Category: Breakthrough Thinking

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Year in Review: Top 10 Articles on FuturistSpeaker.com

2011-in-Review

Futurist Thomas Frey: The sixth law of the future states, “The “unknowability” of the future is what gives us our drive and motivation.”

The fact that the future is unknowable is a good thing. Our involvement in the game of life is based on our notion that we as individuals can make a difference. If we somehow remove the mystery of what results our actions will have, we also dismantle our individual drives and motivations for moving forward.

Continue reading… “Year in Review: Top 10 Articles on FuturistSpeaker.com”

Art, Breakthrough Thinking, Historical Perspectives, Robots

Robots Suck At Scratching Vinyl

The DJs of the world can breathe a sigh of relief, because if this video is any indication, it’s going to be a long time before they’re in jeopardy of losing gigs to robots.

Watch in horror as this artificial turntablist lays down some of the worst beats I’ve ever heard from the wheels of steel. And that’s including my own feeble attempts on a friend’s 1200s.

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Animals, Art, Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Photos, Crazy Stuff, New Viewpoints

Extreme grooming for animals

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Punk Bird

Absolutely no photoshoppery involved here, no siree. I refuse to believe that punk bird is anything less than real, so I can’t tell you how Mladen Penev got animals to sit still long enough for impressive haircuts and mustache trims for ad agency Staudinger Franke and their client, the shavers and grooming equipment maker Braun.

(more photos after the jump…)

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Breakthrough Thinking, Culture, Current Events, Education, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior

Occupy Wall Street reporter to utilize drones to prevent brutality

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Drones can be used for many things.

From whaling wars to military wars, surveillance drones are everywhere — including the Occupy movement. But it’s not the police employing these unmanned machines — it’s reporters like Tim Pool, an American journalist best known for his 21-hour marathon of live-streamed coverage of the Occupy Wall Street eviction, which occurred in New York City on November 15.

Despite a media ban on the raid, Pool was able to single-handedly report on events on the ground that day, using little else than a smartphone and donated batteries…

Continue reading… “Occupy Wall Street reporter to utilize drones to prevent brutality”

Breakthrough Thinking, Great New Product, New Discoveries, New Inventions

Why did this Kickstarter Project raise $400,000?

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Twine could change your world.

We stumbled on a neat little Kickstarter project this afternoon, and it appears to be a bigger deal than meets the eye.
It’s called Twine, a tiny rectangular gadget that looks like a translucent bar of soap. And it’s become a big deal on Kickstarter.
Twine has built in sensors for detecting movement, temperature, moisture, switches, and inputs from pretty much any other gizmo you can think of.
Oh yeah, it can tweet too…

Continue reading… “Why did this Kickstarter Project raise $400,000?”

Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Business, Culture, Economy, Globalism, Historical Perspectives, Internet, Latest News, Latest Trend, New Discoveries

Elance predicts market for online contingent work to double again in 2012

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Will your future job will be doing online contingent work?

Wondering where all the future jobs are going to be? Online of course! But maybe not exactly in the format you were expecting.

Despite a stagnant employment market in 2011, online hiring has grown at a record pace, up more than 100% from 2010. Elance, the leading platform for online work, released its 2011 Online Employment Review today, which reveals that the future of work will be contingent, global and online. As more companies seek instant access to talent and greater flexibility to run their businesses, individuals are taking control of their future by building careers as independent professionals…

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Education, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Medical Breakthrough, New Discoveries

How bacteria build homes inside healthy cells

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Purdue associate professor of biological sciences Zhao-Qing Luo, at right, and graduate student Yunhao Tan look at the growth of Legionella pneumophila bacteria in a petri dish.

Bacteria are able to build camouflaged homes for themselves inside healthy cells — and cause disease — by manipulating a natural cellular process.

Purdue University biologists led a team that revealed how a pair of proteins from the bacteria Legionella pneumophila, which causes Legionnaires disease, alters a host protein in order to divert raw materials within the cell for use in building and disguising a large structure that houses the bacteria as it replicates…

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Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Culture, Current Events, Entertainment, Globalism, government, Humor

China Post beams letters into orbit via a Space Post Office

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What would you send into space via a space post office?

Young children living the Western world will often spend December writing letters to be sent the North Pole in the hope of reaching Santa Claus. In China, however, people of all ages now have a new reason to get the pen and paper out again as China Post are now offering a service that sends letters into space…

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Analysis, Big Problems, Breakthrough Thinking, Globalism, Green Friendly, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints

Computerized air-traffic control could save CO2 equivalent of Denmark’s economy

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Bringing Air-Traffic Control in the 21st Century could really save CO2.

If you are going somewhere in a vehicle that burns a lot of fossil fuels, it’s never a good idea to take unnecessary detours. Sadly, most airplanes can’t take the most elegant and efficient route to their destinations because of the limitations of the air-traffic control system that guides them. It’s not the fault of the traffic controllers – they do a good job – but rather of the technology with which they have to work; the foundations of the system are 50-60 years old and produce flight paths that are far from optimal when it comes to saving fuel (and thus reducing CO2 emissions), saving money, and saving time for passengers. So what can we do about it?

Continue reading… “Computerized air-traffic control could save CO2 equivalent of Denmark’s economy”

Breakthrough Thinking, Entertainment, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints

Exploding holiday tree ornaments

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BANG! Color.

If you’ve had about enough holiday cheer for one year, you can take comfort in the fact that you’re not alone. Photographer Alan Sailer likes to shoot Christmas ornaments with a high-powered pellet gun and photograph them with a high-speed camera as they explode into a million shiny pieces. Bah-humbug, indeed!

(more explosions after the jump…)

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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.

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