Could Bitcoin become the dominant currency of the gaming industry?
Jeff Grubb – The United States dollar bill only has value because you believe it does. Now, a game developer in Chile wants to apply that same concept to Minecraft and bitcoin.
Continue reading… “Will Minecraft make Bitcoin the ‘official currency of virtual worlds?’”
How long will it be before we see the first worker fired by a robot manager?
It is rather significant that economists are shifting their belief. Up until now, economists have believed that new jobs will replace lost jobs. Now the numbers suggest that is changing for the first time in history, and the trend is accelerating.
It’s also interesting to note the term, second economy. Defined as transactions between computers. That is measurable. It can be compared to the first economy. When the second passes the first, people matter less, in real numbers.
Continue reading… “What changes should we expect when robots replace workers?”
Toronto’s Illan Kramer, Inventor of Spray-on Solar
Illan Kramer, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Toronto, and IBM Canada’s Research and Development Center has invented a new way to spray solar cells onto flexible surfaces using minuscule light-sensitive materials known as colloidal quantum dots (CQDs)—a major step toward making spray-on solar cells easy and cheap to manufacture.
“My dream is that one day you’ll have two technicians with Ghostbusters backpacks come to your house and spray your roof,” says Kramer.
Stretchable smart skin
South Korean and U.S. researchers have developed a stretchable material that senses touch, pressure, and moisture, and could be used to give artificial limbs feeling.
By David Talbot on December 9, 2014
Avik Kumar Si – Instagram overtook Twitter this week in terms of monthly active users. 300 million people are active on Instagram each week. This is a striking figure, coming so early in Instagram’s lifecycle. So, what does this inflection tell us about Instagram, Twitter and more importantly: about us?
Continue reading… “Instagram surpasses Twitter: What does it tell about Us?”
Matt Bernier at the DaVinci Institute’s “Night with a Futurist” talking about the future of cryptocurrencies
The first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was created in 2009 by a mysterious developer using the pseudo-name Satoshi Nakamoto. In 2010, the secretive Satoshi handed the reigns of Bitcoin over to Gavin Andresen, a like-minded developer who now manages the operation along with a team of five senior developers.
Less than a third of the original Satoshi code still exists. The rest has been rewritten by Gavin and his team to plug security holes, improve usability, and make it operationally more efficient. Andresen is the one who conceived of the nonprofit Bitcoin Foundation—established in 2013—which is the closest thing to a central authority in the world of Bitcoin.
While we hear a lot about Bitcoin there are many other cryptocurrencies entering the startup arena.
Futurist Thomas Frey: I’ve been closely watching the debate on artificial intelligence with people like Rodney Brooks saying it’s only a tool, and others like Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking giving bone chilling warnings of how it could lead to the destruction of all humanity.
Not all species weaken and become more likely to die as they age.
Most people would probably describe aging as when we our in our youth we are strong and healthy and then we weaken and die. But, in nature, the phenomenon of aging shows an unexpected diversity of patterns and is altogether rather strange, conclude researchers from The University of Southern Denmark.
Continue reading… “Surprising huge diversity in aging revealed in nature”
Among urban women in their 30s, freezing is trending.
Tiffany Angelo gave herself a few months to grieve after the abrupt end of her marriage. Then she moved on. Not to the next romance, but to something she could plan for: the children she deeply desired and would still have. With or without her ex.
Continue reading… “Egg freezing growing in popularity, but the choice leaves no guarantees”
There are some languages and skill sets that are more valuable than others.
One of the most lucrative industries in the U.S. is computer programming. The average salary for a computer programmer just hit an all-time high as it approaches $100,000.
Continue reading… “Here are the highest paying programming languages ranked by salary”
Streetscooter
The production of engineering of e-mobility components team from Aachen University built the Streetscooter ‘C16′ electric car using a Stratasys objet1000 multi-material 3D-printer. All the vehicle’s exterior parts, including the large front and back panels, doors, bumper systems, side skirts, wheel arches and a few interior components, were machine fabricated with tough digital ABS materials.
Continue reading… “Streetscooter C16 – an electric car 3D printed on a Stratasys 3D printer”
tDCS
“Transcranial direct current stimulation” (tDCS) involves passing electricity through your head. The current is relatively weak, so it’s not like the electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) used to treat extreme depression in mental institutions; sometimes called “deep brain stimulation.”
Continue reading… “Deep brain stimulation beats out caffeine for boosting mental agility”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.