The growing percentage reflects, in part, the increasing average age at which women give birth for the first time.
In 2012, more test-tube babies were born in the United States than ever before, and they constituted a higher percentage of total births than at any time since the technology was introduced in the 1980s, according to a report released on Monday.
Continue reading… “Record number of test tube babies born in the U.S.”
Even though African-Americans make up 50% of murder victims (they are only 12% of the population) most death sentences that are handed out for killing are for white people.
Continue reading… “America’s race inequality by graph”
Futurist Thomas Frey: In 1998, a column I wrote for The Futurist Magazine took issue with the state of computer displays. Viewing the vast and growing Internet through a little square box on our desk was, in my opinion, the equivalent of watching a baseball game through a knothole.
Continue reading… “Creating the God Globe”
Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, creator of the Ruby programming language in 1995
Have you ever wondered how computers got started and where programming languages came from?
In the beginning, Charles Babbage’s difference engine could only be made to execute tasks by changing the gears which executed the calculations. Thus, the earliest form of a computer language was physical motion. Eventually, physical motion was replaced by electrical signals when the US Government built the ENIAC in 1942. It followed many of the same principles of Babbage’s engine and hence, could only be “programmed” by presetting switches and rewiring the entire system for each new “program” or calculation. This process proved to be very tedious. (Photos)
Continue reading… “The history of programming languages”
Genius happens when a seasoned mind sees a problem with fresh eyes.
The former frontman of the band LCD Soundsystem, James Murphy, made what he called the biggest mistake of his life at 21, when he turned down a writing job on a sitcom that was about to launch.
Continue reading… “Your late 30’s is when your biggest breakthroughs will happen”
We’re going to see artificial intelligence do more and more.
We have seen a lot of advances in the past few years. We have seen cars that drive themselves, humanoid robots, speech recognition and synthesis systems, 3D printers, Jeopardy!-champion computers. These aren’t even the crowning achievements of the computer era. They’re the warm-up acts. As we move deeper into the second machine age we’ll see more and more such wonders, and they’ll become more and more impressive.
Continue reading… “This is the dawn of the age of artificial intelligence”
Evolution Door
A clever folding door from Austrian artist Klemens Torggler has been making the design blog rounds the past few days. It’s the kind of poetic reinvention of a familiar object that makes you wonder why nobody thought of such a radical innovation before. (Videos)
Continue reading… “Evolution Door: An ingenious door that opens and closes with two rotating panels”
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, the world’s largest solar power plant, takes 300,000 computer-controlled mirrors, each 7 feet high and 10 feet wide and controls them with computers to focus the Sun’s light to the top of 459-foot towers where water is turned into steam to power turbines. (Photos)
Continue reading… “World’s largest solar plant is now creating electricity”
A Nanoscribe 3D printer can print models of the Empire State building in a space the width of a human hair using precision lasers. Watching the machine build through the “lens” of an electron microscope is otherworldly—but the printer’s potential runs beyond microscale model making. (Video)
Continue reading… “New 3D printed materials lighter than water and as strong as steel”
Air Hockey Robot
The Air Hockey Robot, developed by Jose Julio out of some spare 3D printer parts and a PS3 camera, is a tough competitor to beat. The robot uses its camera and an Arduino Mega to correctly predict the trajectory of the puck, even when it’s rebounding haphazardly across the table. With freedom of motion on two axes, the robot can even predict how best to return your last futile attempt to score against its robo-defense. (Video)
Continue reading… “Air Hockey Robot built from 3D printer parts”
The glasses are designed to make it easy for surgeons to differentiate cancerous cells from healthy cells.
Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine have developed high-tech eyewear that helps surgeons detect cancer cells, which glow blue when viewed using the special glasses.
Continue reading… “High-tech glasses help surgeons see cancer”
Below the surface there exist deposits of water, rare minerals, and other substances not so common here on Earth.
Instead of NASA resupplying the International Space Station, private corporations have taken on that job. Mars One has just as good a chance as NASA does at establishing a permanent colony on Mars. Even the Moon, which has for so long been NASA’s claim to fame, is now being offered up on a silver NASA-backed platter.
Continue reading… “NASA looking to private companies to mine the moon”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.