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Future Pages: The bookmark collection... frequently updated links to other websites on trends, innovation and the future.
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Signs of the Future: The news archive... past postings of items from world media on emerging trends.
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SCIENCE
Top Stories:
Worm Study Shows Antidepressant May Lengthen Life - [Reuters] An antidepressant may help worms live longer by tricking the brain into thinking the body is starving, U.S. researchers reported. The drug, called mianserin, extended the life span of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans by about 30 percent, the researchers reported in the journal Nature. They hope to find out if the same mechanism can help people live longer.
A Wiring Diagram of the Brain - [Technoloy Review] New technologies that allow scientists to trace the fine wiring of the brain more accurately than ever before could soon generate a complete wiring diagram -- including every tiny fiber and miniscule connection -- of a piece of brain. Dubbed connectomics, these maps could uncover how neural networks perform their precise functions in the brain, and they could shed light on disorders thought to originate from faulty wiring, such as autism and schizophrenia.
TECHNOLOGY
Top Stories:
Kendrick Farmer Puts Eyes in the Sky - [AG Weekly] Robert Blair doesn’t have to go far to see the next big thing in agriculture because once a month, it’s in the skies above his Kendrick farm. Blair flies CropCam, a remote-controlled drone aircraft that takes detailed photos of his fields. CropCam is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that carries a high-resolution digital camera.
Making 'Second Life' More Like Real Life - [Associated Press] You can always spot the novices in the virtual reality world of "Second Life": Their online characters -- or avatars -- stumble around awkwardly and walk into objects, as their real-world users fumble with the keyboard controls. Now, technology from Japan could help make navigating online virtual worlds simpler by letting players use their own bodies -- or even brain waves -- to control their avatars.
BUSINESS
Top Stories:
Oil Wealth Takes Islamic Banking Mainstream - [International Herald Tribune]
Rising oil wealth is lifting Islamic banking - banking that adheres to the laws of the Koran and its prohibition against charging interest - into the financial mainstream. Big banks like Citigroup, HSBC and Deutsche Bank, as well as financial capitals like London, Tokyo and Hong Kong, are all going into the Islamic banking business. Today, an estimated 300 Islamic financial institutions hold at least $500 billion in assets, and deposits are increasing more than 10 percent each year.
Too many jobs for 'New Europe' - [Electronics Supply & Manufacturing] Not so long ago, Central and Eastern Europe had few jobs and many unemployed. Today, the 10 ex-communist countries that entered the European Union in 2004 have too many jobs and not enough people to fill them.
SOCIETY
Top Stories:
Data Leak in Britain Affects 25 Million - [New York Times]
The British government struggled Wednesday to explain its loss of computer disks containing detailed personal information on 25 million Britons, including an unknown number of bank account identifiers, in what analysts described as potentially the most significant privacy breach of the digital era.
Japan Eyes Demographic Time Bomb - [BBC] Japan has the world's highest proportion of elderly people. More than 20% of the population are now over the age of 65. By 2050, that figure is expected to rise to about 40%. In graph format, it resembles a top-heavy skyscraper ready to fall.
GLOBAL POLITICS
Top Stories:
Japanese Shift Cash Out of U.S. Investments - [International Herald Tribune]
Many in Japan are starting to speak of "quitting America," but they are not talking about a rise in anti-American political fervor. Rather, they mean a move away from American investments that is altering global capital flows and helping to weaken the dollar.
Climate 'Will Undo Asian Success' - [BBC] Climate change will reverse decades of social and economic progress across Asia, campaigners claim. A report by a coalition of environment and aid agencies calls for urgent action to avert the threat.
ENVIRONMENT
Top Stories:
Tracking Greenhouse Gases - [Mercury-News] There's growing worry about global warming, but how much of it is the work of that power plant just outside town? And if Congress limits heat-trapping greenhouse gases, will it affect utility and electric bills? And who's the biggest corporate culprit when it comes to climate change? Answers to these questions may be only a couple of computer clicks away. A new interactive online database provides maps, color-coded categories and detailed information about who is putting 10 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually from power plants around the world.
Nano Technology: There Will Be Mistakes - [Independent Online]
Nano-technology has been hailed as the science of the future, with micro-particles already powering innovations that remove lines from faces, strengthen beer bottles and clean clothing without water. Yet early studies also indicate some of these particles, enabled by the latest in engineering science, can cause cancer.
THE FUTURE
Top Stories:
Scientists Aim to Predict Climate Change Hotspots - [ABC News] Moving on from the risk of global warming, scientists are now looking for ways to pinpoint the areas set to be affected by climate change, to help countries plan everything from new crops to hydropower dams.
Water: Hottest Commodity to Invest In - [Rediff]
For all the talk about oil, natural gas, and even electricity, those resources pale in comparison to this essential commodity - one that we can't live without, and whose demand will never decline. In fact, thanks to population growth and global warming, demand is actually set to increase markedly over the coming years. But the world is struggling to cope with a very serious shortage in 80 countries around the globe -- one that is approaching "crisis" level. Even in America's own backyard.
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