[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/6792724[/vimeo]
What if power came at a cost to the individual?
The average American consumes 3383kwh of energy per year. That’s equivalent to leaving the light on in 4 rooms for a whole year. The simple flick of a switch allows us to power appliances and gadgets 24/7 without a thought to where it comes from and the cost to the environment.
Continue reading… “Blood Lamp”
Is you plant smiling or dying?
If you’ve been using Koubachi’s iOS app to remember when it’s time to water your plants, the company’s new wireless sensor will give your greenery an even better fighting chance of survival if you’re lacking a green thumb.
Whereas the app used your location, the local soil conditions, and the type of plant to make an educated guess as to when it needed watering, misting, or fertilization. Koubachi’s new Wi-fi plant sensor takes the guesswork out of the equation, automatically measuring moisture, temperature, and light…
Continue reading… “Wi-fi sensor gives your dying plants a voice to plead for help”
The world record for largest human mattress dominoes has been broken: you now have to assemble and then topple over 850 humans to claim the title World’s Largest Human Mattress Dominoes…
Continue reading… “World’s largest human mattress dominoes record toppled!”
With all the talk recently about whether President Barack Obama is a “snob” for wanting Americans to be educated or Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorumis anti-education for critizing Obama, many may have missed an important milestone.
Continue reading… “30% of Americans over 25 have at least a four-year degree”
Firefox is the world’s second most popular web browser after Internet Explorer.
The maker of Firefox, Mozilla, has unveiled a new add-on for the popular web browser that gives web users an instant view of which companies are ‘watching’ them as they browse.
Futurist Thomas Frey: Question: As physical books go away, and computers and smart devices take their place, at what point does a library stop being a library, and start becoming something else?
Continue reading… “Future Libraries and 17 Forms of Information Replacing Books”
You can extract your own DNA with drinking water, salt, dish soap, alcohol, food coloring, and your own spit! This NOVA/PBS-made video shows you how.
I’ve been writing about DNA for more than a decade, and I just realized that until this video, I’ve never actually seen DNA. And there it is, in the form of a white string in a plastic cup. Pretty freaking neato…
Continue reading… “How to extract your own DNA using household items”
Solar power is part of the airline process now.
From Denver Colorado Airport’s 2MW solar array to Palau’s installation of PV awnings at its airport carpark, it seems that solar arrays are appearing at airports around the world. And not without good reason.
Given that airports need large amounts of land, both for car parking and surrounding runways, they are in many ways an ideal fit for large-scale ground-mounted solar arrays that might otherwise cause land-use and/or aesthetic concerns for the surrounding community…
Continue reading… “How airports are embracing solar power”
You and I may grumble when people nearby talk loudly on their cell phones, but that’s not enough for one man in Philadelphia.
He decided to take matters into his own hands and jam them phones!
Continue reading… “Annoying People Talking on Their Cell Phones? Jam ‘Em!”
This delayed auditory feedback device makes it all but impossible for a human to speak.
Humans have been inventing new uses for guns ever since the first one was invented. Some guns shoot bullets; other guns shoot lasers. But a new gun that is a little strange and unsettling is being developed by Japanese researchers. The new gun shoots sound waves in an effort to disrupt and silence anyone who dares speak out of turn.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sUeGC-8dyk&hd=1[/youtube]
Flying robot quadrotors perform the James Bond Theme by playing various instruments including the keyboard, drums and maracas, a cymbal, and the debut of an adapted guitar built from a couch frame. The quadrotors play this “couch guitar” by flying over guitar strings stretched across a couch frame; plucking the strings with a stiff wire attached to the base of the quadrotor. A special microphone attached to the frame records the notes made by the “couch guitar”.
Continue reading… “Flying robot quadrotors perform James Bond Theme”
Patent trolls rack up legal and licensing bills.
The scourge of inventors everywhere are firms that collect and enforce patents of dubious value—with no intention of creating the invention described in those patents. They force large companies to rack up legal and licensing bills, and scare away startups from putting out novel products. These firms raise prices for all of us, and they generally slow down the future. Everyone hates them.
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.