Nancy Conrad On Education Innovation: Turning Geeks Into Rock Stars Is A Game Changer

Nancy Conrad 12345

Nancy Conrad is a firm believer in education innovation.

Last week President Obama spoke at Facebook, emphasizing during the townhall that the US needs to be bullish on Science and Math education if we are to pull out of the recession, “We want to start making Science cool. I want people to feel about the next big energy breakthrough and the next big Internet breakthrough the same way they felt about the moonwalk,” he said.

Taking off on that idea, Nancy Conrad, the wife of late astronaut Pete Conrad, has founded the Conrad Foundation in the memory of her husband. Pete Conrad was expelled from one school in the 11th grade because he had dislexia and then went on to graduate from Princeton and walk on the moon because he was taken under the wing of an educator who saw promise in the young man…

Continue reading… “Nancy Conrad On Education Innovation: Turning Geeks Into Rock Stars Is A Game Changer”

Five Minute Questionnaire is Accurate Enough to Diagnose Autism in 1 Year Old Children

baby

Parents are asked about a child’s eye-gaze and other forms of age-appropriate communication.

Parents can fill out a five-minute questionnaire that is accurate enough to diagnose autism in children as young as one in three-quarters of the cases, claims study.

 

Continue reading… “Five Minute Questionnaire is Accurate Enough to Diagnose Autism in 1 Year Old Children”

How Goldman Sachs Created the Food Crisis

eat bank boooooo

The word again today is GREED.

Frederick Kaufman’s piece for Foreign Policy examines how the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI) is responsible for the increase in food prices.

[T]he boom in new speculative opportunities in global grain, edible oil, and livestock markets has created a vicious cycle. The more the price of food commodities increases, the more money pours into the sector, and the higher prices rise. Indeed, from 2003 to 2008, the volume of index fund speculation increased by 1,900 percent. “What we are experiencing is a demand shock coming from a new category of participant in the commodities futures markets,” hedge fund Michael Masters testified before Congress in the midst of the 2008 food crisis…

Continue reading… “How Goldman Sachs Created the Food Crisis”

South Park Scares You Into Reading Apple’s Terms And Conditions

south-park-steve-jobs

Do you to agree to Apple’s Terms of Service?

You know the drill … You open iTunes and there’s a popup that asks you to download a new version. You download the newest version and there’s another popup asking you to agree to Apple’s Terms of Service. But it’s over 55-pages long! You scroll to the bottom and hastily click “Agree,” because what’s the worst that can happen right? Right?

Continue reading… “South Park Scares You Into Reading Apple’s Terms And Conditions”

Introducing the Slashcasters

slashcaster-674

Slashcasters, a new breed of pitchmen for the digital age of retail

Futurist Thomas Frey:  I was recently asked to do the keynote talk at a retailer conference in Orlando, Florida speaking on the topic of what the future of retail may hold. At one point in the conversation, the caller made the comment that one of the biggest problems in retail is that consumers are evolving faster than retailers can adapt.

 

Continue reading… “Introducing the Slashcasters”

Teaching Responsible Drinking By Allowing Teens to Drink Under Supervision Backfires

parents drinking with teens

Allowing teens to drink backfires.

Parents begin to worry as prom night approaches.  They are worried about what might happen during after hour parties.  Some parents might be tempted to try to teach their high schoolers to drink responsibly – by allowing them to consume alcohol under supervision.

 

Continue reading… “Teaching Responsible Drinking By Allowing Teens to Drink Under Supervision Backfires”

NASA Fires-Up Jet Fuel That Tastes Like Chicken

dc8 engine q2345

Fire up the chicken bio fuel!

It may never make it into everyday jet-fighter use but NASA is checking out biofuel made from chicken and beef fat.

The chicken fat fuel, known as Hydrotreated Renewable Jet Fuel, was burned in the engine of a DC-8 at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center as part of its Alternative Aviation Fuels Experiment that is looking at developing all manner of biofuel alternatives to traditional Jet Propellant 8, or JP-8. The DC-8 is used as a test vehicle because its engine operations are well-documented and well-understood, NASA says…

Continue reading… “NASA Fires-Up Jet Fuel That Tastes Like Chicken”