Futurist Thomas Frey: How quickly we forget. Events of 20 years ago seem like a distant memory, but 1994 was the year when Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Africa, O.J. Simpson was arrested for killing his wife, huge massacres were happening in Rwanda and Sarajevo, and China got its first connection to the Internet.
Even employees who are employed in large corporations are encouraged to be “intrapreneurs.”
Entrepreneurs used to be thought of as the renegade cowboys out in Silicon Valley. Now it seems you have to be an entrepreneur just to get and hold a job.
Continue reading… “Why everyone will need to become an entrepreneur: Infographic”
31 percent of South Australia’s total energy came from renewable sources in 2012 and 2013.
In South Australia, one in five houses already has a rooftop solar array. Twenty-seven percent of that region’s power is derived from wind energy. New figures released by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) predict that thanks to new sources of wind and solar power in development, the area could source half of its energy from renewables within the decade. This would make South Australia the first industrialized region to achieve such an accomplishment, surpassing other green-power giants like Denmark and Germany.
Continue reading… “South Australia to reach 50% renewable energy within 10 years”
In 2009, over 4 million students were taking some sort of course online.
The insertion of the internet into our daily lives sure has changed the landscape of how distance learning has evolved and is consumed, there was certainly a lot of history that preceded it. The infographic below takes a look at the strides distance learning has made over the years and really highlights how the internet has really helped to expand the offerings to many more people.
Continue reading… “The history of distance learning: Infographic”
Public fast charging as a vital step in the acceptance of electric vehicles.
According to a new study, struggling to find a rapid charging station for your electric car could be a thing of the past by 2020. The number of quick chargers worldwide will increase by one hundred times that of today.
Continue reading… “Number of electric fast-charging stations will reach 199,000 by 2020”
We came of age as deregulated financial institutions stumbled and took housing, bank accounts, and jobs with them. The bailout helped those industries bounce back, but what about a generation’s collective sense of security and purpose? Young people aren’t totally turned off by work despite today’s economy. They are excited about getting fulfillment from their careers, especially if they can help others.
Continue reading… “Millennials optimistic about career prospects”
Clergy members are at a higher risk of depression.
Using phone surveys and written questionnaires, researchers from the Clergy Health Initiative at Duke Divinity School decided to look into the mental health of members of the clergy. They interviewed over 1,700 United Methodist pastors, and found that depression is about 1.6 times higher in that group compared to the general population (8.7% versus 5.5%).
Continue reading… “There is more depression among clergy than the general population: Study”
A room at the Volkswagen research and design facility uses an LED lighting control system.
The lighting controls market has taken off. Commercial networked lighting systems will grow from $1.7 billion in 2012 to more than $5.3 billion by 2020, according to a new report by Navigant Research.
Continue reading… “Lighting controls market will grow $5.3 billion by 2020”
Robot arms weld a vehicle on the assembly line at a General Motors plant.
Since the Great Recession ended four years ago, American workers’ productivity has risen. But, in the U.S. there are two million fewer jobs than before the downturn. The unemployment rate is stuck at levels not seen since the early 1990s and the proportion of adults who are working is four percentage points off its peak in 2000.
Continue reading… “How technology hurts the middle class”
Synthetic biology is about making DNA from scratch.
What if you could turn a bread machine into your personal pharmacy? Or fill your gas tank with fuel made from grass clippings? Or light your home with glowing houseplants? While radical in concept, these ideas are startlingly practical and already in the works.
Continue reading… “Synthetic biology holds global promise and perils”
Moore’s Law — the ability to pack twice as many transistors on the same sliver of silicon every two years — will come to an end as soon as 2020 at the 7nm node says Robert Colwell who now works for DARPA (trying to pick after CMOS technology) and was Intel’s chief chip architect from 1990 to 2001.
Continue reading… “End of Moore’s Law by early 2020’s: It’s not just about physics”
A child born in 2012 is estimated to cost $241,080 to raise.
It’s becoming increasingly expensive to have kids. But it has never been cheaper to clothe and feed them, as well. The total cost of raising a child born in 2012 is estimated at $241,080 – and double that if your child attends college. That’s a 23% increase from 1960. So what is getting more expensive?
Continue reading… “What’s behind the increasing cost of raising a child in the U.S.”