#spirethoughts

The 1,190 fjords along Norway’s coast take travel time to a new level, with several ferry crossings and a tiring 21 hour ride.

Therefore, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) proposed the world’s first underwater floating tunnel costing an expected USD25 billion. 

Will underwater infrastructure revolutionize travel?

India overtook Japan in 2017 as the third largest manufacturer of compact SUVs.

Big players such as Renault, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ford Motor, Hyundai Motor, Maruti Suzuki and other SUV manufacturers sold 457,698 compact SUVs in 2017 – over four times the unit sales in 2015, at 107,634.

Will India overtake China as the world’s largest compact SUV market?

A room-sized 3D printer?

Torbjørn Ludvigsen is a Swedish inventor whose company – Replicating Rapid Prototyper (RepRap) – is busy raising funds to develop the Hangprinter. This suspended 3D printer uses the walls and ceiling of a room as its “frame” and can be used to print furniture-sized objects in an entire room.

While cable-driven 3D printers already exist, this 3D printer is different. It uses a frameless 3-D printing system which is cheaper to assemble – a mere USD250. It uses an entire house as a 3D printer frame and all parts of the suspended 3D printer are mounted on a single moving unit.

The self-replicating machine is designed to manufacture a large fraction of its own parts.

Will RepRap revolutionize the construction of low-cost buildings for developing nations?

ASEAN gaming on the rise

ASEAN’s gaming market is set for rapid growth. By 2017, there will be an estimated 80 million middle-income households, adding more consumers in the 20-50 years age bracket. This means gaming revenues will reach USD2.2 billion – double in value.

What factors contribute to this emerging market? With improved broadband infrastructure and more disposable income, online as well as mobile gaming is increasingly accessible. By the end of 2016, there will be 230 million smartphones in Asia – which means more potential users.

ASEAN governments have been quick to cash in. For instance, game developers in Indonesia receive subsidies to encourage market growth whereas the University of the Philippines actively promotes game development and design courses, hosts gaming events as well as offers scholarships to attract students.

However, the gaming market in ASEAN is highly fragmented. Each ASEAN country has unique preferences and gaming behaviour. No one single publisher or format can cater to them all. That poses a problem of lack of critical mass in game development.

Can ASEAN become a game development powerhouse?

Astro Live Experiences (ALE), the world’s first aerospace entertainment firm, is launching a satellite to an altitude of 220 miles in the summer of 2019, which will release a meteor shower on command.

Brainchild of University of Tokyo astronomer Lena Okajima, the spacecraft will circle the globe and kick out 15–20 meteor particles. This invention was originally conceived as an opening act for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

However, “on-demand meteor showers” are a threat to the pre-existing satellites, and a crash into any of them would only add to our orbital debris.

Has the era of space entertainment begun?

With the sudden pull-out of the USA from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) last year, the deal was eventually signed by the eleven remaining Asia-Pacific countries and renamed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The current CPTPP members account for more than 13% of the global economy – covering approximately 500 million people and USD10 trillion in GDP.

Microsoft has signed its first solar power agreement with Atria Power in India to purchase 3 megawatts (MW) of solar-powered electricity at its new office in Bangalore, India.

This ensures that 80% of the building’s projected electricity requirement is met but through supporting the local clean energy industry.

Encouraging initiatives like this will help India fulfil its Paris Agreement obligations to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The deal comes a week after the announcement of another deal in Singapore for a 60 MW solar project.

As Sri Lanka experiences demographic shifts – by 2021, 16.7% of the population could be aged 60 or above – the life insurance market is booming.

The nation’s average economic growth stands at a brisk 6.2% since the end of the bitter civil war in 2009, with services and manufacturing leading the way.

As Sri Lankans live longer, demand is surging for insurance products such as endowment and pension policies, with retirement planning taking a front seat.