FUTURIST UPDATE
News & Previews from the World Future Society
April 2003
ANTITERRORIST SPRAY
IN THIS ISSUE:
* Antiterrorist Spray
* Foresight Project Takes on Cyber Crime
* Building Virtual Planets
* Ideas for Making the World a Better Place
* The Future of Beauty
* Click of the Month: Police Futurists International
The same technique used to spray paint cars and protect crops from bugs could help counter the effects of a chemical or biological attack.An electrostatic spray apparatus set up in a walk-through booth would spray a fine, atomized mist of decontaminating compounds through microprocessor-controlled nozzles. Because the droplets are electrostatically charged, they will stick to the skin.
Developed by a team led by University of Georgia engineering professor Edward Law, the system can apply mists of antitoxins, disinfectants, or sanitizers onto bare skin, penetrating the body's crevices and crannies. The system is mobile and efficient, says Law, and can decontaminate some 90 people an hour and without producing a lot of contaminated waste.
SOURCES: The Physics Congress 2003, Institute of Physics, http://electrostatics2003.iop.org/ELST03.7_prog.html
Edward Law's homepage: http://www.engr.uga.edu/people/faculty/law/FORESIGHT PROJECT TAKES ON CYBER CRIME
Ensuring that cyber technology benefits society more than it does criminals is one of the goals of a new project of Foresight, the British government's innovative program launched in 1994 to encourage long-term thinking about potential uses for new technologies.The Cyber Trust and Crime Prevention project will examine how information technology may develop over the next two decades and how criminals might attempt to exploit that technology. The computer industry now faces such challenges as identify theft, surveillance and privacy issues, and the need to ensure that digital information is held in formats we'll still be able to retrieve in 20 years.
Foresight brings together experts and leaders in government and business to study and report on potential opportunities and challenges emerging from science and technology. Other current projects focus on exploiting the electromagnetic spectrum and on controlling flooding and protecting the coasts.
DETAILS: Foresight: http://www.foresight.gov.uk
WORLDFUTURE 2003 PRELIMINARY PROGRAM
Start planning your adventure into the future! The preliminary program for the World Future Society annual meeting, less than four months away, is now being sent to members. Not a member? No problem: Go to the Society's Web site to download a copy. (Remember, though, if you become a member you can register for the conference at the discounted rate.)
WorldFuture 2003 will be held July 18-20 at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco @ Embarcadero Center. The Professional Members' Forum follows on July 21.
NEWS TOO NEW! Two of the outstanding speakers just added to the program: Harlan Cleveland, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, and consultant David Pearce Snyder, Lifestyles Editor of THE FUTURIST.
HURRY! Register by April 30 to save $100 off the onsite registration fee: http://www.wfs.org/2003framemain.htm
BUILDING VIRTUAL PLANETS
What's a planet? And what makes one habitable? Astronomers looking for planets that might hold life need to know what to look for. So a new Virtual Planetary Laboratory will offer researchers a chance to simulate a range of plausible planetary habitats."We're trying to build a terrestrial planet inside a computer," says principal investigator Vikki Meadows of the NASA Astrobiology Institute. "This will help us determine what the signatures of life on an extrasolar planet will look like, once we have the technology to study them."
One goal is to learn how to recognize signs of habitability on other planets, whether there is life on them or not. Since planets completely unlike Earth may still be habitable for unknown forms of life, the researchers will try different formulas of planetary size, composition, location, and temperature to determine plausible conditions for life.
"We'll model everything from frozen hells to burning hells," says Meadows.
SOURCE: NASA, http://www.nasa.gov/missions/future/MI_FM_Landing_Feature_03.htmlIDEAS FOR MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE
"Utopian thinking ultimately comes from the recognition that the world does not have to be the way it is," writes consulting futurist Joseph F. Coates in a new volume of essays from futurists, scientists, scholars, planners, and others engaged in imagining a better world.VIABLE UTOPIAN IDEAS: SHAPING A BETTER WORLD was compiled and edited by Arthur B. Shostak, sociology professor at Drexel University and THE FUTURIST's contributing editor on Utopian Thought.
Wide-ranging topics covered include space exploration, immortality, labor unionism, the role of the university, criminal justice, and the use of poetry as a visioning tool.
ORDER the book:
***************************************************
FORTHCOMING BOOK ON FUTURISM
World Future Society President Edward Cornish is completing work on his latest book, FUTURING: THE EXPLORATION OF THE FUTURE, to be published in October. The book is a comprehensive new guide to the futures field, examining techniques for discovering possible, probable, and preferable futures--and even the wild cards that may be ahead.Members of the Society reserving a copy before May 15 will receive the book ahead of the official publication date--and get a discount of $10 off the list price.
Note, Comprehensive Professional and Institutional Members will receive complimentary copies as soon as they're available. For more information about these programs, see http://www.wfs.org/member.htm.
RESERVE the book: http://www.wfs.org/futuring.htm
***************************************************THE FUTURE OF BEAUTY
"Time to powder your nose," murmurs the compact in your hand. "And a little gloss for the lips, too." A mirror will detect your mood and signal the release of an appropriate fragrance and mood-altering music to lift your spirits.This scenario comes from beauty futurologist Jeanine Recckio, founder of the Mirror Mirror Imagination Group and creator of the Crystal Ball Beauty Trend Report, the first trend report to focus entirely on the beauty business.
The Beauty Report offers forecasts, consumer surveys and analysis, and stimulating ideas for professionals in skin care, hair care, fragrance, cosmetics, wellness, spas, and other beauty industries.
Other specialized trend reports from the group focus on teens, antiaging products, and color forecasts. Also available are customized reports, workshops, and "trend tours" of New York and Paris.
CONTACT: Jeanine Recckio, mailto:jeanine@mirrormirrorinc.com***************************************************
FEEDBACK WANTED! Send comments, contributions, and "Click" nominations for FUTURIST UPDATE to Cindy Wagner, editor, mailto:cwagner@wfs.org
***************************************************CLICK OF THE MONTH:
POLICE FUTURISTS INTERNATIONAL, http://www.policefuturists.org
The Society of Police Futurists International (PFI) is an organization of law enforcement professionals, criminal justice scholars, and others devoted to improving policing through long-range planning and forecasting.The site offers links to the organization's newsletter, as well as articles and news briefs related to PFI activities, including its Working Group with the FBI.
PFI has long been associated with the World Future Society, conducting business meetings and developing session tracks at the Society's annual conferences. This year, PFI has also organized a "Run to the Future" 5K run/walk along San Francisco Bay.
FUTURIST UPDATE: News & Previews from the World Future Society is an e-mail newsletter published monthly as a supplement to THE FUTURIST magazine. Copyright © 2003, World Future Society, 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 450, Bethesda, MD 20814, U.S.A. Telephone 1-301-656-8274; mailto:info@wfs.org; Web site http://www.wfs.org.
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an e-mail message to mailto:majordomo@wfs.org with "subscribe futurist-update" or "unsubscribe futurist-update" in the body of the message.
Send feedback or contributions to Cindy Wagner, editor mailto:cwagner@wfs.org.
THE WORLD FUTURE SOCIETY is a nonprofit, nonpartisan scientific and educational association with some 25,000 members worldwide. Membership in the Society, including a subscription to THE FUTURIST magazine and numerous other benefits, is just $45 per year. For more information on the Society and all its programs, publications, and services, contact Membership Director Susan Echard, mailto:sechard@wfs.org, or visit http://www.wfs.org.