How Civilizations Fail & Can Be Saved (Updated)
Mar 25
How, exactly, do powerful empires collapse, and why? Researchers now believe they’ve found an answer, one that has troubling implications for today — because we’re clearly on the road to ruin…
Dept. of Interior Challenges FCC Regarding Adverse Impact of Cell Tower Radiation on Wildlife
Mar 24
The Department of Interior charges that the FCC standards for cell phone radiation are outmoded and no longer applicable as they do not adequately protect wildlife…
A Breakthrough Phone: Samsung’s Galaxy S4 (Updated)
Feb 28
In case you haven’t noticed, mobile devices are taking over the world. Why are mobile devices so wildly, irresistibly, over-the-top popular? Obviously, they help us stay connected, both to one another and the global communications network. But they are also becoming increasingly powerful, versatile, and useful. Among other things, they are now replacing a host of other devices at a fraction of the price. A case in point is the new Samsung Galaxy S4…
Is It Possible To Clean The Oceans In 5 Years?
Feb 02
Stiv Wilson writes: “As the policy director of the ocean conservation nonprofit 5Gyres.org, I can tell you that the problem of ocean plastic pollution is massive. In case you didn’t know, an ocean gyre is a rotating current that circulates within one of the world’s oceans — and recent research has found that these massive systems are filled with plastic waste. There are no great estimates (at least scientific) on how much plastic is in the ocean, but I can say from firsthand knowledge (after sailing to four of the world’s five gyres) that it’s so pervasive it confounds the senses. Gyre cleanup has often been floated as a solution in the past, and recently Boyan Slat’s proposed ‘Ocean Cleanup Array’ went viral in a big way. The nineteen-year-old claims that the system can clean a gyre in 5 years with ‘unprecedented efficiency’ and then recycle the trash collected. The problem is that the barriers to gyre cleanup are so massive that the vast majority of the scientific and advocacy community believe it’s a fool’s errand…”
Why 2013 Was & Wasn’t The Best Year In Human History
Dec 27
Five reasons why 2013 was the best year in human history and nine reasons it wasn’t…
thingCHARGER
Dec 18
Great invention: thingCHARGER is a clever, flexible, space efficient way to charge all your things: smartphone, tablet, whatever…
Danish Experiment: Plants Die When Placed Next To Wi-Fi Routers
Dec 18
Does radiation from wi-fi routers and cell phones have health consequences? That’s the question five high school girls in Denmark set out to answer in an experiment that has scientists buzzing…
Shadow: An App To Record The Dreams Of Humankind
Sep 22
Our brain is an incredibly creative problem solver. And some parts of it are most active while we’re sleeping. Electricity, Frankenstein’s monster, nonviolent resistance, laser technology — all of these were conceived in dreams. Sleep is where some of humanity’s most incredible creations got their start. Yet, we forget 95% of our dreams within five minutes of waking up. That’s a huge amount of data — with unfathomable of potential — we forget each day, all because we don’t have a good way to record and understand it. What would happen if we remembered? Even better, what if we learned to make sense of it? The dream ecosystem has incredible potential to bring us together, and it’s been ignored long enough. Scientists understand the neurology of sleep, but not the content of dreams. We want to build SHADOW to bridge the gap…
Great Idea: Phonebloks
Sep 22
A phone only lasts a couple of years before it breaks or becomes obsolete. Although it’s often just one part that killed it, we throw everything away because it’s almost impossible to repair or upgrade. Phoneblok is made of detachable bloks. The bloks are connected to the base which locks everything together into a solid phone. If a blok breaks you can easily replace it; if it’s getting old just upgrade…
Movie: ‘Samsara’
Sep 02
SAMSARA is a Sanskrit word that means “the ever turning wheel of life” and is the point of departure for the filmmakers as they search for the elusive current of interconnection that runs through our lives. Filmed over a period of almost five years and in twenty-five countries, SAMSARA transports us to sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial sites, and natural wonders. Through powerful images, the film illuminates the links between humanity and the rest of nature, showing how our life cycle mirrors the rhythm of the planet…
Massive Solar Flare Narrowly Misses Earth, EMP Disaster Barely Avoided (Updated)
Aug 02
The earth barely missed taking a massive solar punch in the teeth two weeks ago, an “electromagnetic pulse” so big that it could have knocked out power, cars and iPhones throughout the United States. Two EMP experts told Secrets that the EMP flashed through earth’s typical orbit around the sun about two weeks before the planet got there. “The world escaped an EMP catastrophe,” said Henry Cooper, who led strategic arms negotiations with the Soviet Union under President Reagan, and who now heads High Frontier, a group pushing for missile defense…
Scanadu Scout, The First Medical Tricorder
Jul 08
If you’ve been longing for the day you can just scan your body at home to find out what’s wrong when you’re sick rather than head to the ER — your day is here. Meet Scout, a device that can monitor and track your vital signs, temperature, ECG, heart rate, oximetry and stress by just holding the it up to your forehead for 10 seconds…
3D Printed Cortex Exoskeleton Could Replace Plaster Casts
Jun 30
A 3D-printed cast concept, more flexible and wearer-friendly than traditional plaster cast for break and fracture patients, is the latest potential application of advanced materials manipulation. The design, dubbed the Cortex Exoskeleton, could potentially deliver more structured support for broken limbs while also being lighter, stronger, and more convenient than existing options…
Breakthrough Technology: Google Internet Balloons
Jun 17
Google is launching Internet-beaming antennas into the stratosphere aboard giant, jellyfish-shaped balloons with the lofty goal of getting the entire planet online. While the project is still in the very early testing stages, Google hopes eventually to launch thousands of the thin, polyethylene-film inflatables and bring the Internet to some of the more remote parts of the globe, narrowing the digital divide between the 2.2 billion people who are online and the 4.8 billion who aren’t…
Army Deploying $2.8M Mobile 3D Printing Labs
Feb 28
For the first time, the Army is deploying special scientists and self-contained, mobile laboratories — 3D Printing Labs — to the warzone capable of designing and producing problem-solving inventions for soldiers operating in remote outposts in Afghanistan…
How Technology Threatens Intimacy
Feb 05
Many of us may be turning away from close relationships. Studies show that we’re spending increasing amounts of time playing video games and surfing the web instead of hanging out with friends and neighbors, so much so that some researchers have even suggested that technological isolation is at least one contributing factor to the decline in marriage and committed long-term relationships. All of which means that our capacity to hide in addictive technologies could be turning more and more of us into intimacy-phobes…
iDoctor: Could A Smartphone Be The Future Of Medicine?
Feb 04
One of the world’s top physicians, Dr. Eric Topol, has a prescription that could improve your family’s health and make medical care cheaper. The cardiologist claims that the key is the smartphone. Topol has become the foremost expert in the exploding field of wireless medicine. Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports…
WakaWaka Power
Jan 14
WakaWaka Power is a super efficient personal solar power station that charges your iPhone and any other smartphone or shines 40 hours of excellent reading light, all on just one day of solar charge. A lifesaver for those without electricity. For every WakaWaka Power sold during this pre-sale campaign the creators of WakaWaka will give two WakaWaka Lights (lights only) to Haiti, where 370,000 people still live in makeshift shelters without electricity…
‘One Laptop Per Child’ Unleashes The Genius In African Children
Nov 07
One Laptop per Child (OLPC) performed a bold experiment. They dropped off closed and taped boxes with Motorola Xoom tablets and without any instruction in two remote Ethiopian villages. The tablets were preloaded with alphabet-training games, e-books, movies, cartoons, paintings, and other programs. About 20 first-grade-aged children each were given a tablet in Wonchi and Wolonchete respectively — two isolated rural villages without a person that can read or write. Within four minutes after the tablets were dropped off, one of the children figured out how to turn on and use the tablet. Within five days, they were using about 47 apps per child, per day. Within two weeks, they were singing ABC songs in the village, and within five months, they had hacked Android…
Google’s ZeitgeistMinds
Oct 24
Google’s Zeitgeist events are a series of intimate gatherings of top global thinkers and leaders. ZeitgeistMinds is a collection of inspiring videos from these events. Dive in to explore the ideas that affect our social, economic, political and cultural surroundings. Hear perspectives from industry pioneers and statespeople, renowned writers and bloggers, scientists and artists, activists and musicians. Learn from progressive minds, and discuss topics that influence the world around us…
Rent-to-Own Laptops Secretly Photographed Users
Sep 27
Seven rent-to-own companies and a software maker are settling charges with the Federal Trade Commission that rental computers illegally used spyware that took “pictures of children, individuals not fully clothed, and couples engaged in sexual activities.”…
LIFX: The Light Bulb Reinvented
Sep 23
LIFX is the smartest light bulb ever created. It’s a wifi-enabled, energy efficient, multi-colored bulb that you control with your iPhone or Android. LIFX gives you unprecedented control of your lights, reduces your energy costs, lasts up to 25 years and delivers an amazing range of experiences…
The Lighter Side: ‘iPhone 5: The Tallest iPhone Ever’
Sep 20
iPhone 5: The Tallest iPhone Ever…
Sweden Most Effective At Using Internet (U.S. Number 2; Britain Number 3)
Sep 16
Sweden is the most effective at using the Internet to improve people’s lives, ahead of the United States and Britain, according to a global survey launched by Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web…
