Rising sea levels are putting buried fibre at risk, Samsung teams with NASA to create a VR lunar experience, and Bloomberg dives into how Best Buy is still alive.
Welcome to a special edition of Hashtag Trending! Today’s episode highlights some overlooked stories that were trending this month. Look for our usual format to return on Aug. 14.
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On LinkedIn – there’s a lot of buzz around a recent study that suggests thousands of miles of buried fibre optic cable in densely populated coastal regions of the United States might soon be lost thanks to rising water levels. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Oregon believe that major communications infrastructure could be submerged by rising seas in as soon as 15 years. The study is the is the first assessment of risk of climate change to the internet, and suggests by the year 2033 more than 4,000 miles of buried fiber optic conduit will be underwater and more than 1,100 traffic hubs will be surrounded by water. The most susceptible U.S. cities, according to the report, are New York, Miami and Seattle. In addition, the impact would have a ripple effect on global communications.
On Reddit – Samsung’s new 4D lunar gravity experience is turning heads. Recently launched at the Samsung 837 in New York, the ‘A Moon for All Mankind’ VR experience uses Galaxy S9+ and the Gear VR to recreate a fictional moon mission that also mimics lunar gravity. Samsung teamed up with NASA to make the latest VR experience feel like a real trip to the moon, and leveraged NASA’s training system used by astronauts to replicate the partial gravity experience of the moon. The AMFAM VR experience will be a full space mission that includes a briefing about, a flight suit and a Gear VR headset.
And lastly, also on Reddit – Bloomberg’s latest piece on Best Buy sheds lights on the company’s ongoing efforts to stay in business while in direct competition with tech giants such as Amazon. Best Buy, the last national electronics chain, is leaning heavily on its in-home advisors to distinguish themselves in the market. Hubert Joly, who was hired as chief executive officer in August 2012 after profits shrunk about 90 percent in one quarter and his predecessor resigned amid an investigation into his relationship with an employee, says the key for the past several years has been slowly getting people into their stores, growing their online presence and smart sales strategies. Now, the focus has shifted to getting his staff into people’s homes and it’s led to Amazon offering free smart-home consultations and installations.