Why Slush is the one tech event I never miss … 17 years in
Tech news in a nutshell ~ Startups investors, and the Northern magic of Slush ~ How technology, climate, healthcare, and society will change in the next 50 years ~ What I think about space tourism
“The future has never been more uncertain.” - Susan Fourtané
This week in Lux Ad Futurum …
Can you believe half of this year is already gone? It’s now 2025 and a half, at least for the next 30 days. It’s officially less than six months for Christmas. Time to start thinking where I will hide for the holiday season. The weather is behaving in some strange manner, although it should not surprise me. Why aren’t we living “in” the planet rather than “on” the planet? This might change in the future when humans will become an interplanetary species and establish a colony on Mars.
Midsummer was a sad, rainy day and my plans for a small picnic in the forest ended up with me having a small Afternoon Tea in the kitchen watching the rain. It was a nice storm, actually, including thunder. It felt almost like a perfect day: stormy but comfortable temperature. The birds went into hiding and remained silent.
Last Sunday, whilst it was still raining, I decided to rant about what I think about space travel. Most precisely, about Blue Origin’s 10-minute sub-orbit selfie trips. Mind you, that’s less than what it takes me to take a tea break.
The highlight of the week was my early media accreditation for Slush in November in Helsinki. Slush is the coolest and most futuristic-looking tech conference. It will be three days of intensive meetings with startups, founders, investors, and the people I meet once a year during Slush. This year I am planning on interviewing interesting startups early, so then I can actually relax a little during the actual event and have more time for the presentations and product launches. It means you will get some cool content before anyone else. I don’t want to miss the Startup 100 competition. It’s from Startup 100 where the next big thing will emerge.
Do you sometimes wonder how technology, climate, healthcare, and society will change in the next 50 years? I do, often. I don’t want to be caught off-guard. Who would, right?
Lastly, on Saturday I did the weekly round-up of tech news, you know, the Silicon Valley drama with a pinch of healthy sarcasm to make some of the news more digestible.
I hope you will enjoy this week’s reading. At the end, there is my speculative micro-fiction story, part fiction, part vision of a lux ad futurum.
That’s all for now. Until next time!
-Susan
Science and technology journalist, futurist
Lux Ad Futurum
Tech news in a nutshell
It’s time for the weekly tech news again. I already got my media pass for this year’s Slush, and I am looking forward to it. If you missed it, I’ll link below. More news about that some other time. For now, here is your weekly sarcastically seasoned roundup of the top tech news from 21 to 27 June, 2025. Really, people, where are we going? From mass huma…
Startups, investors, and the Northern magic of Slush
There are dozens of tech conferences every year. Some are glossy showcases. Others are networking marathons. But Slush, held in Helsinki every November, is something else entirely. It’s the only event I’ve attended for 17 consecutive years, and I can tell you, it never gets old; every year is different.
How technology, climate, healthcare, and society will change in the next 50 years
“The future has never been more uncertain.” -Susan Fourtané, science and technology journalist, Lux Ad Futurum
What I think about space tourism
It’s Midsummer and it’s raining. It looks and feels like the start of winter already. Instead of sitting to contemplate how miserable I am feeling right now, I decided to read some news to find something worth complaining about? Why? I already told you why.
Finally, let me drop this little speculative micro-fiction here in case you need something short to read whilst commuting, or have to kill some time somewhere, or are simply curious about how I mix technology, futurism, and sarcasm.
Writer’s block
It occurred to me that, at this point in time and due to the current circumstances, I should record an account of the facts that have transformed my existence as I knew it.