CEO Futures Briefing: Ultra secure quantum internet and speaking to dreaming people

Insights March 1st, 2021

Each week Nikolas Badminton curates a weekly list of insights and learnings for progressive executives and world leaders – CEO Futures Briefing.

This week we look at ultra secure quantum internet, finding a way to communicate with dreaming people, the ‘FUTURES’ exhibition at The Smithsonian, the search for algorithmic truth, Augmented Reality Neurosurgery, Perseverance Mars Rover’s new home, and more.

Also featured is an insightful interview with Carol Anne Hilton, of Nuu chah nulth descent from the Hesquiaht Nation on Vancouver Island, who talks about ‘indigenomics’ and building a $100bn indigenous economy.

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If you have questions about these things we’re sharing, or a challenge with seeing the futures for you and your organization? Reach out to speak with Nikolas today to arrange a time to talk.

Three Articles to Read

Quantum Network is step towards ultra secure internet

Physicists have taken a major step towards a future quantum version of the Internet by linking three quantum devices in a network. A quantum internet would enable ultrasecure communications and unlock scientific applications such as new types of sensor for gravitational waves, and telescopes with unprecedented resolution. The results were reported on 8 February on the arXiv preprint repository.

“It’s a big step forward,” says Rodney Van Meter, a quantum-network engineer at Keio University in Tokyo. Although the network doesn’t yet have the performance needed for practical applications, Van Meter adds, it demonstrates a key technique that will enable a quantum internet to connect nodes over long distances.

Scientists Find a Way to Communicate with Dreaming People

The veil between dreamworld and reality may be thinner than we thought. In a new study released Thursday, scientists in four countries say they’ve shown it’s possible to communicate with people while they’re lucid dreaming. At least some of the time, the dreamers were reportedly able to respond to yes-or-no questions and answer simple math problems through facial and eye movements; afterward, some recalled hearing the questions during their dream.

Cognitive neuroscientist and study author Ken Paller and his colleagues at Northwestern University in Chicago have been studying the connection between sleeping and memory for years. It’s commonly thought that sleep is crucial to the robust storage of memories created throughout the day. But little is still understood about this process and how dreams might play a role in it.

Envisioning the Future at The Smithsonian

When the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building (AIB) opened to the public in 1881, observers were quick to dub the venue—then known as the National Museum—America’s “Palace of Wonders.” It was a fitting nickname: Over the next century, the site would go on to showcase such pioneering innovations as the incandescent light bulb, the steam locomotive, Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis and space-age rockets.

“Futures,” an ambitious, immersive experience set to open at AIB this November, will act as a “continuation of what the [space] has been meant to do” from its earliest days, says consulting curator Glenn Adamson. “It’s always been this launchpad for the Smithsonian itself,” he adds, paving the way for later museums as “a nexus between all of the different branches of the [Institution].”

Part exhibition and part festival, “Futures”—timed to coincide with the Smithsonian’s 175th anniversary—takes its cue from the world’s fairs of the 19th and 20th centuries, which introduced attendees to the latest technological and scientific developments in awe-inspiring celebrations of human ingenuity. Sweeping in scale (the building-wide exploration spans a total of 32,000 square feet) and scope, the show is set to feature historic artifacts loaned from numerous Smithsonian museums and other institutions, large-scale installations, artworks, interactive displays and speculative designs. It will “invite all visitors to discover, debate and delight in the many possibilities for our shared future,” explains AIB director Rachel Goslins in a statement.

“We believe not in a vision of the future as this dystopian fact,” says special projects and programs curator Monica O. Montgomery, “… but rather a multivalent future.” Far from treating the future as a daunting prospect, she adds, the exhibition aims to spark ideas and demonstrate that the years ahead don’t “have to be something that we are subjected to, but … something we can co-create together with the spirit of agency.”

There is no algorithm for Truth

How does science get communicated in an age of social media? In this Discourse, Tom Scott talks about science communication in the age of social media, how to be popular on the internet, and dealing with a world where view counts are often more important than truth.

Watch the Q&A

New Augmented Reality Technology Guides Spine Neurosurgeon to Success

Kay suffered from debilitating muscle cramping and lower back pain due to spondylolisthesis, a common condition in the lumbar spine. When nonsurgical treatment options failed, she turned to spine neurosurgeon Timothy Witham for help. He used a new augmented reality technology to accurately place spinal instrumentation in her back. Seven months after surgery, Kay has resumed her daily pursuits without pain and is enjoying life.

Tour the Perserverance Mars Rover New Home with Mission’s Experts

Take a guided tour around the first high-definition 360-degree view of Jezero Crater provided by NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover. Mission experts will walk us through the new Martian terrain, explain why it’s got scientists excited, and answer your questions.

The image shows the crater rim and cliff face of the ancient river delta in the distance. The camera system can reveal details as small as 3 to 5 millimeters across near the rover and 2 to 3 meters across in the distant slopes along the horizon.

Speakers are Jim Bell (Mastcam-Z principal investigator, Arizona State University), Elsa Jensen (Mastcam-Z uplink lead, Malin Space Science Systems) and Kjartan Kinch (Mastcam-Z calibration target lead, Niels Bohr Institute of The University Of Copenhagen).

A conversation that counts

Each week we dig into the archives of all of the interviews Nikolas has undertaken with the insightful and entertaining Exponential Minds Podcast. This week we feature Carol Anne Hilton, of Nuu chah nulth descent from the Hesquiaht Nation on Vancouver Island, who talks about indigenomics and building a $100bn indigenous economy.

The last word…

“A revolution on a world scale will take a very long time. But it is also possible to recognize that it is already starting to happen. The easiest way to get our minds around it is to stop thinking about revolution as a thing — “the” revolution, the great cataclysmic break—and instead ask “what is revolutionary action?” We could then suggest: revolutionary action is any collective action which rejects, and therefore confronts, some form of power or domination and in doing so, reconstitutes social relations—even within the collectivity—in that lig `ht. Revolutionary action does not necessarily have to aim to topple governments. Attempts to create autonomous communities in the face of power (using Castoriadis’ definition here: ones that constitute themselves, collectively make their own rules or principles of operation, and continually reexamine them), would, for instance, be almost by definition revolutionary acts. And history shows us that the continual accumulation of such acts can change (almost) everything.”
David Graeber

About Nikolas Badminton

Nikolas Badminton is a world-renowned futurist speaker, consultant, researcher, and media producer. He helps trillion-dollar companies, progressive governments and the media shift their mindset from “what is” to “WHAT IF…” The result is empowered employees, new innovative products and incredible growth that leads to more revenues and a more resilient future.

Nikolas advised Robert Downey Jr.’s team for the ‘Age of A.I.’ documentary series, starred in ‘SMART DRUGS – a Futurist’s journey into biohacking’, and features on CTV, Global News, Sirius XM regularly. His mind-expanding research and opinion can be found on BBC, VICE, The Atlantic, Fast Company, Techcrunch, Business Insider, Huffington Post, Forbes, Sputnik and Venturebeat.

Nikolas provides the opening chapter – ‘Start with Dystopia’ in a new book – ‘The Future Starts Now: Expert Insights into the Future of Business, Technology and Society’ for Bloomsbury. He is currently researching and writing a new book that equips executives and world leaders with insights and foresight tools to imagine disruption, strengthen strategic planning, and see unforeseen risks.

Nikolas is a Fellow of The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce – The RSA. The organization has been at the forefront of significant social impact for over 260 years with notable past fellows including Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin, Stephen Hawking, Nelson Mandela, and Tim Berners-Lee.