Smartphone-enabled, security-minded, and no monthly fees.
Homeowners in the U.S. would prefer a smartphone-enabled, do-it-yourself platform for home automation over a closed, subscription-based system. They also care a lot more about security and peace of mind than they do about saving on their energy bills.
Continue reading… “What do Americans really want from their smart homes?”
Small weaponized robots, swarm into the human body, hunt down malignant tumors and destroy them.
An army of tiny weaponized robots traveling around a human body, hunting down malignant tumors and destroying them from within sounds like a scene from a science fiction novel. But research in Nature Communications today from the University of California Davis Cancer Center shows the prospect of that being a realistic scenario may not be far off.
Continue reading… “New nanobots hunt down and destroy cancerous tumors”
A ban on office communications in the evening and during vacation time could even become law.
Some German companies such as BMW, Volkswagen and Deutsche Telekom, in the last few years, have banned after-hours calls and emails to workers. The point of the ban is to actually let people take time off in the evening, rather than effectively being half-working all the time.
Continue reading… “Germany considers ban on after-hours office communications to workers”
Electric vehicles will yield big environmental improvements in China.
China is supposedly about to invest a hundred billion yuan (equivalent to about 16.3 billion US dollars at today’s exchange rate) into electric vehicles and the infrastructure to support them, like public charging stations, according to “two people familiar with the matter”, says Bloomberg.
Continue reading… “China to invest $16.3 B in electric cars”
Does a greater number of years in school mean more learning?
When you compare education systems around the world to see what’s working and what isn’t, one of the metrics we often see is ‘school life expectancy.’ This is known as how many years students go to school. We most often assume that students go to school for at least 13 years (K-12), plus “some” college or post high school education in the U.S. In schools in developing countries, we hear about children who can’t go to school past a young age (sometimes around 8 years old) because they need to make money for their family’s survival, because they don’t have the opportunity to do so, because of their gender, or because it would be dangerous or prohibitively expensive to do so.
Continue reading… “How much time do students spend in classrooms worldwide?”
Private investment in electric transmission has quintupled from $2.7 billion in 1997 to $14.1 billion in 2012.
Private electric utilities in America have been doing something surprising over the past ten years – they have been investing a lot of money in power lines and other electric-transmission infrastructure. (Chart)
Kala Segway
The Segway offers transportation solutions that would reduce congestion, pollution and other environmental problems. The unique design and function of the Segway has a fresh idea and excites the imagination of several people, designers included. If we fast forward a few years, we will see quite a number of concept vehicles entering the market with the same vision. Here are some of these futuristic models Segway lovers would need to look out for in the near future. (Pics)
Continue reading… “Futuristic scooter concepts built around the Segway”
The Sense sleep tracking device has been backed by angel investors and crowdfunding campaigns.
Wall Street Journal’s Evelyn Rusli reports that startups are tapping new sources of early-stage funding, including ad hoc networks of wealthy tech executives doing some investing on the side, and that should give some big venture capital firms pause. Twenty-three year old entrepreneur James Proud is the latest example. He has raised $10.5 million from a circle of well-connected angel investors and an additional $2.4 million in a Kickstarter campaign for his sleep-tracker device Hello.
Continue reading… “Pre-VC rounds are shaking up early-stage funding”
Doctor-patient video consultations will exceed 130M in 2018.
Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates said, “the number of doctor-patient video consultations will nearly triple from this year to the next, from 5.7 million in 2014 to over 16 million in 2015, and will exceed 130 million in 2018. The connected health markets are experiencing tremendous growth both in end-user connected devices and on the institutional side, and the early collaboration with our Charter Sponsors helped us focus our first-year event as a key industry forum to connect the technology industry with healthcare stakeholders.”
What will the workforce look like in 2019?
Human-resources experts predict significant changes within the workforce over the next five years. They predict a sizable shift as millennials take their seats at businesses large and small, and Baby Boomers simultaneously either retire or modify their work styles to reflect increasingly flexible and mobile opportunities.
Continue reading… “Top 5 ways the workforce will change in the next 5 years”
Last Sunday’s 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck the Napa region of Northern California was the strongest the area has seen in 25 years. The quake was so strong, in fact, that it woke many in the region — as we learned from a sudden change in the sleeping patterns of people nearby, thanks to data collected by Jawbone UP fitness trackers.
Continue reading… “Jawbone data reveals how many Up users were woken up by the Napa earthquake”
“When we create our future, we recreate ourselves.”
“Humans Need Not Apply,” a new online video about automation says, “this is an economic revolution.” The premise of the video is that human work will soon be all but obsolete. “You may think we’ve been here before, but we haven’t,” says CGP Grey, the video’s creator. “This time is different.” The video has gone viral, with nearly two million YouTube views in one week. But is it true?
Continue reading… “Are robots people, too?”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.