More than five million students worldwide have registered for classes.
You can forget about the Socratic method when it comes to Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC’s), like those offered by Coursera, Udacity and edX.
Trying to build better workers with big data
Workers can now be analyzed like any other data.
As it turns out, bosses really do matter and they may matter more than we even realize. For example, in telephone call centers where hourly workers handle a steady stream of calls under demanding conditions, the communication skills and personal warmth of an employee’s supervisor are often crucial in determining the employee’s tenure and performance. Recent research shows that the quality of the supervisor may be more important than the experience and individual attributes of the workers themselves.
Continue reading… “Trying to build better workers with big data”
500 million unique visitors access Wikipedia and other sites owned by the Wikimedia Foundation every month
Unique visitors across the network of sites increased to 517 million last month.
Wikipedia and other websites owned by the Wikimedia Foundation, including Wikibooks,Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons now get more than 500 million unique visitors every month.
Why is ‘adult adoption’ so popular in Japan?
A majority of adoptees in Japan are men in their 20’s and 30’s.
The highest adoption rates in the world are in the United States and Japan. But there is one big difference. Most adoptees in the U.S. are children, in Japan kids only represent 2% of all adoptions. Men in their 20s and 30s make up the remaining 98%, or almost 90,000 adoptees in 2008 (up from fewer than 80,000 in 2000). Why do the Japanese adopt so many adults?
Continue reading… “Why is ‘adult adoption’ so popular in Japan?”
Telecommuting boosts revenue growth for businesses
Businesses that allowed employees to work remotely at least three times a month were more likely to log revenue growth.
Should companies rethink a ban on working from home? Here’s one reason to rethink that ban: Businesses with telecommuting policies tend to grow faster than those without them.
Continue reading… “Telecommuting boosts revenue growth for businesses”
Where do the world’s poorest people live?
According to new estimates released last week by the World Bank, the world’s poorest people are now concentrated most heavily in Sub-Saharan Africa after China’s huge leap in pulling its citizens out of extreme poverty in recent decades.
Continue reading… “Where do the world’s poorest people live?”
New battery technology offers 30 times more power and charges 1,000 times faster
An illustration of a high power battery technology from the University of Illinois.
Over the last ten years, battery technology has improved, but now scientists claim they have made a giant leap in power storage, giving lithium-ion batteries 30 times more power and the ability to recharge 1,000 times faster “than competing technologies.”
Continue reading… “New battery technology offers 30 times more power and charges 1,000 times faster”
Top 10 global technology trends for the energy and utility markets in 2013
Global energy an utilities sectors faces significant challenges from ongoing environmental sensitivity.
Gartner, Inc. has released a new report that identifies the top ten technology trends affecting the global energy and utility markets in 2013, as the industry faces significant challenges from ongoing environmental sensitivity, changing policymaker attitudes and consumer expectations.
Continue reading… “Top 10 global technology trends for the energy and utility markets in 2013”
Medical technology and The Frankenstein Syndrome
Ray Kurzweil believes that Moore’s Law applies to advances in the biological sciences. Will advances like artificial hips, cardiac pacemakers and spinal stimulators for pain be only the beginning of the realization of how humanity will be “re-engineered”” to take fuller and richer advantage of what science offers us?
Continue reading… “Medical technology and The Frankenstein Syndrome”
Top 10 Photos of the Week
They get shorter and floppier when they’re less excited!
Quote of the Day: “First you forget names, then you forget faces, then you forget to pull your zipper up, then you forget to pull your zipper down.” – Leo Rosenberg
COMAN – a robot that can’t be knocked over no matter how hard you shove it
COMAN
Mimicking the many distinct balancing adjustments standing humans make when unexpectedly shoved, or while encountering shifting terrain (such as on a boat or moving train) is a skill that most robots haven’t mastered. Nevertheless, one lab in Italy has created a humanoid robot that comes very close to matching our skill at avoiding taking a spill. (Video)
Continue reading… “COMAN – a robot that can’t be knocked over no matter how hard you shove it”
World’s first self-healing “artificial leaf” produces energy from dirty water
Self-healing artificial leaf.
Scientists reported the creation of the “world’s first practical artificial leaf” back in 2011. The leaf mimics the ability of real leaves to produce energy from sunlight and water. Touted as a potentially inexpensive source of electricity for those in developing countries and remote areas, the leaf’s creators have now given it a capability that would be especially beneficial in such environments – the ability to self heal and therefore produce energy from dirty water.
Continue reading… “World’s first self-healing “artificial leaf” produces energy from dirty water”
