The Futurist is your daily tech, cosmic, and science (both weird or otherwise) newsletter with articles and content curated just for you. How did the Michelin stars for restaurants get started? Hint: They’re not on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Scroll to the bottom for the answer!) | | “After almost three decades in orbit, a large satellite called ERS-2 came barreling back down to Earth last Wednesday, finally meeting its end by burning up in our atmosphere. Safe to say that the old codger went out in a blaze of glory — and thankfully, we've got photos documenting its epic final moments. Those photos, released earlier last week, come courtesy of the European Space Agency (ESA), and were captured by cameras on board nearby satellites operated by Australian space company HEO.” | Home improvement projects are fun… until you’re making 100 trips to 100 different stores for everything you need. Luckily, The Home Depot isn’t just a DIY — do it yourself — place; they’ve also got home goods so you can decorate it yourself, too. By now, you already know them as your go-to spot for tools and hardware, so why not trust them with all the other steps in your next home improvement project? That includes everything from fashionable furniture to on-trend products to style your home. And now through 3/6, you can get some of their best goods for 30% off with their Presidents’ Day event, plus free delivery on orders over $45. [Ad] | “New ThinkPads are always worth checking out, but it's, ahem, clear what Lenovo's most exciting announcement is at Mobile World Congress. It's hard to ignore, even if you can see right through it: The company is showing off an experimental transparent-screen concept laptop, a ThinkBook the company is dubbing ‘Project Crystal.’ We were able to spend some time up close and personal with Project Crystal at a private meeting before its unveiling, and it made quite an impression.” | “Public libraries have morphed into all-purpose community centers amid soaring demand for social services. Libraries are enjoying a renaissance in usage. They're also battling book bans and bearing the brunt of a host of societal issues — from caring for unhoused people and migrants to distributing COVID tests and Narcan for drug overdoses. The result is frazzled staff and budgets spread thin from competing needs.” | Do you remember how you learned your first language as a baby? No, of course you don’t. But we can tell you this: You didn’t sit in classes studying grammar for hours. You just absorbed it by listening to the sounds around you. And that’s kinda how Rosetta Stone approaches language acquisition. You’ll start by matching simple words with images, working your way up to phrases and conversations. And just like how your parents and teachers corrected your pronunciation, Rosetta Stone has advanced speech recognition tech that does the same thing, listening to what you say 100x per second (which is probably more than your parents and teachers could ever say.) Use code ROSETTA to get the app and all 25 language courses for $160 for life. [Ad] | “Robots are good at a great many things. They can lift impressive loads, learn amazingly fast, and even fly a plane. But when it comes to truly getting us – understanding our messy human emotions, mood swings, and inner neediness – they're still about as good as a toaster is at making art (although some would argue that the perfect piece of toast is a kind of art, but we digress). This has been slowly changing over time though, and a new system announced by researchers from Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) may just push the emotional intelligence of our tech ahead even faster.” | Interested in having one of your social posts featured in The Futurist? | | The answer: from the Michelin tire company, to sell tires | According to Escoffier School of Culinary Arts website: “Interestingly, the invention of the Michelin Star rating coincides with the invention of the automobile. Michelin Tire founders and French industrialist brothers Andre and Edouard Michelin compiled the first Michelin Guide in 1900 with the aim of creating a demand for automobiles — and therefore, a need for more Michelin tires. The French guide was handed out for free and included maps, plus instructions on how to repair and change tires. To encourage drivers to use their cars and explore a little more, the guide also included a list of restaurants, hotels, mechanics, and gas stations along popular routes in France.” | | | | |
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