World Futures Fall 2021

The article talks about religon in the next 30 years. Most all major religons will grow. There will also be growth in the number of people who don't idenitfy with any religon. Islam seems to be the religon with fastest growth, while Christianity will see the highest concenrtration outside of the US where we see most christians today.

The third edition of NASA's "International Space Station Benefits for Humanity" book now is available. The new edition fills more than 200 pages with the many benefits of conducting research on the orbiting microgravity laboratory and includes new assessments of the economic value - as well as greater detail about the scientific value - of the International Space Station. Really this is NASA defending it's spending.

Despite its humanistic, universalizing pretensions, however, NewSpace does not benefit humankind as such but rather a specific set of wealthy entrepreneurs, many of them originating in Silicon Valley, who strategically deploy humanist tropes to engender enthusiasm for their activities. We describe this complex as 'capitalistkind'. Moreover, the arrival of capitalism in space is fueled by the expansionary logic of capital accumulation. Outer space serves as a spatial fix, allowing capital to transcend its inherent terrestrial limitations. In this way, the ultimate spatial fix is perhaps (outer) space itself. We are seeing a big back lash for the billionaire space race. People don't understand why we're spending all this money for space when we have so many problems on earth.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is evaluating Space Exploration Technologies Corporation's (SpaceX) Starship/Super Heavy program, in particular a proposal to operate the Starship/Super Heavy launch vehicle at its existing Boca Chica Launch Site in Cameron County, Texas and conduct launches originating from this site. This could be real trouble for Musk. If the FAA makes his life difficult, how will he react?

Here, we assess the lasting impact of the pandemic on labor demand, the mix of occupations, and the workforce skills required in eight countries with diverse economic and labor market models: China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Together, these eight countries account for almost half the global population and 62 percent of GDP. Another study that shows how unhappy workers are and that they're squarely in the drivers seat.

Elon thinks he can make the next "window" - 'That window Musk referred to is a launch opportunity that arises every 26 months for mission to Mars. NASA, China and the United Arab Emirates all launched missions to mars in July of this year. The next window opens in 2022 with Musk referring to the 2024 Mars launch opportunity. ' Elon is dependent on NASA and the government for funding and work. The clock is ticking.

The segments mated briefly on Friday are codenamed B4 (the Super Heavy booster) and Ship 20 (the Starship upper-stage). The pair won't launch until they have a licence from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The government agency is currently conducting an environmental review that will invite at some point a 30-day public consultation. So, the maiden orbital outing is still some way off. But Mr Musk is very keen that it should happen well before the end of the year. He described seeing the brief mating of the segments on Friday as a "dream come true". He has to make Starbase work, everything else is dependent on it. Never good to have all your eggs in one basket.

"The defining characteristic of this new version of the creative class may not be where it lives, but its ability to live anywhere it wants. Put differently, people move to certain cities in search of better-paying jobs, but it's now possible to earn high (if not the highest) salaries from almost anywhere. That has been true in certain smaller cities in recent years (Austin and Denver in the United States, for example, and Manchester and Leeds in Britain). To a lesser extent, it has also been true for people who chose not to live in cities at all." Workers hold the power and they need to be able to live and work where they want when they want. We're very reliant on humans, we need to make them valued and show that we are investing in the things they care about.

"It's entirely possible that this carnival barker of a CEO will continue finding crafty ways to extract tax breaks and favorable contracts from government entities for the rest of his career. But we should be alive to the ways in which Musk's reputation is built on a faulty foundation of borrowed money and worker exploitation. To Musk, the government is only useful in helping to enrich him, and he otherwise expects it to stay the hell out of his way. The problem is that he is now powerful and rich enough to get his wish. For all his supposed brilliance in developing electric vehicles and rockets, this may be his greatest talent: grifting the government. In doing so, he's creating a roadmap for reform, if politicians care to notice." Now he is reached a new level of rich. What if he gets sideways with the government. What if he picks up his toys and moves to Russia? Mars? This a great example of things to come...

"Mr. Musk has had an assist from Texas. The state has allocated around $30 million in incentives for SpaceX's Boca Chica operations. In 2013, state lawmakers passed a bill allowing Cameron County to temporarily close beach and beach-access points for spaceflight activity, despite the Texas constitution's protection of the public's free and unrestricted access to beaches." An indication that the community doesn't love it. He railroaded his way in and is staying. I think, sadly most will just leave and take the money.

Oil prices keep going up and up. And two of the most famous names in private equity are stepping down from the company they founded nearly half a century ago. Plus, the billionaire space race may not be much of a race, after all, because Elon Musk is so far ahead. Musk can spread the cost across so many products. He is winning contracts with NASA. He also landed moon lander (3 Billion). He has real scale...the risk is starship.

"It is not possible to, I think, destroy crypto, but it is possible for governments to slow down its advancement," Musk said at the Code Conference in Beverly Hills, California. Another indication of Musk starting to need government to go his way. What is the US government becomes anti- Musk or NASA pulls out or is de-funded?

"History is going to bifurcate along two directions. One path is we stay on Earth forever, and then there will be some eventual extinction event," he said. "The alternative is to become a spacefaring civilisation and a multi-planet species, which I hope you would agree is the right way to go." Musk has often spoken about his dream of building cities on Mars. He believes that settlements would need large numbers of people in order to become self-sustaining. He also needs someone else to build he just wants the transportation.

"The space in which work gets done has radically shifted, but human nature remains the same. As workers, we crave a digital experience that's reliable, equitable, productive, helpful, and pleasant. The organizations that overcome the "experience debt" that overhangs typical digital workplaces - by reimagining and deploying the digital workplace the right way - are the ones that will attract and retain top talent. At the same time, they're continuously improving productivity+.. In doing so, they'll become the organizations and the people that thrive in an ever-disruptive world. + = innovation, inclusion, connection, collaboration, purpose, engagement, and beyond…" This piece hints to that need for a radical new workspace. So good.

Designers should ensure that spaces for all six modalities of work will be available as needed for both hypersensitive and hyposensitive occupants. While the right sizes and combinations of space will vary for each organization, the key is to provide a seamless array of choices. Spaces should easily adapt to the needs of people with work styles and behavioral needs at both ends of the spectrum. They also must be exceptionally flexible to integrate new technologies over time and, as more people continue to work remotely after the pandemic, to blend real and virtual work environments. Our current design is old and un-informed. We are ripe for a huge disruption in this space. I saw some recent pictures of Tesla's office. It's lame. How can you expect excellent and group breaking work when the environment is meh.

"The public hearings showed sharp differences of opinion about SpaceX's plans to conduct orbital launches from Boca Chica. Many attendees were strong advocates for the company and the proposed launch site, calling it critical to the nation's future in space. They also played down the environmental impact, often comparing it to the launch sites at Cape Canaveral in Florida, which are embedded within a wildlife refuge." This hit resonates because it hits on lots of areas - environmental, political, technological, geopolitical, demography... There will always be people for and people against. I feels like Space X did a nice job of stacking the room in their favor.