The name of the Indian astrologer Ajai Bhambi, who has the reputation of a prophet in his homeland, is known all over the world. No wonder, his predictions always come true. An interesting point: Bhambi always makes forecasts for the year. He always does it in March. In his opinion, it is during this time of the year, when everything comes true with an accuracy of 99 percent. In March 2021, the Indian doctor of astrology predicted that the planet would begin to forget about the "malicious coronavirus" by the end of February 2022. He said that the disease would still periodically come and go, but people would treat it like common cold.

The future of the International Space Station remains extremely vague. News reports about technical problems on board the ISS became, one might say, traditional. Is it time to decide? The service life of the International Space Station extends till 2024. At the same time, now is the time to decide what should be done to the station afterwards. Late last year, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said that the future of the ISS would be determined in the first quarter of 2021."The fate of the ISS has not been fully decided yet, it will be determined, probably, in the first quarter of next year," Borisov told TASS. He also added that Roscosmos corporation plans to launch a new segment of the ISS, which is expected to become the basis for the Russian orbital station in the future.It goes about "Nauka" ("Science") module, which will become a space laboratory for Russian cosmonauts. Does Russia want the ISS to last longer? Ivan Moiseev, the scientific director of the Institute of Space Policy, believes that stopping international cooperation was out of the question. "There is an official permit to run the station till 2024 - till 2025, in fact. All the countries participating in the ISS agreement agreed to consider the issue of extending the service life of the station till 2028-2030 - that was six months ago," the expert told Pravda.Ru.However, the situation took a turn due to a series of accidents on board the ISS."Those were insignificant accidents, but they create a relevant information background. The government had to decide. If it was not for those accidents, they would have quietly extended the service life of the ISS until 2028, and it would be beneficial to everyone. But when those accidents started happening, they led the general public to believe that the station was falling apart. There were official statements made about the need to finish its work," Ivan Moiseev said.However, the expert believes that the work of the station should be extended. "Therefore, the government apparently will make a decision on the matter in early 2021," he believes.

Formula 1 (F1) has been striving to become more environmentally friendly in recent years while still remaining relevant beyond the race track. The series has included more technology that is seen in street cars, such as small-displacement engines with turbos and hybridization. However, F1's CEO, Stefano Domenicali, has said in an interview with an Italian paper that the series will "never go electric." F1 sees synthetic fuels, also known as e-fuels, as the future of the series. These lab-created fuels are already in limited production but come with an extreme cost. However, this is not a problem for motorsport. F1's goal is to have e-fuels powering the grid by 2026 and then working towards finding a way to use them in passenger cars as combustion bans start to take effect in nations in the 2030s, just as F1 hopes to become carbon neutral.

China has unveiled its latest scientific development — a spheric police robot capable of pursuing criminals. The robot is equipped with artificial intelligence and can operate autonomously. Unlike Western analogues that are mostly used for surveillance purposes, the Chinese robot can effectively operate in a variety of conditions. The new Chinese robot can float and roll both on smooth asphalt and off-road terrain. Even dirt and height will not be an obstacle in its path. It can even fall from a height to continue its mission.  The robot is capable of confronting perpetrators and shooting nets to immobilise them until the human police arrive. It attacks opponents at speeds of up to 35 km/h, and also acts as part of a group with other robots. Its body is very hard to destroy. 

In addition to promises regarding domestic policy, the candidates in the current US presidential elections have released indicative statements about their attitude to major international conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have spoken about Russia as well to outline how they would build future relations with Moscow. Trump has repeatedly stated that he will quickly end the conflict in Ukraine should he return to the Oval Office. "I will literally call two people the same night that I am announced as the winner: Putin and Zelensky. We will make a deal within 24 hours," Trump said.

In October 2024, Russia announced plans to significantly increase year-round shipping through the Northern Sea Route (NSR), aiming a boost in cargo volume to over 200 million tons annually by 2030 — a critical step in transforming the Arctic into a global trade corridor. With 2023's cargo volume already reaching 36.254 million tons, despite a slight dip this year so far mainly due to delays in launching major raw material projects like Arctic LNG 2, the route continues to demonstrate its growing role in Russia's trade and energy strategy. The Northern Sea Route, stretching across Russia's Arctic coastline, has long been eyed as a potential alternative to the Suez Canal for connecting Europe and Asia. With shorter transit times — promising to reduce the distance between Asia and Europe by 10 to 14 days compared to the Suez Canal route — and bypassing congested chokepoints, the NSR offers the promise of a more direct, efficient maritime route between the two continents. This October's decision is only the latest in a series of strategic moves by Russia to establish the NSR as a primary passage for international sea-based trade, catalyzed by Russia's growing ties with both China and India, who are actively seeking reliable access to the Arctic. Amid escalating tensions, particularly the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict, which has the potential to severely disrupt sea trade along the Suez Canal, the NSR's strategic importance becomes even more pronounced.

By Georgia Leybourne, Chief Marketing Officer, Linnworks.

Success in ecommerce and retail today hinges on consumer convenience. It is fast becoming a powerful tool in the e-commerce industry, transforming the way businesses engage with their customers and increasing sales through social commerce.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) provides new and profitable opportunities for increasing organisational, financial and operational performance. For instance, the retail and logistics industries can benefit from the superior RFID technology. DENSO explains why.

According to Forbes, the global smart retail market size is expected to grow at a CAGR of 29.1% by 2030. DENSO accompanies retailers into the future with RFID.

"Tell me the numbers, I'll take care of the politics." Shashi Nambisan, director of the Transportation Research Center (TRC) at UNLV, recalled a pivotal discussion in the early 1990s with then-County Commissioner Bruce L. Woodbury about the transportation needs of a region on the precipice of substantial growth.

The graphics in my post about R^2 were produced by an updated version of a sixty-year old program involving the U.S. census. Originally, the program was based on census data from 1900 to 1960 and sought to predict the population in 1970. The software back then was written in Fortran, the predominate technical programming language a half century ago. I have updated the MATLAB version of the program so that it now uses census data from 1900 to 2020.... read more >>

With the advent of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and data analytics, banks across the world are embracing a new era of innovation to enhance their services and improve customer experiences. These innovations are empowering banks to provide personalized, efficient, reliable, and secure financial solutions to their customers.

The National Academy of Sciences, in partnership with The Kavli Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, will host a symposium to consider the future of science in the U.S. and how it can best serve society in the 21st century.

Feb. 26 Symposium Will Explore How Scientific Research Should Evolve in Coming Decades

Creating an aircraft that will fly in the Martian atmosphere is an engineering tour de force.

A new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine provides comprehensive recommendations for improving the U.S. electric power system so that it can adequately provide electricity to the nation in a safe, reliable, clean, resilient, and equitable way, especially as the U.S. pursues decarbonization of the energy supply.

Increased use of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) presents the greatest opportunity to improve the energy efficiency of light-duty vehicles — i.e., passenger vehicles and light trucks — over the period of 2025-2035, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Experts discuss the future of ocean-based approaches to carbon dioxide removal — including the ethics of investigating proposed strategies, how research can respond to public concerns, and what we need to know to make informed climate decisions.

The theme of the National Academy of Medicine’s 52nd Annual Meeting, taking place Oct. 16-17, is “Revolutionizing the Biomedical and Health Sciences.” NAM President Victor Dzau discusses challenges and opportunities for the health and medicine research enterprise in the decades ahead.

Banks invest in data analytics and AI technologies to enhance customer experience, optimize decision-making, and prevent financial fraud. They focus on platform models, identity analytics, and fraud detection to improve services and security, aiming to capture the customer's financial journey for insights into their buying process.

New data apps tracking firm Sensor Tower indicates the hype has died down and Threads has seen a 20% decrease in active users and a 50% reduction in time spent on the app, from 20 minutes to 10 minutes.

Contact centres may have poor reputations but they should be seen as a strategic resource, says Nicola Millard, BT’s in-house futurist

The evolving roles of Chief Data Officers and Chief Digital Officers amid digital transformation were examined. Industry leaders addressed critical themes such as data governance, innovation, and strategic partnerships, emphasizing the importance of collaboration, customer-centric strategies, and a robust data culture in achieving organizational success

Contact centres may have poor reputations but they should be seen as a strategic resource, says Nicola Millard, BT’s in-house futurist

Using software tools developed by Near Zero, a research group hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Global Ecology, a team of researchers has completed the largest expert survey yet on any energy technology, in this case wind energy.

read more

At CloudWorld 2024, Larry Ellison highlighted Oracle's strategy to enhance security and efficiency through AI-powered autonomous databases and multi-cloud integration. He emphasized the importance of biometric authentication and Oracle’s expanding partnership with AWS to improve data management and performance.

Myke got to try out the Apple Vision Pro – in an exclusive hands-on experience at Apple Park. On this episode, he recounts his entire experience to Grey and talks about what it could mean for the future of computing.

Food manufacturers around the globe need to ensure that quality standards are met—whether they have one manufacturing location or dozens.

Barry Callebaut has built a dedicated hub to power cocoa farming research to support cocoa farming resilience and productivity in Ecuador.

While fresh bread is the largest category in the bakery industry, it has remained relatively flat for the past several years. But several emerging trends have fostered growth, pointing the way toward future potential for the category.

The history of the food industry offers many great examples of notable pioneers who innovated in the face of adversity.

The COVID-19 pandemic has multiple lessons for the snack industry. Overall, the snack industry has had a strong, up year. But the degree of a "COVID bump" varied from category to category. As we emerge and plan for the future, recent, and current, product purchase behaviors can help provide a roadmap for what's to come.

Hungry consumers continue to start their day with flavorful, convenient breakfast goods.

During the last few years, sustainability has received significant attention from many different groups.

Multiple prevailing trends at the consumer and regulatory levels will factor into the business concerns of the bakery industry over the coming year. These include product-development dynamics like non-GMO, nutritional labeling, transparency and food safety—all of which have the potential to positively influence overall shopper perceptions related to bread and the other baked goods that play a part of dietary patterns.

US faces a shortage of 500k skilled plumbers, costing $33bn annually. Plumbing requires rigorous training, creative problem-solving, and meticulous execution. Valuing the critical role plumbers play can address the shortage and pave the way for a thriving water infrastructure.

“I don’t think people care that I’m young, or female. They care about what I know.”
Those words, spoken by Baylie Frost, a virtual design and construction (VDC) lead at Harvey’s Plumbing & Heating in Bozeman, Montana, must be music to the ears of an industry that is seeking to attract more talented young people to its ranks.

Within the halls of our recent meetings, the RPA community witnessed a defining moment. Committees were not just formed; they were crafted as engines of change.

The week includes classroom instruction, an International Apprentice Contest, certification exams and demonstrations and a graduation ceremony in which 170 will be honored for their completion of the certificate program and an additional 45 will earn associate degrees from WCC.

With climate change in mind, it is imperative that industries evaluate current heat safety practices and explore the potential of core body temperature-sensing wearables that accurately predict heat strain, improve worker productivity, and mitigate adverse heat-related health outcomes.

Doug Backinger of Caster Concepts discusses the growing trend of automation and ergonomics in the materials handling industry.

Imagine a world where industrial accidents are almost non-existent, where robots, drones and AI-powered technologies work together to create the safest possible work environments.

I believe that there will likely be greater risk for “safety” job loss when AI and its technology partners get on a full roll.

With consumers demanding more from their beverages, brand owners are employing a myriad of concepts to help the next generation of new products succeed. 

For beverage manufacturers looking to tackle the challenge of building a new facility, experts highlight the ins and outs of planning to get the job done, as well as current trends that are shaping the need to build or revamp a facility.

Nicolette DeVidar, born Kuba, is honored for her work as president and chief executive officer of urban2050

Every Prosocialite NFT comes with a live, custom-branded eCommerce storefront, empowering token owners to merchandise and monetize their owned IP.

Future Electronics is ready to bring customers into 2023 and beyond with Energy Innovation for the future.

EV charging is a major up and coming industry with incredible innovation opportunities. Future Electronics can guide customers through this industry with their Energy Innovation program.