Popularity pays because those who learn to play the game in high school are figuring out what they need to know to succeed when they enter the workplace.
According to a new study released this week, those in the top fifth of the high school popularity pyramid garnered a 10% wage premium nearly 40 years after graduation, compared to those in the bottom fifth.
Continue reading… “Being popular in school leads to earning more later in life”
The world wide web
We have experienced a continuous revolution of new vs. old, manual work vs. automation, digital vs. analog in the past 45 years. In that time, thousands of sophisticated IT products fueled a series of information revolutions that transformed the business and consumer worlds.
Continue reading… “Top 10 technological breakthroughs of the past 45 years”
China announced its latest growth figures on Thursday. The speed of growth attracted most of the attention, but the source of growth is perhaps more striking. At a press conference, the National Bureau of Statistics pointed out that in the first three quarters of this year consumption* contributed over half (55%) of China’s growth, exceeding the contribution from investment. If that pattern holds, China’s growth this year will not be investment-led (let alone export-led), but consumption-led.**
Continue reading… “Consumer-led growth in China”
The world of events and in-person marketing is evolving.
Audiences today expect more than education and entertainment; they expect participation at an event. Today’s top events take advantage of technology as a platform for audience engagement. Having produced and attended a number of customer conferences and trade shows this year, I’ve noticed some very clear trends in how technology is blurring the gap between the presenters and attendees. Here are some examples.
Continue reading… “Top 4 event trends you need to know about”
You could make a vaccine with a machine that synthesises DNA to an emailed sequence.
Craig Venter, who quietly sequenced the human genome using his own DNA, then made “synthetic life” by outfitting a gutted bacterium with homemade genes, says his next trick will be emailing biological molecules, using 3D biological printers. The move could revolutionise healthcare – and biological warfare.
Continue reading… “Emailing vaccines around the world”
Only about one in 10 consumers participating in debt-settlement programs actually ends up debt-free in the promised period of time.
Debt settlement companies claim that they can significantly reduce someones debt for just pennies on the dollar. And desperate debtors are looking for a quick fix to a problem that they have spent years creating. They want the phone calls and letters to stop. They want to get rid of the stress they are experiencing.
Continue reading… “Only 1 in 10 consumers in debt-settlement programs actually end up debt free”
Startup company GestSure uses Kinect for Windows to allow surgeons to look through medical images without having to touch unsterile equipment.
Most of the talk about Microsoft this fall will be about its new operating system, Windows 8. But the company is working hard on a long-term effort to reinvent the we interact with existing computers with its new Surface tablet. The company wants to make it as common to wave your arms at or speak to a computer as it is to reach for a mouse or touch screen today.
Continue reading… “Kinect for Windows – Microsofts plan to bring about the era of gesture control”
Boys are hitting puberty as early as 9 years old.
Research has shown that girls are reaching puberty earlier than they used to, and now the same appears to be true of boys. Boys are entering puberty somewhere between six months and two years earlier than the textbooks think, according to a new study. In the earliest cases, African-American boys reach puberty just after age 9, with whites and Hispanics about a year later.
Continue reading… “U.S. boys reaching puberty earlier than ever: Study”
Futurist Thomas Frey: In July 2011, as a cost cutting measure, the U.S. Postal Service put together a list of 3,700 post offices that it wanted to close.
Virtual assistants will be useful for nany of us by the early 2020’s
Here are four interesting statements about the future:
1. Chemical brain preservation is a technology that may soon be validated to inexpensively preserve the key features of our memories and identity at our biological death.
2. If either chemical or cryogenic brain preservation can be validated to reliably store retrievable and useful individual mental information, these medical procedures should be made available in all societies as an option at biological death.
3. If computational neuroscience, microscopy, scanning, and robotics technologies continue to improve at their historical rates, preserved memories and identity may be affordably reanimated by being “uploaded” into computer simulations, beginning well before the end of this century.
4. In all societies where a significant minority (let’s say 100,000 people) have done brain preservation at biological death, significant positive social change will result in those societies today, regardless of how much information is eventually recovered from preserved brains.
Continue reading… “Four statements about the future by John Smart”
The Ben Venue facility in Bedford, Ohio has spent more than $300 million to upgrade the plant.
Quality lapses as big drug companies show that contamination and shoddy practices go well beyond the loosely regulated compounding pharmacies that have attracted attention because of their link to an outbreak of meningitis..
Weevils have been found floating in vials of heparin as well as morphine cartridges that contain up to twice the labeled dose. There are manufacturing plants with rusty tools, mold in production areas and — in one memorable case — a barrel of urine.
Continue reading… “Quality lapses at big drug manufacturing plants lead to shortages and danger”
Trampoline bridge
Currently, there are 37 bridges spanning the River Seine in Paris. There may be room for one more that is very different than the rest. It is inflatable and comprised of three huge trampolines. Such a bridge may not be practical, but it would be fun, and no doubt become something of a tourist attraction in a city already blessed with an abundance of tourist attractions. Such a bridge exists, at least in the form of a concept design by Paris-based architectural studio Atelier Zündel Cristea. (Pics)
Continue reading… “Inflatable trampoline bridge across the River Seine”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.