Futurist Thomas Frey: What has been the hardest problem you’ve had to solve in your life? As I step you through this question, just focus on the ones where you actually found a solution.
On the TV quiz show, Jeopardy!, IBM’s Watson defeated two grand-champions. Watson is the world’s smartest computer and it was matched up against two really smart humans. The quiz-show win captured peoples’ attention, but, these days, as we identify uses for Watson throughout society, it’s becoming clear that these technologies will be used primarily to augment human intelligence, not compete with people or replace us.
Percentage of Data Center Traffic in the Cloud, 2012-2013
More than two-thirds of global data center traffic will be represented by cloud-based traffic by 2017. Cloud traffic will have grown more than fourfold from 2012 to 2017. Cloud-based traffic is already poised comprise the majority of traffic within the next few months.
The European Space Agency has unveiled plans to “take 3D printing into the metal age.” They will be building parts for jets, spacecraft and fusion projects. The Amaze project brings together 28 institutions to develop new metal components which are lighter, stronger and cheaper than conventional parts.
Solar power is a great way to keep robots running indefinitely, in theory. And it’s absolutely possible to do it, provided your robot doesn’t need to do anything urgently, you have a ludicrously powerful light source, or your robot is very efficient and spends a lot of time in the sun. That last category has potential for solar powered micro air vehicles, including the University of Maryland’s Robo Raven, which has just gotten kitted out with solar panel wings.
The U.S. will surpass Saudi Arabia as the world’s biggest oil producer this year.
According to new data released from the PIRA Energy Group, the U.S. is projected to be the biggest supplier of oil in the world this year when biofuels and natural gas liquids are taken into account.
All of that electricity in a thunderstorm. All that lightning, all those kilojoules of power, just waiting to be harnessed, if only we knew how do it! Could we really harness the electricity from lightning?
An American Columbus for the space age should generate space colonies with a population of 300,000 people within about 25 years of the start of space colonization.
Columbus Day is celebrated on the second Monday of October in the U.S. Many countries in the New World and elsewhere celebrate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas, which happened on October 12, 1492, as an official holiday. The landing is celebrated as Columbus Day in the United States, as Día de la Raza in many countries in Latin America, as Discovery Day in the Bahamas, as Día de la Hispanidad and Fiesta Nacional in Spain, as Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural (Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity) in Argentina, and as Día de las Américas (Day of the Americas) in Belize and Uruguay.
We are moving from a world in which physical products are separate to one in which they are connected. Computers were just the beginning. Appliances and engines now send alerts when they need to be serviced. Cameras upload their photos automatically. Vending machines trigger their own restocking. Crops feed and water themselves.
Changes in a dog’s behavior could clue us into problems in their owners’ lives.
Lassie’s barking may have saved many humans from a barn or forest fire, but Newcastle University researchers in England say that even more subtle changes in a dog’s behavior could clue us into problems in their owners’ lives–especially if those owners are older, isolated, and might eschew Fitbits and other wearable tracking devices themselves.
The first step involves a step-by-step mapping of each event in a patient’s complete care cycle.
By cross-subsidizing margin shortfalls in one activity with the revenues generated from others the health care industry have been able to survive economically. But the very existence of these cross-subsidies is symptomatic of deep flaws in the health care reimbursement system. As we move forward we need to be mindful of two principles that must be at the heart of any fundamental health care reform: “no margin, no mission” and “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” As the era of health care cross-subsidization ends, these principles must guide our actions.
Why is sustained innovation so difficult to achieve? For many firms, innovation is viewed as an occasional variation from the status quo. But, that doesn’t mean that innovation isn’t important.