Isaac Asimov
When the 1964 World’s Fair was hosted in New York City, the prolific sci-fi author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, Isaac Asimov, took the opportunity to wonder what the world would look like 50 years from then – assuming the world survived the nuclear threats of the Cold War.Writing in The New York Times, Asimov imagined a world that you might partly recognize today, a world where:
Continue reading… “Isaac Asimov correctly predicted 2014 technology in 1964”
Clergy members are at a higher risk of depression.
Using phone surveys and written questionnaires, researchers from the Clergy Health Initiative at Duke Divinity School decided to look into the mental health of members of the clergy. They interviewed over 1,700 United Methodist pastors, and found that depression is about 1.6 times higher in that group compared to the general population (8.7% versus 5.5%).
Continue reading… “There is more depression among clergy than the general population: Study”
Robot arms weld a vehicle on the assembly line at a General Motors plant.
Since the Great Recession ended four years ago, American workers’ productivity has risen. But, in the U.S. there are two million fewer jobs than before the downturn. The unemployment rate is stuck at levels not seen since the early 1990s and the proportion of adults who are working is four percentage points off its peak in 2000.
Continue reading… “How technology hurts the middle class”
Synthetic biology is about making DNA from scratch.
What if you could turn a bread machine into your personal pharmacy? Or fill your gas tank with fuel made from grass clippings? Or light your home with glowing houseplants? While radical in concept, these ideas are startlingly practical and already in the works.
Continue reading… “Synthetic biology holds global promise and perils”
Moore’s Law — the ability to pack twice as many transistors on the same sliver of silicon every two years — will come to an end as soon as 2020 at the 7nm node says Robert Colwell who now works for DARPA (trying to pick after CMOS technology) and was Intel’s chief chip architect from 1990 to 2001.
Continue reading… “End of Moore’s Law by early 2020’s: It’s not just about physics”
Buildings in the U.S. consume a lot of energy.
The United States has a massive energy inefficiency problem. The amount of energy wasted by the US economy in 2012, could power the United Kingdom for 7 years.
Continue reading… “America uses 11 times more energy than the UK but only has 5 times more people”
A child born in 2012 is estimated to cost $241,080 to raise.
It’s becoming increasingly expensive to have kids. But it has never been cheaper to clothe and feed them, as well. The total cost of raising a child born in 2012 is estimated at $241,080 – and double that if your child attends college. That’s a 23% increase from 1960. So what is getting more expensive?
Continue reading… “What’s behind the increasing cost of raising a child in the U.S.”
How Texas and North Dakota won the recovery.
If you want to understand how to create hundreds of thousands jobs at once you just need look to Texas and North Dakota. Together, these two states account for a little more than 8 percent of the country’s population — about one in 12 people. But they’re also responsible for 20 percent of net new jobs since the end of the recession. And, crucially, they account for “more than 100 percent of the increase in U.S. [oil] production since 2009,” James Hamilton writes.
Continue reading… “Smart policies are good, but oil is better”
Why is this quiet trend is about to reverse itself?
There is some good news among the most vulnerable segment of American society despite a housing crisis, a great recession, rising income inequality, and elevated poverty. An estimated 633,000 population of homeless in America has declined in the last decade.
Continue reading… “The decline of homelessness in America”
1. Texas over Alaska – Texas vs. Alaska: Score settled.
Zak Erving considers himself a renegade cartographer. His journals and sketchbooks are filled with scribbled street maps of various cities around the world, indicating monuments, museums, and rarely hostels. To someone on the outside, they might look more cryptic than helpful, but he prides himself on being able to find his way around a new city using only three or four at most.
Continue reading… “20 amazing maps that will change the way you see the world”
There is a 4% fall in student proficiency rates in states where teachers’ unions are stronger.
According to a study by Johnathan Lott of the University of Chicago Law School and Lawrence W. Kenny of the University of Florida of 721 U.S. school districts in 42 states shows a 1-standard-deviation rise in teachers’ union dues per teacher is associated with a 4% fall in student proficiency rates.
Continue reading… “In states with stronger teachers’ unions students learn less”
70% of adults in the U.S. reported having broadband access.
Pew Research has released the results of a survey that shows how one of the more advanced countries in the world, the U.S., is still not quite there in leading by example: 20% of U.S. adults are still without broadband or smartphones for internet access. And 3% of people in the country still using dial-up connections.
Continue reading… “30% of U.S. adults still don’t have broadband: Pew Research”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.