Category: Analysis

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Analysis, Business, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Building the next generation of smart cities

smart cities

Smart cites tap into technology and social experiments.

Cities are becoming the focal point for policy and investment activities that drive economic growth and build more resilient social structures to address disasters, climate change, and healthcare. The ongoing financial crisis has prompted city managers globally to think about ways to achieve greater efficiencies and compete against other cities and regions for talent and business.

 

 

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Agriculture, Analysis, Food, Globalism, People Making a Difference, Plant Life, Science & Technology News

Scientists reinventing photosynthesis to feed the world

wheat-fields

If we could make the process more efficient, scientists estimate we could increase yields by 36 to 60 percent.

What if we ended up with 50% more rice and wheat by using the same amount of water and fertilizer? Sound impossible? No, just some chemistry and genetic engineering. Scientists have recently figured out the second of three steps to make photosynthesis a whole lot more efficient in plants.

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Analysis, Energy, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Solar Power

Are homes with solar worth more than non-solar homes?

SolarHomePrices

We have been talking about how much solar panels increase the value of your home for years. We use a simple calculation to determine the increase in value: We add the energy savings you’ll see per year for 20 years. Well, it looks like we’re not just blowing solar smoke; study after  study after study comparing sales of solar and non-solar houses show clearly that homes—even near-identical homes in the same community—sell for more with solar. But we know you don’t want to read a 200-page PDF to find out, so we’ve collected some of the most important information below.

 

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Analysis, Business, Economy, Latest Trend, Money Talk

Crowdfunding will provide $65B to boost the 2014 global economy

crowdfunding money

A new law will allow entrepreneurs to equity crowdfund from anyone with the cash and the interest.

Crowdfunding is really big and it’s only going to get a whole lot bigger.  If you’ve been skeptical of all the crowdfunding buzz, consider this: By the end of 2014, crowdfunding is estimated to add at least 270,000 jobs and inject more than $65 billion into the global economy, according to estimates from crowdfunding platform Fundable. (Infographic)

 

 

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Analysis, Latest Trend, New Viewpoints, People Making a Difference, top 10

Top 10 questions the Pew Research Center has tackled in the past 10 years

pew research

The Pew Research Center was established by The Pew Charitable Trusts ten years ago to bring together several of Pew’s information initiatives. The new organization had a unique mission to offer nonpartisan, non-advocacy information to decision-makers and the public. The Center has amassed a large body of work over the past decade. For their tenth anniversary, here’s a look back at some of our most important findings.

 

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Analysis, Energy, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Solar Power, Wind Power

Wildpoldsried, Germany produces 500% of its energy from renewable sources

wildpoldsreid

Wildpoldsried produces 500% more energy than it needs.

Wildpoldsried, Germany, a Bavarian village of about 2,600 residents, is leading the way in Germany’s extraordinary renewable energy transformation. The village has invested in a holistic range of renewable energy projects over the past 17 years that include 4,983 kWp of photovoltaics, five biogas facilities, 11 wind turbines and a hydropower system. As a result, the village has gone beyond energy independence – and it now produces 500% more energy than it needs and profits from sales of the surplus power back to the grid.

Analysis, Business, government, Latest Trend, Money Talk

U.S. intends to make public drug company payments to doctors despite calls for delay

doctors payments

The database is part of the government’s “Open Payments” program.

Scores of doctors’ groups have called for postponement, but the Obama administration intends to stick to its 30 September deadline for making public a database detailing payments and gifts from the drug industry to US physicians, a spokesperson for the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said on 15 September.

 

 

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Business, Latest Trend, People Making a Difference, Robots, Science & Technology News

Should Robots Have Their Own Bank Accounts?

House-Bot-2

Typical house-bot shopping on a budget

Futurist Thomas Frey: The year is 2027 and Winston, a newly born house-bot charged with doing a number of domestic chores including cleaning, meal prep, laundry, and building maintenance, has been programmed to not only perform the work, but also restock supplies once they reach a certain level.

 

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Analysis, Animals, Brain, Science & Technology News

A mouse with a human speech gene learns faster

mouse

The humanized gene actually improved the animal’s behavior rather than messing up the system.

According to a new study, mice that receive a human version of a speech and language gene display accelerated learning. Don’t expect these findings to lead to a rush of smarter, “uplifted” animals—though they might just reveal something new and fascinating about the evolution of human speech and language.

 

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Analysis, Culture, Human Behavior, Latest Trend

Pew report finds Millennials are avid readers and library users

millennials reading

Forty-three percent of Millennials say that they read a book in some format (print, audiobook, or ebook) every day.

Lisa Peet:  In September, the Pew Research Center Internet Project issued a new report on the library habits of Americans under 30. “Younger Americans and Public Libraries” examines the ways Millennials engage with libraries, and how they see libraries’ roles in their lives and communities. The good news is that young people are reading as much as older adults, and are even more likely to have read a book in the past 12 months. Also, their library use is holding steady. Nonetheless, the report warns, their levels of engagement vary in a number of ways.

 

 

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Analysis, App, Business, Great Videos, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

LittleBits’ BitLab is an app store for hardware

bitlab

LittleBits has just announced something called the BitLab, a contest merged with a crowd sourced technology system that allows inventors to create new LittleBits blocks, upload them, and have them made and sold by the company. The system also includes a hardware development kit that allows anyone access to LittleBits’ custom magnetic snap-together leads. (Videos)

 

 

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Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
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By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.