Mindbullets Archive - Page 2 of 94 - Mindbullets by Futureworld

Thorium set to ride the solar wave

China’s Thorium Molten Salt Reactor goes commercial

Dateline:

8 August 2032

A decade ago, Shanghai scientists completed testing of a prototype small nuclear reactor using thorium as fuel and molten salt…

From supercycle to spin cycle

Commodities crash as circular economy kicks in

Dateline:

30 July 2031

It was common cause that all global growth, all added economic value, came ultimately from two sources – agriculture and…

I used to drive a supercomputer

Now my car runs my startup banking business

Dateline:

22 July 2025

Electric cars have come a long way, and because they can virtually drive themselves, they’re packed with computer chips and…

Smart Nutrition beats Animal Farm

Engineered protein means steak without the slaughter

Dateline:

1 July 2030

The focus on electric cars and solar power has not achieved global climate action targets. With greenhouse gas emissions from…

Australia rules!

It’s not the African Decade after all

Dateline:

9 July 2027

Contrary to many expectations among economists and trend watchers, the 2020s have not favoured Africa with a huge growth spurt…

I am ether. I am me.

Provable identity is the crypto killer app

Dateline:

2 July 2025

There’s a dominant use case emerging for the Ethereum blockchain, a killer app that will make crypto as widely adopted…

Futureworld brings you Mindbullets: News from the Future, to spark strategic thinking about leadership, innovation and digital disruption. Our Mindbullets scenarios are designed to challenge conventional mindsets and promote understanding of the future context for business, to help you design and create your business of tomorrow.

A random story from the archives

ROBOT BRAIN WINS RAT RACE

Robot controlled by brain 'grown in a dish' beats live rodent in problem solving exercise

Dateline: 24 November 2014

Giving the term ‘lab rat’ a new meaning, scientists have successfully cultured rat brain neurons onto a robotic controller. But that was four years ago. Now their advanced cyborg rodent is winning against its biological brethren in fairly complex tasks. The original rat-brain robot was little more than a toy; a simple wheeled device that...

Older stories

No customers required

Reverse engineering the business model

Dateline: 27 May 2027

A traditional business typically starts with a product or service and finds customers to buy it. In the information age, an enterprising business starts with the customer, and figures out how to add value by meeting their needs. Sales or revenue from delivering value is the lifeblood of the business in both cases, but working...

Life as an avatar

Say hi to VeRonika, the digital human

Dateline: 21 May 2026

We’re all familiar with Sophia, the social robot, but quite frankly, her conversation skills need an update, and her personality seems to have lost its appeal. As an ‘intelligent’ robot, Sophia seems to be lacking in basic intelligence, and the ability to learn from others. Now meet VeRonika, the digital human. VeRonika, or Roni for...

Air Force None

Combat drones take over from fighter pilots

Dateline: 12 May 2029

It’s the end of an era; the end of daredevil fighter jocks, who could outmanoeuver and outshoot enemy planes in heroic dogfights, and wreak havoc on their targets. The end of pilots with the ‘right stuff’. They’ve been made redundant by technology. Artificial intelligence, missiles, and drones are the new face of the Air Force....

Digital yuan decimates offshore deposits

Smart logistics breeds trusted trading

Dateline: 8 May 2029

For the past 10 years, China has been reinventing the financial side of global trade, using smart logistics to automate shipping contracts, and digital cash for settlement. As early as 2019, the People’s Bank of China had been testing a digital yuan, using Ant Financial’s mobile payments platform. By 2022 they were ready to roll...

Desperately seeking a new hobgoblin

The dark side of defeating Covid

Dateline: 1 May 2023

On the first official day of spring in the global north, we’re looking forward to a glorious summer – a summer without Covid deaths, for the first time in years. That dread disease has been defeated by biotech innovation and public health programs, and is now on the wane, worldwide. Infections are falling fast, and...

SpaceX reinvents airfreight

Starlifters will ship your cargo from Shanghai to New York in 60 minutes

Dateline: 23 April 2028

You can’t blame Elon Musk for having a big fat grin on his face. He’s taken on the aviation and shipping giants, like Boeing, FedEx and DHL, and he’s winning. But instead of using Jumbo Jets, he’s got a fleet of Starships. As the pioneer of reusable orbital rockets, SpaceX has been launching satellites and...

Globalization is dead

Welcome to the new Cold War

Dateline: 16 April 2026

The last five years have seen a roller coaster ride to a new growth spurt on world markets, following the 2020 coronavirus crash. The boom-bust-boom cycle has been characterized by supply chain disruptions and both shortages and surpluses of critical components and products – from vaccines to silicon chips to rubber tires. On the other...

Please get richer, Jeff Bezos

The world needs more value and growth

Dateline: 9 April 2025

Once again, Jeff Bezos is top of the Forbes World’s Billionaires list, just as he was four years ago in 2021. Jeff founded Amazon. Jeff got rich (it wasn’t quick). Now we need him to become even richer, and quickly. The world needs it; we need the value he creates, and the growth he enables....

Suez Canal closed forever

Egypt decries lost money-spinner

Dateline: 1 April 2037

It sounds like an April Fool’s joke, but it’s true – after 160 years of easing world shipping routes, the Suez waterway will be closed for container shipping. There’s just not enough demand to warrant the enormous expense of keeping the route open and operating. The abrupt turnaround has caught owners of megaships by surprise,...

Around the world in 80 seconds

Big Tesla is watching us drive

Dateline: 27 March 2023

The global Tesla fleet travels over 60,000km per minute, on average. That’s about 1.5 times around the world. Every minute of every day, on average. So it’s more like ‘round the world in 40 seconds. And as we all know, every Tesla is packed with cameras, and enough artificial intelligence to make race car drivers...

A random story from the archives

Robot controlled by brain 'grown in a dish' beats live rodent in problem solving exercise

Dateline: 24 November 2014

Older stories

Reverse engineering the business model

Dateline: 27 May 2027

Say hi to VeRonika, the digital human

Dateline: 21 May 2026

Combat drones take over from fighter pilots

Dateline: 12 May 2029

Smart logistics breeds trusted trading

Dateline: 8 May 2029

The dark side of defeating Covid

Dateline: 1 May 2023

Starlifters will ship your cargo from Shanghai to New York in 60 minutes

Dateline: 23 April 2028

Welcome to the new Cold War

Dateline: 16 April 2026

The world needs more value and growth

Dateline: 9 April 2025

Egypt decries lost money-spinner

Dateline: 1 April 2037

Big Tesla is watching us drive

Dateline: 27 March 2023

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