Insights March 3rd, 2017

Each week Nikolas Badminton, Futurist Speaker, summarizes the top-5 future looking developments and news items that I find to be inspiring, interesting, concerning, or downright strange. Each day he reads through dozens of blogs and news websites to find those things that we should be aware of.
In Future Trends – Groceries in the 2040s we look at how grocery shopping will change, reducing food waste, Boston Dynamics’ parkour robot, more drone deliveries, and modular solar homes.

Groceries in the 2040s | The Future of Food

What might a trip to the grocery store be like in the 2040s? This episode looks at how cultured meat, genetically modified produce, augmented reality, vertical farming and automation might transform the future of food.

Denmark reduces food waste by 25% in five years with the help of one woman – Selina Juul

Never underestimate the power of one dedicated individual.
A woman has been credited by the Danish Government for single-handedly helping the country reduce its food waste by 25 per cent in just five years.
Selina Juul, who moved from Russian to Denmark when she was 13 years old, was shocked by the amount of food available and wasted at supermarkets.
She told the BBC: “I come from a country where there were food shortages, we had the collapse of infrastructure, communism collapsed, we were not sure we could get food on the table”.
Her organisation, Stop Spild Af Mad – which translates as Stop Wasting Food – made all the difference and is recognised as one of the key drivers behind the government’s focus to tackle food waste.
“She was this crazy Russian woman that walked in the door, with a crazy idea about stop wasting food and she has come really far since,” Maria Noel, communication officer of Dagrofa, a Danish retail company, told the BBC.
Read more at The Independent

Introducing Handle

Handle is a research robot that stands 6.5 ft tall, travels at 9 mph and jumps 4​ ​feet vertically. ​It uses electric power to operate both electric and hydraulic actuators, with a range of about 15 miles on one battery charge. ​​​
Handle uses many of the same dynamics, balance and mobile manipulation principles​ found in the quadruped and biped robots we build, but with only about 10 actuated joints, it is significantly less complex. Wheels are efficient on flat surfaces while legs can go almost anywhere: by combining wheels and legs Handle can have the best of both worlds.

UPS Tests Residential Drone Delivery

3D printed, smart, modular home is fully powered by solar

A completely passive building, requiring no external structures like foundations, plumbing and water tanks, the PassivDom zero carbon emission, autonomous home is 3D printed in modules. Using proprietary window technology that eliminates nearly all heat loss, the windows are almost as warm as walls, allowing the home to be flooded with light, whatever the weather or climate. Solar panels provide all energy needs, with extra capacity stored in a battery.
The modular design allows the home to be built in a variety of sizes and shapes, and its carbon and fiber glass frame makes it strong yet lightweight. A PassivDom home can be set up in one day and comes equipped with all furnishings and appliances for immediate move-in. Every appliance in the home is connected to the Internet of Things and is controlled via the owner’s smartphone. This allows the home to not only run extremely efficiently, it learns the habits and preferences of residents as time goes by, allowing for increasingly smart functioning across the entire building.
Modular design is helping citizens around the world make more of limited space, which is particularly useful as urban dwelling continues to increase. A mechatronic, dynamic furniture design doubles the live-work space in these homes. And another example of mobile living making beautiful, sustainable design more accessible are these smart, square homes that allow owners to sell excess power back to the grid. Are property laws now in need of an urgent update to better accommodate the variety of new mobile living options?
Website: www.passivdom.com
Contact: info@PassivDom.com
Read more at Springwise

Cities Society Work
headshot

Futurist Keynote Speaker and Consultant - Nikolas Badminton

CEO of EXPONENTIAL MINDS and an award-winning Futurist Speaker, researcher and author. His expertise and thought leadership will guide you from complacency to thinking exponentially, planning for longevity, and encouraging a culture of innovation. You will then establish resiliency and abundance in your organization. Please reach out to discuss how he can help you, and read on to see what is happening in the world this week.

Contact Nikolas