This Book Fungus Hints At Alien Life

Plus, a pup reunites with his family after a 1,600-mile journey.

The Futurist uncovers unique and inspiring topics that feed your curiosity. Curated articles on technology, science, and culture delivered to your inbox. Not for you? Unsubscribe by clicking here. /bots HOTELS SAY GOODBYE TO DAILY ROOM CLEANINGS AND HELLO TO ROBOTS AS WORKERS STAY SCARCE Travelers have returned from the pandemic, but hotel workers have not, creating unprecedented staffing challenges for the hospitality industry. According to the Labor Department, there are 350,000 fewer people working in hotels today than there were in February 2020, before the pandemic. NPR /fintech BALANCE: IT'S NOT JUST DIGITAL B2B PAYMENTS. IT'S PEACE OF MIND If an organization can't receive payments easily online, scaling e‑commerce channels will be nearly impossible. Balance is solving this problem for manufacturers, wholesalers, and marketplaces in the B2B world. This flexible payment solution is transforming the B2B e‑commerce landscape by making online payments as simple as consumer ones. The technology is advanced, but the user interface is intuitive, dramatically improving the experience both for customers checking out and the internal A/R teams overseeing payments. Not only can Balance facilitate payment processing via ACH, wire, check, or credit card, but it can also underwrite customers for net 30, 60, or 90 terms. All while providing instant vendor payouts. And automated reconciliation. That means less manual labor for your team, and improved customer satisfaction – not to mention sales. [Partner] BALANCE WITH BALANCE /story DOG THAT WENT MISSING IN CALIFORNIA IS FOUND A YEAR LATER – IN KANSAS A dog missing from its California home for more than a year has been found alive and well – albeit 1,600 miles away in Kansas. No one knows how Zeppelin, a three‑year‑old German shepherd mix, made the journey across a giant swath of the United States, but he is alive and well and is now heading home for Christmas. The Guardian /curious YOUR DOG'S HEALTH SHOULDN'T BE A GUESSING GAME — GET $30 OFF TODAY'S MOST COMPREHENSIVE DOG WELLNESS TEST Itchy paws? Always tired? Struggling to lose weight? While it's easy to notice these common pet problems, it's pretty difficult to identify the causes and determine the right solution. Your dog can't tell you, but Checkpup is here to empower pup parents with the next best thing. Checkpup is a comprehensive, personalized wellness assessment designed to unlock valuable insight into 20 essential areas of your pup's nutritional and functional health, so you can stop harmful trends in their tracks and help your pup thrive. Treat yourself to your own Checkpup test kit today, or gift a kit to the dog lovers in your life. Don't miss this exclusive deal, and get $30 off your Checkpup purchase with code FUTURIST30 (automatically applied at checkout). CHECK YOUR PUP WITH CHECKPUP /interior @giampiero.tagliaferri /science WHY A BOOK-LOVING FUNGUS HAS ALIEN-HUNTING SCIENTISTS EXCITED An Italian library is the last place you'd look for analogs for alien life, but it turns out that you should definitely look. Alien life might survive "uninhabitable" environments by simply changing them, suggests a recent study of — bizarrely enough — a fungus that grows on book covers in climate-controlled libraries. Inverse /innovation SCIENTISTS PROPOSE BUILDING CITY INSIDE GIANT BAG AROUND ENTIRE ASTEROID Researchers admit that it's "wildly theoretical" to propose putting a giant mesh bag around an asteroid to build space cities — but it's technically feasible, they argue. The major drawback of using an asteroid for this purpose is that they're often more of a collection of rubble than our Earth's solid surface. But that's where the mesh bag comes in. Futurism /posted @maxdrekker /bites This 4-piece sampler pack of wine-based cocktails are exactly what you deserve in the new year — Get 35% off now Discover how efficient B2B e‑commerce payments could be — See for yourself Do it up on date night without letting your significant other know you saved hundreds — Get a $500 Restaurant.com e‑gift card for only $70 THE FUTURIST Advertise |  Talk to Us  |  Shop |  Unsubscribe Powered by StackCommerce 21 Market Street | Venice, CA 90291 View this email in your browser