Futurist Thomas Frey: On May 24th, Gary Connery, a 42 year old stuntman from Oxfordshire, England jumped from a helicopter hovering over one mile in the air over southern England, and glided to the earth using a specially designed wing suit. His runway was comprised of a cobbled-up crash-pad fabricated from 18,000 cardboard boxes to soften the impact.
Continue reading… “56 Future Accomplishments: Waiting for Someone to go First”
Powerful new power options.
Irrigation canals are the blood vessels of agriculture, delivering water throughout America’s farmland. Pretty soon, they may well deliver a bit of electricity too, thanks to the Hydrovolt micro-generator.
The Hydrovolt C2, designed and built by the same-named Washington state company, is a compact car-sized device that sits on a irrigation canal’s floor and utilizes the steady, uninterrupted flow of water to power its turbine, which is situated perpendicular to the flow, like a paddle boat wheel. As the wheel turns, it cranks an on-board generator that produces a charge. The device is neutrally buoyant so it can generate power on the water’s surface as well, without impeding the flow or affecting the water quality.
Continue reading… “Hydrovolts tap canal currents for 12 kW of power apiece”
The map from Zara Matheson of the Martin Prosperity Institute maps the brainy metro index across U.S. metros.
We are often told the smartest cities and nations do the best in the knowledge economy. Smart cities typically are measured by education level, calculating the cities or metros with the largest percentage of college grads or the largest shares of adults with advanced degrees. Others do it by charting the kinds of work people do and the occupations they hold, differentiating between knowledge or creative workers and others who do more routine manufacturing and service jobs.
Continue reading… “Brainiest cities across America”
Unlike traditional apartment renters, this breed of American tenants are older and have kids.
The Jacobson family bought their “dream home” in 2005 in the Phoenix area. They built flagstone steps to the front door. They tiled the kitchen and bathroom. They entertained often, enjoying their mountain views. “We put our soul into that house,” says Steve Jacobson, 37.
Continue reading… “Renting a home is the new American Dream”
Are plants aware?
Are plants aware? In the new book, ‘What a Plant Knows,” Daniel Chamovitz argues that a plant can see, smell and feel. It can mount a defense when under siege, and warn its neighbors of trouble on the way. A plant can even be said to have a memory. But does this mean that plants think — or that one can speak of a “neuroscience” of the flower? Chamovitz answered questions from Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook.
Continue reading… “Plants can see, smell, feel and remember but can they think?”
Inner-city Minneapolis teens who screen-print shirts.
Just ten years ago the term “inner city” meant “dead city” and people would picture a city of destruction, dereliction and despair. But, today inner cities are now a hip hotbed of convenient culture, commerce and connection. Scholars such as Richard Florida and Edward Glaeser, among others, are showing that although increasing problems accompany increasing density, urban access to the good things of life increases even faster. The centripetal force of today’s cities is pulling the ambitious and educated back in, and increasing cities’ innovative capacity, without sacrificing (at least some would argue) their inclusiveness.
Continue reading… “Entrepreneurial innovation moving to the inner cities”
United Nations
U.S. officials testified on Thursday before the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology saying several emerging countries are rallying behind a campaign to have the International Telecommunications Union, the U.N.’s global standards body for telecommunications, declare the Internet a global telecommunications system. Led by China, Russia, India and now Egypt, which recently launched its own proposal, such a move would allow state-owned telephone networks to expand into VoIP. It would also give them the opportunity to charge fees for Internet service – and put the Internet at the mercy of international politics.
Continue reading… “U.S. officials warn that United Nations could seize the internet”
Wedding costs in Canada will double if you dance.
The Copyright Board of Canada reviews copyright tariffs for various collection societies (like ASCAP and BMI in America, which collect performance licensing fees from venues). They have just approved a new set of fees to cover recorded music at a bunch of different live events. Karaoke bars, conventions, parades, weddings and several other classes of event—which already pay fees to SOCAN, which represents songwriters—will now begin paying additional tariffs to collection society Re:Sound, which represents recording artists and labels.
Continue reading… “New tarriffs on music approved in Canada”
Twitter and other tech start-ups are gravitating toward San Francisco.
Twitter will be moving into its new headquarters in downtown San Francisco this month. It will occupy three floors of an 11-story 1937 Art Deco building that has sat shuttered for five years. Outside, its blue bird logo will replace the former main tenant’s sign, whose analog clocks remain frozen at 9:18, 4:33 and other times past.
Continue reading… “New tech boom in San Francisco brings jobs but also worries”
Nearly all the increases occurred during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
In the past 25 years Americans have become more politically polarized than at any time, according to a major survey released Monday by the Pew Research Center.
Continue reading… “Political polarization hits 25-year high in the U.S.”
The wind turbine can create 1,000 liters of drinking water every day.
Renewable energy has long been produced by wind turbines. But a French engineering firm has discovered another eco-purpose for the towering structures.
Continue reading… “Eole Water wind turbine creates drinking water from thin air”
“Making material harder to learn can improve long-term learning and retention.”
Three researchers, in January 2011, published the results of an experiment in which they showed that students who read material in difficult, unfamiliar fonts learned it more deeply than students who read the same material in conventional, familiar fonts.
Continue reading… “Making it harder to learn beneficial to students”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
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