Even though African-Americans make up 50% of murder victims (they are only 12% of the population) most death sentences that are handed out for killing are for white people.
Continue reading… “America’s race inequality by graph”
Creating the God Globe
Futurist Thomas Frey: In 1998, a column I wrote for The Futurist Magazine took issue with the state of computer displays. Viewing the vast and growing Internet through a little square box on our desk was, in my opinion, the equivalent of watching a baseball game through a knothole.
Continue reading… “Creating the God Globe”
The history of programming languages
Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, creator of the Ruby programming language in 1995
Have you ever wondered how computers got started and where programming languages came from?
In the beginning, Charles Babbage’s difference engine could only be made to execute tasks by changing the gears which executed the calculations. Thus, the earliest form of a computer language was physical motion. Eventually, physical motion was replaced by electrical signals when the US Government built the ENIAC in 1942. It followed many of the same principles of Babbage’s engine and hence, could only be “programmed” by presetting switches and rewiring the entire system for each new “program” or calculation. This process proved to be very tedious. (Photos)
Continue reading… “The history of programming languages”
Your late 30’s is when your biggest breakthroughs will happen
Genius happens when a seasoned mind sees a problem with fresh eyes.
The former frontman of the band LCD Soundsystem, James Murphy, made what he called the biggest mistake of his life at 21, when he turned down a writing job on a sitcom that was about to launch.
Continue reading… “Your late 30’s is when your biggest breakthroughs will happen”
This is the dawn of the age of artificial intelligence
We’re going to see artificial intelligence do more and more.
We have seen a lot of advances in the past few years. We have seen cars that drive themselves, humanoid robots, speech recognition and synthesis systems, 3D printers, Jeopardy!-champion computers. These aren’t even the crowning achievements of the computer era. They’re the warm-up acts. As we move deeper into the second machine age we’ll see more and more such wonders, and they’ll become more and more impressive.
Continue reading… “This is the dawn of the age of artificial intelligence”
Instant skin graft spray gun offers new treatment for burn victims
Revolutionary development: The stem cell spray gun treats burns in 1.5 hours.
Doctor Jörg Gerlach, of the University of Pittsburgh’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine has created a prototype medical device that literally sprays skin cells onto burn victims to re-grow skin.
Continue reading… “Instant skin graft spray gun offers new treatment for burn victims”
The future of learning environments
Architects rely on the teachers and the school administrators’ feedback regarding their work environment.
Moa Dickmark offers her insights into the future of pedagogy and learning environments, an issue that raises various questions around the world. Here, she shares her vision for learning spaces in the future, how to go about developing them, and why she believes that students and teachers should have a say and be a part of the development and implementation process.
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The ever-changing face of the workplace: Infographic
Employers are adapting to the changing structure of the work environments
Today’s workplace is nothing like professional environments of the past, in part due to recent technology advances, and partly a result of the influence of the growing number of Millennials in the workforce . To meet these changes, employers are adapting not only their hiring practices but also the structure of the work environments.
Continue reading… “The ever-changing face of the workplace: Infographic”
Facebook watches how you watch TV
80% of Facebook’s TV “chatter” comes through mobile devices.
Facebook competes with Twitter in the budding social media analytics market with their trove of user data. In a report produced in conjunction with SecondSync, a social media television analytics firm, Facebook breaks down anonymized user data surrounding television shows by a variety of measures such as types of interaction, demographics, device and genre.
Continue reading… “Facebook watches how you watch TV”
Can we achieve a smoother, more secure grid with energy storage?
Storing energy along the U.S. grid could help keep the power on.
For years, RenewableEnergyWorld.com has said that if the energy industry could solve the energy storage problem, it would unlock gigawatts of renewable energy capacity all over the world. About a year ago, progress started really picking up. More than 200 energy storage companies were present at Intersolar in Munich in 2013, exhibiting their solutions.
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Future predictions for the oil and gas industry
A flawed prediction for oil and gas?
One comment about the oil and gas industry comes up quite a bit from very well educated people in a number of disciplines related to the climate issue – “The oil and gas industry has only got 20 years”. A few years back, a report by the WWF took a similar but slightly less aggressive line, through the publication of an energy model forecast which showed that the world could be effectively fossil energy free as early as 2050.
Continue reading… “Future predictions for the oil and gas industry”
Tiny motors that fit inside human cells could one day treat diseases
A nanomotor inside a HeLa Cell.
A Pennsylvania State University team has discovered that nanomotors made from tiny metal rods can be manipulated by sound waves and magnets, giving them precise control over their actions inside of cells.
Continue reading… “Tiny motors that fit inside human cells could one day treat diseases”
