We harness the power of the sun using solar panels. What if you were to scale this idea to astronomical proportions? Surround an entire star with solar-collecting structures or satellites to power your sprawling alien galactic empire. Such massive structures are known as megastructures—in this case a “Dyson sphere.” We are already trying to detect possible megastructures in space using the dimming of a star and the glow of megastructure components in infrared light. But recent research provides a new detection method—a Dyson sphere may cause its host star to swell and cool.
In the 1960s, American physicist Robert W. Bussard proposed a radical idea for interstellar travel: a spacecraft that relied on powerful magnetic fields to harvest hydrogen directly from the interstellar medium.
As it’s come to be known, the Bussard Ramjet has since been popularized by hard science fiction writers like Poul Anderson, Larry Niven, Vernor Vinge, and science communicators like Carl Sagan. Unfortunately, a team of physicists recently analyzed the concept in more detail and concluded that Bussard’s idea is not practical. At a time when interstellar travel looks destined to become a real possibility, this analysis might seem like a wet blanket but is more of a reality check.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a seismic shift in the way organizations and offices operate. Working from home has become a preferred option for countless businesses and millions of employees around the globe. The work from home trend might continue in the future too, as it has proven not to affect business productivity adversely. Additionally, as per a McKinsey study, up to 278 business executives plan to reduce their office space by 30% even beyond the pandemic. Work from home is a seemingly viable option for employees for a variety of reasons, one of them being the possible arrival of the metaverse, a concept that will make traveling to a specific location for work redundant. This will affect one particular part of employees’ personal lives—domestic chores. There are more than a few reasons why IoT for smart cities and homes will play a significant role in optimizing household chores.
Domestic chores are an unavoidable yet necessary part of individuals’ personal lives. For instance, tasks such as cooking meals, managing laundry work and making timely lighting and plumbing repairs are hard to overlook, even if an important virtual business meeting is going on. In simple words, tasks such as cooking, cleaning, maintenance and task management act as distractions that stand in the way of remote organizational work. Resultantly, the productivity of remote employees is seriously affected by domestic chores. To state the obvious, remote working blurs the boundaries between the workspace and personal life. Work hours increasingly blend into the time that would normally be associated with completing household tasks. These are remote working problems that you probably know. The biggest problem of remote working is how it has regressed gender equality and the involvement of women in prominent positions at the workplace.
As more businesses include AI sensors in their products, AI skincare devices are becoming more popular and intelligent. Their goal is to provide customers with unique and individualized beauty routine solutions.
