Futurist Thomas Frey: In 2002, Roger Ver was honing his entrepreneurial skills by selling products on eBay. It was in the aftermath of the Twin Towers disaster when one of his products called “Pest Control Report 2000” hit the radar of Homeland Security and he was charged and convicted of selling 14 pounds of explosives without a license.
The discovery includes stiff plastics and flexible gels that can mend themselves if torn.
A collection of new plastics that are recyclable and adaptable have been developed by researchers – and the discovery began with a laboratory mistake. They include strong, stiff plastics and flexible gels that can mend themselves if torn.
Continue reading… “New recyclable plastics discovered ‘by accident’”
The U.S. graduated proportionally fewer computer-science majors in 2011-12 than in 1985-86.
There has been a lot of talk from journalists, programmers, and educators about computer-science education in the U.S. on whether every should or should not learn how to code. The question comes up often in the digital-media circles. Tasneem Raja, interactive editor at Mother Jones made a thoughtful, nuanced contribution to that conversation last week.
Continue reading… “Computer science education – Is there a crisis?”
Peter H. Diamandis
Peter Diamandis talks about how Bitcoin is moving from its Deceptive phase to a very Disruptive phase. He explains why, and what you may want to do.
Continue reading… “Peter Diamandis on the coming disruptive age of Bitcoin”
Sharp’s technology could be twice as efficient at converting sunlight to electricity.
Right now the best solar cells we have convert less than a third of the energy on sunlight into electricity, even though for decades researchers have calculated that exotic physics could allow solar cells to convert far more energy than they do now.
Continue reading… “New technology from Sharp demonstrates ultra-high efficiency solar cells”
The absolute greatest vertical in Google’s AdWords revenue is auto insurance.
Google is well on its way to establishing its leadership through the registration of 6 billion daily unique searches and indexing of over 50 billion web pages (2013), when it comes to collecting and organizing information. What remains to be seen is how this information is being made universally accessible and at what price. One of the industries that has particular advantage of access to the world’s information is insurance.
Continue reading… “Google could become the primary sales channel for the insurance industry by 2020”
BAAM 3D printer
3D printers are slow. They are so slow that in the time it would take to print a screwdriver, you could just drive to the store and pick one up with a half hour to spare. And that’s a problem when a manufacturing job calls for creating units as quickly as possible. (Video)
Continue reading… “Reinventing the 3D printer to make it faster”
The war for programming talent is hotter than ever.
The need for developer talent is greater than ever. Everyone needs coder, whether you’re trying to build mobile apps, redesign the user experience on your public website, or keep business-critical applications on the cutting edge.
It’s a known fact that women are far less likely than men to get bachelor’s degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math(STEM). But what is the gender breakdown like in other fields?
Many teens could be held liable for texts they sent as a minor or between their friends of different ages.
More than half of teens surveyed said they send sexual texts to each other, and one in four of them are sexting pictures, according to a new study from Drexel University.
Continue reading… “More that 50% of teens in the U.S. are sexting, 28% are sexting with photos”
Sharp’s Free-Form Display
Sharp has announced plans to produce a new type of screen dubbed ‘Free-Form Display’ that could radically change the shape of our future electronics. In recent years there has been a number of products with novel form factors, like the curved Samsung Gear Fit and the upcoming circular Moto 360 smartwatch. Sharp’s new display tech could potentially facilitate far more unique designs than presently possible.
Continue reading… “Sharp develops Free-Form Display that could change consumer electronics forever”
Skunk drone
South Africa-based Desert Wolf, the maker of a drone that fires pepper spray bullets, says it has received its first order for the machine. The company told the BBC it had secured the sale of 25 units to a mining company after showing off the tech at a trade show.
Continue reading… “World’s first riot-control drone fires pepper spray and paintballs at protesters”