Category Archives: Futurism

In Brief

NASA is looking to get deeply involved in the moon in the coming decades. The space agency has recently delivered a request for information to private agencies seeking to collaborate in future missions to the moon. In the request, NASA writes, NASA has identified a variety of exploration, science, and technology demonstration objectives that could be addressed by sending instruments, experiments, or other payloads to the lunar surface. To address these objectives as cost-effectively as possible, NASA may procure payloads and related commercial payload delivery services to the Moon.

The letter signals an increased interest in both the commercial and scientific research opportunities that the moon provides. As Inverseexplains, the moon could be a haven of valuable resources, like iron and platinum. Experts believe that even with existingtech,space mining is possible. Some experts have even estimated that if NASA were to divert 3 12 percent of their budget to mining efforts, it could become a reality.

The ESA has previously announced plans to build a station on the moon. The ability to mine resourcesfrom the moon itself could minimize cost as minimal materials would have to be launched from Earth and the rest could be3D printed.

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NASA Appears to Be Looking for Partners to Help Them Mine the ... - Futurism

In BriefNew research shows that low oxygen therapy is able toeliminate brain lesions developed from mitochondrial dysfunction inmice. Eventually, hypoxia therapy could be used to treat peoplewith similar disorders and maybe even reverse signs of aging inotherwise healthy individuals. Less Oxygen, Better Health?

Though the medical community has made remarkable strides in recent years, a number of neurological diseases remain incurable. Because many of those are debilitating or even lethal, there has been no shortage of research into potential treatment options, and sometimes, that research can take a rather unusual direction.

One such example of an unusualtreatment is that being explored by researchers from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).Their latest work involves using low oxygen therapy to treat brain lesions caused by mitochondrial dysfunctions.Their findings were published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The researchers first genetically engineered mice to lack a gene that affects the mitochondria and that is mutated in some people suffering from a neurological disorder known asLeigh syndrome. They then exposed some of those mice toair with about half the oxygen levels typically found at sea level. They found that the mice breathing the hypoxic air didnt develop brain lesions and lived a median age of 270 days. The group breathing normal air did develop lesions and lived a median age of only 58 days.

Even more exciting was what happened when mice who already had brain lesions were exposed to hypoxic air after just one month, MRI scans revealed that the brain lesions in those mice disappeared.We found, much to our surprise and delight, that we could actually reverse advanced disease, said lead HHMI investigator Vamsi Mootha, a mitochondrial biologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, in a press release. I dont think anybody thought that these types of neurological diseases could be reversible.

Mootha and his colleagues conducted the research as a follow up to an initial study they had published in the journal Scienceback in 2016. They wanted to find out just how long mice treated with low oxygen levels could live and if such therapeutical hypoxia must be administrated continuously.

The results of the study seem to suggest that only a continuous exposure to 11 percent oxygen would work. Though tolerable, that oxygen level wouldnt be terribly comfortable for a healthy individual, so while this research is both profound and striking, according to Mootha, developing similar hypoxia therapy for humans is still some ways off. We are not ready yet to go into the clinic, he said.

The potential of such a treatment isnt lost on Mootha and his colleagues, however. As all of us age, our mitochondrial activity declines, Mootha explained. If hypoxia can cure mitochondria-related brain disorders, could it also be used to treat neurodegenerative disorders associated with aging? At a time when experts are beginning to see aging as a disease, Moothas low-oxygen therapy is promising after all, aging has been linked to a decrease in mitochondrial activity.

Could a world without neurological disorders, or without aging itself, be one thats low in oxygen? Significantlymore work has to be done for us to find out, but Mootha is optimistic: At a high level, this is exploring the remarkable potential and also the limitations of hypoxia.

Link:
A Breakthrough Oxygen Therapy May Be Able to Reverse Brain ... - Futurism

In BriefThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Radicava, anew drug for ALS. It's only the second time the FDA approved an ALSdrug that could slow down the progress of the disease. The Second of its Kind

By now, most people are familiar with theneurological disorder called ALS, which is short for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, thanks to social media and the ice bucket challenge. The latter was, of course, started by the ALS Association to raise awareness and funding for ALS treatment research. Speaking of treatment, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a new drug for ALS called Radicava, which is based on an antioxidant known as edaravone.

This is only the second time the FDA has approved such a drug meant to treat ALS, and the first one, called Riluzole, was approved 22 years ago. ALS is a disease that affects about 14,000 to 15,000 people in the U.S.according to the NIH,and some 450,000 people worldwide. It also currently has no known cure, which is why new drug treatments are so important.

After learning about the use of edaravone to treat ALS in Japan, we rapidly engaged with the drug developer about filing a marketing application in the United States, explained the FDAs Eric Bastings in a press release. This is the first new treatment approved by the FDA for ALS in many years, and we are pleased that people with ALS will now have an additional option.

Patients diagnosed with ALS have varying life expectancies. At its worst, an ALS patient succumbs to respiratory failure around three to five years after the first signs of symptoms. As such, finding a way to cure ALS is crucial. Of course, Radicava isnt a cure, but it could slow the progressionof ALS.

However, its not going to be cheap. According to a Reuters report, Radicava is going to cost $1,086 per infusion and were talking about 12 to 13 cycles, which puts the total cost to $145,524 without government discount. The pharmaceutical company thatwould sell Radicava, according to the New York Times, is working on a co-payment plan.

Nevertheless, Radicava is expected to be well received. Its exciting. I expect many, if not all, of our patients will be lining up to try to get the medication, Nathan Staff, Mayo Clinics ALS Clinic director, told Forbes.

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The FDA Just Approved the First New Drug to Treat ALS in Two Decades - Futurism

In Brief Iceland currently runs on 100% renewable energy, making them a global leader in the fight against climate change. Their latest project uses a drill named Thor to harness the geothermal energy of volcanoes. Drilling for Clean Energy

Drilling and clean energyare concepts rarely used together in the same sentence, but when it comes to geothermal energy, drilling is a major part of the process. In Iceland, engineers have created a drill which goes by the name Thor that has drilled up to a record-breaking depth of 4,659 meters (almost 3 miles). While this drilling project is experimental, it could potentially produce 10 times more energy than conventional fossil fuels.Click to View Full Infographic

Geothermal energy comes from the Earth, and since the team is digging in volcanic areas, its abundant. These areas, when accessed with a drill like Thor, contain extremely hot (427 degrees C (800 F), pressurized liquids that give off enough steam to turn a turbine, which then generates clean electricity. This project, the Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP), is still in its experimental phases, and hasbeen given two years to demonstratehow successful and economically viable it can be.

Iceland currently runs on 100% clean, renewable energy: approximately 25% geothermal and 75% hydroelectric energy. However, while geothermal energy is much more environmentally-friendly than the use of fossil fuels, it is not completely green. According to Martin Norman, a Norwegian sustainable finance specialist for Greenpeace, drilling for geothermal energy is not completely renewable and without problems. As soon as you start drilling you have issues to it, such as sulphur pollution and CO2 emission and they need to find solutions to deal with it.

While Iceland is making great progress with renewable energy, there are still improvements that can be made to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, according to The Institute of Economic Studies at the University of Iceland, due to their produced emissions, the country will not beadherent to the Paris climate agreement.

However, while Iceland still has a lot to accomplish in order to lessen their carbon footprint, this type of progress is what will make it possible for us to fight the progression of climate change.

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Iceland is Using Extreme Tech to Harvest Clean Energy From Volcanoes - Futurism

Dreams of the future reveal more about the mind of the dreamer than the future itself.

This subreddit focuses on the futurist visions of eras past. However posts may also contain contemporary art with a retrofuturist theme.

Futurism was born out of humanity's reaction to a sudden thrust into technological revolution. To the many that witnessed the rapid change, it seemed technological utopia was fast approaching. This unbridled optimism caused the collective imagination to run wild.

Although many of these visions seem almost comical now - the spirit in which they were created is part of the reason you are currently looking into a glowing rectangle with unlimited, instant access to the sum of all human knowledge.

POSTING GUIDELINES:

Vintage =/= Retrofuturism

Vintage Sci-fi =/= Retrofuturism

Please avoid posting vintage technology, unless it has a intentionally and obviously "futuristic" design.

I will work to prevent default sub syndrome: clickbait titling, meme-ification, etc. So please watch the titling and try to be as informative as possible! Vast majority of submissions have been perfect for the sub and the community is great. Just want to nip any trends in the bud. I reserve the right prune low-quality and/or questionable content to keep the frontpage looking good!

Post only:

1. Futurist visions from eras past.

2. Contemporary art with a retrofuturist theme.

3. Discussion threads related to retrofuturism.

Related Subreddits:

r/ImaginaryTechnology - Sci-Fi and Fantasy art featuring robots, cyborgs, mechanisms and spaceships.

r/FuturePorn - A subreddit for futuristic concept designs.

r/WorldOfTomorrow - Present day predictions of what the future might hold.

r/ImaginaryHistory - If the infinite multi-verse theory turns out to be true, all of this actually exists.

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RetroFuturism: For the fantastic, delusional dreams of our ...

In Brief Researchers believe their surgery-assisting robot is capable of performing complex brain surgeries. The machine can reduce the time of surgeries by cutting down the time it takes to cut into the skull from two hours to two and a half minutes. Doc Bot

Brain surgery is precision business, and one slip can spell doom for affected patients. Even in one of the most skilled jobs in the world, human error can still be a factor. Researchers from the University of Utah are looking to provide less opportunity for those errors to occur. A robot that the team is developing is able to reduce the time it takes to complete a complicated procedureby 50 times. According to CNN, the robot can reduce the time it takes to drill into the skull from two hours to two-and-a-half minutes.

The research was published in the journal Neurosurgical Focus and the team says it is a proof of principle that the robot is capable of performing complex surgeries. The robot is guided around vulnerable areas of the skull by data gleaned from CT scans and entered into the robots programming. The CT scans show the programmer the location of nerves or veins that the bot will have to avoid.

The teams lead neurosurgeon William Couldwelltold CNN, We can program [it] to drill the bone out safely just by using the patients CT criteria, hesaid. It basically machines out the bone.

Aside from the obvious life-savingcapabilities that such a machine would have, it also could potentially save money in the long run. Shorter surgery times will allow for lower costs per surgery as well. Theres also the added benefit of lowering the time a patient is under anesthesia, which can cause its own complications.

Robotics and automation are slowly transforming the way doctors are performing surgery. Some patients may initially balk at the thought of some machine cutting into them and messing with their insides, but these robots can perform with a precision that may be impossible for humans to achieve.

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This Robot Completes a 2-Hour Brain Surgery Procedure in Just 2.5 ... - Futurism