stake, knowing when and how to use so-called futurethink for long-term planning requires judiciousness. There are risks from over-embracing futuristic thinking as a panacea and getting distracted when the next shiny object comes along. We also need to distinguish better between events that arent likely to be repeated and those that are. It can serve as a cloak for cynicism and protect vested interests, bits and circuits serving as the new bread and circuses. It cannot act as a substitute for policymaking and should never prevent actions that can be taken today to engage with current events or prepare for future crises. Indeed, we must press policymakers to make pragmatic and potentially difficult decisions. The correct approach involves moderation, caution, and regular updating regarding the future while engaging with possible solutions in the present, all with an eye to and careful consideration of the systems effects that our decisions will have due to the complexity of social and political life.

Amy J. Nelson is a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in the Foreign Policy program and with the Center for Strategy, Security and Technology.Alexander H. Montgomery is an associate professor of political science at Reed College.

This article was inspired by and is dedicated to Bob Jervis.

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Is the US military's futurism obsession hurting national security? - Brookings Institution

Get used to working from home, because futurist and author Michael McQueen says thats one trend thats here to stay.

And Zoom isnt the only technology set to become a permanent part of our daily lives - cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence are set to have a big impact too.

Watch the video above to see how technology will continue to advance in 2022

Watch The Morning Show on Channel 7 and stream it for free on 7plus >>

Mr McQueen joined The Morning Show to look at whats in store for our immediate futures.

Theres been lots of talk in the last two years about the demise of the office, interestingly the most recent modelling has about 10 per cent of companies (expecting to) stay fully remote when (the pandemic) is all done, he said.

About 30 per cent will actually go back to the office full-time, but then about 60 per cent will do that whole hybrid of a few days in the office and a few days at home.

Whats driving that is the desire for culture, collaboration, particularly among young staff who are struggling with remote work.

Its not just where we do work but how many days a week well do work that will be interesting, Mr McQueen added.

With four-day working weeks being trialled this year both in the UK and US, Mr McQueen said many Australian companies will be monitoring the results with interest.

Theres a lot of push toward this four-day work week, it wont work in every industry obviously. Well watch this from June to December, The University of Cambridge and Oxford are doing this as a nationwide trial and it will be very interesting to see how it goes, he said.

Meanwhile, with cryptocurrency Bitcoin now becoming legal tender in some countries, Mr McQueen explained what this could mean local businesses.

Its been a bumpy time for Bitcoin in terms of valuations. Last year was really significant, so for instance PayPal announced they would now accept cryptocurrency like Bitcoin as payment.

But the big thing was El Salvador who last year were the first country in the world to accept it as legal national tender.

And this is significant because as we speak today in El Salvador more people own a Bitcoin wallet than have a bank account, and we expect a few other countries to follow suit as Panama and Paraguay are expected to follow suit this year, he said.

The author of The New Now also explained that the struggle to remember various login passwords combined with a rise in security breaches may see our use of online passwords scrapped altogether.

On average we have about two hundred passwords weve got to maintain. Well probably see those become less necessary over the next few years which is exciting for all of us.

Biometrics (will replace passwords) so using things like our retina, fingerprints, facial recognition even voice recognition. So in the last few months for instance, Microsoft has rolled out a new update, if youre using Windows 10 or 11 you can actually set that up without a password at all, he explained.

Finally, in a big boost for movie cinemas, Mr McQueen explained that despite the rise in popularity of streaming services such as Netflix during the pandemic, movie cinemas are expecting audiences to return in the coming months.

2022 will be the year we discover what we actually missed or what didnt change throughout the pandemic, and one of them is our desire to go back to the movies.

The expectation is a 58 per cent jump this year in box office sales, but it will not be before 2023 that we get back to pre-pandemic levels of going to the movies, but were on our way back, he said.

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Futurist says Aussies will keep working from home but well be getting rid of passwords and returning to the cinema in 2022 - 7NEWS

"Of course people liked it. How can you not like space gorilla?"Space Smuggling

Plenty of things have been smuggled to the International Space Station, from booze and cigarettes to the cremated remains of Stark Trek actor James Doohan.

But when retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly who was elected to the US senate in 2020 attempted to send a full-body gorilla suit to his identical twin brother Scott, who was stationed on board the ISS at the time, thinks didnt go as planned, People reports.

Specifically, the suit exploded dramatically in 2015 when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was lost in a massive fireball. But the Kelly brothers were tenacious.

The next time I was on the phone with my brother, he goes, Im sending you another gorilla suit,' Scott told People.

The shenanigans culminated in a now-legendary 2016 video in which Scott Kelly can be seen emerging from a white bag and proceeding to zoom around the tight confines of the orbital outpost while wearing the suit. He even chased British astronaut Tim Peake around the station.

Its no wonder the video went viral.

Of course people liked it. How can you not like space gorilla? Scott told People.

Scott later admitted that Peake was in on the video and it was all staged. Other astronauts, however, were caught unawares.

I floated down to the Russian segment, Scott added. When they saw it, they were just laughing like you wouldnt believe.

It was the end of my year in space, Scott told the magazine. So you need a little humor.

READ MORE: Astronaut Scott Kelly Reveals Real Story Behind Video of Him in Gorilla Suit Aboard Space Station [People]

More on the Kellys: Veteran NASA Astronaut Elected to US Senate

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Astronaut Says First Gorilla Suit He Tried to Smuggle Into Space Blew Up in Fiery Explosion - Futurism

Horrible news, crypto investors: Prices are still dropping and they might keep dropping for a while.

Now, analysts for investment bank UBS are warning that crypto markets might be entering another crypto winter as prices steadily fall for the asset class, according to a statement sent to investors and seen by Insider.

Bitcoin prices sit at around $42,500 at the time of reporting a nearly 40 percent drop from its high of $69,000 in November. Thats a fairly steep decline,even for a notoriously unstable cryptocurrency,and analysts expect the floor to go even lower as crypto winter takes hold.

Theres likely a ton of different factors at play. However, UBS analysts believe that there are three main drivers to the price drop.

The biggest is the anticipated rise in interest rates from the Federal Reserve, which has negatively impacted other asset classes like stocks and bonds as well. Goldman Sachs even speculated last week that the Fed might raise rates four times in 2022.

At the same time, many investors seem to be realizing how volatile crypto can be, according to UBS. This is compounded by the limitations of blockchain technology that could make it harder to scale due to its decentralized nature.

Increased regulation is another reason UBSs analysts believe that crypto is crashing. In fact, they said in the statement that cryptos will face bigger setbacks from authorities in the coming months. Even some private entities have started to announce that theyll no longer accept crypto due to its perceived shortcomings and dangers.

All told, it creates the perfect winter storm for cryptocurrencies and its one that might last for a long time.

Of course, this should all be taken with a big grain of salt, since financial analysts have a long and terrible history with making crappy predictions that dont come true. So its perfectly plausible that this is just more crypto fear mongering.

Still, you might want to bundle up your investments just in case a long winter hits.

READ MORE: Bitcoins slump could be the start of a crypto winter that sees prices crash, UBS says. Here are three reasons why. [Insider]

More on crypto bust: Bitcoin Crashes as Major Crypto Country Shuts Down Entire Internet

Care about supporting clean energy adoption? Find out how much money (and planet!) you could save by switching to solar power at UnderstandSolar.com. By signing up through this link, Futurism.com may receive a small commission.

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Financial Analysts Say Bitcoin's Price Is Going to Keep Falling and Falling - Futurism

Our planet is turning into a rocky planet like Mercury or Mars much "faster than expected."Cooling Earth

According to new research, the core of the Earth is cooling much faster and sooner than originally anticipated a new mystery that could throw a wrench in our understanding of the planets evolution.

To get a better sense of how far along the Earth is in the process, scientists are studying the thermal conductivity of the minerals present in the layer between the planets core and mantle. The faster that hot center passes heat to the planets outer layers, the faster the Earth is losing the heat present in its core.

In a lab simulation, a team of researchers from ETH Zurich in Switzerland and the Carnegie Institution for Science applied immense amounts of pressure and heat to a mineral called bridgmanite which is found in the transitional zone between the core and mantle to simulate the conditions deep below the surface. They then measured its thermal conductivity to get a better sense of the cooling processes at play.

The results were surprising.

This measurement system let us show that the thermal conductivity of bridgmanite is about 1.5 times higher than assumed, said ETH professor Motohiko Murakami, lead author of a paper about the findings published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, in a statement.

In other words, the heat from the core is being passed on at a much faster rate than previously thought, leading to the greater cooling of the Earth.

The study could rewrite what we already know about the dynamic processes leading to the slowing down of convection currents.

Our results could give us a new perspective on the evolution of the Earths dynamics, Murakami explained. They suggest that Earth, like the other rocky planets Mercury and Mars, is cooling and becoming inactive much faster than expected.

The researcher did, however, note we didnt know enough to pinpoint how long it will take for convection currents to stop altogether.

READ MORE: Earths interior is cooling faster than expected [ETH Zurich]

More on the Earth: Climate Scientist Warns That Countries Are Going to Start Geoengineering the Earth

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The Earth's Core Is Cooling Way Faster Than We Thought, Scientists Say - Futurism

FF hosted new Hanford Mayor Diane Sharp at its manufacturing plant in Hanford to get a first-hand look at the plants updated status and to observe the tremendous momentum driving the EV industry in California

FF is on track to hire 350 new employees at its Hanford production facility this year as it ramps up production

FF recently completed its third major milestone at its Hanford facility and laid out its upcoming plans for the remaining key milestones leading up to Start of Production ("SOP") this summer

LOS ANGELES, January 18, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. ("FF") (NASDAQ: FFIE), a California-based global shared intelligent electric mobility ecosystem company, recently welcomed newly elected Hanford Mayor Diane Sharp to its production facility in the Central Valley of California to share current and future progress updates leading into the launch of the FF 91 in summer 2022. Sharp was hosted by John Lehn, Director of Government Affairs at FF.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220118005545/en/

John Lehn, Director of Government Affairs for Faraday Future, Welcomes New Hanford, California Mayor Diane Sharp to its Local Production Facility Where it Will Build the New Ultimate Intelligent Techluxury FF 91 EV (Photo: Business Wire)

"Hosting Mayor Diane Sharp at our facility was a great honor, especially with the launch of the FF 91 this summer," said Matt Tall, Vice President of Manufacturing at Faraday Future. "We are working to make the city of Hanford proud to have FF here and look forward to welcoming our city officials back to our plant on a regular basis."

During the tour of the plant, Sharp received an introductory walk-through of the plant and learned of details surrounding upcoming milestones in the manufacturing process for the ultimate intelligent techluxury FF 91 EV. The Hanford facility will use cutting-edge technology and the ability to personalize the vehicle, setting FF apart from traditional OEM mass production.

Story continues

"It is great to see so many people at Faraday Futures Hanford plant working to bring the plant to full production," said Mayor Sharp. "Faraday Future is an exciting company. I am thrilled with the investment that is being made in our community, and am honored to have been invited to tour their very impressive facility."

The FF 91 Futurist Alliance Edition and FF 91 Futurist models represent the next generation of intelligent techluxury EVs. They are high-performance EVs, all-in-one all-ability cars, and ultimate robotic vehicles that allow users to experience a third internet living space beyond their home and office. The models encompass extreme technology, an ultimate user experience and a complete ecosystem. Users can reserve an FF 91 Futurist model now via the FF intelligent APP or FF.com at: https://www.ff.com/us/reserve

ABOUT FARADAY FUTURE

Established in May 2014, Faraday Future is a global shared intelligent mobility ecosystem company, headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Since its inception, Faraday Future has implemented numerous innovations relating to its products, technology, business model, profit model, user ecosystem, and governance structure. On July 22, 2021, Faraday Future was listed on NASDAQ with the new company name "Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc.", and the ticker symbols "FFIE" for its Class A common stock and "FFIEW" for its warrants. The "I" in FFIE stands for Intelligent and Internet and the "E" stands for Ecosystem and Electric. FF is not just an EV company, but also an internet and technology company, an AI product company, a software company, and a user ecosystem company. Faraday Future aims to perpetually improve the way people move by creating a forward-thinking mobility ecosystem that integrates clean energy, AI, the Internet and new usership models. With the ultimate intelligent techluxury brand positioning, Faraday Futures first flagship product FF 91 Futurist is equipped with exceptional product power. It is not just a high-performance EV, an all-ability car, and an ultimate robotic vehicle, but also the third internet living space.

FOLLOW FARADAY FUTURE:https://www.ff.com/ http://appdownload.ff.com https://twitter.com/FaradayFuture https://www.facebook.com/faradayfuture/ https://www.instagram.com/faradayfuture/ http://www.linkedin.com/company/faradayfuture

NO OFFER OR SOLICITATION

This communication shall neither constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which the offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release includes "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words "estimates," "projected," "expects," "anticipates," "forecasts," "plans," "intends," "believes," "seeks," "may," "will," "should," "future," "propose" and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside Faraday Futures control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others, that may affect actual results or outcomes include the outcome of the Special Committee review; Faraday Futures ability to regain compliance with the Nasdaq continued listing standards; Faraday Futures ability to execute on its plans to develop and market its vehicles and the timing of these development programs; Faraday Futures estimates of the size of the markets for its vehicles and costs to bring its vehicles to market; the rate and degree of market acceptance of Faraday Futures vehicles; the success of other competing manufacturers; the performance and security of Faraday Futures vehicles; potential litigation involving Faraday Future; the result of future financing efforts and general economic and market conditions impacting demand for Faraday Futures products. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors" section of the preliminary registration statement on Form S-1 recently filed by Faraday Future and other documents filed by Faraday Future from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Faraday Future does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220118005545/en/

Contacts

For Faraday Future Mark ConnellyInvestors: ir@faradayfuture.com John SchillingMedia: john.schilling@ff.com

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Faraday Future Welcomes New Hanford, California Mayor Diane Sharp to its Local Production Facility Where it Will Build the New Ultimate Intelligent...

Speculation about what the future might hold is something that people have been doing for centuries. Attempting to guess at technologies, constructions, discoveries, and ways of life a hundred years from the present seems to be something that humans find entertaining and intriguing.

Stalking enemies from a height advantage. Image by 'Bright Memory Infinite'.

Bright Memory Infinite is set in the future, in the year 2036, so not a hundred years, but in the future nonetheless. The story begins with a strange phenomenon in the skies above the world. This phenomenon is investigated by an organization called the Supernatural Science Research Organization, and its focus is anything that science and technology cannot explain.

Players must embark on a journey to uncover the secrets of this strange phenomenon, fighting to gain knowledge and understanding of new, undiscovered worlds, and how their history is linked to the history of planet earth by an archaic mystery that has yet to be fully uncovered and understood.

Taking on a massive dude swinging a giant electric club. Image by 'Bright Memory Infinite'.

Players will have a variety of different skills and abilities that they can mix and match to find the most powerful combos for their combat style. They also have a range of weapons to choose from, from a deadly set of swords for hacking and slashing to a variety of different customizable guns and bombs.

As they progress players will develop their skillset and their loadouts, becoming deadlier with every passing minute of fast-paced high octane FPS combat.

Bright Memory Infinite is developed by FYQD-Studio and shines like a star among indie games for performance and quality. The game is available on Steam.

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Bright Memory Infinite Takes Futuristic FPS Action to the Next Level - Gamers Decide

Black Quantum Futurism gets Creative Capital, Judilee Reed to US Artists, Wayne Thiebaud at Brandywine River Museum of Art, Moe Brooker passes, plus Opportunities and More

With energy and money, the new year charges in. Creative Capital awards $2.5 Million to 50, including Philadelphias Black Quantum Futurism (Rasheedah Phillips and Camae Ayewa). William Penn Foundations Judilee Reed becomes president and CEO of US Artists. Wayne Thiebaud, who died on Christmas, 2021, at age 101, is honored with a show of 100+ paintings and works of art at the Brandywine River Museum of Art, a Whitney Museum Free Webinar focuses on Jennifer Packer and portraiture in art; And with sadness, we note the passing of Moe Brooker; plus opportunities at Bread and Roses Community Fund and Philadelphia Media Founders Exchange.

Moe Brooker (1940-2022). With sadness, we mark the recent passing of artist, educator, mentor and awesome human, Moe Brooker. To hear Moes voice and words, please click over and listen to Wit Lopezs 2019 interview with him, where he talks about capturing Black joy in his abstract paintings.

United States Artists announced its new President and CEO, Judilee Reed. Reed comes to United States Artists from Philadelphias William Penn Foundation, where she was Program Director of Creative CommunitiesOver the years, shes been an active proponent of direct funding to artists, while developing networks of supplemental support, ranging from health care to financial planning. Through her work in Philadelphia, shes developed strategies for creative placemaking with an eye to racial equity, which shell scale up to serve USAs national mission.

Black Quantum Futurism receives Creative Capital award. Creative Capital today named 50 new Creative Capital Awards for 2022. The grants will fund the creation of innovative new artists projects by 59 individual artists working in the performing arts, visual arts, film, technology, literature, and socially engaged and multidisciplinary practices. Each project will receive varying amounts up to $50,000 in direct funding, supplemented by career development and networking services to foster thriving artistic careers totaling up to $2.5 million in artist supportBlack Quantum Futurism (Rasheedah Phillips, Camae Ayewa), received the award for Time Zone Protocols: Confederate States, Multimedia, Sound Artwhich highlights how Black people re-envision, rewrite, resist, and dismantle material realities of clock time.

Wayne Thiebaud 100: Paintings, Prints, and Drawings, is on view at the Brandywine River Museum of art, Feb. 6 April 10, 2022.Brandywine River Museum says Highlighting the full range of this iconic American artists work made over 70 years, the exhibition features a spectacular selection of his paintings, watercolors and prints. Created on the occasion of Thiebauds 101th birthday, the exhibition now also serves as a fitting tribute to his remarkable career following the artists recent death on December 25, 2021.

Floaties come to the SchuylkillTwo organizations have received funding from multiple organizations to create floating education labs on the Schuylkill River. We cant wait to sample each of these floating labs, and think that two floaties are definitely better than one.

More on the Mural Arts FloatLab at Bartrams Garden, here.More on the Water Works Floating Water Workshop here.

The Bread & Roses Community Fund is hiring a Program Coordinator! The program coordinator supports Bread and Roses Community Funds community-led grantmaking processes and grantee capacity building practices. The program coordinator shares grantmaking coordination responsibilities for Bread & Roses Community Funds grants, including core funds, yearly special issue funds, a scholarship, and donor-advised funds with the programs associate.Deadline to apply: Friday, February 4th, 2022 (via CultureWorks)

Applications are now open for the Philadelphia Media Founders Exchange, a new accelerator program from the Lenfest Institute, designed in partnership with community members, to support the regions BIPOC media entrepreneurs through training, one-on-one coaching, and grantmaking.Deadline to apply: Tuesday, January 18th, 2022 (via CultureWorks)

Whitney Museum Short Course on Contemporary Art Subjecthood in Painting TodayTuesdays, January 18February 1, 6 pm FREEREGISTER: Whitney Webinar Registration site

This three-part course led by Ayanna Dozier looks at the work of contemporary painters of color who utilize the figure to explore the conceptual. Held in conjunction with the exhibition Jennifer Packer: The Eye Is Not Satisfied With Seeing, it offers participants an in-depth view into the fragmented and lush experimental paintings on view in the exhibition.

Considering both the historical Romanticism movement and the post-punk music style of New Romanticism, we will examine the ways in which a new generation is turning away from the rational self and towards the interpersonal, the subconscious, and the dreary. Building on the works of artists like Jennifer Packer, Amy Sherald, Salman Toor, and Jordan Casteel, the course will examine how artists understand angst amid sociopolitical collapse and complacency to oppressive systems.

An open Q&A and discussion follows each session. Registrants can access on-demand course recordings for the duration of the course.

Ayanna Dozier is an artist, lecturer, curator, and scholar. She recently completed her Ph.D. in art history and communication studies at McGill University. She is the author of the 33 book on Janet Jacksons The Velvet Rope. She is currently a Joan Tisch Teaching Fellow at the Whitney and a lecturer in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University.

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In a bleak reflection of ourself-obsessed society, online influencers are cloning their pets for internet clout.

The idea, because we live in a dark timeline, is often to continue making content after the original animal has died.

Take Courtney Udvar-Hazy, the 29 year old behind @wander_with_willow, who cloned her dog Willow with the help of pet cloning company ViaGen and tens of thousands of dollars spent after the pups untimely death in 2018.

It may have helped her grieve her loss but her investment also allowed her to keep the Instagram account going.

I get a lot of crap about cloning, Udvar-Hazy told Input. People say I have zombie dogs, or they call me a crazy rich girl. It was hurtful to me at first.

Udvar-Hazy isnt alone. For instance @ipartywithbrucewayne, a different pet influencer account on the platform, regularly posts photos of four cloned chihuahuas along with the original.

Other accounts including @clash_of_the_clones and @baxter_the_clone also openly market their cloned pets.

Someone could clone their pet and replace the original, Melain Rodriguez, client service manager at ViaGen, told Input. The world doesnt have to know. They may never know.

Its worth noting that having a cloned pet doesnt actually mean itll be an exact replica of the original. In fact, many cloned pets have turned out to be quitedifferent from the DNA donor.

That hasnt stopped the well-off from shelling out anywhere between $35,000 and $50,000 to genetically replicate their beloved fur babies, according to Input.

And honestly, who can blame them? Udvar-Hazy claims that it helped her grieve the loss of her furry companion. Anyone whos ever lost a pet before knows how devastating that can be.

On the other hand, cloning your pet could just as easily be seen as a misguided attempt to bring them back. After all, the clone will eventually die too.

At worst, its a vain and ethically fraught way to gain clout on Instagram andbesides, there are plenty of dogs in shelters out there that are looking for their forever home.

READ MORE: Bring in the clones: Instagrammers are genetically replicating their pets [Input]

More on cloned pets: This Guys $35,000 Cat Clone Looks Nothing Like the Original

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Instagram Influencers Are Cloning Their Pets to Keep Churning Out Content After They Die - Futurism

"How many carrots per mile does that model get?"CPM (Carrots Per Mile)

One woman in Lapland, the frozen northernmost region in Finland, went viral after posting a video of her reindeer-powered sled. Janita Kenttl said on Tik Tok she was traveling to the supermarket the old school way because its more eco-friendly and because gas prices are so high.

When they priced the gasoline 2e/liter and you live in Lapland with long distance everywhere, Kenttl captioned the video, which has more than 600,000 likes and 4,700 comments.

In the clip Kenttl wears a traditional Luuhka, a cold-weather cape sometimes worn by indigenous Smi people of Finland. In the vid, her 3-year-old reindeer Solina pulls the sled along a beautiful snowy landscape, weaving a path between trees, his antlers protruding above a furry coat and white tail.

How many carrots per mile does that model get? one commenter quipped.

According to one tracker, Finlands gasoline cost as much as $8.00 USD per gallon as of early January 2022. If, as Kenttl says, many residents must travel long distances to even get to a grocery stores, its easy to see why such an eco-friendly alternative would be preferable. With oceans hotter than ever before, reducing emissions must be a top priority, and Kenttls team could teach us a thing or two.

Kenttl, president and COO of the Lapland tour company Eanan, says on her site that shes always looking for ways to make her operation more efficient and eco-friendly because nature is everything to her. The team uses reindeer and husky sled dogs for their tours.

In other words, dont fix it if it aint broke. The Smi people have survived in a harsh winter wilderness longer than any car company has existed, so we figure theyre the experts in effective, eco-friendly transport.

Mush!

More on advanced transport: Self-driving Car Has Giant Airbag For When It Accidentally Plows Into Pedestrians

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Gas Prices So High in Finland One Woman Gets Around With Reindeer - Futurism