Showing titles in Future Studies

In this bold, powerful book, Yancey Strickler - cofounder of Kickstarter - lays out an inspiring vision for a new world we have the power to create and how we can change course. While the pursuit of wealth has produced innovation and prosperity, it's also produced dire consequences: environmental collapse, corruption, exploitation and unhappiness around the world. 

There are three types of people when it comes to the future: those who will watch what happens, those who will make it happen, and those who will wonder what happened. Which will you be? Our society has widespread and unprecedented access to information, but what do we do with it all? Who do we trust to accurately track our societal trends, interpret them, and see possibilities for the future - and how can we help to shape that future? The answers lie in Futurecast, an insider glimpse of today’s world - and tomorrow’s.

Sensationalism about AI has reached new heights, and getting a useful understanding of it has never been more important. AI will extend and accelerate thinking, delivering unprecedented abundance. But it will also require us to navigate a path of challenges ranging from today’s issues of bias, privacy, and explainability, to job displacement through automation, and a future coexistence with superintelligent machines. This book is the roadmap to that path.

Patrick Dixon looks at how the future will be Fast, Urban, Tribal, Universal, Radical and Ethical - a future of boom and bust and great economic change as the emerging markets grow up; a future of great advances in medicine and also greater threats from viral epidemics; a future of political shocks and greater conflicts; a future in which people will strive for more privacy and businesses will change the way they relate to their staff and their customers.

2021 ist ein Jahr der Zäsur. Mit der Bundestagswahl endet nach 16 Jahren die Ära Merkel, und in einer historischen Entscheidung stärkt das Bundesverfassungsgericht die Freiheitsrechte der jüngeren Generation. Die Ökologie steht nun endlich im Zentrum aller Zukunftsfragen: Wirtschaft, Verkehr, Ernährung, aber auch Wissenschaft, Journalismus und Politik - elementare Bereiche der Gesellschaft müssen neu gedacht werden. Große Umbrüche stehen bevor. Und es hängt viel davon ab, ob wir gemeinsame Lösungen finden.

Nell'agosto 2014 lo scienziato Alessandro Vesespignani riceve una chiamata: un'epidemia senza precedenti sta distruggendo la Guinea, presto contagerà il resto del mondo. Il nome del virus è ormai noto a tutti: Ebola. Vespignani e il suo team si collegano a un supercomputer e, grazie ad algoritmi e simulazioni, riescono a prevedere la diffusione del virus con mesi di anticipo. Predire il futuro è la nostra ossessione sin dall'alba dei tempi.

Über das letzte Jahrhundert hinweg hat sich die Menschheit erfolgreich Hunger, Seuchen und Kriegen gestellt. Aus Erfolg wird Ehrgeiz: Als nächstes stehen Unsterblichkeit, grenzenloses Glück und gottgleiche Schöpfungskräfte auf der To-Do-Liste. Die Verfolgung dieser Ziele wird die meisten Menschen allerdings überflüssig machen. Also bleiben Fragen: Wohin führt unser Weg? Wie können wir unsere Zukunft bestmöglich beeinflussen?

Have you ever wondered how humans will colonize space? This audiobook addresses the major players in the private space industry, NASA's role in privatized space tourism, how the general population will be able to travel to space sooner, and what we can do to achieve a more forward-thinking society.

While reporting just outside of Darfur, Stephan Faris discovered that climate change was at the root of that conflict, and he began to wonder what current and impending - and largely unanticipated - crises such changes have in store for the world. Forecast provides the answers. Global warming will spur the spread of many diseases. Italy has already experienced its first climate-change epidemic of a tropical disease, and malaria is gaining ground in Africa.

Monster explains how we can responsibly engage with technology, and avoid its darker tendencies, while accepting its necessary gifts. For managers, leaders, and employees at companies of all sizes and in all industries, Monster will help you understand and take control of technology's powerful role in your life and your organization.

The first person who will live to be 150 years old has already been born. The screen that we peer into will soon be within us. We could soon be taking happiness pills before breakfast. The perfect partner might need to be charged before bed. This is a new world we are walking into. And the man...

What if the next president of the United States wasn’t human—but an artificial intelligence that already knows everything about you? In this book, I imagine what would happen if ChatGPT—or any advanced AI—became president, exploring how it could begin as a utopian dream where everyone feels seen, heard, and taken care of, before slowly revealing the darker truth of what happens when we surrender our freedom for comfort.

Wheat for a Penny: The Significance of Scarcity in the End Times by César Castro explores the profound implications of scarcity in a world facing unprecedented challenges. Through a blend of insightful analysis and compelling narratives, Castro examines how limited resources impact society, economics, and spirituality during tumultuous times. The book delves into historical precedents of scarcity, drawing parallels to current global crises, while also offering a thought-provoking perspective on the moral and ethical dimensions of resource allocation.

Wie werden wir leben – in 20, 60, 100 Jahren? Star-Physiker Michio Kaku sagt der Menschheit eine rosige Zukunft voraus. Roboter werden uns die Alltagsarbeit abnehmen. Küchengeräte und andere Maschinen steuern wir mit der Kraft unserer Gedanken. Medizinische Nanobots werden aufmerksam durch unsere Blut- und Nervenbahnen eilen und sogar Krebs heilen. Zu lästigen Meetings schicken wir unser Hologramm – an einen Konferenztisch mit virtuellen Menschen und solchen aus Fleisch und Blut. Informationen können direkt über die Retina ins Kleinhirn projiziert werden.

From the global impact of the coronavirus to exploring the vast spread of the Australian bush fires, join authors Ian Goldin and Robert Muggah as they trace the ways in which our world has changed and the ways in which it will continue to change over the next hundred years. Map-making is an ancient impulse. From the moment Homo sapiens learnt to communicate we have used them to make sense of our surroundings. But as Albert Einstein once said, ‘You can’t use old maps to explore a new world.’

This classic essay from Jon Krakauer is now available as an unabridged audiobook download. This essay is also included in the Classic Krakauer collection. From the bestselling author of Missoula and Into the Wild: a selection of the singular investigative journalism that made Krakauer famous...

Au moment où la montée vertigineuse du prix des hydrocarbures et le renchérissement des matières premières suscite déjà au Sud des émeutes de la faim, menaçant au Nord des professions entières, remettant en cause des modes de vie, voici qu'un péril plus angoissant commence à faire parler de lui : le problème de l'eau. Dans dix ans, dans vingt ans, aurons-nous assez d'eau ? Assez d'eau pour éviter qu'à toutes les raisons de faire la guerre s'ajoute celle du manque d'eau ?

When Sleepers, Wake! was released in Australia, it immediately became influential around the world. Now its author, the polymath and former politician Barry Jones, turns his attention to what has happened since - especially to politics, health, and our climate in the digital age - and to the challenges faced by increasingly fragile democracies and public institutions. 

Der Kampf gegen den Klimawandel wird nebenan geführt. Erfinderinnen und Denker, Wissenschaftler und Ingenieurinnen machen mit ihren Ideen und Projekten Mut. Dirk Rossmann und Josef Settele haben sie für dieses Buch besucht, mit ihnen gesprochen und ihre Geschichten aufgeschrieben. Entstanden ist daraus eine beeindruckende Erzählung über Helden zum Anfassen. Eine Erzählung über ihre Innovationen, ihre Zähigkeit, ihre klugen Einfälle, aber auch über ihren Alltag, ihre Normalität. Die Autoren schüren Hoffnung. Und diese ist, neben aller Tatkraft und allen Ideen, von absoluter Wichtigkeit.

Wird der Mensch in wenigen Jahren von der Technik vollständig ersetzt? Was geschieht, wenn die künstliche Intelligenz wahres Bewusstsein erfährt? Was haben die jahrtausendealten ägyptischen Hochkulturen mit der heutigen Entwicklung zu tun? Gibt es einen übergeordneten Plan, die Menschheit auszurotten oder wird die Zukunft golden? Die technische Entwicklung steht an einem entscheidenden Punkt: Vor uns liegt eine Explosion aller Entwicklungsbereiche, die unser Leben auf unvorstellbare Weise verändern kann.