Futurist Thomas Frey: The insurance industry exists as a tool for mitigating the costs and damage associated with a single incident occurring for an individual or organization.
Continue reading… “Transforming the Future of the Insurance Industry”
‘American Idol’ finale sees all-time low ratings with only 21.5 million viewers tuning in
American Idol
The “American Idol” finale hit a new low this week with nearly 22 million TV viewers tuning in to watch, down 31% from last year.
31.4% of homeowners in the U.S. are underwater on mortgages
American homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages actually are only running a “paper loss.”
According to real estate site Zillow, nearly 16 million homeowners – not quite a third of people with mortgages – owe more on their home loans than their properties are worth.
Continue reading… “31.4% of homeowners in the U.S. are underwater on mortgages”
Rapid DNA sequencing could soon become a routine part of your medical record
The latest technological competition involves the idea of threading a single strand of DNA through a tiny, molecular-scale eyelet known as a nanopore.
Rapid DNA sequencing can provide enormous amount of information previously sequestered in the human genome’s 3 billion nucleotide bases and soon may become a routine part of each individual’s medical record.
Continue reading… “Rapid DNA sequencing could soon become a routine part of your medical record”
Average web page surpasses 1MB in size
Bigger isn’t always better. The average web page is now more than 1 megabyte (MB) and that’s bad for site owners and for mobile users.
Continue reading… “Average web page surpasses 1MB in size”
Do women in the U.S. have the best quality of live?
Australia gets top honors for overall wellbeing.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has recently released the Better Life Index and according to the index women in the United States have the best quality of life of any developed nation.
Continue reading… “Do women in the U.S. have the best quality of live?”
Has college become too easy?
Amount of time students study has dwindled.
Is college too easy? Survey data shows that over the last 50 years, the amount of time college students actually study — read, write and otherwise prepare for class — has dwindled from 24 hours a week to about 15.
Continue reading… “Has college become too easy?”
Jonathan Ive – Apple’s quest for simplicity
Jonathan Ive
Jonathan Ive, the London-born head of design for Apple says “design is a word that’s come to mean so much that it’s also a word that has come to mean nothing. We don’t really talk about design, we talk about developing ideas and making products.”
A visualization of airplane flight paths in the U.S.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/5368967[/vimeo]
How may airplanes fly above our heads everyday?
Aaron Koblin knows the answer: It can be more than 19,000 in the United States. And thanks to his wizardry with FAA data, we can see how these aircraft drift from city to city in this mesmerizing computer visualization.
Continue reading… “A visualization of airplane flight paths in the U.S.”
How Private Is Your DNA?
How is my DNA NOT private?
Unlike the contents of your inbox, bank statement, or Facebook timeline, your DNA quite literally defines you. It’s strange, then, that in an age where sequencing the genome is becoming trivial, we don’t give a second thought about the privacy issues surrounding the chemicals that make us who we are.
In fact, most states in the US have absolutely no laws whatsoever to govern surreptitious genetic testing. If that surprises you, it gets worse. Back in 2006, the particularly forward-thinking state of Minnesota passed a law demanding that written consent had to be obtained for collection, storage, use, and sharing of genetic information. In 2011, however, the Minnesota Supreme Court judged that the state’s own department of health was in violation of that very law.
So, quite literally millions of US citizen have their DNA records stored on databases, and there are few laws governing what’s done with the data. Something has to be done about that—but it’s not necessarily as easy as it sounds.
Clamp down on DNA privacy…
Continue reading… “How Private Is Your DNA?”
How deadly charcoal is bought and sold in an African market
Charcoal for sale in an African market.
Xipamanine is a sprawling, labyrinthine marketplace in the heart of Maputo, Mozambique’s capital. On the street outside, tinny music blares and a bustling throng mills around. Inside, a series of winding corridors leads you through a maze of colorful booths that boast a wide variety of wares: shoes, stereo equipment, coconuts, toys, tomatoes, rugs, seeds, nuts, goats, and charcoal. Lots of charcoal.
You can buy it wholesale, in a gigantic sack with a month’s worth of cooking fuel, for about $20. An entire open air section of the market is dedicated to storing these bags; they’re stacked in imposing dust-covered piles….
Continue reading… “How deadly charcoal is bought and sold in an African market”
Inventing Our Next Great Scarcities
Futurist Thomas Frey: Scarcity is defined as an economic condition that arises when people have far greater wants than the available resources. Most often we think about the limited supplies of natural resources, but it includes far more than that.
Continue reading… “Inventing Our Next Great Scarcities”
