Signs of the Future
news items
Japan may add noise to quiet hybrid cars for safety (PhysOrg)
3 Jul 2009 at 5:50pm
Japan's near-silent hybrid cars have been called dangerous by the vision-impaired and some users, prompting a government review on whether to add a noise-making device, according to an official.
World 'still losing biodiversity' (BBC)
3 Jul 2009 at 6:03am
Species around the world are still being lost despite governments pledging action to reverse the trend, a report warns.
Space ambitions (BBC)
3 Jul 2009 at 6:03am
US moonwalker Buzz Aldrin looks to new frontiers
Will iPhones Get Tactile Feedback, Fingerprint ID? (PC World)
3 Jul 2009 at 6:03am
Nothing gets the rumor mill churning like uncovering Cupertino?s latest patent applications. Get ready for another round of rumors.
Printable batteries (PhysOrg)
3 Jul 2009 at 6:02am
For a long time, batteries were bulky and heavy. Now, a new cutting-edge battery is revolutionizing the field. It is thinner than a millimeter, lighter than a gram, and can be produced cost-effectively through a printing process.
Blood stem cell growth factor reverses memory decline in mice (PhysOrg)
2 Jul 2009 at 2:20am
A human growth factor that stimulates blood stem cells to proliferate in the bone marrow reverses memory impairment in mice genetically altered to develop Alzheimer's disease, researchers at the University of South Florida and James A. Haley Hospital found. The granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF) significantly reduced levels of the brain-clogging protein beta amyloid deposited in excess in the brains of the Alzheimer's mice, increased the production of new neurons and promoted nerve cell connections.
Satellite for US cell phone service launched (Boston Globe)
2 Jul 2009 at 2:20am
The world's largest commercial satellite was launched into space, with a mission to provide phone service to cellular "dead zones" in North America.
The least sea ice in 800 years (PhysOrg)
2 Jul 2009 at 2:20am
New research, which reconstructs the extent of ice in the sea between Greenland and Svalbard from the 13th century to the present indicates that there has never been so little sea ice as there is now. The research results from the Niels Bohr Institute, among others, are published in the scientific journal, Climate Dynamics.
Wind + water = untapped energy: An abundance of power exists above Earth's oc...
1 Jul 2009 at 3:10am
Wind energy over the planet's oceans is a vastly underutilized renewable resource, according to UC Irvine researchers.
Super-size deposits of frozen carbon threat to climate change (PhysOrg)
1 Jul 2009 at 3:10am
The vast amount of carbon stored in the arctic and boreal regions of the world is more than double that previously estimated, according to a study published this week.
Tunnel vision: Border Patrol agents to spot tunnels with advanced ground-pene...
30 Jun 2009 at 3:38am
Criminals of all kinds are digging tunnels along the U.S. border at a fast and furious pace. Of every tunnel ever discovered by U.S. border patrol agents, 60 percent have been found in the last three years. Agents spot a new one every month.
High court won't block remote storage DVR system (Boston Globe)
30 Jun 2009 at 3:38am
Cable TV operators won a key legal battle against Hollywood studios and television networks on Monday as the Supreme Court declined to block a new digital video recording system that could make it even easier for viewers to bypass commercials.
Researchers use thoughts to drive wheelchair (CBC)
30 Jun 2009 at 3:37am
Toyota-sponsored researchers in Japan unveiled a brain-machine interface system on Monday that allows a person to use thoughts to direct the motion of a wheelchair.
African roots (BBC News)
30 Jun 2009 at 3:37am
DNA testing helps African Americans find their origins
Web Squared: Web 2.0's Successor? (ZDNet)
30 Jun 2009 at 3:37am
Tim O'Reilly and John Battelle discussed their vision and nomenclature for the next iteration of the web in a webinar: I believe the recording will be available online sometime this week, slides are above. With the term 'Web 2.0' enjoying its fifth birthday (and supposedly entering dictionaries as the millionth phrase in the English language) the web cognoscenti need new ...
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Fast Forward
audio clips
Interview with Stephen Wolfram
19 May 2009 at 10:46pm
MP3... A first look at Wolfram|Alpha: Computational Knowledge Engine, with Stephen Wolfram. This is uncut audio from David Weinberger?s 55 minute interview with Stephen for Radio Berkman. Look for ...
Virtual Successes and Failures
19 May 2009 at 10:43pm
MP3... For Linden Lab's founder and chairman Philip Rosedale, the open-ended social experiment that is Second Life doesn't end at the borders of the virtual world he envisioned and brought to life....
Making Up the Mind
19 May 2009 at 10:40pm
MP3... An interview with neuropsychologist Dr. Chris Frith, author of Making up the Mind: How the Brain Creates Our Mental World. Our brain processes information about the world outside us (via our...
Artscience: Creativity in the Post-Google Generation
7 May 2009 at 2:38am
MP3... David Edwards describes how contemporary creators achieve breakthroughs in the arts and sciences by developing their ideas in an intermediate zone of human creativity where neither art nor s...
Putting Our Heads Together
8 Apr 2009 at 2:55pm
MP3... The open source movement launched over the past few decades by computer programmers has morphed into a parallel "open innovation" movement. The emergence of cross-sectoral "distributed intel...
Inside the Teenage Brain
8 Apr 2009 at 2:48pm
RealAudio / WindowsMedia... Many of us associate our teenage years with mood swings, risky behavior and a sense of invincibility. And scientists say there's a reason for that: adolescents brains ar...
Smart Grid Technology: Building (or Rebuilding) Our Electricity Grid
8 Apr 2009 at 2:33pm
RealAudio / WindowsMedia... Demand for electricity is expected to spike by some 40% in the next two decades. And experts warn blackouts and rolling brownouts aren't far away if the grid is not sign...
Leaving the Dollar Behind
8 Apr 2009 at 2:21pm
MP3... Joshua Cooper Ramo, partner at Kissinger Associates and author of The Age of the Unthinkable, discusses China's efforts to divorce itself from the dollar and the future of US-China economic ...
Who's this Economy For?
9 Mar 2009 at 5:14pm
MP3... As our savings plummet and our debts soar, many of us are starting to wonder not only when we'll get back on track, but whether the track we've been on all these years is the right one to...
Fostering Ingenuity
25 Feb 2009 at 2:43am
MP3... If necessity is the mother of invention, there's certainly plenty of necessity to go around these days. But are we doing all we can to incubate the innovations we most urgently need? We'll l...
Sea Change
25 Feb 2009 at 2:39am
MP3... A rise in sea levels isn't the only impact global warming is having on the world's oceans. A growing body of evidence suggests that climate change is also affecting ocean currents and the ch...
Howard Bloom - The Global Brain
25 Feb 2009 at 2:35am
MP3... Many of us feel that the Web is ushering in a new era of global consciousness. But Howard Bloom thinks life has been a collective mind from the very beginning. He made the case in his book G...
What to Do about Internet Lies?
25 Feb 2009 at 2:31am
MP3... What to do about lies on the internet? John Seigenthaler, distinguished journalist, a JFK friend, was said on Wikipedia to have plotted JFK's assassination. But Wikipedia has no responsibili...
Smart Roads
25 Feb 2009 at 2:22am
RealAudio... Scott Belcher, president and CEO of Intelligent Transportation Society of America, looks at the ways technology can make for "smart" roads and bridges. [Brian Lehrer]...
Jimmy Wales: Free Speech, Free Minds, Free Markets
24 Jan 2009 at 11:00pm
MP3... Across the globe we are building, editing, and contributing to a growing body of knowledge and tools at everyone's fingertips. Volunteers in leaderless organizations contribute to online ini...
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Future Pages
websites
The World Mind Network
29 Jun 2009 at 9:50pm
An international organization devoted to using the latest Internet technologies to creatively address issues of sustainability, climate change, education in the developing world, cultural preservat...
Trends in the Living Networks
6 Jun 2009 at 12:20pm
Ross Dawson on opportunities for business and society in a hyper-connected world.
Information about information
23 May 2009 at 11:50pm
Visualization blog.
Maritime Terrorism Research Center
23 May 2009 at 11:41pm
Maritime terrorism, maritime security and maritime transport security information.
Grown Up Digital
22 May 2009 at 12:21am
Poised to transform every social institution, the Net Generation is reshaping the form and functions of school, work, and even democracy. Simply put, the wave of youth, aged 12-30, the first truly ...
Web Strategy
22 May 2009 at 12:01am
Jeremiah Owyang's blog. How web tools enable companies to connect with customers.
GenomeWeb
21 May 2009 at 11:56pm
GenomeWeb covers the technology, institutions, and scientists that make up the worldwide research enterprise of molecular biology.
Australian Policy Online
21 May 2009 at 7:15am
The best online source of Australian policy information.
Visible Past: A Geographic Wiki Collaborative Environment
19 May 2009 at 9:59pm
Visible Past is a location-aware learning environment geared toward the delivery, discovery, and storage of information, but using the spatial and temporal characteristics of that information as th...
DIY Video Summit
18 May 2009 at 10:41am
Video documentation of all the panels and workshops that took place at the 24/7 Summit at the University of Southern California in February 2008.
People of the Screen
7 May 2009 at 1:28am
The Technology Horizons Program at IFTF is currently engaged in a major research project on the technologies, practices, and social impacts of our relationship to video.
Information Architects
7 May 2009 at 1:26am
iA plans, builds, and manages interactive brands by continuously measuring and optimizing the performance of their user interfaces.
Geospatial Revolution Project
7 May 2009 at 1:21am
The program will highlight a broad range of location-based technologies and their impacts on society. Subject matter will cover topics such as safety and security, geopolitics, business intelligenc...
Collaborative Innovation
12 Apr 2009 at 1:02pm
The Collaborative Innovation Program (CIP) hosts courses and activities where designers and entrepreneurs, social activists and artists, engineers and computer scientists gather around complex prob...
Cause Global
11 Apr 2009 at 7:26pm
Social media for social change.
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Notable Quotes: Writers, scientists, philosophers and others share their thoughts about the future... what it is, why it is important, whether it
can be predicted, and how we're going to get there. |
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The Rearview Mirror: Links to vintage media depicting life
and change from the mid-1800s. Historical photographs, sound recordings,
early motion pictures, and other rare materials. |
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