Futurist Thomas Frey: Five years ago was the beginning of 2007. George Bush was President, Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor of California, Barack Obama wasn’t very well known, and Saddam Hussein had just been executed in Iraq.
Continue reading… “The 5-Year Pipeline”
ZBoard
ZBoard is laying claim to being the “world’s first weight-sensing electric skateboard.” It delivers up to 400 watts of motor power via a simple, lean-and-go interface. The result is that riders will get up to 17 mph worth of speed without having to scuff their soles on the pavement. (Video)
Continue reading… “ZBoard – world’s first weight-sensing electric skateboard”
Cloud-top height fell one percent on average between March 2000 and February 2010.
Call Chicken Little, the sky really is falling. NASA satellite data has shown that the Earth’s cloud tops have been lowering over the last 10 years.
Continue reading… “Hey Chicken Little, the sky is falling!”
Dr James Dunbar checks a patient’s heart with the revolutionary vest.
Scientists have developed a new cardiac vest that can diagnose heart attacks as soon as they happen has been developed by scientists, a feat they say could lead to new ways of treating heart patients.
Continue reading… “Vest that alerts you of heart attack in minutes”
Power Felt
A Wake Forest University’s Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials team has created a new thermoelectric fabric they call Power Felt. It’s constructed of “tiny carbon nanotubes locked up in flexible plastic fibers,” though the final product looks and feels like fabric, and creates and electrical charge from changes in temperature–like, say, touching it with your hot finger, or sitting on it with your hot butt (hot in this case referring to temperature and thus wholly inoffensive science).
Continue reading… “Power Felt – thermoelectric fabric lets you sit on your phone to power it”
The rise in the use of smartphones and social media by consumers fueled the increase in identity fraud.
In 2011, nearly 12 million Americans were victims of identity theft, an increase of 13 percent over 2010, according to a report released on Wednesday by the research firm Javelin Strategy & Research.
Continue reading… “Rise in identity theft linked to smartphone use”
Google’s new Android-powered glasses
Futuristic Google spectacles that will stream your smartphone from your pocket directly to your eyes will go on sale by year’s end, according to reports from the New York Times.
Continue reading… “Google to sell ‘Terminator’ style smartphone glasses”
Obayashi Corp. is building the Tokyo Sky Tree and plans to build a space elevator by 2050.
Space elevators are one of the promising technologies of the future. Now a Japanese construction firm that specializes in the very tall could make them a reality. By 2050, so still pretty far on that horizon, but it’s a start.
Continue reading… “Japan to have space elevator by 2050”
An adult Chikilidae, a new species of legless amphibian known as a caecilian, with eggs and hatchlings.
Since before the age of dinosaurs it has burrowed unbothered beneath the monsoon-soaked soils of remote northeast India – unknown to science and mistaken by villagers as a deadly, miniature snake.
Continue reading… “New legless amphibian found in India”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF0uLnMoQZA&hd=1[/youtube]
The Research Department at Japan’s Ministry of Defense has developed the world’s first spherical flying machine.
Continue reading… “World’s first spherical flying machine developed in Japan”
Braille Touch
Braille Touch, a new app that enables people to type messages on an Android or iOS touch screen without having to look down. The app is designed for people who are visually impaired, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t use it too.
Continue reading… “Braille Touch app could revolutionize texting”
If you eat what you like, you decrease cravings.
Researchers have found that a low-calorie meal plan that includes dessert with breakfast may help dieters lose weight.
Continue reading… “Eating dessert at breakfast may help you lose weight”