Hey kids, want to grow up to land the best job in the country? Then keep poring over those math and science textbooks. Jobs that require a range of STEM skills (science, technology, engineering and math) claimed 14 spots in Glassdoor’s new “50 Best Jobs in America” survey, out Monday.
Continue reading… “The best of the best U.S. jobs are tech, tech and tech, again”
During Betsy DeVos’ recent three-hour confirmation hearing to become President Donald Trump’s education secretary, charter schools came up no fewer than 60 times. Homeschooling was mentioned once. Charter schools have become a significant part of the US public-education system and now educate 2.5 million kids. But homeschooling has quietly experienced a surge in recent years too. Brian Ray, a homeschooling researcher at the National Home Education Research Institute, estimates the number of kids taught at home is growing by as much as 8% a year since the total hovered around 2 million in 2010, according to US Census figures.
Investment in autonomous vehicle technology entered overdrive in 2016, and 2017 is gearing up for more of the same. In the last six months of 2016, the first public self-driving taxi service hit Singapore roads, courtesy of NuTonomy, while Uber followed suit a month later in Pittsburgh. The question of self-driving cars becoming a reality on roads around the world is no longer an “if,” it’s a big fat “when.”
Continue reading… “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”
It’s official: graphene has been made into a superconductor in its natural state – which means electrical current can flow through it with zero resistance. Last year, physicists managed to do this by doping graphene with calcium atoms, but this is the first time researchers have achieved superconductivity in the material without having to alter it. And the results so far show that the material achieves an incredibly rare type of superconductivity that’s even crazier and more powerful than scientists expected.
Continue reading… “Graphene’s power has finally been unlocked, and it’s crazier than we expected”
The word exosuit has become all but synonymous with a hard-shelled suit that imbues its wearer with superhuman abilities—leap tall buildings, lift multi-ton items, and make the paralyzed walk—thanks to some awesome looking robotics. But some exosuit researchers in a recent study published inScience Robotics, are taking a softer approach to exosuits. These rigs have more in common with high-tech workout gear than a robotic sci-fi suit, and they could help improve human mobility.
Continue reading… “Soft-shelled exosuit might put Iron Man’s duds to shame”
South Korea is seeking to develop a train-like public transport concept that is almost as fast as the speed of sound up 1,000 km / h, the Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI) said Tuesday. The state-run institute will join forces with other research groups and Hanyang University to build the near-supersonic “train”, which would be able to travel from Seoul to Busan in half an hour.
We’re all familiar with the concept of working from home—and in 2017 volunteering from home will become just as ubiquitous. A busy life, working two jobs, unsociable working hours, and living in a remote location can all make it difficult for people to give time or money to good causes in their community. But technology now makes it possible to give your time and energy from the comfort of your own sofa, whether it’s to answer advice lines or support peers one-on-one.
Continue reading… “Volunteering from home will soon be as common as working from home”
A company is planning to build the world’s first floating city in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The government of French Polynesia has signed an agreement with a US firm and they hope construction work will begin in 2019. The Seasteading Institute has spent the past five years trying to work out how to build “permanent, innovative communities floating at sea”.
Thirty years ago, it was a big deal when schools got their first computers. Today, it’s a big deal when students get their own laptops. According to Futurist Thomas Frey, in 14 years it’ll be a big deal when students learn from robot teachers over the internet. It’s not just because the technology will be that sophisticated, Frey says, but because the company responsible for it will be the largest of its kind.
NOTE: Visit FuturistSpeaker.com to learn more about DaVinci Institute’s senior futurist Thomas Frey.
In developing regions where lack of road infrastructure is problematic for those in the business of moving goods, drones are already having an impact. But also problematic is the fact that the people sending drones off to do the courier work kinda need them back again. A new cardboard drone being funded by DARPA won’t concern itself with such limitations, with the ability to deliver vital goods and disappear soon after the job is done.
Three-dimensional printers have brought major advances to every corner of manufacturing: Scientists have used the process to engineer human tissue, print a rubber material to make drones less dangerous to people on the ground, and create a lightweight material that’s 10 times stronger than steel and just 1/20th its density.
Continue reading… “What’s the next big thing in 3-D printing? Shapeshifting Materials”
Last March, we heard a crazy rumor that someone was starting a single-marque Tesla racing series alled Electric GT. Then, in November, we saw the first working prototype of the Model S P85+ race car. At the UK’s Autosport International Show on Friday, Electric GT officially unveiled the first racing-spec Tesla with a live demonstration of the new P100D version.
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.