A few weeks ago, the fourth annual National Beard and Moustache Championships, sponsored by Just for Men, took place in New Orleans. More than 150 people competed in the championship in 17 categories, including Amish, natural full beards, free-style, imperial mustache, and English mustache. (Photos)
GameCase
People are more likely to play smartphone and tablet games these days than buy a separate console to satisfy their inner gaming geek. Yet even casual gamers might want more control over their little addiction. That’s where the GameCase controller steps in.
Continue reading… “GameCase turns your iPhone and iPad into a game controller”
Jimmy, an open source robot.
If you could build your own robot, what would you have it do? If you’re the type of person who is into building stuff and coding, you may soon get your chance to answer that question for real, courtesy of an interesting project coming from the labs of chipmaker Intel. (Video)
Continue reading… “Futurist at Intel shows how you’ll download and program your own robot”
One common problem with electric cars is there is a lack of charging stations to charge the cars on long drives. “After you run out of battery power, a small four-cylinder engine runs a generator to extend the range of the car for another 300 or 400 miles, and you can always just keep putting more gas into it to keep on going,” writes Evan Ackerman.
Continue reading… “Tesla patents next-gen battery that will last 400 miles”
The big money has moved from developing psychiatric drugs to manipulating our brain networks.
Has the psychiatric drug age reached its peak? Mind-altering drugs have are being prescribed in record numbers but there are signs of a radically new approach to understanding and treating mental illnesses. A huge research effort is now devoted to altering the function of specific neural circuits by physical intervention in the brain and the focus is no longer on developing drugs.
Continue reading… “Why neuroscience is ending the Prozac era”
High energy capacity, cost effective batteries are urgently needed for a wide range of medical, transportation and power generation devices, including in greenhouse gas reduction applications such as overcoming the battery driven “range anxiety” of electric vehicles, and increased capacity energy storage for the electric grid. Now there is a new class of battery that uses a molten electrolyte, are quasi-reversible (rechargeable), and have amongst the highest intrinsic battery electric energy storage capacities.
Continue reading… “Molten Air batteries have the highest storage capacity ever seen”
A coyote boarded a train in Portland, Oregon.
Cities are seen as the hardest place for the hardiest of animals to exist. They are seen as environmental wastelands. But more and more wild animals are adjusting to life in the city as scientists in the the urban ecology field are finding.
Continue reading… “Wild animals are adapting to city life and thriving”
In New York last week, A working prototype of a low-cost electroencephalography device funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) made its debut, the first step in the agency’s effort to jumpstart a do-it-yourself revolution in neuroscience.
Continue reading… “Can DARPA jumpstart the DIY brain-scanning movement?”
Surrogacy agencies in both countries say demand has risen rapidly in the last two years.
Rich Chinese couples are hiring American women to serve as surrogates for their children, creating a small but growing business in $120,000 “designer” American babies for China’s elite.
Continue reading… “Wealthy Chinese hire American surrogate mothers to carry ‘designer’ babies”
Is the movie industry dying at the hands of home theaters, Netflix, Redbox, LoveFilm, and Amazon Instant Video?
Jack Valenti, former President of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) once said, “I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone.” That was a controversial claim but it helps highlight the fears that emerging technologies can cause amongst those with an interest in the status quo. In this instance, the underlying concern was that VHS-enabled time-shifting meant that viewers could not only copy and distribute copyrighted broadcasts, but also fast-forward commercials, which could discourage advertisers.
Continue reading… “The future of movie theaters”
Companies that want to sell software to enterprise in the next few years might be wise to start thinking about data. That doesn’t mean they need to become a “big data” company, per se, but at least thinking of what metrics your customers need tracked and how to deliver that information to them.
Continue reading… “The future of software is all about analytics”
The internet has made it possible for people to educate themselves, independently or in groups large and small, on an unprecedented scale.
There hasn’t been much change in universities since the Middle Ages. Universities have the campus with its lecture halls, dormitories, libraries, and laboratories surrounded by leafy quadrangles. They have added giant sports complexes, gyms and swimming pools, and gourmet restaurants, but the basic layout is the same. And the production process hasn’t changed since around 1200. Professors give lectures, students read books and take notes, there are examinations and grades, along with the occasional tutoring session, and a great deal of hanky panky. The professors wear tweed jackets instead of gowns, and the students wear – well, just about anything, including pajamas – but otherwise the university remains one of society’s most conservative institutions.
Continue reading… “Are universities terrified of MOOCs?”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.