This Weirdly Smart, Creeping Slime Is Redefining Our Understanding Of Intelligence

Plus, Why People Believe Conspiracy Theories. [Welcome To The Futurist] 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 anytime below. /money [‘Are All Jobs... Bad?’ | Vice]( [‘ARE ALL JOBS... BAD?’]( Are all jobs... bad? Because right now a lot of people are feeling very hopeless about the idea of having a job that checks all the boxes: 1) pays well (or just a living wage), 2) isn't totally toxic and/or managed by total clowns, 3) allows you to have decent work-life balance, and 4) isn’t totally racist and/or isn’t actively making the world a worse place. Our prospects just feel… bleak. Here are a few examples of what one reporter is seeing personally, and hearing from friends. [Vice]( /gear [These Discounted Mics Are Great For WFH And Audio Production | Engadget]( [THESE DISCOUNTED MICS ARE GREAT FOR WFH AND AUDIO PRODUCTION]( The shift to working from home turned certain pieces of equipment into a necessity. If your webcam isn't up to snuff or if your lighting isn't on point, how can you hold a successful Zoom meeting? And yet, one WFH essential that we tend to overlook is the microphone. Nearly every laptop has a mic, but they aren’t reliable, especially for extended daily use. External mics offer more consistent, clear sound, which is crucial if you spend hours at a time in virtual meetings. Check out these deals on microphones from Ergopixel that will make working from home easier for you and your colleagues. [Engadget]( /science [This Weirdly Smart, Creeping Slime Is Redefining Our Understanding Of Intelligence | Science Alert]( [THIS WEIRDLY SMART, CREEPING SLIME IS REDEFINING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF INTELLIGENCE]( The plasmodium form of Physarum polycephalum, or the many-headed slime mold, fills an important ecological role, aiding in the decay of organic matter to recycle it into the food web. This bizarre little organism doesn't have a brain, or a nervous system – its blobby, bright-yellow body is just one cell. This slime mold species has thrived, more or less unchanged, for a billion years in its damp, decaying habitats. And, in the last decade, it's been changing how we think about cognition and problem-solving. [Science Alert]( /inspire [Get The Global HR Your Growing Business Needs - Remote | [Partner]]( [GET THE GLOBAL HR YOUR GROWING BUSINESS NEEDS]( Working with a distributed team? Big or small, every global business needs to meet appropriate HR and compliance standards. [Remote]( is the platform that helps simplify everything from onboarding new employees and contractors to paying them. Start streamlining your HR activities and take 50% off Remote’s global employment solution costs on your first employee for the first three months! [Partner] /interior [@alexisarmanet on Instagram]( [@alexisarmanet]( /vice [Why People Fall For Conspiracy Theories | FiveThirtyEight]( [WHY PEOPLE FALL FOR CONSPIRACY THEORIES]( Conspiracy theories have long been part of American life, but they feel more urgent than ever. Innocuous notions like whether the moon landing was a hoax feel like child’s play compared to more impactful beliefs like whether vaccines are safe (they are) or the 2020 election was stolen (it wasn’t). It can be easy to write off our conspiracy theorist friends and relatives as crackpots, but science shows things are far more nuanced than that. There are traits that likely prime people to be more prone to holding these beliefs, and you may find that when you take stock of these traits, you aren’t far removed from your cousin who is convinced the world is run by lizard people. [FiveThirtyEight]( /health [These Vitamins Are Changing The Wellness Game | HUM]( [THESE VITAMINS ARE CHANGING THE WELLNESS GAME]( Vitamins can be a bit of a bore….unless, of course, they come in the form of delicious gummies. That’s why HUM stepped up to the plate — you can get your nutrition fix for virtually every area of wellness, from skin and nails to gut health, mood, sleep, and more. Seriously — if you have a health concern, they make a delicious vitamin for it. It’s truly that easy. [HUM]( /tech [Does Tech Need A New Narrative? | The New Yorker]( [DOES TECH NEED A NEW NARRATIVE?]( In April of last year, as COVID-19 cases spiked across the country, Marc Andreessen — a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and angel investor best known for cofounding Netscape, in 1994, at the age of twenty-two — published a blog post to his firm’s Web site, titled “IT’S TIME TO BUILD.” “Every Western institution was unprepared for the coronavirus pandemic, despite many prior warnings,” Andreessen wrote. He went on to argue that certain shameful facts about the response to the coronavirus — shortages of swabs, reagents, gowns, and surgical masks; the absence of a vaccine or treatment; insufficient and inaccessible bailout funds — were not just failures of action and imagination but evidence of regulatory capture, “inertia,” and a “widespread inability to build.” The consequences of this inability could be seen elsewhere — in housing development, education, manufacturing, and transportation. But what, exactly, are we building? [The New Yorker]( /posted [@joethommas on Instagram]( [@joethommas]( /bites - [This coil-shaped table lamp]( is just really sick - [Brilliant]( offers over 60 interactive, actually enjoyable courses in math, science, and computer science. The first 200 people to sign up get 20% off - Build [This $19 device]( drives out insects & pests without using any chemicals THE FUTURIST [Advertise]( [Talk to Us](mailto:letschat@getthefuturist.com) | [Shop]( | [Unsubscribe]( [Follow The Futurist on Instagram! | @getthefuturist]( Powered by StackCommerce 21 Market Street | Venice, CA 90291