Boys are hitting puberty as early as 9 years old.
Research has shown that girls are reaching puberty earlier than they used to, and now the same appears to be true of boys. Boys are entering puberty somewhere between six months and two years earlier than the textbooks think, according to a new study. In the earliest cases, African-American boys reach puberty just after age 9, with whites and Hispanics about a year later.
Continue reading… “U.S. boys reaching puberty earlier than ever: Study”
Futurist Thomas Frey: In July 2011, as a cost cutting measure, the U.S. Postal Service put together a list of 3,700 post offices that it wanted to close.
Virtual assistants will be useful for nany of us by the early 2020’s
Here are four interesting statements about the future:
1. Chemical brain preservation is a technology that may soon be validated to inexpensively preserve the key features of our memories and identity at our biological death.
2. If either chemical or cryogenic brain preservation can be validated to reliably store retrievable and useful individual mental information, these medical procedures should be made available in all societies as an option at biological death.
3. If computational neuroscience, microscopy, scanning, and robotics technologies continue to improve at their historical rates, preserved memories and identity may be affordably reanimated by being “uploaded” into computer simulations, beginning well before the end of this century.
4. In all societies where a significant minority (let’s say 100,000 people) have done brain preservation at biological death, significant positive social change will result in those societies today, regardless of how much information is eventually recovered from preserved brains.
Continue reading… “Four statements about the future by John Smart”
Using a mobile phone as a payment device.
In the U.S. proximity mobile payments are not yet very popular. It is estimated that such point-of-sale payments using a mobile phone as a payment device, whether via near-field communications or other contactless technology, will total just $640 million this year. But that’s an increase of 283% over last year’s even smaller base, and a number that will rise a further 234% by the end of next year.
Continue reading… “By 2016 proximity mobile payments will explode in the U.S.”
One in seven of the world’s population owns a smartphone.
Worldwide, the number of smartphones in use has passed the 1 billion mark for the first time, according to analyst firm Strategy Analytics, which estimates the landmark was surpassed during the third quarter of 2012.
Continue reading… “More than 1 billion smartphones in use worldwide”
The crash at Wenzhou.
Train passengers hurried across Beijing South Station at the final call to board bullet train D301, heading south on the world’s largest, fastest, and newest high-speed railway, the Harmony Express on the morning of July 23, 2011. It was bound for Fuzhou, fourteen hundred miles away.
Continue reading… “The disaster that exposed the corruption of China’s economic boom”
How do doctors know if a patient is really dead?
This week, Newspapers reported a story about a woman who ‘returned from the dead’. Tasleem Rafiq collapsed at home and was taken to hospital in an ambulance where doctors tried to resuscitate her for about 45 minutes without success.
Continue reading… “How easy is it for doctors to diagnose death?”
Your brain on food
New studies just released explore the neurological component of dietary disorders, uncovering evidence that the brain’s biological mechanisms may contribute to significant public health challenges — obesity, diabetes, binge eating, and the allure of the high-calorie meal. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2012, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.
Continue reading… “How diet affects brain function revealed in studies”
Are American citizens hurting themselves with bad habits? The bottom line is mixed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Americans are imbibing alcohol and overeating more yet are smoking less (black lines in center graphs).
Continue reading… “Americans are getting fatter and drunker”
People are shifting from using websites, where search is a natural activity, to using mobile apps.
Last month something crucial happened that no one seems to be paying attention to. People searched less. That’s never happened before.
Continue reading… “The Google era may be over”
Online courses will revolutionize higher education and cut the cost to near zero for most students over the next decade.
In as little as ten years a quality higher education couldl be largely free—unless, of course, nothing much has changed. It all depends on whom you believe. But one thing is clear: The debate about financing education grows louder by the day.
Continue reading… “Within 10 years college could be totally free”
More jobs now have specific technical requirements and need a higher level of education.
This is not a for-or-against argument about a college degree. This is an argument for how to boost your chances of getting hired in the next three to five years.
Continue reading… “Having more education is a trend for future jobs”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.