Quick Overview
- COMPUTING: Google unveils Android Q! Actually makes Android worse…
- CRYPTO: Ledger Nano S becomes the first and only certified hardware wallet, nice!
- ENERGY: UN releases huge Climate report detailing how screwed we really are 🙁
- MEDICINE: Woolly Mammoth cells wake up after 28,000 year old nap, wiggle about
- NANOTECH: Researches build 3 x 10^20 molecular motors that all work together
- ROBOTICS: DJI stops producing Phantom 4 Pro, fuels speculation of Phantom 5 soon
- SPACE: SpaceX’s announces their Starship should do its first hops next week + pics!
- TRANSPORT: Tesla takes the wraps off their SUV Model Y gives it shadow chrome!
- TRANSPORT: VW announces the pre-order open date for its swanky ID Hatch EV
- TRANSPORT: VW is also pushing back against automaker lobbying group over said EV’s
We believe that everyone’s future can be richer, happier and more efficient, but you can’t embrace that future unless you take the first most crucial step, being informed of it.
Welcome to The Tipping Point, news from the most critical future industries curated for you every week so you can stay informed and prepared. No need to waste hours everyday researching, stay on top of it all with one post and then get back to doing what you do best.
The Tipping point is named after the point at which a new technology goes from being disappointing, expensive and buggy to exciting, exponential, cheap and mainstream. This point of change often sneaks up on and surprises everyone including industry experts!
No matter if you’re personally employed in the industry or just a lurker, The Tipping Point is vital to staying up to date and being ready to transition smoothly rather than getting caught off guard.
This Weeks News!
COMPUTING: Google unveils Android Q! Actually makes Android worse…
Google has released the first Android Q beta build for all Pixel’s and you can flash or OTA update yours right now at the link… but I wouldn’t recommend it. The new version of Android basically has zero new features that most people would care about whilst being buggy, unstable, slow and introducing a number of… let’s say “controversial” features. Things like embedding that god awful bathtub notch from their Pixel 3 XL into screenshots. Just.. why Google? Why?
CRYPTO: Ledger Nano S becomes the first and only certified hardware wallet, nice!
The Ledger Nano S, one of the most popular cryptocurrency hardware wallets has just received the CSPN First Level Security Certificate. It’s the first and only hardware wallet to receive such a security certificate and Ledger hopes that it will spur the entire industry to significantly increase security across the board. They’ve also released some very interesting details about their “Attack Lab” where they’ve long been performing penetration testing not only on their own products but others too.
ENERGY: UN releases huge Climate report detailing how screwed we really are 🙁
The UN has released the Global Environment Outlook 6 paper, produced by 250 scientists across 70 countries. In short… it’s not pleasant reading. Besides being 700+ pages it states issue after issue on how bad things really are and quite frankly this is required. People should not be sheltered from just how bad climate change is and will get as otherwise it decreases the required urgency.
You often hear mentions of the climate being “2 or 3 degrees hotter” if we don’t change our ways but what does that really mean? Here’s a brief summary taken from multiple scientific estimates for Australia, a first world country. Poorer countries will be much worse off:
- DANGEROUS RISK (2°C+): Climate Refugees Intensify, Increased Crop Failure And Fires, Water/Food Prices Extremely Volatile, Emergency Services Continuously Fail, Carbon-Cycle Feedbacks Intensify
- CATASTROPHIC RISK (3°C+): Outright Chaos, Major Coastal Cities Gone, Billions Of Climate Refugees, Huge Crop Failure And Fires, Water/Food Prices Skyrocket, Emergency Services Collapse, Carbon-Cycle Feedbacks Skyrocket, Tipping Points Likely, 15% Ecosystems Loss
- EXISTENTIAL RISK (4°C+): Human Life All But Eradicated, 80%-90% Global Human Population Loss, Adaptation Likely Impossible, Devastating To Majority Of Ecosystems, High Probability Of Climate Being Unstable, Carbon-Cycle Feedbacks Accelerate, Tipping Points Certain
2°C+ temperatures are currently estimated to arrive around 2035. 3-4°C+ temperatures could come as early as 2055 if we do not cut all carbon emissions immediately. We are literally playing the most stupid game of chicken with the Earth and the Earth can’t actually loose.
MEDICINE: Woolly Mammoth cells wake up after 28,000 year old nap, wiggle about
Biologists in Japan have reactivated dormant Woolly Mammoth muscle cells that died over 28,000 years ago by implanting them into mouse ovarian cells. Once the cell nuclei were incubated, they seemed to reawaken—but only slightly. The cells did not divide, but completed some steps that precede cell division. This also doesn’t mean they’ll be bringing back the Woolly Mammoth, at least not any time soon.
NANOTECH: Researches build 3 x 10^20 molecular motors that all work together
In what seems like a rather major breakthrough organic chemists at the University of Groningen have created 3 x 10^20 (yes you read that right!) molecular motors that all attach together in a 3D cage lattice structure and function together to pump liquids or gases. Besides being quite the feat of engineering to build a motor using only a couple of dozen atoms, they’ve also managed to produces huge numbers of them inside a cubic centimeter. The motors can all be simultaneously activated via UV light and are contained within a Metal-organic framework (MOF). Check out the piece for fascinating pictures and more details!
ROBOTICS: DJI stops producing Phantom 4 Pro, fuels speculation of Phantom 5 soon
Both the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 and now the plain old Phantom 4 Pro are now totally out of stock on DJI’s own website. While DJI are officially stating that they aren’t being sold due to a “shortage of parts from a supplier” others are speculating that it means a Phantom 5 release is imminent. The Phantom 5 has been rumoured for many, many months now and wouldn’t be a surprise seeing as many of the details have already leaked as you can read here. Hopefully we see something official soon!
SPACE: SpaceX’s announces their Starship should do its first hops next week + pics!
Get ready for either some epic Starship hopper test videos next week… or some even more awesome explosion videos. SpaceX is putting the finishing touches on their first Starship test mule after fitting the first raptor engine to the craft. You can see photos on it on the link but they have another cool video of them testing the Starship heat shield at 1,650 degrees Kelvin. Hot baby! 😀
TRANSPORT: Tesla takes the wraps off their SUV Model Y gives it shadow chrome!
We knew it was coming and even knew mostly what it would look like but now everything is official and you can even head over to Tesla’s website and plonk down your money to order one. The 7 seater SUV is slightly bigger/roomier than the Model 3 sedan and has a 368-480 km range but also has another unique difference, shadow chrome trim! The handles, turning signals, door trim etc are all now a cool black by default rather than the bright silver on the Model 3. Personally I’m hoping they do the same thing to the Model 3!
TRANSPORT: VW announces the pre-order open date for its swanky ID Hatch EV
VW is talking up its first ID all-electric hatchback that it will be releasing this year. Being the first in the ID series and apparently quite affordable too (starting at $30,000) it’s expected to make quite the splash. VW are even already stating that the launch edition will “already have sold out before we unveil the ID in September”. You can pre order it starting May 8 but as that’s before the September unveil it’ll be sight unseen. While the outside (and specs) do look super appealing VW along with most other major car manufacturers have never been very good at interiors. Tesla’s still handily creams them all… maybe the ID will light the way though?
TRANSPORT: VW is also pushing back against automaker lobbying group over said EV’s
And in some other important VW news they have surprisingly come out against the Association of the German Automotive Industry (VDA), a powerful lobbying group in Germany. Usually these associations lobby against EV’s or fuel efficiency mandates on behalf of all car companies because, you know, preventing atrocious death and world damage might lessen their profits a bit! This time around though VW are wanting the association to stop focusing on “technology openness” (ie. alternative fuel vehicles) and instead direct all forces towards all electric battery cars. Is this the start of VW and perhaps other major car companies finally changing their constant lobbying against the worlds better interest? Hopefully.
And that’s all! See you next week with more critical news!
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