The sharing economy – the way we consume has changed forever

Share everything

At Union Kitchen in Northeast Washington, D.C., the “equipment library” contains some of the more mundane artifacts of the modern “sharing economy”: an oversized whisk, a set of spatulas, ladles, chopping knives, sheet pans and tongs.  It is also know as “collaborative consumption,” and is more often associated with the big-ticket items that have given the concept such bemusing cachet. Suddenly, it seems, people are casually lending and borrowing cars, bikes, even brownstones. But this basic kitchenware, hanging in a 7,300 square-foot warehouse, reveals the reaches to which all this sharing could ultimately expand, as well as the reasons why it will have to.

 

 

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Pregnant Male Seahorses Selectively Abort and Consume Young from Ugly Females

seahorse scovelli_female_2

Seahorses and a few related fish are the only species where the males can get pregnant. These males take eggs from females and nurture them in their brood pouches. Researchers have discovered that these males may selectively abort young resulting from mating with less attractive females. The above video, which is preceded by a commercial, describes the results of this study. From Scientific American…

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World Stinging Nettle Eating Championship Attracts Record Crowd

nettle_eating-1423.jpg

Mmmmm…. Hurts so good?

In a sunny garden in deepest Dorset yesterday 65 people – their faces rigid with pain and disgust – gathered in a quest to be crowned the King of the Stingers.

There is no easy route to winning the World Stinging Nettle Eating Championship, held each year in the village of Marshwood near Bridport. It takes skill, it takes endurance … it takes great blistering chunks out of what used to be your taste buds.

Smart competitors squash the leaves into tight little balls which they try to throw straight to the back molars. Then you try to munch them up and swallow with as little contact as possible. The problems begin when the nettles start to back up in the mouth and … arrrrrgh!

Competitors are served two-foot-long stalks of nettles from which they must pluck and devour the leaves. The bare stalks are then measured and the winner, after an hour of combat, is the one with the greatest accumulated length.

(nettle eating video after jump…)

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How Mercury Emissions Reach Tuna And It’s Future Impact On Seafood

Study: How Mercury Emissions Reach Tuna And It’s Future Impact

Tuna school 

 A new landmark study documents for the first time the process in which increased mercury emissions from human sources across the globe, and in particular from Asia, make their way into the North Pacific Ocean and as a result contaminate tuna and other seafood. Because much of the mercury that enters the North Pacific comes from the atmosphere, scientists have predicted an additional 50 percent increase in mercury in the Pacific by 2050 if mercury emission rates continue as projected.

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Shocking Information Revealed About Splenda In A New Study

Shocking Information Revealed About Splenda In A New Study

Shocking imformation revealed about Splenda

James Turner, the chairman of the national consumer education group Citizens for Health, has expressed shock and outrage after reading a new report from scientists outlining the dangers of the artificial sweetener Splenda (sucralose).

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Study: Video Will Soon Consume One-Third of Each Day

Video Will Soon Consume One-Third of Each Day

Pretty soon TV watching will become so all-consuming that we’ll have to do it in our sleep

US Internet users ages 12 and older surveyed in June 2008 spent 6.1 hours daily with video-based entertainment, according to Solutions Research Group’s “Multiplatform Video Report.” They concluded that about four hours per day were spent on traditional television, including live, digital video recorder (DVR) and video-on-demand (VOD) viewing. Video games, Web and PC video, DVDs and video on mobile devices accounted for the balance of video entertainment hours.

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Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.