Impact Lab – Page 633 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Americans are flocking to U.S. ‘boom towns’ where wages are rising fast

September 19, 2018

Although wages have been mostly stagnant across the U.S. for the past five years, in some cities, salaries have actually been rising.

CNBC Make It has identified 10 cities where populations have been growing and median wages have been going up using data from personal finance site MagnifyMoney’s list of America’s biggest “boomtowns.” MagnifyMoney analyzed how the 100 largest metro areas in the country changed over a five-year period (between 2011 and 2016) across three categories: population and housing; workforce and earnings; and business growth. Cities could earn a possible score of 100 in each category, which were then averaged together for the final ranking. You can read the full methodology here.

Out of America’s top 50 “boomtowns,” here are the top 10 places where salaries have gone up most in the past five years.

Continue reading… “Americans are flocking to U.S. ‘boom towns’ where wages are rising fast”

Animals, Business, Human Behavior

The foolishness of fail fast, fail often

September 20, 2018

The head of human resources said to me, “We need to become more agile. We’re not lean enough. I want to see our culture shift to ‘fail fast, fail often.’”

It was a great moment. For me at least.

In my head, I was playing buzzword bingo, and with the use of “Agile,” “Lean,” and “fail fast, fail often,” I had just scored a perfect game. But it’s a game I was not looking to win.

When leaders do not fully understand or appreciate a term, the result can have the opposite effect of what they wish to achieve.

Continue reading… “The foolishness of fail fast, fail often”

Alternative Transportation, Automobiles, Elon Musk, Tesla

Boring Company gets approval to build a tunnel connecting a garage to a hyperloop

September 19, 2018

Elon Musk’s Boring Company continues to gain validation from city governments. In June, the company was selected to build a multibillion-dollar rapid transit link between downtown Chicago to O’Hare International Airport, and just this week, it got approval from the Hawthorne City Council in California to start building a prototype garage that would transport cars to an underground hyperloop.

A REAL-LIFE BATCAVE

The garage will be built on a private residence near SpaceX’s headquarters, which will be rented by the company. The Mercury News reports that, as part of the conditions of the approval, the test elevator will be closed to the public, and no cars will be able to move from the garage to the street in order to keep the project from impacting traffic. Instead, cars must start at SpaceX HQ and stay in the one-mile stretch of tunnel between the residence garage and the company. A sketch of the prototype, seen above, shows an elevator shaft that would lower cars into the tunnel that connects to the hyperloop. More than 100 residents have been notified of the project and assured that the noise would be minimal, but it’s to be seen how quiet drilling tunnels will actually be.

Continue reading… “Boring Company gets approval to build a tunnel connecting a garage to a hyperloop”

Inventions, New Inventions, Wearables

Lex folding wearable chair lets you take a seat anywhere

September 18, 2018

Imagine if anytime, anywhere you felt a little fatigued in the legs you could simply lean back and take a load off? The developers of Lex are working towards such a future with a folding exoskeleton that turns into an ergonomic chair in just a few seconds.

Lex is much like Chairless Chair we looked at back in March, in that it is essentially a seat that you wear and carry around with you. Where the Chairless Chair is aimed at factory workers in need of respite, Lex seems to be designed with all day, everyday use in mind.

Adhering to its owner with just a waist strap and two leg straps, Lex is made from aircraft-grade aluminum and weighs just over a kilogram (2.2 lb). When the user is on the go, it folds up into a neat, slimline package that allows full freedom of movement.

Continue reading… “Lex folding wearable chair lets you take a seat anywhere”

Alternative Transportation, Electric Vehicles, Mass Transit

Bombardier unveils a new battery-powered train

September 18, 2018

Once actually somewhat common, battery-powered trains, especially full-size ones, are less common these days as third-rail-powered and diesel trains have gained in popularity.

Bombardier is unveiling a new battery-powered train in Berlin this week – “the first of its kind to enter passenger operation in Europe in over 60 years.”

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Energy, Hot Issues, Science & Technology News, Solar Energy, Wind Power

Utilities have a problem: the public wants 100% renewable energy, and quick

September 18, 2018

The industry is groping for ways to talk the public down.

Renewable energy is hot. It has incredible momentum, not only in terms of deployment and costs but in terms of public opinion and cultural cachet. To put it simply: Everyone loves renewable energy. It’s cleaner, it’s high-tech, it’s new jobs, it’s the future.

And so more and more big energy customers are demanding the full meal deal: 100 percent renewable energy.

Continue reading… “Utilities have a problem: the public wants 100% renewable energy, and quick”

Analysis, Banking, Business, Money Talk, Science & Technology News

Ten years after Lehman’s collapse, these ten risks could cause the next crisis

September 17, 2018

On Sept. 15, 2008, a credit crunch turned into a full-blown crisis when New York-based investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed. The global recession that followed is still too fresh in many people’s memories to be considered history. But 10 years on, the state of the financial system suggests that the crisis has been relegated to the history books for many in the industry.

In 2018, Wall Street is enjoying another heyday. Bonuses for bankers have returned to pre-crisis levels, profits for commercial banks are at a record high, the stock market is in its longest bull run in history, the US economy is humming, and deregulation and tax cuts rule the day in Donald Trump’s administration.

Continue reading… “Ten years after Lehman’s collapse, these ten risks could cause the next crisis”

Cooking, Food, Latest Trend

American eating habits are changing faster than fast food can keep up

September 17, 2018

Per-person restaurant visits dropped to 28-year low in 2018.

Home cooking would be making a comeback if it ever really went away.

Restaurants are getting dinged by the convenience of Netflix, the advent of pre-made meals, the spread of online grocery delivery, plus crushing student debt and a focus on healthy eating. Eighty-two percent of American meals are prepared at home — more than were cooked 10 years ago, according to researcher NPD Group Inc. The latest peak in restaurant-going was in 2000, when the average American dined out 216 times a year. That figure fell to 185 for the year ended in February, NPD said.

Continue reading… “American eating habits are changing faster than fast food can keep up”

Artificial Intelligence, Internet, Internet of Things, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

19 astonishing quotes about the Internet of Things everyone should read

September 17, 2018

Seems like everybody is talking about the Internet of Things (IoT)—the good, the bad and the alarming along the lines of. “It’s the beginning of machines taking over the world.” The IoT is when everyday products such as refrigerators, watches, speakers and more connect to the internet and to one another. The Internet of Things is already transforming our homes and workplaces.

So, what are some of the world’s brightest minds, most notable figures or just everyday people saying about the Internet of Things (IoT)? Here’s a sampling of what’s been written or talked about when it comes to the Internet of Things.

Continue reading… “19 astonishing quotes about the Internet of Things everyone should read”

Children, Health & Fitness, Human Behavior

Soulcycle of fertility sells egg-freezing and ’empowerment ‘ to 25-year-olds

September 17, 2018

There’s something eerily familiar about the Kindbody aesthetic.

How do you build a cult following for an egg-freezing clinic?

Gina Bartasi, CEO of Kindbody, a fertility startup that launched in New York City at the beginning of August, has a few ideas. For one, a bright yellow van stationed on a Friday in the middle of Manhattan and then on a Sunday in the Hamptons — offering free testing for the anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) associated with reserves of healthy eggs. For another, never announce anything too far in advance.

Kindbody has one brick-and-mortar location so far, two blocks from Trump Tower. It’ll be open to patients later this month, and they’ll spend the next six months building a bigger flagship on 16th Street. To find out where the next pop-up event will land, or where the next “boutique retail location” will open, you’ll have to follow the company on Instagram. When making these real estate decisions, Bartasi told The Verge she asks herself two questions: “Where is SoulCycle opening up? What is Drybar doing?”

Continue reading… “Soulcycle of fertility sells egg-freezing and ’empowerment ‘ to 25-year-olds”

Analysis, City Planning, Energy, New Viewpoints

Study: Decentralized microgrids can provide 90% or a neighborhood’s energy needs

September 17, 2018

“The new approach could even pave the way for 100 percent self-sufficiency in power, heat, and water.”

A new report funded by the Dutch government finds that microgrid technologies could make a local “techno-economy” 90 percent self-sufficient, through the decentralized sharing of energy at the local level between multiple households.

This report adds fuel to efforts by the Siemens Corporation to design better microgrids and promote their efficiencies.

The new approach could even pave the way for “100 percent self-sufficiency in power, heat, and water, and 50 percent self-sufficiency in food production”, according to the report’s author, energy systems engineer Florijn de Graaf.

Continue reading… “Study: Decentralized microgrids can provide 90% or a neighborhood’s energy needs”

3D Printer, cutting edge, Inventions

HP’s new 3-D printers build items not of plastic but of steel

September 16, 2018

HP is hoping its new Metal Jet 3-D printers will provide inroads into manufacturing sectors such as automobiles and medical devices.HP

WHEN YOU THINK about 3-D printing, chances are you think of little plastic doodads created by desktop devices like those made by MakerBot. Computing and printer giant HP wants you to think about metal.

Today the company announced the Metal Jet printer, an industrial-scale 3-D printer that builds items not of plastic but of steel.

Continue reading… “HP’s new 3-D printers build items not of plastic but of steel”