Contents
The mutation of the coronavirus opens a new chapter of the pandemic. Forecasts for 2021 inspire hope for a digital future and scientific breakthroughs. Cyberpunk in prosthetics expands human capabilities
Topics of the week
- New Strains, New Challenges
The UK this week was in the role of China – the world began to urgently close from the country, cargo transportation was disrupted and international air traffic was partially closed. The new strain of coronavirus B.1.1.7, which scientists discovered in England, may be 70% more infectious than the virus that came from Wuhan. Experts from the Center for Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Diseases in London predict that in 2021 the number of hospitalizations and deaths may exceed the peaks of 2020.
The “British version” of the disease managed to seep through the hastily closed borders. It has already been found in Switzerland, Germany, Singapore, Denmark, Holland and even Australia. At the same time, another new strain was identified in Nigeria, but its mutations cause much less concern among scientists.
On Wednesday, December 23, on the news of a dangerous new strain, the British currency fell more than 1% against the euro and 1,6% against the dollar. Stock quotes of vaccine manufacturers also went down: for Moderna – by 8,6%, and for BioNTech – by 5,5%. But pharmaceutical companies were quick to assure that vaccinations would be just as effective in the case of version B.1.1.7 of the coronavirus. However, the head of Pfizer, Albert Burla, clarified that additional research would be required and in two weeks there would be enough data to confirm the relevance of the developed vaccines for sure. At the Center. Gamalei explained that the Russian Sputnik V vaccine creates immunity to the entire spike protein of the coronavirus, and the new mutation changes only a small part of it.
“Being an optimist, I would say that these mutations will not affect the effectiveness of the vaccine, but in fact, to some extent, they can affect the outcome of vaccination. What we really need to know is the extent of the possible impact.” — Jason McLellan, molecular biologist at the University of Texas at Austin
- New Year is coming soon: forecasts or predictions
Towards the end of 2020, analysts and journalists seem to prefer to talk about the future, so as not to list the mostly depressing results of the outgoing year. TASS, together with the HSE Institute for Statistical Research and Economics of Knowledge, has identified trends that will affect our lives in the coming year. Experts predict that the demand for multifunctional home spaces will change the way developers approach layouts. The increased interest of consumers in health will affect the boom of the entire medical and near-medical field, including consulting psychologists, products for a healthy lifestyle and dietary supplements. Travel will become more budgetary, and distances will be shorter, domestic tourism will surpass international. Demand for Internet communications and online leisure will increase sales of related devices such as personal headsets, quality webcams and studio equipment.
According to Amazon, 2020 has accelerated the transition of society to the digital world, and 2021 can be the launching pad for all kinds of technological transformation. The tech giant predicts a boom in cloud services: access to data and work with them will become ubiquitous. Machine learning will learn to apply in a variety of industries, and digital technologies will manage changes in the physical space. Amazon has high hopes that in 2021, distance education will still be able to prove its worth.
Perhaps it is high time for universities to take into account the tectonic shifts in the approach of employers to hiring employees. Recruiters will focus not on academic degrees, but on whether the candidate has skills applicable in different areas, how much the specialist can adapt to changes, HR experts predict. And at interviews, they will continue to ask not only about the achievements at the previous place of work, but also about how a person spent quarantine and coped with work tasks remotely.
Nature magazine has drawn up its plan for 2021 – from the world of science. The open scientific data project deserves priority attention, which should provide global and operational availability of research results from laboratories from around the world next year. The project is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Scientists expect a breakthrough in the study of stem cells due to the update of international rules on human embryo research. Space discoveries will be associated with expeditions to Mars, where China, the United Arab Emirates and the United States have sent their vehicles.
News of the week
- The Central Bank is considering replacing the system of pension savings with individual investment accounts.
- COVID-19 first reached Antarctica: military personnel and workers at the Chilean station Genaral Bernardo O’Higgins fell ill on the coldest continent.
- France has accelerated the acquisition of citizenship for 700 foreigners who worked at risk of contracting COVID-19 in the service sector.
- Co-working network WeWork will deploy “internal” 5G networks in its office spaces with provider Verison.
- Scientists from the South Russian Polytechnic University have developed a plastic from plant recyclable materials that decomposes in the sun.
- Apple plans to launch its own self-driving car model in 2024.
- The first series of Sber drones took to the streets of Moscow for testing.
Week numbers
- Every third Russian citizen aged 18 to 55 uses sharing services, although he can afford to buy everything he needs.
According to a BrandScience study, 57% of those surveyed would like to own fewer things. BBC Research predicts the growth of the global sharing economy by 31,9% per year: c2c-commerce (second-hand goods resale market) and carsharing are growing due to the expansion of geography and audience. BrandScience believes that consumers aged 16-24 act as drivers of the sharing economy.
- Coronavirus has already infected 1% of the world’s population.
According to TASS, the total number of cases in the world has exceeded 77,95 million people. The highest percentage of infections in countries with lower population density: Andorra (9,9% of the population), Luxembourg (7,3%), Montenegro (7,2%), USA (5,6%). In our country, this figure is about 1,9%.
- Since June 2020, 8 million Americans have moved into the status of the poor.
According to researchers from the University of Chicago and the University of Notre Dame, more than 27 million US citizens “sometimes or often” experienced food shortages in the past seven days. Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, warns that rising inequality could lead to political and social unrest in the US.
“The worst thing is if certain sections of society say that this is no longer their country. Or not their citizens.” — Ray Dalio, billionaire founder of Bridgewater
Ecotrend: why brands tell consumers about the impact of food production on the environment
Swedish food company Felix has opened a pop-up store in Stockholm where pricing takes into account the product’s carbon footprint. The more emissions during the production process, the higher the price of such a product. Each customer in the experimental store was given a notional budget of “carbon dioxide equivalent” to buy a week’s supply of food. Felix wanted to show how easy it is to make a choice in favor of sustainable food if the products are clearly labeled.
Meat substitute manufacturer Quorn labels 60% of its products with a “climate” effect. Swedish plant-based milk brand Oatly calculates the eco-footprint of its beverage production, from the farming process to when the product hits the store shelf. On a dedicated CarbonCloud web platform, Oatly enters information on ingredients, energy consumption at the factory, production waste volumes and ways to ship goods. The system automatically calculates the impact of the entire chain on the environment.
A survey by the Carbon Trust, which evaluates the carbon footprint of various products, found that two-thirds of consumers in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United States support the introduction of product labeling according to the degree of environmental friendliness of production.
What to see
Tests prove that while singing in a medical mask, the performer does not spread particles that can spread the virus. This could bring back traditional religious services and choir performances after months of banning public singing. BBC TV shows how University College London evaluated the process of singing for the spread of saliva microparticles.
The NES lecture hall talks about the professions of the future in finance. Ilya Strebulaev, a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, was invited to discuss education in demand in the venture capital industry. An expert in corporate finance and investment explains what skills are needed to contribute to accelerating economic growth.
What to read
Billionaire Ray Dalio’s book The Big Debt Crisis. Principles of overcoming” is published in Russian. The creator of one of the world’s most successful hedge funds breaks down how debt crises work and offers principles to overcome them. These algorithms are helping investment firm Bridgewater predict and prepare for economic storms. A few years before the 2008 financial crisis, the Dalio hedge fund developed a strategy to measure depression. As a result, the company and its owner, unlike most businesses, did not suffer huge losses.
The director of the London Design Museum, Dejan Sujic, has written a book about cities, where he talks about the modern system of organizing society. The space that is formed by a person and for a person can explain the behavior of the crowd, provoke loneliness and dispose to a sense of unity. Strelka Mag publishes a chapter from the book “The Language of Cities” by Dejan Sujic. In this passage, he considers the different roles of the crowd: how the masses of people on the street, in transport or rallies change the course of history, the appearance of cities and the future.
“Now that city dwellers make up the majority of the world’s population, it is especially important for us to study those characteristics of urbanism that give us a chance to strengthen the fundamental properties of the city. The city is the most complex and extraordinary creation of mankind. It can be perceived as a living organism. And living organisms inevitably die when they are mistreated,” Dejan Sujic. “Language of cities”.
What to listen
Podcast “We are all going to die. But it’s not accurate ”explains the concept of apocalypse cinematography from a scientific point of view. Blockbusters about global catastrophes could become a source of mass scientific enlightenment, because such tapes always gather full houses. The authors of the podcast analyze several of these films: what they could teach or, conversely, how they are trying to confuse the layman.
Vasily Khlebnikov, co-founder of the Motorika company, became a guest of the podcast “Mom, I’m in a Startup”. He talks about cyberpunk and what human augmentation is. These are technologies that improve human nature with the help of robotic prostheses of the future. Inventions of this kind are already replacing missing limbs today. But they can also provide new opportunities not only for the movement of the body. For example, Motorika is embedding a contactless payment system and smartwatches into hand prostheses.
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