2018 – Page 27 – Impact Lab

American eating habits are changing faster than fast food can keep up

September 17, 2018

Per-person restaurant visits dropped to 28-year low in 2018.

Home cooking would be making a comeback if it ever really went away.

Restaurants are getting dinged by the convenience of Netflix, the advent of pre-made meals, the spread of online grocery delivery, plus crushing student debt and a focus on healthy eating. Eighty-two percent of American meals are prepared at home — more than were cooked 10 years ago, according to researcher NPD Group Inc. The latest peak in restaurant-going was in 2000, when the average American dined out 216 times a year. That figure fell to 185 for the year ended in February, NPD said.

Continue reading… “American eating habits are changing faster than fast food can keep up”

Artificial Intelligence, Internet, Internet of Things, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

19 astonishing quotes about the Internet of Things everyone should read

September 17, 2018

Seems like everybody is talking about the Internet of Things (IoT)—the good, the bad and the alarming along the lines of. “It’s the beginning of machines taking over the world.” The IoT is when everyday products such as refrigerators, watches, speakers and more connect to the internet and to one another. The Internet of Things is already transforming our homes and workplaces.

So, what are some of the world’s brightest minds, most notable figures or just everyday people saying about the Internet of Things (IoT)? Here’s a sampling of what’s been written or talked about when it comes to the Internet of Things.

Continue reading… “19 astonishing quotes about the Internet of Things everyone should read”

Children, Health & Fitness, Human Behavior

Soulcycle of fertility sells egg-freezing and ’empowerment ‘ to 25-year-olds

September 17, 2018

There’s something eerily familiar about the Kindbody aesthetic.

How do you build a cult following for an egg-freezing clinic?

Gina Bartasi, CEO of Kindbody, a fertility startup that launched in New York City at the beginning of August, has a few ideas. For one, a bright yellow van stationed on a Friday in the middle of Manhattan and then on a Sunday in the Hamptons — offering free testing for the anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) associated with reserves of healthy eggs. For another, never announce anything too far in advance.

Kindbody has one brick-and-mortar location so far, two blocks from Trump Tower. It’ll be open to patients later this month, and they’ll spend the next six months building a bigger flagship on 16th Street. To find out where the next pop-up event will land, or where the next “boutique retail location” will open, you’ll have to follow the company on Instagram. When making these real estate decisions, Bartasi told The Verge she asks herself two questions: “Where is SoulCycle opening up? What is Drybar doing?”

Continue reading… “Soulcycle of fertility sells egg-freezing and ’empowerment ‘ to 25-year-olds”

Analysis, City Planning, Energy, New Viewpoints

Study: Decentralized microgrids can provide 90% or a neighborhood’s energy needs

September 17, 2018

“The new approach could even pave the way for 100 percent self-sufficiency in power, heat, and water.”

A new report funded by the Dutch government finds that microgrid technologies could make a local “techno-economy” 90 percent self-sufficient, through the decentralized sharing of energy at the local level between multiple households.

This report adds fuel to efforts by the Siemens Corporation to design better microgrids and promote their efficiencies.

The new approach could even pave the way for “100 percent self-sufficiency in power, heat, and water, and 50 percent self-sufficiency in food production”, according to the report’s author, energy systems engineer Florijn de Graaf.

Continue reading… “Study: Decentralized microgrids can provide 90% or a neighborhood’s energy needs”

3D Printer, cutting edge, Inventions

HP’s new 3-D printers build items not of plastic but of steel

September 16, 2018

HP is hoping its new Metal Jet 3-D printers will provide inroads into manufacturing sectors such as automobiles and medical devices.HP

WHEN YOU THINK about 3-D printing, chances are you think of little plastic doodads created by desktop devices like those made by MakerBot. Computing and printer giant HP wants you to think about metal.

Today the company announced the Metal Jet printer, an industrial-scale 3-D printer that builds items not of plastic but of steel.

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Analysis, Business, Employment, Higher Education, Money Talk

Survey: These college majors were just named most and least valuable

September 15, 2018

New Bankrate research shows that Actuarial Science is “the most valuable” major you can study in college out of 162 total, with a whopping average income of $108,658 to go along with an unemployment rate of only 2.3%.

Wondering how the site arrived at these results? The methodology was multi-layered, but the company evaluated the latest information featured in the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, among other points. The majors had “labor forces of at least 15,000 people,” and the number of grads with “a higher degree” was also considered.

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Automobiles, Driverless cars, Driverless vehicles, Electric Automobile, Electric Vehicles

Mercedes-Benz Vision Urbanetic is a flexible electric van from the future

September 15, 2018

Its battery-electric platform can be used for a wide variety of purposes.

The advent of battery-electric “skateboards,” powertrain platforms that can accommodate a bunch of different bodies on top, means that vehicles can become even more versatile than they already are. Mercedes-Benz has applied this thinking to its vans to create the wild Vision Urbanetic concept.

Mercedes-Benz today unveiled the Vision Urbanetic, a battery-electric, autonomous van that Mercedes believes will contribute to a whole new segment of mobility that’s efficient, comfortable and sustainable — and, of course, capacious, being a part-time van and all.

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking

Researchers discover a pattern to the seemingly random distribution of prime numbers

September 15, 2018

The pattern has a surprising similarity to the one seen in atom distribution in crystals.

Often known as “the building blocks of mathematics,” prime numbers have fascinated mathematicians for centuries due to their highly unpredictable and seemingly random nature. However, a team of researchers at Princeton University have recently discovered a strange pattern in the primes’ chaos. Their novel modelling techniques revealed a surprising similarity between primes and certain naturally occurring crystalline materials, a similarity that may carry significant implications for physics and materials science.

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Artificial Intelligence, DaVinci Institute, Education, Science & Technology News, Tom Frey

The largest internet company in 2030? This prediction will probably surprise you

September 14, 2018

Online learning taught by robots could be widespread by 2030.

Thirty years ago, it was a big deal when schools got their first computers. Today, it’s a big deal when students get their own laptops.

According to Futurist Thomas Frey, in 12 years it’ll be a big deal when students learn from robot teachers over the internet.

It’s not just because the technology will be that sophisticated, Frey says, but because the company responsible for it will be the largest of its kind.

“I’ve been predicting that by 2030 the largest company on the internet is going to be an education-based company that we haven’t heard of yet,” Frey, the senior futurist at the DaVinci Institute think tank, tells Business Insider.

Continue reading… “The largest internet company in 2030? This prediction will probably surprise you”

Engineering, new technology, Science & Technology News, Space, Space Flight

A revolutionary new space launch idea: Introducing The Pythagoras Sling

September 14, 2018

The Pythagoras Sling uses a lengthy graphene string pulled via two hoops suspended from simple parachutes to rapidly accelerate a projectile into orbit. Graphene string will likely become widely available over the next two decades. If it works as expected, the Pythagoras Sling launch system could greatly reduce the cost of getting into space compared to any current rocket-based system and could help accelerate space development. Total cost of the fully reusable launch system could be as low as $1M for small and medium sized satellites so cost per kg could be two orders of magnitude cheaper than today. Apart for human spacecraft or more delicate satellites that need low g-forces, the system needs little or no fuel to achieve orbit, only ground electricity, so would be safer and more environmentally friendly as well as cheaper than current rocket-based approaches.

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Business, Education, Higher Education, Latest Trend

Harvard Business School professor: Half of American colleges will be bankrupt in 10 to 15 years

September 15, 2018

This fall, 19.9 million college students will be traveling to college campuses across the United States to start a new school year. There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States, but Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen says that half are bound for bankruptcy in the next few decades.

Christensen is known for coining the theory of disruptive innovation in his 1997 book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma.” Since then, he has applied his theory of disruption to a wide range of industries, including education.

In his recent book, “The Innovative University,” Christensen and co-author Henry Eyring analyze the future of traditional universities, and conclude that online education will become a more cost-effective way for students to receive an education, effectively undermining the business models of traditional institutions and running them out of business.

Also, check out Futurist Thomas Frey’s prediction about emerging new edtech.

Continue reading… “Harvard Business School professor: Half of American colleges will be bankrupt in 10 to 15 years”

Future, Futurist, new technology, Upcoming Events

Countdown to the singularity

September 13, 2018

I asked the smartest people I know for their tech predictions for the next 20 years (2018 – 2038). What are the breakthroughs we can expect on our countdown to the Singularity?

I compiled 50 predictions in a document distributed to my Abundance 360 and Abundance Digital communities. If you’d like a copy of all 50 predictions, you can download them here. For fun, and context, here’s a dozen of those predictions.

Continue reading… “Countdown to the singularity”