Analysis, Education, Science & Technology News

‘Micro-colleges’ will educate the workforce of the future: Futurist Thomas Frey

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The world has a shortage of 18 million teachers.

Dell’s Center for Entrepreneurs took to the Rockies, sponsoring an event at the Innovation Pavilion in Centennial, Colorado. Former IBM engineer and noted futurist Thomas Frey addressed a gathering of business leaders, entrepreneurs and community members on an issue he says is increasingly impacting the labor force: With the ever-increasing pace of innovation, traditional colleges and universities are failing to train and retrain workers quickly enough.

 

 

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Nanotechnology, Science & Technology News, top 10

Top 10 ways nanotechnology is transforming the world around us

Gecko
Nanotechnology might be outside your window at this very moment in the form of a gecko-like human scaling a self-cleaning, nano-enhanced solar window.

A pair of hand-held, gecko-inspired paddles that can help you ascend a 25-foot sheet of glass might not seem like the most impressive use of nanotechnology but this real-world advance aptly demonstrates how quickly the field of nanotechnology is climbing into our lives. Below are ten additional examples of how nanotechnology is already changing the world, followed by 10 ways it may help society scale even greater heights in the near future.

 

 

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Business, Internet, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Here’s why automakers want 4G technology in cars

4g tech

Automakers are counting on the connected car.

Today’s cars are trying to replicate the smartphone experience. Touchscreen interfaces are common. Dashboard designers take UI tips from iPhones, and automakers want to build apps for cars. Large automakers like General Motors are taking the next obvious step and integrating 4G LTE service into their cars starting this year. Drivers pay a monthly service fee for in-car 4G that’s separate from their smartphones, and use it for an array of services from movies for kids in the backseat to sophisticated GPS-on-steroids solutions. It’s a win-win for automakers, the dealers who sell the 4G add-ons, and carriers like AT&T. But is it a win for consumers?

 

 

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3D Printer, Fashion, Science & Technology News

This fabric pen can magically mend torn clothing

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Fabric Pen

The average American throws out around 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles like shoes and sheets every year. The problem is that clothes are so cheap that it’s easier to replace something than repair it if a piece happens to tear. Many of us no longer even know how to sew. One survey in the U.K. found that 7 in 10 young adults couldn’t even sew on a button, let alone make a more complicated repair.

 

 

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3D Printer, Business, Great Videos, Science & Technology News

Home Depot starts selling MakerBot 3D printers

nuts and bolts

3D printed nuts and bolts from a MakerBot.

Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement chain, announced the start of a pilot program to sell MakerBots. They are described by the manufacturer as a type of professional-grade 3-D printing machine and will be in a dozen stores following a three-month period of online-only sales. (Video)

 

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Analysis, Big Problems, Culture, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Mass incarceration may be the greatest social crisis in modern American history

prison

More than 2.4 million people are behind bars in the United States today.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously last week to allow nearly 50,000 nonviolent federal drug offenders to seek lower sentences. The decision of the commission retroactively applied an earlier change in sentencing guidelines to now cover roughly half of those serving federal drug sentences. Both the Department of Justice and prison-reform advocates have endorsed the change. It’s a significant step forward in reversing decades of mass incarceration, though in a global context, still modest.

 

 

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Analysis, Big Problems, government, Report

The U.S. government’s secret rulebook for labeling you a terrorist

homeland security

The guidelines state that “the general policy of the U.S. Government is to neither confirm nor deny an individual’s watchlist status.

There has been a substantial expansion of the terrorist watchlist system and it has been quietly approved by the Obama administration. It authorizes a secret process that requires neither “concrete facts” nor “irrefutable evidence” to designate an American or foreigner as a terrorist, according to a key government document obtained by The Intercept.

 

 

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App, Business, Fashion, Great New Product, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News

Lechal ‘smartshoes’ vibrate to point you in the right direction

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Lechal ‘smartshoes’

People in India will be the first in the world to get access to what could be the next big thing in wearable technology: the smartshoe. Ducere Technologies Pvt., an Indian startup, is going to start selling its Bluetooth enabled Lechal shoes for more than $100 a pair in September. The smartshoes sync up with a smartphone app that uses Google maps and vibrate to tell users when and where to turn to reach their destination.

 

 

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Analysis, Business, Health & Fitness, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News

Human Longevity wants to make 100 the new 60 and have healthier people living longer

old-men-and-bike

Human Longevity doesn’t aim to extend human life so much as to help keep people healthy as they get older.

Dr. Robert Hariri, who once worked directing cell therapy operations at Celgene, a biopharmaceutical company is teaming up with Craig Venter, and engineer Dr. Peter Diamandis, chairman of the X Prize Foundation. Karen Nelson, who headed the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), will lead the microbiome team. They launched a new company called Human Longevity Inc.

 

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