Month: August 2013

Impact Lab > 2013 > August
Analysis, Business, Latest Trend

More that 26% of fast food workers are raising a child

Fast food workers at dozens of fast food chains are walking out on strike for better wages.

When you think of a typical fast food employee do you think of a teenager working for extra cash, some guy who couldn’t get past high school, or a single mom trying to provide for her kid?  Whatever your answer is it will say a lot about your feelings towards the fast food workers who’ve been striking these past months for a $15 hourly wage.

 

 

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Alternative Transportation, Great New Product, Great Videos, Science & Technology News

OLEV bus charged wirelessly by the road

Wireless online electric bus

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has developed an Online Electric Vehicle (OLEV) bus that receives power wirelessly from electrical cables laid underneath the surface of the street using Shaped Magnetic Field in Resonance (SMFIR) technology. Two of the new buses have just hit the streets in the city of Gumi, South Korea. (Video)

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Analysis, Education, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Academic libraries are shaping the future of learning and research

Saltire Center at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Brian Sullivan, a librarian at Alfred University, wrote “the academic library has died” in an opinion piece responding to the gloomy tone of a 2011 report on the future of academic libraries. “One reason for cause of death is that library buildings were converted into computer labs, study spaces and headquarters for informational-technology departments.”

 

 

 

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Analysis, Food, Great Videos, Health & Fitness, Latest Trend, Plant Life, Science & Technology News

Is juicing cannabis better for you than smoking it?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdmcJFZSIP0[/youtube]

Cannabis is known to most of us as either a drug, a plant, or simply a flower. But now it’s being regarded as a vegetable, particularly because of the double whammy of health benefits not only from consuming the plant but also juicing it.

 

 

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Analysis, Business, Latest Trend

Successful public speaking in the 21st century

A great public speaker is authentically present and ready to connect with their audience.

Speakers are so last century when they stand behind a podium glued to the floor, reading from slides and addressing a less than enthusiastic audience.  It’s 2013, and successful speakers need to be aware that audiences have changed.  They are better informed, crave connection and expect to be actively engaged in the “conversation.”

 

 

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Business, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

3D printing brings new life to old inventions

An 1875 flower stand.

The key battleground in today’s high-tech lawsuits may be the US Patent and Trademark Office, but it is also home to a trove of inventions that have fallen into the public domain. Martin Galese, a patent lawyer, is trying to bring some 21st century tech to the charming ideas patented in the 19th and 20th centuries. He’s dug up eccentric creations — from an Escher-esque building block to a combination comb and hair clip — and is rebuilding them using digital modeling tools, allowing anyone with a 3D printer to own a once-patented work from the past.

 

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Alternative Transportation, Great Videos, Science & Technology News

Terrafugia Transition: Flying car completes first public demo flight

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om3Z1a2VPA0[/youtube]

The Terrafugia Transition just fulfilled the dream of everyone who’s ever had a fantasy about the future. At the EAA AirVenture airshow in Wisconsin, the flying car completed two laps around the airfield — one on the pavement, and one in the air. The whole thing went off without a hitch, and even the namesake transition between laps worked smoothly. And, believe it or not, that just might mark the beginning of the era of the flying car. (video)

 

 

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Great New Product, New Inventions, Science & Technology News

Researchers develop self-cooling windows

Self-cooling windows let in the sunshine without the heat.

Homeowners love a lot of windows in their homes that let in a lot of sunlight.  But those windows can also mean higher air conditioning bills since they absorb heat but don’t tend to cool themselves, until now. Harvard researchers have created self-cooling windows.

 

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Analysis, Business, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

UPS to test 3D printing service in U.S. stores

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI1UKfO2eiU[/youtube]

Staples is an example of a major retailer that jumped on the trendy tech bandwagon when it began selling 3D printers.  But as developments in the 3D printing space continue to move forward (such as the Stratasys acquisition of MakerBot for $604 million), it’s becoming clear that 3D printing is not temporary trend, but an emerging industry. Keying in on this development, UPS has decided to enter the space by offering 3D printing services at select U.S. locations.

 

 

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Business, Economy, Food, government

Agriculture sector in Nigeria to create 3.5 million jobs by 2015

“Nigeria is undergoing rapid changes in its agriculture sector.”

Goodluck Jonathan, President of Nigeria, has announced that the country expects about 3.5 million jobs to be created in the agriculture and allied industries by the end of 2015 with the current policy and institutional reforms taking place in Nigeria.

 

 

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