China is now one step closer to become the top economic and military superpower in the world: their Beidou geo-positioning system is now fully armed and operational.
But why is this important?
Continue reading… “China has its own GPS now—and it’s better than yours”
What good advice does your future self have to offer?
In an episode of the popular sitcom “30 Rock,” television CEO Jack has a hallucinatory encounter with his future self, from whom he receives life advice that helps him avoid major mistakes.
Most of us would also like to know which choices and decisions we make as young people will benefit us later on — or come back to haunt us. Although there’s no way to step into our own futures, we can get a very good sense of what mistakes younger folks should avoid. We can ask our “future selves”: our elders…
Purdue associate professor of biological sciences Zhao-Qing Luo, at right, and graduate student Yunhao Tan look at the growth of Legionella pneumophila bacteria in a petri dish.
Bacteria are able to build camouflaged homes for themselves inside healthy cells — and cause disease — by manipulating a natural cellular process.
Purdue University biologists led a team that revealed how a pair of proteins from the bacteria Legionella pneumophila, which causes Legionnaires disease, alters a host protein in order to divert raw materials within the cell for use in building and disguising a large structure that houses the bacteria as it replicates…
Continue reading… “How bacteria build homes inside healthy cells”
Giant outdoor escalator in Medellin, Columbia
Officials in Colombia’s second-largest city on Monday inaugurated a giant, outdoor escalator for residents of one of its poorest neighborhoods. (Pics)
Continue reading… “City in Columbia gets giant, outdoor escalator”
Rotating dome house
Usually, when someone asks for the remote, it’s because they want to undertake some serious TV channel surfing. But in one unique home located just 90 minutes north of New York City, playing with the remote control will set the entire wooden house spinning on its axis. (Pics and video)
Continue reading… “Dome house rotates to take advantage of sun’s energy”
Eating less turns on a molecule that helps the brain stay young.
Overeating can cause brain aging while eating less turns on a molecule that helps the brain stay young. Researchers at the Catholic University of Sacred Heart in Rome have discovered that a molecule, called CREB1, is triggered by “caloric restriction” (low caloric diet) in the brain of mice. They found that CREB1 activates many genes linked to longevity and to the proper functioning of the brain.
Continue reading… “Eating less helps the brain stay young: study”
Mom inventors growing trend.
Tamara Monosoff came up with an invention, eight years ago that she was sure mothers like herself would appreciate: a device that prevents children from unspooling toilet paper from the roll. But she had no idea how to transform the concept into a marketable product.
Continue reading… “Mompreneurs – if they can’t find it, they invent it”
What would you send into space via a space post office?
Young children living the Western world will often spend December writing letters to be sent the North Pole in the hope of reaching Santa Claus. In China, however, people of all ages now have a new reason to get the pen and paper out again as China Post are now offering a service that sends letters into space…
Continue reading… “China Post beams letters into orbit via a Space Post Office”
Top Secret for years after the project was completed.
In the 1970s, during the heights of the Cold War, more than 1,000 engineers worked on a project so secret that they couldn’t tell their wives and children decades after it was over.
In September 2011, the project – a series of spy satellites so advanced that it could see objects about 2 feet wide from space (mind you, this was in the 1970s before the ubiquity of computers so the satellites were built with slide rules), was declassified and with it, the stories of the men who kept their secret for 45 years…
Bringing Air-Traffic Control in the 21st Century could really save CO2.
If you are going somewhere in a vehicle that burns a lot of fossil fuels, it’s never a good idea to take unnecessary detours. Sadly, most airplanes can’t take the most elegant and efficient route to their destinations because of the limitations of the air-traffic control system that guides them. It’s not the fault of the traffic controllers – they do a good job – but rather of the technology with which they have to work; the foundations of the system are 50-60 years old and produce flight paths that are far from optimal when it comes to saving fuel (and thus reducing CO2 emissions), saving money, and saving time for passengers. So what can we do about it?
Continue reading… “Computerized air-traffic control could save CO2 equivalent of Denmark’s economy”
Polaroid Instant Z340
There is nothing quite like a classic Polaroid instant camera. The photos may be murky and the film costs as much as some standalone cameras, but for decades, it was the most magical format in all of photography. Point and shoot, shake the photo for a few minutes, and you’ve got an instant memory preserved in silver and celluloid.
Continue reading… “Polaroid Instant Z340 – an instant camera for the digital age”
Genes determine our perfume preferences.
You may love the scent of a particular perfume but someone else may find the scent repulsive. Our genes determine our perfume preference, a new study suggests.
Continue reading… “Perfume preference determined by our genes”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.