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Analysis, Business, government, Historical Perspectives, Latest Trend

Not since 1966 has the federal government’s workforce been so small

November 23, 2014

The shrinking government workforce doesn’t mean that government spending is at record lows.

It’s hard to believe the federal government now employs the fewest people since the mid-1960s. Yet according to jobs report earlier this month, the federal government now employs 2,711,000 people (excluding non-civilian military). Among the economy’s largest job sectors, it was the only one to shrink over the past year.

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Analysis, Business, Energy, Food, Science & Technology News

Calysta, Inc. believes natural gas can feed the world

November 23, 2014

Alan Shaw, CEO Calysta, right and Josh Silverman, the chief scientific officer.

Methane, the primary component of natural gas, can be gobbled up by protein-producing microbes. The protein biomass is converted into things like food for farmed salmon or chemicals or other products, according to Ian Shaw, CEO of Calysta Inc., and Josh Silverman, the chief scientific officer. That salmon, of course, is an important source of protein that could serve a growing human population.

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Analysis, Business, Latest Trend

The life of the nation’s first marijuana critic

November 23, 2014

Marijuana critic, Jake Brown

Seated in a yellow chair, Jake Browne was carefully rotating a marijuana bud between his fingers. “I’m looking for bugs, mildew, things I wouldn’t want to ingest,” he said, leaning forward to hold the nickel-size flower up to the light. He paused, then took a sip of water from a cup with a Miley Cyrus hologram down its side. “This looks clean,” he concluded.

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Analysis, Energy, New Discoveries, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News, Solar Power

Stanford researchers develop a way to store solar energy more cost-effectively for use at night

November 22, 2014

How electrolysis could produce hydrogen as a way to store renewable energy.

There isn’t a cost-effective way to store large-scale solar energy. But researchers at Stanford have developed a solution by using electrolysis to turn tanks of water and hydrogen into batteries. During the day, electricity from solar cells could be used to break apart water into hydrogen and oxygen. Recombining these gases would generate electricity for use at night.

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Analysis, Business, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

The new TV demographics are the ‘ads’ and ‘ad-nots’

November 21, 2014

In the U.S., when commercial television made its debut, programmers and brands quickly recognized the medium’s rich marketing value. And so began decades of variations in monetizing TV.

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Analysis, Business, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Rethinking the role of the strategist in today’s world

November 21, 2014

Strategists have increased the scope and complexity of their roles beyond planning.

Many companies have an executive to guide their strategies. The discipline’s professionalization, which began in earnest in the 1980s as it evolved from the chief executive’s domain into a core corporate function, prompted the creation of heads of strategy, strategic-planning directors, and, more recently, chief strategy officers (CSOs). Who better than a professional strategist to help meet the big new uncertainties of the 21st century?

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Analysis, Fashion, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

Fabrics may soon be able to yield more health data than devices

November 21, 2014

Data from smart apparel will begin carving a health roadmap for the wearer.

What if your outfit made more than a fashion statement? Thanks to miniaturization and state-of-the-art integration of electronics, smart clothing is a burgeoning new space in which sensors are now fixed, woven, and embedded into everyday wear. Hap Klopp, founder of North Face, says, “Fabrics will generate more data than devices in the next 10 years.” Many analysts estimate large-scale adoption by 2020.

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Analysis, Great Videos, Health & Fitness, New Inventions, People Making a Difference, Robots, Science & Technology News

Micro-scallop robots can swim through your blood, eyeballs

November 21, 2014

A micro-scallop robot is only a fraction of a millimeter in size.

Simplicity is important when designing robots on the micro or nano scale (like, small enough to fit inside your body). There just isn’t room for complex motors or actuation systems. There’s barely room for any electronics whatsoever, not to mention batteries, which is why robots that can swim inside your bloodstream or zip around your eyeballs are often driven by magnetic fields.(Video)

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Analysis, Business, Science & Technology News

Top 6 best websites for finding remote work for web professionals

November 21, 2014

Remote work for web professionals is a viable career option.

The choice to work from home or any place where there’s an Internet connection is a viable career option for web professionals. If you’re looking to make the leap into telecommuting, a great place to start would be the following top-notch job boards that allow you to discover remote Web development work opportunities.

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Analysis, Business, Internet, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Social Media, Twitter

Social media changes the way the news covers conflicts around the world

November 20, 2014

Web Summit conference in Dublin.

Social media has changed the way news organizations cover conflicts around the world, but traditional journalistic values are still vital. These were the conclusions from a panel at the Web Summit conference in Dublin. The conference featured representatives from Time, Vice News and News Corporation-owned social curation service Storyful.

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App, Great Videos, Science & Technology News

Bionic Bird: A flying bird-shaped drone controlled with your smartphone

November 20, 2014

Bionic Bird

Bionic Bird isn’t a bird or a plane. Bionic Bird is a bird-shaped drone. This new mechanical bird, due to land this December, will be app controlled, using a Bluetooth 4.0 link to support 100 meters of remote controlled flight from your smartphone or tablet. (Videos)

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Analysis, Science & Technology News, Space

Here’s how time travel may actually be possible

November 20, 2014

For centuries, time travel’s been one of man’s wildest fantasies. It has been a popular trend in movies and fiction for a long time, inspiring everything from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine to the Charlton Heston shrine that is The Planet of the Apes. And with the opening of the movie Interstellar—n0t to spoil anything—we’re about to fantasize about it even more. (Video)

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