In this edition: Cell-grown chicken is cleared for sales, antique-photo collectors adopt facial recognition and we quantify the coming hit to business travel. |
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| ILLUSTRATION: TAKAHARU IGARASHI |
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This year, the Earth has sometimes felt like a hostile environment. It's nothing compared with the moon, with its lack of air, little gravity, sharp lunar dust, radiation and extreme temperature swings. Still, NASA is pushing ahead with plans to establish a sustained presence on the moon. Space experts predict we could have a habitat on the surface in the early 2030s. |
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How will we do it safely? This week, I report on a research project at Purdue University, where students and faculty are building a small-scale version of a moon habitat and simulating disaster scenarios to learn how to build resilient lunar structures. |
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📱Read about what they're building, and what they hope to learn. 🎧 Listen to our latest podcast episode, which considers the psychological effects of living on the moon. 📰 The coverage is part of our upcoming report on the future of Home, which you can read online starting today and in the paper on Dec. 11. What do you think? Would you call the moon home? Why or why not? Send me your thoughts, questions and predictions by hitting "reply" to this email. |
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| PHOTO: AARONP/BAUER-GRIFFIN/GC IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES |
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Hard Landing. Even if Covid-19 vaccines become widespread, business travel is likely to be changed by the pandemic. By how much? WSJ Middle Seat columnist Scott McCartney and three airline-industry veterans dove into the data to come up with a projection. |
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| ILLUSTRATION: KIERSTEN ESSENPREIS |
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📅 Join us for the next (virtual) installment of The Future of Everything Festival Series. What does effective leadership look like in a time of global crisis? In a wide-ranging series of sessions with leaders across business, technology, and government, we explore the traits, skills and strategies required to guide organizations to success during periods of economic and social uncertainty. Mark your calendars for Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. ET, and register here. |
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Making a Home on the Moon | For the vast majority of humans, earth is our home. But that could soon change. Global efforts are underway to build sustainable habitats on the moon within the next decade or two. But beyond covering the necessities in an otherwise uninhabitable environment, we'll also need to consider the psychological effects of living in space, and what it will take to make the moon feel more like home. | |
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Listen on your smart speaker with these voice commands: Apple HomePod: "Hey Siri, play the Future of Everything" Amazon Echo: “Alexa, play the Future of Everything on iHeartRadio" "Alexa, play the Future of Everything on TuneIn" |
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“All of our product development now is being done through the lens of hygiene.” | — Mark Choe, a senior vice president at Samsung’s digital appliances business division. Appliance makers are rolling out models with "disinfection drawers" and ultraviolet lights as consumers stuck at home spend on upgrades. |
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17 | The age of Austin Russell when he founded Luminar Technologies, a maker of sensor technology for self-driving cars. The company started trading publicly Thursday, making the now 25-year-old founder a billionaire. |
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Opening the Web. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities can face roadblocks online. Some organizations are trying to make the web more accessible with plain-language text and an optimized user interface. |
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Last week, we rounded up our favorite coverage of what's next for retail. A reader shares her thoughts: "I am trying to support the small shops. However, they cannot come even close to the selection, price and convenience of online shopping. In less than an hour I had completed my Christmas shopping for five grandchildren. I remember one holiday season when after hours at the mall I could not find my car in the snow-covered parking lot. Most retailers without online service will go out of business." —Tina Gibson, Massachusetts (Responses have been condensed and edited.) |
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The Best Innovations of 2020 (Popular Science) How to Fix America: 17 Ideas to Make the Country a Better Place (New York Times) How a Vibrating Smartwatch Could Be Used to Stop Nightmares (Wired) |
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Thanks for reading. I'm Leigh Kamping-Carder, the deputy editor of The Future of Everything. Follow me on Twitter @Leigh_KC, and reach me by email at leigh.kamping-carder@wsj.com. See more from The Future of Everything at wsj.com/foe. |
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