Impact Lab – Page 974 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Analysis, Education, Internet, Science & Technology News

Harvard and MIT make a strong case for MOOCs

January 24, 2014

MOOCs can make a meaningful difference even if we don’t yet know what that will look like.

Harvard and MIT have made a compelling case for the potential benefits of massively open online courses, or MOOCs despite low completion rates. They released a draft of a working paper that is rich on data about their respective HarvardX and MITx courses and focuses on what has always been a faulty focal point of many MOOC criticisms. In a free, online environment, completion rates are vastly overrated.

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Animals, Globalism, New Discoveries, Science & Technology News

North Korea possesses two-thirds of the world’s rare earths

January 24, 2014

North Korea may have more than 6 times the amount of rare earths as China.

SRE Minerals Limited, a U.K.-based private equity firm, has found the largest rare earth oxides deposits in the world in North Korea, according to statements by the company.

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Analysis, Latest Trend, Report

The decline of reading in America

January 24, 2014

The American bookworm is a rarer species than two or three decades ago.

Nearly a quarter of American adults had not read a single book in the past year, according to to a report from the Pew Research Center last week. As in, they hadn’t cracked a paperback, fired up a Kindle, or even hit play on an audiobook while in the car. The number of non-book-readers has nearly tripled since 1978.

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Analysis, Business, top 10

Top 10 ways to get a better airplane seat

January 24, 2014

We’ve all been there!

Almost everyone complains about flying in economy class, and most times with good reason. There are ten strategies to fly more comfortably, or at least get the seat you want.

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Great Videos, Science & Technology News

A sneak peek at the future with futurist Thomas Frey

January 23, 2014

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/70573504[/vimeo]

Lifetree Cafe explores the trends that will affect how we live in the future. The program, titled “News From the Future: A Futurist Gives a Sneak Peek,” features a filmed interview with Thomas Frey, senior futurist at the DaVinci Institute.

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Business, Science & Technology News

Amazon patents anticipatory system to ship your product before you order it

January 23, 2014

Amazon’s system is aptly called “anticipatory shipping.”

In December Amazonpatented a system that will reduce logistics costs and dissuade customers from ever entering a physical store again by shipping your stuff before you order it, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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Analysis, Business, Economy, Latest Trend, Money Talk

Is China’s credit bubble about to burst?

January 23, 2014

China’s shadow banks have increased credit from 120 to 190 percent of GDP.

A historic credit boom, unregulated lenders promising high, “risk-free” returns, and surging property prices making it all go – is this the U.S. in 2004, or China in 2014?

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government, Great Videos, Science & Technology News

U.S. military testing TrackingPoint ‘smart rifles’

January 23, 2014

TrackingPoint smart rifle

The startup TrackingPoint unveiled the first in their line of “smart rifles” last summer. The smart rifles are unlike your average sniper rifle, which requires a great deal of training and expertise to effectively kill at range. The TrackingPoint rifles can be picked up by absolute novices, even those as young as 12 years old. (Videos)

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Great New Product, Science & Technology News

Triton scuba mask turns divers into human fish

January 23, 2014

Triton scuba mask

Jeabyun Yeon, a South Korean designer, just unveiled a conceptual scuba mask that would allow divers to breathe underwater without oxygen tanks. The mask, called the Triton, consists of two branching arms designed to serve as “gills” that extract oxygen from the water and deliver breathable air directly into their wearer’s lungs. Instead of hauling around heavy scuba equipment, swimmers could simply bite down on a plastic mouth piece.

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Analysis, Business, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Marketing isn’t really marketing anymore

January 22, 2014

The role of a CMO today isn’t what it used to be.

When it comes time to hire a head of marketing, many tech entrepreneurs imagine bringing on someone who’s a master of SEO and A/B testing, who will drive millions of new visitors to their website. They may see a role for the CMO beyond this — perhaps they’ll ask their job candidates “How will your marketing take advantage of big data?”

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Analysis, Business, government, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News

The roles of citizens in civic problem-solving and innovation

January 22, 2014

Local authorities are seeing tangible benefits from citizen innovation.

In numerous towns and cities across the world, citizens are having more of a say in sorting out civic problems. Through open innovation and crowdsourcing initiatives thousands of people are not only involved in identifying particular challenges such as pollution, poor water quality and graffiti, but also in designing and implementing the solutions.

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Analysis, Business, Science & Technology News

Computers know what you’re thinking with emotion recognition algorithms

January 22, 2014

There were plenty of skeptics who didn’t think a list of links could ever turn a profit when Google was first getting started. That was before advertising came along and gave Google a way to pay its bills. Thanks in part to that fortuitous accident, in today’s Internet market, advertising isn’t just an also-ran with new technologies: Marketers are bending innovation to their needs as startups chase prospective revenue streams.

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