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Radical healing...
Scientists in California have shown that
carbon nanotubes can act as a scaffold for the growth of
bone tissue, offering a new way to treat broken bones. Doctors
may simply inject a solution of specially designed nanotubes
into a bone fracture. Chemical groups attached to the artificial
material will align crystal growth in the new bone. Nanotubes
offer increased strength and flexibility, researchers say.
They may also provide a new treatment for osteoporosis.
Whenever, wherever...
Internet users are going mobile with cellular
phones and other portable devices, SEO Blog says.
Lisa Wehr, author of the recent whitepaper, "Mobile
Search and its Implications for Search Engine Marketing,"
calls the new user environment, "the third screen."
Mobile users have a hierarchy of needs, she says: personal
survival (hotels, restaurants); personal security (news,
email, travel, weather); and ultimately personal satisfaction
(songs, images, social networking). What is evolving, SEO
Blog says, is nothing less than a new personalized space.
And, for the moment at least, these users have a decidedly
younger demographic.
A changing of the guard?...
The Conference Board says new business thinking
is coming from India, and "this may change the way
that tomorrow's corporations are run." Thought leaders
in this group include C.K. Prahalad, Ram Charan, Amartya
Sen, Vijay Govindrajan and Sumantra Ghoshal. Leading academics
at American business schools include Rakesh Khurana, Nitin
Nohria, Krishna Palepu, Jagdish Bhagwati, Deepak Jain, Mohanbir
Sawhney, and Raj Reddy. Indian enrollment is up in MBA programs
in the US. and Europe, and Indian executives lead many of
the world's top corporations. "Among the people who
influence business thinking," the Conference Board
says, "there is an increasingly Indian presence."
The result it says, is a "distinctly Indian school
of management" that may be more global and more in
touch with the realities of the Third World.
Business Indian-style may be based on a
new business ethic. The Conference Board quotes Sumantra
Ghoshal: "A very different management philosophy is
arising and will become dominant -- the purpose, process,
people philosophy. We are moving beyond strategy to purpose,
beyond structure to process, and beyond systems to people."
Losing diversity...
The variety of large fish species is decreasing
in the open oceans, Newswise says. Between climate
change and overfishing the diversity of tuna, marlins and
swordfish has declined by as much as 50% in the last 50
years. Scientists mapped global diversity, revealing areas
where the greatest losses have occurred, and where the most
significant resources still remain. By identifying these
hotspots, the study provides a more global perspective on
the problem, and a possible focus for conservation efforts.
First the good news...
Robert Balling, scientific advisor to the
Greening Earth Society, says global climate change will
increase crop growth, creating faster-growing, larger and
more robust plants. Laboratory experiments have shown that
doubling carbon dioxide levels increases agricultural yields
by more than 40 percent. So, Balling says, we will actually
benefit from climate change, through bumper crops that will
help to feed the world's population.
Other scientists are concerned. New research
shows that the resulting plants are deficient in nitrogen
and micronutrients. Dietary supplements may help to solve
the problem in rich nations, but declining nutrition could
cause a health crisis for people in the developing world.
Reducing plant nitrogen concentrations has been found to
reduce growth in sheep and cattle. And, scientists warn,
plant nutrient deficiencies could disrupt wild ecosystems.
Irakli Loladze, an assistant professor at the University
of Nebraska, says, "The structure of the whole food
web could change."
The futurist's convention...
The San Luis Obispo Tribune looks
in on the annual conference of the World Future Society,
held in Chicago this year. The conference program included
such topics as hydrogen energy, super-longevity, global
warming, emerging markets in India and China, nanotechnology,
brain-enhancement technology, the colonization of space,
new models for the nation state... and more.
David Forrest
we welcome your comments and feedback at mail@innovationwatch.com
SCIENCE
Dog
Cloning Could Lead to Insights Into Human Disease
- [RedNova] The announcement this week that South Korean
researchers have created the world's first cloned dog is
being hailed as a scientific marvel, but one without immediate
medical benefits -- for dogs or humans. Yet the breakthrough
could give scientists better insights and tools to study
and possibly treat human diseases, the experts said.
Carbon
Nanotubes May Change the Way Doctors Treat Broken Bones
- [News-Medical.net] Scientists have shown for the first
time that carbon nanotubes make an ideal scaffold for the
growth of bone tissue. The new technique could change the
way doctors treat broken bones, allowing them to simply
inject a solution of nanotubes into a fracture to promote
healing.
New
Animal Species Evolved in an Instant - [New Scientist]
A new species of insect may have arisen in an evolutionary
eye-blink as a result of cross-species mating. The discovery
suggests that hybridisation -- well known to be an important
force in producing new plant species -- may also be widespread
in animals.
Study
of Oldest Fossil Embryos is of 'Extreme Evolutionary Significance'
- [San Francisco Chronicle] Tiny fossil embryos curled up
inside a clutch of African dinosaur eggs nearly 200 million
years old hint at a remarkable story of evolution, scientists
report -- the transformation of an early tribe of plant-eating
animals only a few feet long that became, over millions
of years, the largest animals ever to walk the Earth.
New
X-Ray Machine Reveals Ancient Wisdom - [MSNBC] Much
of what ancient scribes carved in stone is lost to weathering.
Among the hard-to-read are tablets from Draco, a rather
severe politician who codified the laws of ancient Athens.
A new technique promises to reveal these and other stone
scribblings using X-rays.
Nanotechnology
Kills Cancer Cells - [BBC] Nanotechnology has been harnessed
to kill cancer cells without harming healthy tissue.
Gene
Sequence for Super Spider Silk Discovered - [LiveScience]
Scientists have uncovered the genetic sequence for one of
the strongest silks that spiders produce, a discovery that
could one day be used to make super spider-silk products
for humans.
TECHNOLOGY
The
Changing Venues of Search - Search Going Mobile - [SEO
Blog] According to a whitepaper, "Mobile Search and
its Implications for Search Engine Marketing", cell
phone screens and other handheld mobiles are emerging as
significant user environments.
E-Paper:
Future of RFID, Intelligent Packaging? - [Food Production
Daily] A prototype of electronic-paper could be the future
for radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and for intelligent
packaging, according to the company developing the technology.
TIBCO
Brings Context to RFID Data - [eWeek] TIBCO Software,
which has made a name for itself by providing integration
capabilities to the financial industry, is adding new radio-frequency
identification functionality to its portfolio.
Robot
Jumps, Tumbles, Rolls - [Discovery Channel] A robot
built to explore disaster sites uses an unusual mode of
transportation to traverse rubble: it jumps, tumbles and
rolls.
Blending
the Human Genome with Art - [C|NET] "What is the
nature of life?" and "Who am I?" are questions
that cut across science, religion, art, philosophy and even
computer science.
Net
Worms Could Wriggle Around Warning Systems - [New Scientist]
Computer worms may soon wriggle around the early warning
systems that detect an impending attack, a study by US scientists
has revealed.
Robot
Catcher Grabs High Speed Projectiles - [New Scientist]
If robots are to inherit the Earth, then they should at
least be able to catch. So say the researchers behind a
bot that can match the most skilled human baseball player
faced with a hurtling ball.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
Amazon
Said to Be Exploring Digital Music - [SiliconValley.com]
Amazon.com is exploring a possible entry into the music
and video download business, music industry executives said.
Big
Effort to Clean Up Supply Chains - [New Zealand Herald]
Globalisation has brought many challenges to the business
world, but few rival that of ensuring that ever-extending
supply chains are managed -- with ever-increasing transparency
-- to the satisfaction of campaigning NGOs, the media and
customers and consumers.
When
It Comes to the Carbon Crunch - [Guardian] The day when
the first major UK company issues a profit warning because
of the rising cost of carbon emissions may be approaching.
Tech's
"Dearth of Innovation" - [Business Week] Mark
Anderson just might be one of the most influential technology
futurists around. His weekly newsletter, Strategic News
Service (SNS), is widely read by a who's who of investors
and tech visionaries.
The
Seven Rules of Innovation - [Optimize] Successful innovation
requires processes and tools that can recognize good ideas
and transform them into captured value.
The
Indians Are Coming - [The Conference Board] The rarified
world of business thinking has been largely American terrain
over the last hundred years. Even the brief love affair
with Japanese business practices in the early 1980s was
intellectually colonized by U.S. thinkers such as W. Edwards
Deming and Richard Pascale. But change is in the air, blowing
from a direction unforeseen a few years ago -- from the
Indian subcontinent, where a new cohort of thinkers and
ideas is emerging.
Three
Reasons Why Good Strategies Fail: Execution, Execution...
- [Knowledge@Wharton] Despite the obvious importance of
good planning and execution, relatively few management thinkers
have focused on what kinds of processes and leadership are
best for turning a strategy into results.
SOCIETY
Meet
the New Puritans - [Scotsman] Another year, another
culture-categorising catchphrase: the Neo-Croms (short for
Neo-Cromwellians) are, according to market researchers at
least, a fast-growing group who support the curtailing of
consumption, be that of alcohol, cigarettes, rich foods
or pollutant technology.
Making
Babies for France - [International Herald Tribune] Eighty
percent of Frenchwomen between 24 and 49 work, including
those with children under 3. In Europe overall, women stay
in the work force by not having children. Frenchwomen, as
a sociologist, François de Singly comments, "are
mothers but also are determined to maintain their professional
and educational accomplishments as well as their 'capital
de séduction.'"
Bush
Evolution Comment Roils Long-Standing Battle - [RedNova]
President Bush's call for schools to discuss "intelligent
design" alongside evolution is the latest shot in a
long-standing war between religion and secularism in the
United States in which religion now seems to be making broad
advances.
River
Flowing with Cocaine Indicates 'Vast' Drug Use - [New
Scientist] A “vastly larger” number of people
than thought may abuse cocaine, suggest the results of a
study measuring a breakdown product of the illegal drug
in an Italian river.
Chasing
the Dream - [The Economist] Is it a new medium on a
par with film and music, a valuable educational tool, a
form of harmless fun or a digital menace that turns children
into violent zombies? Video gaming is all these things,
depending on whom you ask.
Vacations
For A Good Cause - [TIME Europe] Travel philanthropy
has been on the rise since the tsunami of 2004. Tourists
looking to help the often disadvantaged countries they visit
can invest time, energy or money.
Building
a New World - [Reason] Al Nakheel Properties is building
a private archipelago of 300 islands off the coast of Dubai,
a semi-independent city in the United Arab Emirates. When
construction is completed, the artificial islands, collectively
dubbed The World, will form a map of the globe. Developers
will be able to erect everything from McMansions to rainforests,
and the waterways will be patrolled by private security.
GLOBAL POLITICS
Russia,
China Take Relations to New Level - [Novosti] Two economic
and political leaders of the future - Russia and China -
are taking their relations to a new level with clear ambitions
to influence the global geopolitical order, two respected
dailies reported.
From
T-Shirts to T-Bonds - [The Economist] China is not the
main cause of the American trade deficit. On the other hand,
China is behind almost everything else going on in the world
economy. For China is beginning to drive, in a new and pervasive
way, economic trends that many countries assume to be domestically
determined.
China
Goes to College - In a Big Way - [Christian Science
Monitor] As China continues to surge onto the global economic
stage, it is undergoing one of the most ambitious higher
education expansions in the world.
Pentagon
Stirs Tensions in Foreign Base Shuffle - [Christian
Science Monitor] To fight the terror war, US wants far-flung
bases for more mobile military. But some nations balk at
US footprint.
The
World in the iPod - [Spiegel] The microchip that runs
Apple's popular music player is made in India, Taiwan, China
and Silicon Valley. Is this an example of how globalization
works to everyone's benefit -- or a sign that the world
economy is about to roll over America?
Manmohan
Singh Speaks His Mind - [The Globalist] India has arrived
on the world stage. However, with a growing economy comes
growing responsibility. As a result, India is faced with
immense domestic and international pressures regarding democracy,
development and its foreign relations.
Europe's
Next Industrial Revolution - [Spiegel]
The world may be on the brink of another industrial revolution
-- and Europe is leading the way. A combination of network
communications and hydrogen power may usher in a whole new
era of civilization.
ENVIRONMENT
Big
Firms Turn to a Solar Powered Future - [inadaily.com]
A group of leading Spanish industrial companies have joined
forces with electricity giant Iberdrola to invest some E
300 million over the next three years to build solar energy
power stations. The plants will not rely on panels alone,
but will instead use solar power to heat steam which will
then drive turbines.
Global
Pattern of Big Fish Diversity in Open Oceans - [Newswise]
A new study released in Science reveals a striking downward
trend in the diversity of fish in the open ocean.
Chemist
Tries to Solve World's Energy Woes - [RedNova] If you
ever wonder about how the world will produce enough energy
to supply 9 billion people by mid-century -- and whether
that can be done without pumping off-the-charts amounts
of carbon dioxide into the air -- meet one of the minds
trying to produce an answer.
Small
Planet Seeking Saviour - [Guardian] Ecologists need
a figurehead to stir us from selfish slumber, to help translate
nebulous dread into action.
Planet
of the Plants - [AlterNet] In a world changed by global
warming, crops may grow more abundantly, but be unable to
nourish us.
Planes
Go Greener by Shifting Altitude - [New Scientist] Aircraft
could reduce their impact on global warming just by making
small changes in altitude.
GM
Crops Created Superweed, Say Scientists - [Guardian]
Modified genes from crops in a GM crop trial have transferred
into local wild plants, creating a form of herbicide-resistant
"superweed", the Guardian reveals.
THE FUTURE
Futurists
to Examine Trends, from the Down-to-Earth to the Esoteric
- [SanLuisObispo Tribune] The World Future Society -- an
organization of academics, consultants and planners -- gears
up for its annual conference.
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