VR IN PRISONS—CAN TECH BREAK THE CYCLE? A California prison program is using VR headsets to reconnect people in solitary confinement with the outside world—and the results are wild. Infractions dropped 96% in one week, and one prison shut down an entire solitary unit.
—> WHO’S IN SOLITARY? It’s not just violent offenders. Many end up in restrictive housing for mental health crises, minor violations, or protective custody—locked in a cell 23 hours a day for months or even years.
—> WHY IT MATTERS: Love it or hate it (I hate it) — solitary doesn’t rehabilitate, it destroys. Studies show it causes severe psychological damage, making life after prison even harder.
—> HOW VR CHANGES THE GAME: With a headset, incarcerated people experience real-world scenarios—walking through a city, sitting at a family dinner—then process emotions through art, theater, and meditation. It’s teaching emotional awareness and conflict resolution in a way that solitary never could.
—> THE FUTURE OF REHABILITATION? VR is now in four California prisons, and demand is growing. If it can change behavior in one of the most extreme environments on Earth, could it also work in mental health care, addiction recovery, or trauma therapy? Tech-driven rehabilitation is just getting started. 🔗🧠
Source: The Guardian
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 71. The year is 2025. The planet is Earth. My name is Kevin Cirilli —> LinkedIn. Spotify. Sign-up to receive the future in your inbox here.
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NOTABLE: Intel taps industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan as CEO, betting on an outsider to revive the struggling chip giant. 🔥💾 WSJ
Back to the future...
FUTURES
MARKET REBOUND? AI STOCKS LEAD AS WALL STREET SHAKES OFF INFLATION FEARS: Wall Street caught a break Wednesday as the S&P 500 climbed 0.5% and the Nasdaq jumped 1.2%, with AI stocks leading the charge. A cooler-than-expected inflation report gave investors hope—but it wasn’t all smooth sailing. The Dow swung 700+ points throughout the day before closing slightly lower. 📈
—> WHY IT MATTERS: After weeks of volatility, markets are still on edge as Trump’s trade war keeps stocks jittery. While AI stocks rebounded, uncertainty about global trade continues to shake up Wall Street.
—> MEET THE FUTURE: AI is proving it’s here to stay, but market swings are the new normal. Can the rally last, or is this just a brief AI-fueled bounce? 💰🤖
INFLATION DIPS—BUT TARIFFS COULD PUSH PRICES BACK UP: Inflation cooled to 2.8% in February, down from 3% in January, but the relief might not last. With new tariffs looming, prices on key goods could spike again, keeping businesses, consumers, and the Fed on edge. 💸📉 Source: WSJ
CRYPTO
RUMBLE BETS BIG ON BITCOIN—WHY IT MATTERS TO YOU: Video-sharing platform Rumble just bought $17.1 million in Bitcoin, joining Tesla, MicroStrategy, and others stacking crypto on their balance sheets. The company plans to allocate up to $20 million of its excess cash into BTC, calling it a hedge against inflation and a strategic long-term play. 📈
—> WHY IT MATTERS (EVEN IF YOU DON’T FOLLOW CRYPTO): Big companies don’t just buy Bitcoin for fun—they see it as a store of value that can’t be printed or inflated like government currencies. If more firms follow, Bitcoin could shift from a speculative asset to a mainstream financial reserve—impacting savings, investments, and even the economy itself.
—> WHY COMPANIES ARE MOVING CASH INTO BITCOIN: Businesses are buying Bitcoin because it can’t be printed like regular money. With inflation eating away at cash, companies like Rumble see Bitcoin as a way to protect their money and store value over time.
—> MEET THE FUTURE: Bitcoin isn’t just for traders anymore. As corporations “buy the dip”, it raises the question—will Bitcoin become the gold standard of the digital economy? 💰🚀
Source: Decrypt.com.
SPACE
STARLINER ASTRONAUTS FINALLY COMING HOME AFTER 9 MONTHS IN ORBIT. What was supposed to be an 8-day trip turned into a 9-month stay—but now, Starliner astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams are finally getting ready to return to Earth. Their replacements, NASA’s Crew 10, are set to launch Wednesday night, clearing the way for their long-overdue trip home. 🚀
—> WHO’S TAKING THEIR PLACE? NASA’s Anne McClain, pilot Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov will dock with the space station Thursday morning. Once they’re onboard, Crew 9—including the “stranded” Starliner astronauts—will begin their return journey on March 16.
—> WHY THIS MISSION MATTERS: The Starliner saga has been one of NASA’s biggest spaceflight delays in recent history. While SpaceX’s Crew Dragon has dominated commercial space travel, Boeing’s Starliner is still proving itself as a viable ride to orbit. If all goes well, this could be a key moment for future commercial spaceflight.
Source: CBS News
QUANTUM // ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
AI CRACKS QUANTUM TELEPORTATION—COULD THIS MEAN INSTANT DATA TRANSFER? Scientists just got outplayed by AI—again. A neural network has discovered a faster, easier way to teleport information, a breakthrough that could revolutionize internet security, speed up computing, and make sci-fi tech real. 🚀🔬
—> WHAT DOES THIS ACTUALLY MEAN? Right now, when you send a message or load a website, your data travels through wires and networks—which takes time and can be hacked. But quantum teleportation is different: it allows information to be transferred instantly, with no physical connection. It’s the foundation for a super-secure, ultra-fast "quantum internet". Until now, making this work was slow and complicated—but AI just found a shortcut.
—> WHY THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING: Scientists thought there was only one way to make quantum teleportation work—and it was hard. AI proved them wrong, figuring out a simpler, faster way that could make instant, hack-proof communication a reality.
—> THE FUTURE OF TECH? If this breakthrough scales, we’re looking at a world where data transfers instantly, banks and governments use unbreakable encryption, and even things like teleporting energy or AI-powered supercomputers could be possible. If AI can rewrite the rules of physics, what’s next? 🧠💡
Source: Daily Galaxy
ONE MORE THING
GEN-Z’s FAITH IN FREEFALL—YOUNG AMERICANS ABANDON RELIGION AT RECORD SPEED. The next generation isn’t just drifting away from religion—they’re leaving and not coming back. New data from the General Social Survey shows that "none" is now the top religious affiliation among adults under 30, surpassing Protestants and Catholics for the first time in U.S. history, according to a new Substack post by
. 📉—> DATA:
🔹 1978-1982: 57% of young adults were Protestant, 27% Catholic, 13% “none.”
🔹 1998-2002: Protestants dropped to 44%, Catholics to 25%, while "nones" grew to 22%.
🔹 2018-2022: 42% now identify as "none," while Protestants fell to 29% and Catholics to 19%.
—> WHY IT MATTERS: This isn’t just a temporary phase—younger generations aren’t returning to religion as they age. Only 54% of people raised Catholic still identify as Catholic, and just one-third of former Episcopalians stay in their church. The religious landscape in America is being rewritten in real-time.
—> WHERE THIS IS HEADED: If trends continue, historic Protestant denominations could collapse within 30 years. Non-denominational Christianity is growing but barely keeping pace. Catholicism’s future in the U.S. now rests on Hispanic and immigrant communities, which have stronger retention—but even their numbers are slipping.
Source: The Pillar
With gratitude,
Kev
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