Welcome to this 82nd issue of our newsletter “Weak Signals and other Trends”. Each week, I sift through hundreds of sources of inspiration to track where we’re heading. If you are a new subscriber to this newsletter, take the time to send me a note and introduce yourself, I love to understand who is reading.
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I am sending this newsletter this week from Montreal, Canada. This is what I noticed these past couple of weeks, thank you for sharing this newsletter with those who look into the future.
Estelle.
Competitive Intelligence
Debirdifying. The search engine of our life. Tax Filing Websites Have Been Sending Users’ Financial Information to Facebook.
Strategic blindspots
Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots.
Rent your backyard. Electric Truck Stops Will Need as Much Power as a Small Town. Get ready for a "ghost hotel". Restaurants are fighting back. East Asia produces. Of Defining Moments & Black Swans. Extreme and unacceptable risks. Inside Campbell Soup’s overhaul to innovation. Meta’s game-playing AI can make and break alliances like a human.
Black hole thought experiments and this quote:
The Universe cannot always be understood through observation. Instead, physicists explore by devising thought experiments.
Our future
Mushroom-derived electronics designed to biodegrade when discarded. Home Is Where the Healthcare Is. 12 Top Metaverse Predictions for 2030. Future Technologies Will Democratize Marathons. China just announced a new social credit law. Foodtech is pushing culinary and wellness boundaries. Patents Forecast Widespread Reach of AI Tech in 2023.
We keep you updated on those trends and more on Twitter.
Weak signals
Weak signals are indicators of a change, a trend or an emerging risk that might become significant for the future. They allow us to run hypothesis, expand our thinking, and challenge assumptions. How will you interpret those in your industry or field of expertise?
Libraries Are Launching Their Own Local Music Streaming Platforms. A Japanese food so popular there's a 30-year waitlist. Diverse Santas. Songs Are Getting Shorter because… Layoffs at Amazon, Meta, and Twitter signal a major shift in Silicon Valley. Bob is back. Wireless charging technology for e-scooters. Daboons, Tiktok’s new imaginary economy. Vegan wool?
On our radar
I have been immersing myself into the future of agriculture this week: Five future trends in food and agriculture. How to make corn more like cactus. From Agriculture to AgTech. The future of food and agriculture: Trends and challenges (and pathways to 2050). Agriculture 4.0.
Numbers
50- 50 million Americans will travel for Thanksgiving.
Down the rabbit hole
This section highlights a subject that lead me to many useful threads, or a single site, that opened many doors: “A rabbit hole is not a distraction. A rabbit hole is your brain trying to tell you to pay attention to something you’re curious about. Ignore algorithmic rabbit holes” ( by are.na)
This week, I went into this site summarizing what is happening at Twitter.
Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for curious minds and the polymaths
Top 200 Most Common Password List 2022. The leap second’s time is up. Catching rudeness is like catching a cold. An integrated view of plant signaling. A history of the menu. Mapping Wikipedia. The grocery tech graveyard. What You Learn From Eating Alone. 271 Years Before Pantone, an Artist Mixed and Described Every Color Imaginable in an 800-Page Book. How colours affect the way you think. Guide to Transient Astronomy.
I like new words, this week I discovered: Cacoethes.
Feeling good
Shipping news. The Electric Flying Car Racing. Artistic Duo Uses Drones to Visualize the Future of Architecture. Childishism. Tell me what to read.
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