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☢️🚀 NUCLEAR ROCKETS: MARS IN JUST 6 MONTHS?! Ohio State scientists are building a new rocket engine that runs on liquid uranium instead of solid fuel. It’s called the centrifugal nuclear thermal rocket (CNTR) — and it could cut the trip to Mars in half. Instead of 9 months there and 9 months back, astronauts could make the round trip in just 420 days.
—> ⚡ DOUBLE THE POWER: Normal chemical rockets top out at 450 seconds of thrust. Old-school nuclear rockets hit about 900. CNTR? A wild 1,800 seconds. That means more speed, more cargo, and way less waiting around in space.
—> 🧑🚀 WHY IT MATTERS: Faster rockets mean astronauts spend less time exposed to radiation, and scientists can send bigger missions to Mars, Saturn, and beyond. Imagine refueling from asteroids or zipping to Neptune in record time. The future of space travel just got a big boost.
Sources: Rude Baguette | Interesting Engineering | Gizmodo | Daily Galaxy
Still a Nittany Lion fan… WE ARE… going to Mars… send me…
hello, future. it’s me, kev.
…and this is a dispatch from the digital frontier. It’s time to meet the future NOW — with the latest on markets, tech, and freedom. The day is 258. The year is 2025. The planet is Earth.
The planet has complete 70.68 percent of its orbit around the Sun. My name is Kevin Cirilli —> LinkedIn. Spotify. Sign-up to receive the future in your inbox here.
Back to the future...
ROBOTS
🤖📚 MEET MISTY: THE ROBOT THAT MAKES READING LESS SCARY
A new study from the University of Chicago shows that kids get less anxious reading out loud to a robot than to an adult. The robot, named Misty, gave kids a no-judgment space to practice — making their voices steadier and their heart rates calmer. One child put it simply: “Even when I made a mistake, I knew it couldn’t be mad at me.”
—> 💡 WHY IT WORKS: Robots can give feedback without kids worrying about being judged. That frees up mental energy for learning. The study tracked heart rate, vocal jitter, and facial temp — and Misty consistently calmed kids’ nerves compared to reading to a human.
Source: UChicago
—> 🚀 BEYOND READING: Researchers say the idea could stretch way past classrooms. Robots might help patients talk about tough topics with doctors, or help beginners practice new skills — from painting to physical therapy — in a safe space. As lead researcher Lauren Wright said: “The difficulty should come from the skill itself, not our fear of practicing.”
As CNET put it:
The findings hint at a future where robots aren't just teaching tools but could act as emotional buffers, helping kids build confidence in moments that can otherwise feel intimidating. However, it is undetermined if these robots could improve reading comprehension.
QUANTUM // ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
🤖📉 ONE-THIRD OF THE INTERNET IS JUST BOTS. AND IT’S GETTING DARKER. Cloudflare says nearly 1 in 3 clicks online comes from bots, not people. Entire corners of the web are now AI models scraping, chatting, and even arguing with each other. Some experts call it the Dead Internet Theory — a digital mall where the stores are empty, and the mannequins talk to each other.
—> 🔥 “THE INTERNET IS AN ACCELERANT”: After the assassination of conservative Charlie Kirk, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told CBS, “No matter how much I might deeply disagree with his political views, the idea that he would be killed in such a grotesque and public way has to bring all of us to reflect about how hard it’s getting, because the internet is an accelerant.”
—> 🧑💻 WHY YOU CARE: Bots aren’t just filling space — they’re shaping the tone of the web. When fake accounts and angry algorithms drown out humans, it warps everything from politics to daily conversation. Leaders are pushing for reforms like the Kids Online Safety Act to cut down on harm. The future of the internet may hinge on whether people — not bots — reclaim the conversation.
MARKETS // ECONOMY
📊⏳ THE FUTURE OF ECONOMIC DATA: ARE QUARTERS AND MONTHS TOO SHORT? From Wall Street to Main Street, the way we measure the economy is built on rhythms — companies report profits every quarter, and the government publishes jobs numbers every month. Now leaders are asking: are those timelines too short for the long game?
—> 💰 QUARTERLY EARNINGS DEBATE: President Trump suggested companies could move from quarterly to semiannual reporting, arguing it would save money and let managers focus on long-term growth. Big names like Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon have raised similar concerns, saying quarterly guidance pushes businesses toward short-term thinking instead of building for the future.
—> 👷 JOBS DATA UNDER REVIEW: The White House is weighing changes to how the Bureau of Labor Statistics collects and reports monthly jobs data. Officials say they want better accuracy and faster updates, possibly using new technologies. Critics warn that trust in the jobs report — the single most-watched measure of America’s labor market — must be preserved as methods evolve.
—> 📣 WHY YOU CARE: These aren’t just inside-baseball tweaks. The way we report earnings and jobs shapes how investors, workers, and policymakers plan for the future. Longer timelines might free leaders to think big-picture — but they also risk leaving us in the dark when change is happening fast.
Sources: CNBC | Wall Street Journal
CLONING
🐜🧬 ANTS JUST BROKE THE RULES OF NATURE: CLONING ANOTHER SPECIES?! In southern Europe, scientists found ants doing something straight out of science fiction. Queen Iberian harvester ants can lay eggs that hatch into a totally different species of ant — cloning their neighbors instead of making their own!
—> 🧪 HOW IT WORKS: Usually, species stick to their own kind. But these queens make both hairy male ants of their own species and bald male ants from another species. That means they can run their colonies even when the other ants aren’t around. Scientists call this wild trick “xenoparity” — birth of another species.
—> 👩🔬 WHY IT’S COOL: This is the first time any animal has been seen cloning another species as part of its normal life cycle. It shakes up what we thought we knew about biology and teamwork in nature. Researchers say it’s a big reminder that nature still has surprises waiting.
Sources: Live Science | Yahoo News
ONE MORE THING
With gratitude,
Kev
ABOUT mtf.tv’s meet the future: mtf.tv’s meet the future is a cutting-edge platform focused on addressing key challenges at the intersection of national security, technology, and business. With a mission to embrace freedom to meet the future’s challenges and opportunities, mtf.tv offers forward-thinking media offerings and forums.
mtf.tv’s meet the future founder Kevin Cirilli.
