Futurist Thomas Frey: On Tuesday evening we had a packed audience at the DaVinci Institute to discuss the future of micro farming. Admittedly, we weren’t terribly well organized and the range of topics we touched on were far more than most of us could reasonably consider in a single setting. But for those who took part in the discussion groups, some amazing ideas came to light.
Continue reading… “Inventing the Rocking Chair Tree”
Graphic warnings are the most effective at encouraging smokers to quit, a study has found.
Graphic warning showing neck tumors and diseased lungs on the front of cigarette packets do push smokers in to giving up cigarettes, researchers say.
Continue reading… “Graphic Images on Cigarette Packs Do Help Smokers Quit”
Infographic about Apple’s App Store
On Tuesday Apple hit an unofficial landmark. Apple has now approved 500,000 apps for its App Store, according to an infographic from app-search app Chomp, publisher Chillingo and review site 148Apps.
Continue reading… “500,000 Apps Have Been Approved on Apple’s App Store”
Being overweight or obese is a well-known risk factor for high blood pressure.
Expanding waistlines and higher body mass index of young adults are causing unexpected problems, including an increase in diabetes, kidney disease and even arthritis say federal health officials.
Continue reading… “Almost 1 in 5 Young Adults in the U.S. Has High Blood Pressure”
All electric cars could have trouble getting a foothold in the U.S.
According to a USA Today/Gallup Poll nearly six of 10 Americans — 57% — say they won’t buy an all-electric car no matter the price of gas.
Continue reading… “6 of 10 Americans Say No to Electric Cars Despite the Price of Gas”
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YouTube has come a long way from its first video showing founder Jawed Karim at the zoo.
This month, YouTube is celebrating its sixth birthday and has released some statistics in honor of the event that cement what we already know — people are really into online video.
Continue reading… “YouTube Users Upload 48 Hours of Video Every Minute”
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who can’t read & write,
but those who can’t learn, unlearn & relearn.” – Alvin Toffler
Futurist Thomas Frey: So what is literacy?
The first time I listened to an audio book I thought I was cheating. As a child, reading for me seemed like a lot of work, and my teachers kept piling on more reading assignments, continually feeding into the notion that reading is hard work.
Continue reading… “Next Generation Literacy”
China has become the fastest-growing market for Airbus’ private jet business.
China’s soaring economy is creating a class of wealthy entrepreneurs who have plenty of money to spend on one of the ultimate symbols of success: the executive jet.
Continue reading… “China’s Private Jet Market Takes Off”
Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany haven’t hit 100Tbps yet, but they were able push 26Tbps using just one, lonely laser. The new single-laser fiber-optic speed record was set using a technique called fast Fourier transform that pulses light at an incredibly high rate with data encoded in 325 distinct colors across the spectrum. Can the age of the terabyter be far off?
A government’s advertisement billboard in support of baby girls in Morena, India.
The practice of aborting female fetuses if they don’t yet have a male child is becoming more common and widespread among couples in India, according to a new study.
Continue reading… “Sex-Selective Abortion Becoming More Common and Widespread in India”
A new breed of worker, equipped with uber-geek data-capturing tools,
are about to usher in a whole new information era
Futurist Thomas Frey: Recently I was preparing for a talk on the future of money, a talk I have given many times in the past, and I became absorbed with one singular thought – the relationship between information and money.
Continue reading… “The Coming of the Terabyters”
People in their 20’s have 50 times more friends on Facebook than people over 50 years old.
The ‘Facebook generation gap’ has been highlighted in a new piece of research which shows that the average 22 year-old claims to have 1,000 or more friends on sites like Facebook compared to those in their fifties who have fewer than 20.
Continue reading… “The Facebook Generation Gap”