MP3 Computer chips and technology are invading all sorts of previously dumb devices. Phones are now smart. Cars are becoming connected computers on wheels. Call it the computerization of everything. But how we interact with …
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Sometimes it seems like we’re going to be stuck with the keyboard forever. This weird way of putting our thoughts into visible words goes back at least three centuries. The first patent for one was by Henry Mill—in England, of course—in 1714, and the first working typewriter was made in Italy by Pellegrino Turri in 1808. Interestingly enough, he made it for a blind lady friend, so apparently touch-typing predates hunt-and-peck. The Sholes & Glidden Type Writer brought us the QWERTY arrangement of letters in 1873. Typing is still very much with us, but according to one of the 140 000 attendees of the giant Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, the keyboard itself may go the way of the typewriter and the war chariot. … Read more
A Taiwanese research team says it has demonstrated an efficient biological treatment for water-soluble volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from semiconductor and optoelectronic manufacturing processes. This development could offer a more environmentally benign and less …
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will visit China next week to discuss the future of Canada’s oil products. The visit comes after the US rejected a pipeline route from Alberta to Texas. Five Cabinet ministers, …
These are lean times for Americans who lack a college education. With an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent, someone with only a high school diploma is more than twice as likely to be without a …
Anyone interested in world affairs, Chinese diplomacy and China’s future should know more about Xi Jinping. Xi (pronounced “shee”), China’s vice president, will be visiting the United States this month for meetings at the White …
Japan Inc. is suffering and the supply chain is bearing the cost. Sumco Corp., a supplier to Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp., said yesterday it will cut 1,300 jobs. Auto windshield maker Nippon Sheet Glass …
Greece’s fight to win its second international bailout may only open a new chapter in its struggle to remain in the euro area. The rescue plan, which European officials and Greek creditors say may be …
The European Union’s data protection authorities have asked Google to delay the rollout of its new privacy policy until they have verified that it doesn’t break the bloc’s data protection laws. Google publicized its new …
While declining demand for discount-store greeters isn’t the kind of creative disruption that upends an economy, it’s a useful reminder that jobs come and go. Technology is typically the culprit that kills off entire categories …
“The singularity” refers to the hypothetical point in space and time when technological intelligence surpasses human intelligence to create what some call a “superintelligence.” According to leading futurists, like computer scientist Ray Kurzweil and mathematician …
Daniel Burrus – “No matter what industry you’re in, your company can’t survive without technology. And these days, even non-technical employees know that technology goes way beyond desktop computers and networks. From smart phones and …
‘Stealing’ trainers by downloading a blueprint then covertly printing out a ‘copy’ at home may seem like the work of science fiction. But the concept could be a reality sooner than we think. Last week …
Astronauts on long space journeys such as a mission to Mars could experience genetic malfunctions, say scientists. Experiments using magnetic fields to simulate long-term weightlessness found that being weightless caused genes to malfunction – affecting …
Mobile robots have many uses. They serve as cleaners, carry out inspections and search for survivors of disasters. But often, there is no map to guide them through unknown territory. Researchers have now developed a …
A Stanford University research team has designed a high-efficiency charging system that uses magnetic fields to wirelessly transmit large electric currents between metal coils placed several feet apart. The long-term goal of the research is …
Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s warned Monday that it may downgrade “a number of highly rated” Group of 20 countries in 2015 if their governments fail to enact reforms to curb rising health-care spending and …
Human skin can stop a bullet – with a little help from genetically modified goats. The skin is mixed with goat ‘milk’ from goats ‘tweaked’ to produce the same protein found in spider silk. Woven …
Researchers have demonstrated a striking method to reconstruct words, based on the brain waves of patients thinking of those words. The technique reported in PLoS Biology relies on gathering electrical signals directly from patients’ brains. …
It is not just in laptop computers, mobile telephones and LED screens that scarce metals are to be found but also in solar cells, batteries for mobile technologies and many other similar applications. The rising …
The amulet and mask were a 13-year-old boy’s virtual possessions in an online fantasy game. In the real world, he was beaten and threatened with a knife to give them up. The Dutch Supreme Court …
Research shows northern forests in the three prairie provinces are drying up and shrinking from drought caused by climate change, while the eastern boreal forest is holding its own. A paper suggests the forests of …
The number of web-connected devices will grow more than fourfold by 2020, networking giant Cisco has claimed. The company also said that there will be more than 7 billion mobile devices globally by 2015, and …
A WTO panel said China violated global trading rules by restricting exports of raw materials like bauxite, coke, magnesium, manganese and zinc, which inflated prices and gave domestic Chinese firms an unfair competitive advantage. Rare …
Skin cells have been converted directly into cells which develop into the main components of the brain, by researchers studying mice in California. The experiment, reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, skipped …
The first expert you ask for medical advice in 2025 may not be your doctor. Instead, perhaps you’ll consult your health avatar, a digital assistant that knows your entire health history and makes personalized recommendations. …
What does it mean to be poor? If it means living at or below the poverty line, then 15 percent of Americans — some 46 million people — qualify. But if it means living with …
Two decades after the United Nations established the Framework Convention on Climate Change in order to “prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”, the Arctic shows the first signs of a dangerous climate change. …
The goal of strategy is to choose the course of action that ensures success and survival. In a world of rapidly accelerating change, today's strategy quickly becomes obsolete. We must be ever more aware of the future we are planning for, since that future will quickly be upon us. Strategic foresight has a serious intent: to improve our understanding of the range of possible futures, and to use that understanding to inform action.
Innovation Watch is published by David Forrest. The website offers a continuous scan of trends and emerging futures, and explores the question, "What's next?" Results are shared openly, and are provided as RSS feeds.
David Forrest advises businesses, governments, and other organizations on emerging trends, and helps to develop strategies for a radically different future.
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