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Ten years ago, offshoring manufacturing jobs to China looked like the perfect way to cut costs. But now companies that manufacture everything from computers to car parts are returning to the United States in growing numbers. The country needs to invest in more vocational and technical training programs so millions of jobless factory workers are equipped with the skills to benefit from this trend, say labor economists.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbmkGb5EH1c&hd=1[/youtube]
If you are worried about the safety rating of your child’s car seat maybe you should swaddle your child in a protective Kevlar cocoon. The Carkoon is a new child seat developed by British company Cool Technologies that wraps your child in protective Kevlar and a fireproof Nomex airbag upon impact. It even calls emergency services for you.
Continue reading… “Carkoon – car seat that envelops your child in a Kevlar cocoon upon impact”
This week we’re talking about fungus two ways. One that can survive exclusively on polyurethane and another that can replace Styrofoam.
Continue reading… “A future with less plastic thanks to mushrooms”
Keyboard Flip-Flops
The Thailand shoe company, Kito, has designed the Keyboard Flip-Flops which quite literally put computer keyboards on your feet. Of course the keyboards don’t actually work, but they’re realistic enough to give onlookers a reason to take a second glance. Will you potentially look really stupid to the fashion forward? Yes, quite possibly. But for a price of just $1.20 a pair, a few weird looks is worth having the most hacker-friendly feet in your neighborhood. (Video)
Continue reading… “Keyboard Flip-Flops”
Distances are typically documented using specific measurement terms like inches, feet, and even miles. But when someone asks you how far it is to the mall, you’ll usually respond with a measurement of time instead of an exact number of miles…
Continue reading… “Why we often measure distances in time”
Futurist Thomas Frey: All the way back in March of 2004, working in his laboratory at the University of Southern California in San Diego, Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis, was working with a new process he had invented called Contour Crafting to construct the world’s first 3D printed wall.
His goal was to use the technology for rapid home construction as a way to rebuild after natural disasters, like the devastating earthquakes that had recently occurred in his home country of Iran.
While we have still not seen our first “printed home” just yet, that will be coming very soon. Perhaps within a year. Commercial buildings will soon follow.
For an industry firmly entrenched in working with nails and screws, the prospects of replacing saws and hammers with giant printing machines seems frightening. But getting beyond this hesitancy lies the biggest construction boom in all history.
Here’s why I think this will happen.
Continue reading… “Printable Houses and the Massive Wave of Opportunity it will bring to Our Future”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc7N7554M2o[/youtube]
Controversial genomics scientist and entrepreneur Craig Venter said last week at a conference on the future of energy at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C. that biofuels made from algae that will be able to scale, and compete with oil, will have to be synthesized and will not come from nature.Venter said in an interview, “It’s pretty obvious that there’s nothing in the natural world to make the levels that are needed,” and he pointed to algae oil yield volumes needing approximately 20,000 gallons per acre equivalent of algae.
Continue reading… “Algae fuel that can replace oil will not come from nature”
Prolonged sitting is bad for your health.
A fascinating study was published by SBRN member David Dunstan and colleagues in Australia, which examined the acute (e.g. short-term) impact of uninterrupted sitting on metabolic health. In this new study, individuals with overweight or obesity were asked to perform 3 separate conditions in random order. (Videos)
Continue reading… “Why sitting for just a couple hours is bad for your health”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2fV7BGl9M4[/youtube]
Terrafugia, makers of Transition — the world’s first flying car — has released video of a production-type prototype flying over Plattsburgh, N.Y. today. (Video)
Continue reading… “World’s first flying car goes for test flight”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOOoFEKiK8A[/youtube]
These one-wheeled, self-balancing personal transport solutions, the fat wheeled eniCycle, the stylish and graceful U3 from Honda or the slightly scary prospect of the UnoMoto, have all shared more in common. They’ve all had somewhere for the user to sit. Inventist’s Solowheel is a little different – you ride this electric unicycle standing upright, like a Segway or skateboard. It has a useful carry handle and fold-away foot platforms, is gyro-stabilized and the Li-ion batteries offer a range of about 12 miles between charges. (Pics)
Continue reading… “Solowheel – self-balancing electric unicycle”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzTZ0WmwahM[/youtube]
If your friend owes you money, lacking cash is no excuse if he’s got an iPhone. Just like sending contact information with the Bump app, you can now transfer money the same way with Bump Pay. The free app asks for your email address when it’s initially opened. You and your iPhone-wielding friend bump hands; when you feel the vibration, the money’s a-moving.
Continue reading… “Bump Pay – an app that lets you pay your friends by bumping iPhones”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EgVHdTuE10[/youtube]
ET3, a licensing organization, holds a patent to Evacuated Tube Technology or ETT and say that with their tubes, you will eventually be able to get you from New York to Beijing in 2 hours and from New York to London in less than an hour.
Continue reading… “Evacuated Tube Technology – rewriting the rules of high speed travel”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.