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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:
Incorrectly Cleaved Protein Leads to Schizophrenia - [PhysOrg] Schizophrenia is a disease that strikes an average of 4000 Belgians every year. The causes of this psychiatric disorder are not yet clear. But now, VIB researchers connected to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven have discovered that a disturbed cleavage of the Nrg-1 protein lies at the basis of the development of the disease. Greater understanding of this molecular process is a first step toward improved diagnosis and more effective treatment of schizophrenia and other related disorders.
The Energy Superbugs - [Forbes] They don't need oxygen, they don't need sunlight. They can survive acid baths and doses of radiation 5,000 times more intense than the amount needed to kill a human. They can breathe metal, eat nuclear waste, drink boiling toxins and even heal their own wounds. Now scientists think these superbugs -- known as extremophiles -- may be the secret to a new energy economy.
TECHNOLOGY
Top Stories:
Robot Chef Gets a Boost from Wireless Kitchen - [New Scientist] Go on, put your feet up. A new household robot that keeps track of the contents of your kitchen and can learn simple tasks could soon be making you dinner while you relax. The new robot, developed at the Technical University of Munich, exploits the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags on dishes and utensils in its "Assistive Kitchen" to sidestep some of the object-recognition difficulties that have plagued previous household robots.
Sensor Detects Bad Milk, Blood Coagulation and Road Stress - [PhysOrg] Bad milk, juice or soup can be spotted at the grocery store by a thin iron strip that vibrates in a magnetic field. When a customer checks out at the grocery store, the scanner can detect when this strip vibrates differently, indicating a change in the consistency of liquid. But grocery stores aren't the only business to benefit from the inexpensive device.
BUSINESS
Top Stories:
How Web 2.0 Will Change the Face of Business - [Financial Times] Technology research company Forrester predicts that by 2013, social software, the application of Web 2.0 for the enterprise, will grow at an annual rate of 43 per cent per year. This is quickly becoming the fastest growing sector in the enterprise software industry. However, many people are confused by what Web 2.0 is and its significance in the workplace and in culture, including those planning to adopt it.
Vanishing Independence for Large Family Companies - [International Herald Tribune] "Family enterprises, even those with a long history, tend to do well only when business is localized," said Tom Pirko, president of Bevmark, a California-based beverage industry consultancy. "The family corporation or the family-founded business with a heritage is a phenomenon that is pretty much passing out."
SOCIETY
Top Stories:
More U.S. Homeowners Consider Taking in Boarders - [International Herald Tribune] When Barbara Terry fell behind on her mortgage payments earlier this year, she did the previously unthinkable. Through a local housing organization, she and her daughter, Imani, 9, rented part of their single-family house to a stranger.
A New Fashion Catches on in Paris: Cheap Bicycle Rentals - [International Herald Tribune] They're clunky, heavy and ugly, but they have become modish — and they are not this season's platform shoes. A year after the introduction of the sturdy gray bicycles known as Vélib's, they are being used all over Paris. The bikes are cheap to rent because they are subsidized by advertising, and other major cities, including American ones, are exploring similar projects.
GLOBAL POLITICS
Top Stories:
Energy War: India and China Face Off in Central Asia - [Times of India] Call it a diplomatic fandango. Heavy-duty Chinese bulldozers groan day and night, building motorable roads that will connect towns with cities in Kazakhstan. In the countryside, Russian engineers are busy putting new cables on newly-erected towers to put a fresh spark into the rusty, unreliable electrical grid. On the streets of Tashkent and Dushanbe, Bollywood numbers incite local people to break into impromptu jigs. And in the war-torn dustbowls of Afghanistan, American workers are building schools and hospitals in the middle of non-stop gunfire. The Indians are doing the same, at the risk of their lives. This is the soft side of the story — efforts to woo the Central Asian republics with humanitarian charm.
China Laying Key Foundation for Africa Growth: World Bank - [AFP] China may be accused of placing business above human rights in Africa but the World Bank says in a new report that the Asian giant is spearheading a massive infrastructure revolution in the continent critical to reducing poverty.
ENVIRONMENT
Top Stories:
Relocate Species Endangered by Climate Change: Scientists - [CBC] Consider it the modern equivalent of Noah's Ark: scientists say policy-makers should consider moving species outside their historic ranges to prevent extinction caused by climate change.
Forests to Fall for Food and Fuel - [BBC] Demand for land to grow food, fuel crops and wood is set to outstrip supply, leading to the probable destruction of forests, a report warns. The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) says only half of the extra land needed by 2030 is available without eating into tropical forested areas.
THE FUTURE
Small Farms, Big Future - [Ellsworth American] A salmonella outbreak that forced stores across the country to pull tomatoes from their shelves this summer was the latest motivation to buy locally grown produce. But the most compelling reason to support local farmers is the possibility that someday they could provide the only source of fresh produce and other food, as escalating transportation costs and other factors threaten the delivery of food from great distances.
A New Era for Zeppelins? - [International Herald Tribune] Imagine gliding in a floating hotel over the Serengeti, gazing down at herds of zebra or elephants; or floating over Paris as the sun sets and lights blink on across the city as you pass the Eiffel Tower. Such flights of fancy may one day be possible, if the dream of Jean-Marie Massaud, a French architect, comes true.
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