June 15, 2013 – 2:36 pm | Comments Off

Audio … Former US Vice-President Al Gore, on the other hand, has proven remarkably prescient in four decades of public life. As he predicted 20 years ago, the Internet has revolutionized the world. And three …

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Data Points: Visualization That Means Something. By Nathan Yau. Wiley.
June 16, 2013 – 9:31 am | Comments Off

Data Points: Visualization That Means Something. By Nathan Yau. Wiley.

To create effective data visualizations, you must be part statistician, part designer, and part storyteller. In his bestselling book Visualize This, Nathan Yau introduced you to the tools and programming techniques for visualization. Now, in Data Points, he explores the thinking process that helps you create original, meaningful visualizations that your audience will both understand and remember. Here’s how to make your data mean something. … Read more

China’s Great Uprooting: Moving 250 Million into Cities (New York Times)
June 15, 2013 – 2:42 pm | Comments Off

Future Trend – China is pushing ahead with a sweeping plan to move 250 million rural residents into newly constructed towns and cities over the next dozen years — a transformative event that could set …

Al Gore’s Future Shock 2.0 (CBC)
June 15, 2013 – 2:36 pm | Comments Off

Audio … Former US Vice-President Al Gore, on the other hand, has proven remarkably prescient in four decades of public life. As he predicted 20 years ago, the Internet has revolutionized the world. And three …

Nicaragua Waterway to Dwarf Panama Canal (Guardian)
June 15, 2013 – 1:19 pm | Comments Off

Global Trend – If it goes ahead, the $40bn (£26bn) scheme, which is twice as expensive as Brazil’s Belo Monte dam and likely to be three times longer than the Panama canal, looks set to …

Is Building More Cities the Answer to China’s Economic Problems? (Quartz)
June 15, 2013 – 1:17 pm | Comments Off

Global Trend – Chinese officials are calling for a kind of populist urbanization. The Chinese word for it translates more directly as “small city-ization,” rather than “urbanization.” The phrase is meant to signify a focus …

How Technology is Destroying Jobs (MIT Technology Review)
June 15, 2013 – 1:14 pm | Comments Off

Social Trend – Given his calm and reasoned academic demeanor, it is easy to miss just how provocative Erik Brynjolfsson’s contention really is. ­Brynjolfsson, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and his …

Difference Engine: Edison’s Revenge (Economist)
June 15, 2013 – 1:12 pm | Comments Off

Technology Trend – Imagine what might have happened if, back in the 1880s, Thomas Edison had devoted his prodigious engineering talents to perfecting a direct-current transformer instead of wasting his energy disparaging the upstart alternating-current …

Fighting H1N1 with Tobacco Plants (BU Today)
June 15, 2013 – 1:09 pm | Comments Off

Science Trend – After decades of demonization as a health menace, the tobacco plant is about to become a source of potentially lifesaving medicines, thanks in part to the work of Andre Sharon, who leads …

Girding Cities for a Perilous Century (Citiwire)
June 15, 2013 – 1:07 pm | Comments Off

Social Trend – It’s as bold a move as one could imagine. The Rockefeller Foundation, celebrating its 100th anniversary, is launching a “100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge.” It will invest $100 million in 100 cities …

U.S. Supreme Court Rules on Gene Patents (PopSci)
June 15, 2013 – 7:41 am | Comments Off

Social Trend – The U.S. Supreme Court finally ruled on patenting breast-cancer genes. The ruling found that naturally occurring genes aren’t patentable. If you make a synthetic version, however, that is your own work. Scientists …

The $40 Billion Chinese Plan to Build a Waterway across Nicaragua Sounds Ridiculous (Business Insider)
June 15, 2013 – 7:39 am | Comments Off

Global Trend – Nicaragua has approved plans for a mysterious Hong Kong-based company to build an estimated $40 billion canal across the middle of the country, Luis Manuel Galeano and Michael Weissenstein of The Associated …

From Spiders, a Material to Rival Kevlar (CNN)
June 15, 2013 – 7:36 am | Comments Off

Science Trend – A Japanese startup claims it has cracked the knotty problem of commercializing the production of spider thread, which, gram for gram, is stronger than nylon and even many metals. As one of …

Detroit on Brink of Bankruptcy Stops Paying Some Debts (Bloomberg)
June 15, 2013 – 7:34 am | Comments Off

Future Trend – Detroit (9845MF) will suspend payments on unsecured debt, beginning with a $39.7 million installment due today, Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr said as he outlined a plan to avoid a record municipal bankruptcy. …

Google is Turning Search into the Planet’s Biggest Anticipatory System (Read Write)
June 15, 2013 – 7:29 am | Comments Off

Technology Trend – Amit Singhal, a senior Google executive in charge of its search efforts, said that Google search wouldn’t just answer the question implied in the words we type into that ubiquitous search box. …

Greedy Algae May Thwart Ocean Fertilization Efforts (PopSci)
June 15, 2013 – 7:26 am | Comments Off

Environmental Trend – In the past few years, some researchers and enthusiasts have proposed dumping iron into the ocean as a strategy for mitigating climate change. Last fall, a California businessman even did a little …

Derivatives are Weapons of Slow Economic Destruction (Huffington Post)
June 15, 2013 – 7:23 am | Comments Off

Business Trend – We have learned, painfully, of the damage derivatives can do to an economy in a financial crisis. But derivatives are hurting the economy even on its best days, according to a new …

The New Global Start-Up Cities (Atlantic Cities)
June 15, 2013 – 7:20 am | Comments Off

Business Trend – Up until now, good data on the geography of start-ups outside the United States has been very hard, if not impossible, to come by. That’s why a relatively new ranking of start-up …

Stem Cell Discovery Could Help Regrow Fingers (Discovery)
June 15, 2013 – 7:17 am | Comments Off

Science Trend – A study in mice, detailed online in the journal Nature, reveals the chemical signal that triggers stem cells to develop into new nail tissue, and also attracts nerves that promote nail and …

Five Imaginative Buildings That Breathe Pollution and Clean the Air (Fast Company Co.EXIST)
June 15, 2013 – 7:15 am | Comments Off

Environmental Trend – Rather than just being places to work, eat, and be entertained, buildings of the future might be used for “systemic” roles: say, generating power, or reusing garbage. Or, as in the designs …

How Google Will Use High-Flying Balloons to Deliver Internet to the Hinterlands (Wired)
June 15, 2013 – 7:12 am | Comments Off

Technology Trend – Project Loon began a little under two years ago, incubating in Google’s high-risk research arm, Google X. Rich DeVaul, an expert in wearable technology (his MIT dissertation was on “Memory Glasses”), had …

Why Annual Crops Need to Be Turned into Perennial Ones (Globe and Mail)
June 15, 2013 – 7:10 am | Comments Off

Environmental Trend – About 10,000 years ago, our ancestors made a crucial choice that still haunts our food supply. When they planted the first farms, they chose to cultivate annual, not perennial, plants. Those annual …

Chart of the Week: The Landscape of Food Assistance (Pew Research Center)
June 15, 2013 – 7:07 am | Comments Off

Social Trend – Nearly 45 million Americans in 21.1 million households — 83% of them below the poverty line — received food stamps in any given month, according to a November 2012 report by the …

The Marketer’s Guide to Reaching Millennials (AdWeek)
June 11, 2013 – 8:07 pm | Comments Off

BUsiness Trend – Much public hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth have been made of late on the subject of brand marketers targeting millennials and their appetite for the use of digital channels to connect with …

Sources and Sinks: The Epic Battle to Control How Content Flows across the Web (ReadWrite)
June 11, 2013 – 8:02 pm | Comments Off

BUsiness Trend – Like water, the torrents of data generated by the billions of people online can never be fully controlled. But they can certainly be harnessed. And every node of connectivity between these networks …

How You and I Could Become Nodes in the Internet of Things (GigaOM)
June 11, 2013 – 7:58 pm | Comments Off

Technology Trend – Ever wonder what the network infrastructure of the future will be? Try looking in the mirror. Some day our bodies — or at least the clothing or accessories that adorn them — …

Managing Global Millennials: Put Your Stereotypes Aside (BBC)
June 11, 2013 – 7:55 pm | Comments Off

Business Trend – Ronald Alsop – “The millennial generation grew up in a global village, connected across borders by the internet and social media. Those links have helped produce a cohort with many shared experiences, …

The Energy Fix: How Waste Could Power The U.S. For Decades (PopSci)
June 11, 2013 – 7:51 pm | Comments Off

Environmental Trend – The world throws away enormous amounts of energy each day. In the U.S. alone, waste streams could account for 100,000 megawatts of untapped electrical capacity. New technology could convert those overlooked sources …

The Energy Fix: Reinventing The Solar Array (PopSci)
June 11, 2013 – 7:47 pm | Comments Off

Technology Trend – The solar market has been on fire. In the U.S., it’s grown by 600 percent over the past five years, culminating in 3,313 installed megawatts in 2012. This past March, seven solar …

Online Courses Have Reached A Turning Point That Should Seriously Scare Colleges (Business Insider)
June 11, 2013 – 7:44 pm | Comments Off

Social Trend – Colleges around the country should be worried. The quality of online courses is catching up fast. Depending on whom you talk to, MOOCs (massively open online courses) will upend and democratize higher …

Even University Presidents See Degree’s Value Eroding (CNN)
June 11, 2013 – 7:41 pm | Comments Off

Social Trend – Despite countless studies that show you’re better off with a college degree than without one, only about half of presidents at U.S. universities believe a four-year bachelor’s degree is worth more or …

China’s Rich Provinces Outsource Emissions to Less Developed Areas (Guardian)
June 10, 2013 – 8:42 pm | Comments Off

Environmental Trend – China and America agreed to work with other countries to reduce hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) . HFCs, which are used for air conditioning and refrigeration, are an extremely potent greenhouse gas on a 10 …

China Reveals First Space-Based Quantum Communications Experiment (MIT Technology Review)
June 10, 2013 – 8:39 pm | Comments Off

Technology Trend – Last year, we watched as European and Chinese physicists battled to claim the distance record for this technology with the Europeans finally triumphing by setting up a quantum channel over 143 kilometres …

Patagonia: A Values-Led Business from the Start (Guardian)
June 10, 2013 – 8:36 pm | Comments Off

Business Trend – When Patagonia became California’s first benefit corporation or B-Corp in January this year, it marked the pinnacle for a new corporate form that commits companies to include environmental and social factors in …

As the Cost of Energy Goes Up, Food Prices Follow (World Bank)
June 10, 2013 – 8:34 pm | Comments Off

Future Trend – A large increase in crude oil prices stands out among numerous factors to explain most of the jump in food prices over the last decade. Indeed, as we found in a recent …

Contact Lens Computer: Like Google Glass, without the Glasses (Technology Review)
June 10, 2013 – 8:33 pm | Comments Off

Technology Trend – For those who find Google Glass indiscreet, electronic contact lenses that outfit the user’s cornea with a display may one day provide an alternative. Built by researchers at several institutions, including two …