Google is melding real and virtual worlds with games, apps, and Glass

.

Ingress, Google’s virtual reality game

In Google’s global alternative reality game, Ingress. that uses the real world as its gamespace, Ingress says, “the world around you is not what it seems.” And, perhaps, when Google’s semi-independent division Niantic Labs is finished with its mission, we humans won’t be, either.

 

 

Continue reading… “Google is melding real and virtual worlds with games, apps, and Glass”

Abod – tiny houses that can be built in a day

Abod

One billion people of the world’s population lives in informal communities – sometimes known as shantytowns, tent cities or, if you’re really going for the jugular, slums. Doug Sharp, president and chairman of BSB Design, came up with a tiny, inexpensive home for slum dwellers that can be built in less than one day by one family. (Pics)

 

 

Continue reading… “Abod – tiny houses that can be built in a day”

Transgenics – next wave of genetically modified crops could ease concerns over ‘Frankenfoods’

Transgenic canola

When the first genetically modified (GM) organisms were being developed for the farm, says Anastasia Bodnar, “we were promised rocket jet packs” — futuristic, ultra-nutritious crops that would bring exotic produce to the supermarket and help to feed a hungry world.

 

 

Continue reading… “Transgenics – next wave of genetically modified crops could ease concerns over ‘Frankenfoods’”

Three myths about genetically modified crops

GM crop technologies have seen dramatic uptake in the past 20 years.

It can be hard to see where scientific evidence ends and dogma and speculation begin in the debate over genetically modified (GM) foods and crops. In the almost 20 years since they were first commercialized, GM crop technologies have seen dramatic uptake. Advocates say that they have increased agricultural production by more than US$98 billion and saved an estimated 473 million kilograms of pesticides from being sprayed. But critics question their environmental, social and economic impacts.

 

 

Continue reading… “Three myths about genetically modified crops”

IBM makes world’s smallest movie ever

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSCX78-8-q0[/youtube]

The world’s smallest movie made by IBM Research has carbon monoxide atoms being moved around on a copper surface with a scanning tunneling microscope. The 250-frame stop-motion film, entitled “A Boy and His Atom,” uses discrete atoms to draw a stick-figure-like boy that bounces on a trampoline and plays catch with an individual atom “ball.”

 

 

Continue reading… “IBM makes world’s smallest movie ever”

Getting around the peak car conumdrum

New breakthroughs in connecting cars to the cloud (and eliminating the need for car ownership) show what a better future for cars might look like.

The global automotive industry is on a run by all accounts. Globally, sales are surging. Advances in hybrids, electric vehicles, and even conventional petrol engines are delivering eye-popping mileage gains.

 

 

Continue reading… “Getting around the peak car conumdrum”

Can scientific breakthroughs lead to faith?

Leading scientists employ science itself in arguments for believing in a kind of supernatural.

Science and religion has had a relationship that has always been vexed. Most scientists are nonbelievers, convinced that there is no deity, or at least that there is no convincing evidence of one. Even those who are believers, like Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, see their religion and their science as largely separate. (“If God is outside of nature, then science can neither prove nor disprove his existence,” he once wrote.)

 

 

Continue reading… “Can scientific breakthroughs lead to faith?”

Lenify – a redesigned stretcher to protect the injured

It’s important to move victims as little as possible after they have had an accident. A secondary injury could be worse than the first. Danny Lin, a student at Art Center College of Design, in California, has a new take on the classic stretcher. His Lenify design breaks into three pieces, allowing first responders to slide head, body and leg sections under the patient in turn, minimizing how much they have to adjust. (Video)

 

 

Continue reading… “Lenify – a redesigned stretcher to protect the injured”

Google sees spike in government requests to remove content

In the Transparency Report’s latest edition, Google has revealed that the final six months of 2012 saw an increase in government requests to remove content — often YouTube videos. Google received 2,285 such requests (compared with 1,811 during the first half of 2012) that named a total of 24,179 pieces of content for removal (compared with 18,070 in the preceding period).

 

 

Continue reading… “Google sees spike in government requests to remove content”

Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.