Thirty percent of students working in the sex industry were in debt.
One third of university students in the German capital of Berlin would consider sex work as a means to finance their education, a study from the Berlin Studies Center said on Wednesday.
Continue reading… “1 in 3 University Students in Berlin Consider Sex Work”
Online retail spending reached $38 billion this quarter, up 12 percent from a $33.8 billion a year ago according to Comscore. This growth is due to an increase in the number of buyers (7%), transactions per buy (9%) and tempered by a decline in spending per transaction (4%).
According to a ComScore report released today, nearly half of those orders included free shipping, at 47% versus 53% for Q’1 ’11, 49% versus 51% in Q’4 10 (the holiday season) and 41% versus 59% in Q3 ’10.
Continue reading… “Almost Half Of All Online Orders Now Include Free Shipping”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ6UHFIbFyc[/youtube]
Futurist Thomas Frey at the TEDx University of Chicago event
Futurist Thomas Frey: We are a very backward looking society.
We’re very backward looking in that we’ve all personally experienced the past. As we look around, we see evidence of the past all around us. The past is very knowable, yet we will spend the rest of our lives in the future.
My job as a futurist is to help turn people around and give them some idea of what the future holds.
Continue reading… “TEDxUChicago 2011 – Thomas Frey – Communicating with the Future”
Gliese 581 and its exoplanets are only 20 light years away.
One of our own solar system’s closest neighboring stars and a regular point of exoplanetary interest, the red dwarf Gliese 581, can finally claim the title of owning the first confirmed potentially-habitable expolanet. French researchers running complex computer models have demonstrated that the planet Gliese 581d–once thought too cold to sustain life–indeed could possess the proper ingredients to sustain liquid water and an atmosphere.
Continue reading… “First Potentially Habitable Exoplanet Found”
Expanding our thinking about the notion of
corporate-run community libraries
Futurist Thomas Frey: Consider the following scenario. Two years from now in November, you find yourself walking into a voting booth to decide on the fate of your local library. The issue you will be deciding affects you directly because it has to do with the management of your local library. You will be voting on one of four choices for the operational management of your library. The choices you have to pick from include Microsoft, Google, Apple, or your current city-run operation.
Continue reading… “Privatizing Libraries”
Heavy alcohol consumption makes it more difficult to build new memories.
Binge drinking not only makes you forget what you did the night before but also the day before that – and the day before that, a study suggests. Researchers have found that a big night out destroys long term memory even in young adults.
The Fed rule on debit card fees could have far-reaching effects on how consumers spend and save.
The debit card battle between retailers and banks has reached epic proportions. The plan by lawmakers is to slash the fees retailers pay banks every time a shopper uses a debit card. Both sides are spending millions of dollars to convince lawmakers that they’re looking out for average Americans.
Continue reading… “What Effect Will the Cut in Debit Card Fees Have on Consumers?”
Like a drop on a wine glass, a snake venom “tear” runs down the groove of the fang.
The surface tension acting on the venom is the dominant physical force underlying envenomation.
Most snakes do not inject venom into their victims bodies using hollow fangs, contrary to common misconceptions. The fact is that most snakes and many other venomous reptiles have no hollow fangs. Physicists have now uncovered the tricks these animals use to force their venom under the skin of their victims.
For years Professor Leo von Hemmen, a biophysicist at the TU Muenchen, and Professor Bruce Young, a biologist at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, have been researching the sense of hearing in snakes. While discussing the toxicity of their snakes, it dawned on them that only few snakes inject their venom into their victims’ bodies using hollow fangs. Yet, even though the vast majority of venomous reptiles lack hollow fangs, they are effective predators.
Only around one seventh of all venomous snakes, like the rattlesnake, rely on the trick with the hollow fang. The vast majority has developed another system…
Since the debut of the iPad, tablets have captured the imagination of consumers. In just one year, the iPad surpassed even the most optimistic of projections to define a brand new product category and become the best-selling gadget of all time, and Forrester analysts project that in 2011, tablet sales will more than double.
But are tablets ready for the classroom? Though tablets have caught on with consumers, the higher education market has been slower to adopt, and understandably so. From grades to degrees to job placement after graduation, the devices that are used in classrooms are tied to important outcomes…
Continue reading… “6 Reasons Why Tablets Are Ready for the Classroom”
Obesity ‘master switch’ found.
A gene linked to diabetes and cholesterol has been found by scientists. It is a “master switch” that controls other genes found in fat in the body, and say it should help in the search for treatments for obesity-related diseases.
Continue reading… “‘Master Switch’ For Obesity Discovered”
Sales tax is a a system that is now on the verge of collapse
Futurist Thomas Frey: As a general rule, extreme levels of complexity take a significant toll on society. The price we pay for complexity is far greater than the money involved. With upwards of 90,000 separate taxing districts in the U.S. sales tax has become an overly complicated system deeply entrenched in the fabric of society, but woefully out of touch with the times.
Continue reading… “Reinventing Sales Tax”
Matt Drudge
The No. 1 source of referral traffic to major news sites in the United States is Google. Google provides approximately 30% of the traffic to these sites.
Continue reading… “Matt Drudge – Most Powerful Man on the Web”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
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