A Google self-driving car.
Amazon and UPS are looking into package delivery via automated flying drones. But, according to the New York Times, Google’s recent interest in robotics lays out an interesting hypothetical situation: imagine a self-driving car pulling up in your driveway, and a robot getting out to deliver your package instead of a living, breathing UPS human bedecked in brown.
Continue reading… “Google could one day deliver packages with self-driving cars and robots”
Will high-speed car chases become a thing of the past? A company in the U.K. has developed a prototype that could stop cars in their tracks by blasting electromagnetic waves.
Continue reading… “RF Safe-Stop can shut down a vehicle’s engine by blasting radio waves”
A channel in which algae is bred and gently stirred with a paddlewheel.
Growing algae on sewage could generate affordable biofuels. To make this work you begin with a series of small artificial rivers where waste water flows and algae is cultured. In those ponds is a paddle wheel, which pushes the water about and mixes algae into the waste water. The shallowness of the rivers encourages sunlight and helps the algae grow. And that algae is pretty important, because it’s what gets turned into biofuel.
Continue reading… “Growing algae in sewage to create biofuels”
Mobile penetration in Africa is still growing at 4.2 percent annually.
People tend to have certain paradigms about the “developed world” and the “developing world.” Including, of course, media-fed images of Africa as a place of almost irredeemable poverty, deprivation, and pain. Many of our paradigms are, of course, illusions.
Continue reading… “Mobile penetration in Africa hits 80% and is still growing”
Microsoft’s ‘smart bra’
In recent years, Microsoft has been steadily expanding into the realm of hardware with the Surface, the Nokia handset deal and the Xbox One. Now, the tech giant is taking its first tentative steps into the world of lingerie.
Continue reading… “Microsoft developing ‘smart bra’ to monitor mood”
“Farmers may operate an unmanned aircraft over their own property for personal use.”
Good news from the Academy of Model Aeronautics: The FAA has clarified its rules (which were assumed but not confirmed) that private use of drones over their own property is allowed now:
Help Wanted: Teachers in Afghanistan. Also Wanted: A School!
Quote of the Day: “A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.” — Baltasar Gracian
There are more tablets available with kid-protections and controls.
Tech is topping the Christmas lists this year as parents are prepared to indulge. A PBS Kids survey shows that 54 percent of parents plan to pick up a techie gift this year, more specifically tablets. Kids want bigger screens to play games and watch movies on. Kids want tablets more than they want game consoles, according to the survey.
Biggest funding source is family and friends.
You hear about startups in Silicon Valley getting venture capitalor crowdfunding money all the time. But the two combined barely make up the money given by startups’ biggest funding source: friends and family. (Infographic)
Continue reading… “Biggest funding source for startups is surprising”
UPS researching delivery drones.
Amazon made headlines when it announced it was working on small drones that could deliver customers packages in half an hour or less someday. But the e-commerce giant isn’t the only company researching how to harness the potential of small unmanned aircraft: the world’s largest parcel service, UPS, has been experimenting with its own version of flying parcel carriers.
Continue reading… “UPS researching drones to compete with Amazon Prime Air”
The heavy investment of both time and money can be a put off when you want to build an app for your business. But, now entering the mobile market no longer necessarily requires thousands of dollars and months of work. There are many mobile platforms available to help you build an app on a budget — quickly, and with no coding knowledge required.
Continue reading… “Top 10 platforms for building mobile apps”
Students in Shanghai ranked as the world’s best.
The OECD is out with new global rankings of how students in various countries do in reading, science, and math. You can see below how Asian countries are obliterating everyone else in these categories.
Continue reading… “U.S. students rank below global average in math, reading, and science”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.