Albert Einstein
Lewis Terman believed that only knowing the IQ of a person could predict their success in life and this potential could be measured since childhood. That is why he sent his colleagues to California schools and gave the children a few IQ tests, identifying 1500 children whose IQs averaged 150 points.
He took for granted that these children were going to make great contributions to their disciplines in the future.
Continue reading… “Are people with a high IQ less creative?”
Stephen Hawking wants to stop the rise of the machines.
Stephen Hawking turned 71 on January 8th and has joined the board of an international think tank devoted to defending humanity from futuristic threats. The newly founded organization, the Cambridge Project for Existential Risk, researches existential threats to humanity such as extreme climate change, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, artificial life, nanotech, and other emerging technologies. Skype cofounder Jaan Tallinn and Cambridge professors Huw Price and Martin Rees founded the project in late 2012.
Futurist Thomas Frey: The first time I watched Star Trek and heard Captain Kirk utter the phrase – “Set your phasers to stun!” – it occurred to me that these future weapons featured a number of different settings.
“The third billion”
Globally, there are 380 million entrepreneurs today. For every 19 people you meet – one will be an entrepreneur. What are the other 18 doing? What are they doing that makes money without them creating/inventing opportunities? One might think they all have jobs, but they don’t – only 61% of world’s population have any sort of a job.
Continue reading… “By 2020 a billion entrepreneurs will be women”
Google CEO Larry Page
This past fall, when Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP Group, the giant advertising agency, visited Google, CEO Larry Page sent a car to pick him up at the Rosewood Hotel about 20 miles away. The car Page sent was no ordinary car. Thanks to a slew of high-tech tools, including radars, sensors, and a laser scanner that takes more than 1.5 million measurements every second, the Lexus SUV drove itself. For about 20 minutes, while navigating I-280 and the area’s busy State Route 85, the car cruised on autopilot, making quick course corrections, slowing down here when traffic loomed ahead, speeding up there to get out of the blind spot of a neighboring vehicle. “It was pretty incredible,” says Sorrell.
Continue reading… “Google’s Larry Page shares his vision of the future”
Nicknamed “Blade Runner,” South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius competed in the Olympic Games in 2012.
Just how futuristic did things become in 2012? at the Olympic Games we watched a cyborg compete. We marveled at the news that NASA was actually working on a faster-than-light warp drive. 2012 also featured the planet’s first superstorm, the development of an artificial retina — and primates who had their intelligence enhanced with a chip. Here are 16 predictions that came true in 2012.
Futurist Thomas Frey: The year is 2018 and the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the organization charged with selecting the winner of the famous Nobel Peace Prize, has changed their process. They’ve decided to host a global election to allow the people of the world to decide which of the candidates is the most deserving.
Continue reading… “Entering the Era of Global Mandates”
As 3D printing expands its influence into mainstream culture, plenty of amazing things are happening. There are a lot of 3D printing companies expanding and getting more funding, but enterprising designers are finding more and more ways to use the fledgling printing technology. While some of these uses are a bit troubling (like piracy of copyrighted material and firearms), others show that, with enough ingenuity, 3D printing can change lives. Let’s take a look at some of the industry’s bigger stories from this year.
Continue reading… “2012 was a year of expansion for 3D printing”
In 2012, total cumulative global Wi-Fi-enabled device shipments reached five billion, according to ABI Research. And the pace of innovation isn’t slowing, with new Wi-Fi protocols rolling out in 2013 and close to 20 billion WiFi-enabled devices predicted to be in the market by 2017.
Continue reading… “Global Wi-Fi shipments reached 5 billion in 2012, will quadruple by 2017”
The black boxes will be able to record all sorts of information about a vehicle.
The National Transportation Safety Agency is proposing that all new automobiles sold in the US after September of 2014 will be required to be equipped with event data recorders. The recorders are somewhat like the black boxes that are found inside aircraft.
Continue reading… “NTSA wants black boxes in cars in 2014”
Xbox 720
Most people are pretty happy with the available gadgets on the market. Phones can do almost anything, cars nearly drive themselves and video games have never looked more fantastic.
How much better can it get?
Continue reading… “Top 10 most anticipated tech gadgets for 2013”
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=wXkfrBJqVcQ[/youtube]
What if a computer could let us “feel” the texture of a fabric before we buy clothes online? Or gives us a whiff or taste of a meal we’re thinking of preparing? it’s all within the realm of possibility in the next 5 years, according to IBM’s list of technologies it thinks are on the cusp of adoption.
Continue reading… “Five technologies IBM predicts will be possible in the next 5 years”