Insights September 2nd, 2016

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 – Nootropics and eSports we look at the trends that we should be aware of today, September 2nd, 2016. The future of the eSports gamers using nootropics, AI in the sky, soft robotics, solar sharing, and biohacking for encryption.

Do Nootropics Give Esports Gamers an Edge?

See more at VICE Motherboard

CIA reveals Spacenet ‘AI in the sky’ that could constantly monitor activity on Earth via high resolution satellites

SpaceNet will launch with an initial contribution of DigitalGlobe multi-spectral satellite imagery and 200,000 curated building footprints across the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

It is a collaboration between DigitalGlobe, CosmiQ Works, and NVIDIA, and the imagery is now freely available as a public data set on Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS).

‘Innovation of AI algorithms is fueled by large, high-quality, labeled datasets like SpaceNet and flexible, open-source machine learning tools,’ said Dr. Jon Barker, Solutions Architect at NVIDIA, best known for its computer graphics chips.

‘Researchers will be able to create high-impact geospatial applications by applying our DIGITS deep learning tool to the SpaceNet data corpus.’

Read more at Daily Mail

The first autonomous, entirely soft robot

A team of researchers with expertise in 3-D printing, mechanical engineering, and microfluidics has demonstrated the first autonomous, untethered, entirely soft robot. This small, 3-D-printed robot — nicknamed the octobot — could pave the way for a new generation of completely soft, autonomous machines.

Read more at Science Daily

Blockchain grid to let neighbours trade solar power in Australia

The blockchain is coming to Australia’s electricity grid. On 25 August, a group of neighbours will test a system to trade excess energy from solar panels between themselves using a blockchain to record the transactions.
Run by local start-up PowerLedger, the trial at a retirement village in the city of Busselton, Western Australia, is another sign of the energy industry’s growing curiosity about the technology.
Residents on the west coast of Australia see 300 days of sunshine per year and rooftop solar panels are growing in popularity, says PowerLedger co-founder Jemma Green. Rather than sell excess energy back to the power company, the blockchain will allow residents to trade directly with the people around them, with the ledger keeping track of transactions.
Read more at New Scientist

The Man Biohacking Encryption From His Garage

Our friend Amal Graafstra from DangerousThings.com is featured in this new Motherboard video.

See more at VICE Motherboard and see him implant Nikolas Badminton at the From Now Conference here.

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Nikolas Badminton is a world-respected futurist speaker that researches, speaks, and writes about the future of work, how technology is affecting the workplace, how workers are adapting, the sharing economy, and how the world is evolving. He appears at conferences in Canada, USA, UK, and Europe. Email him to book him for your radio, TV show, or conference.

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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.

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