1. Patagonia’s Structural Change for Climate
Patagonia owner Yvon’s revolutionary structural change could set a new standard for how big corporations are owned. The new system means all profits are controlled by two charitable, action-focused organizations, that will reinvest profits into fighting the ecological emergency. It’s a huge challenge to the incumbent, individualist shareholder-focused system. How will the fashion industry and other multinational organizations react?
2. Future of Work for Digital Nomad Families
Boundless Life’s new initiative, Boundless Education, is aimed at Digital Nomads who want to take their families on their nomadic adventures. How can we futurize remote work, making it appropriate for different kinds of workers? Based on the Finnish Education system, promise to give the families in their remote, European-based communities, the chance to ensure that rich, holistic learning can be a part of their nomad life.
3. Symbiotic Skyscrapers from AI Imagination
Using word prompts, designer and architect Manas Bhatia worked with MidJourney, an AI brain, to create detailed images of futuristic, symbiotic city-scapes. This is one version of futuristic urban planning that depends on the political will to bring carbon-zero to reality, and a desire to use our cityscapes to achieve that goal. AI’s capacity to create hyper-realistic, immersive scenes is increasingly jaw-dropping and could help inspire Next-Generation connected cities.
4. The Revival Project: NFTs to Rebuild Culture
Tapping into the cultural power of NFTs, The Revival Project is approaching their collection from a new perspective. What if we could use the trending power and popularity of NFTs to fund the reconstruction of lost cultural sites in a war-torn country? Designed by 7 Ukrainian Collectives and supported by Meta History Project and Deposit Photos, the collection will feature 30+ digital-art interpretations of destroyed sites such as OTOG STUDIO. All funds raised will go towards the rebuilding of these sites.
5. Font Collection Preserves Indigenous Languages Digitally
Typotheque has released 3 new families of fonts; October, November, and Lava, which have a range of indigenous languages from around the world. It was often impossible for these languages to be communicated digitally, displaying the dreaded ‘unknown character’ box. Now the speakers of these languages, and anyone interested in their eternal preservation has the chance to replicate the type digitally. All of the new fonts are from indigenous North American communities.
6. Creating Breathable Air on Mars
The MOXIE experiment from MIT has been attempting to produce oxygen on Mars since 2021. Now they are consistently reaching their targets. MOXIE works like a tree, it inhales carbon dioxide from Mars’ atmosphere and exhales oxygen. Could a scaled-up version make Mars a livable environment? They are going to push the limits of their creation to see if they can extrapolate results to the capacity of a society-level system.
7. #WAGMI NFT Collection from Neurodiverse Artists
The inclusive collective of neurodiverse digital artists, Project Onward, is making a big step for mankind, as they launch their second NFT drop, #WAGMI. The collection, available to purchase on Gamestop and their own site, Moon Landing, features a display of references to pop culture such as Snoop Dogg, Frida Kahlo, and Kobe Bryant, from the intriguing minds of their artists. Creating space for a diverse range of artists in Web3 is a mission we can all get behind.
8. Driverless Vehicles Delivering Your Dinner
Uber Eats has partnered with Nuro to begin delivering food orders with autonomous vehicles in 3 US states. This next-generation idea will come as no surprise to tech enthusiasts; the complexity of autonomous driving vehicles has been rapidly increasing. However, if this beta test proves successful, it could cause quite a stir with the incredibly large number of Uber and other delivery company drivers. They have been a huge part of fueling the Gig Economy, where could these workers take their skills if they aren’t needed to drive?
9. Vogue’s Metaverse Atelier with Holographic Conversations
This month, Vogue hosted a members-only Atelier in the Metaverse, partnering with Epic Games. They showcased seven lifelike, multidimensional fashion pieces using avatars. The showcase featured an interview with Gary McQueen, who appeared as a hologram in conversation with Maghan McDowell. It was possible thanks to the innovative use of green-screen technology. Users could walk freely around the scene, and either watch the two in conversation or just listen as they explored the various areas and digital fashion on show.
10. Seoul Cemented as a Major Player in the Global Art Scene
September 2-5th saw the first edition of Frieze Seoul. It was Frieze’s first event held anywhere in Asia. Featuring over 110 galleries, it cemented Seoul’s place as one of the world’s major global culture hubs. Korean culture has been finding its way west with many films, TV series, restaurants, and markets finding steady ground in Europe and The Americas. A big generation of young art collectors in Seoul are stimulating fine art in the city, giving innovative artists real promise to see their work find a home in either galleries or private collections.
11. Ethereum Cuts Carbon Emissions by 99%
As the primary blockchain used to process transactions of digital art, the climate impact was a heavy weight on the shoulders of the crypto giant. After the Merge, Ethereum’s energy output will reduce from 23m megawatt-hours per year to 2,600 megawatt-hours per year. As part of the long-awaited upgrade to Ethereum 2.0, the climate impact is an incredible achievement. It’s a massive moment for the crypto and NFT world, as the system’s future viability depended on how it could grow into a climate-conscious world. Proof-of-stake systems are poised to become the best current option for tokens.
12. AlphaFold AI is Making Medical History
The incredible AI program, Alphafold is now able to achieve 90% accuracy in predictions of protein folding. Why is this important? That means it can successfully identify almost all types of DNA, and therefore apply the correct medical analysis to samples. For example, one research team who is working on creating medicine to fight antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria is now able to achieve advanced results in 30 minutes. It’s the first time in 10 years of their research project that this is possible, and they never thought they would see results this quick in their lifetime! The open source program will bring about a new generation of advanced med-tech.
