Welcome to Friday Futures, our weekly guide to the latest visions of The Future from around the web. This week: artificial blubber; Satoshi’s mind games; quantum computers; bacteria in space; mini hearts and what news from `Oumuamua.
MIT looks to seals to keep Navy SEALS alive longer
The Navy SEALs are getting an apparel upgrade. And it’s inspired by actual seals. Members of the elite military special operations force told MIT researchers they needed a way to survive in frigid water longer without losing any mobility. Read more…
Is Satoshi playing mind games with Bitcoin miners, or is he time travelling?
If you’re an active member of the Bitcoin community on Twitter or Reddit, you’ve probably been thinking about this code for hours, thinking of how it could have possibly gotten into your life. Read more…
Quantum computers really are completely different
Early on in the study of quantum computers, computer scientists posed a question whose answer, they knew, would reveal something deep about the power of these futuristic machines. Read more…
Earth bacteria could be contaminating outer space
Earth germs could be contaminating other planets. Despite extreme decontamination efforts, bacteria from Earth still manages to find its way into outer space aboard spacecraft. Biologist are working to better understand how and why some spores elude decontamination. Read more…
Scientists grew some Neanderthal brain so we will know how we got here
So, you might have heard: Scientists figured out how to grow miniature brains out of stem cells. Cool, right? Well, now they managed to grow Neanderthal brains, too. Read more…
Mini hearts could speed up time to market for drugs
Crack open the door of the incubator at Novoheart’s Hong Kong headquarters and you’ll find about a dozen pea-shaped, pulsating blobs submerged in a warm, salty-sweet broth. Read more…
Seems that Serotonin can speed up learning
A new computational-model reveals that serotonin, one of the most widespread chemicals in the brain, can speed up learning. Serotonin is thought to mediate communications between neural cells and play an essential role in functional, and dysfunctional, cognition. Read more…
Watch: `Oumuamua, the first visitor from another Galaxy, how we found it and what it can tell us. Watch the video…
Watch also: Our world in 2050, according to the BBC (with help from friends). Watch the video…
(Compiled by Alex Leslie; edited by John C. Tanner)
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