“The Great Feast” – TEDxOxbridge | Ed Dowding This is the transcript from my talk at TEDxOxbridge last weekend. If you a have a phone, take it out and hold it up. This device makes us magicians: At any time, from any where, we can know almost ANYTHING that is known to mankind. Ok – hands down. But what is truly extraordinary about this device… … is that this man has one too. He uses his to get stock updates – but his reminds him when to check his cows for diseases. He also tweets questions to the regional vet, shares tips and information with other farmers, knows the local and international market prices for his produce, and when you buy from him… you can pay him by SMS. There are 650 million people with a mobile phone in Sub-Saharan Africa, and even though only half of them have access to clean water or sanitation, they all have better mobile access to more information than Bill Clinton did when he was President. The world is changing quickly. Everything is secondary to food. That’s true of society, too. Food is one of these multipliers.
Technological telepathy: brain-to-brain communication between rats achieved Telepathy has long been a subject of controversy in physical and psychological circles, offering the potential for removing the material and sensory walls between individuals, and allowing the direct transmission of information without using any of our known sensory channels or physical interactions. Although true telepathy still appears to be pseudoscience, futurists have long predicted that some form of technologically-based telepathy would eventually emerge ... and, it would appear, it has. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina in the U.S. report in the February 28, 2013 issue of Scientific Reports the successful wiring together of sensory areas in the brains of two rats. The result of the experiment is that one rat will respond to the experiences to which the other is exposed. Neurobiologist Miguel Nicolelis and his colleagues have been experimenting with direct electrical stimulation of sensory areas in an attempt to extend the reach of our senses.
The No-Hour Workweek: Reinventing Employee Expectations For The Modern Economy A University of Southern California researcher, Alexandra Michel, recently reported on the disastrous effects of the highly stressful work environment of investment banking, citing insomnia, alcoholism, heart palpitations, eating disorders, and explosive tempers among the health hazards of the job. These toxic working habits are not sustainable for the individual or the company. Nor, evidently, do they produce good business practices. The poster child of bad corporate culture, banks may be the worst culprit, but they’re not the only ones fostering negative working environments. What is a Good Job? There’s a noticeable shift in what people value most in their careers. Is the old adage that there’s more to life than money finally sinking in? Because that’s not going to happen, HR departments are considering dozens of ways to make their people happier and healthier, shorter working weeks, unlimited vacation days, uplifting working environments, and new policies to address core needs.
theGatesNotes Bill Gates I don’t often get to say that I toured Europe with a rock star, but that’s what happened last week when I spent time in London and Paris with Bono. In our meetings with government officials, our message was this: Europe’s support of overseas development assistance is saving thousands of lives and is a tremendous example for other donor countries. In Paris, we met with France’s new president, Francois Hollande and his senior ministers for finance, foreign affairs, and development. It was fantastic to hear President Hollande affirm his dedication to continuing France’s leadership in aid. In London, we met with the new secretary of state for international development, Justine Greening, who oversees the UK’s Department for International Development, which has been a great development partner. And I can’t say enough about Prime Minister David Cameron’s leadership on aid.
StoreDot’s Bio-Organic Battery Tech Can Charge From Flat To Full In 30 Seconds Want to charge your phone from flat to full in 30 seconds? Who doesn’t. But don’t get too excited yet — Israeli startup StoreDot‘s bio-organic fast-charging battery tech, which utilizes quantum dot technology, is only a prototype right now. It’s not a full capacity battery yet either. But the startup, which has raised $6.25 million to-date and whose investors are rumoured to include Samsung, is planning to do all that. “We are about one year from a functional prototype that will be inside the device,” StoreDot’s CEO and founder Dr Doron Myersdorf tells TechCrunch. “So we are talking about three years for a commercial ready device. StoreDot is showing off the battery demo at the Think Next symposium taking place in Tel Aviv today. “When the self-assembly process of these molecules can be managed, we can create nano-crystals,” says Myersdorf, discussing how the technology works. “The diameter of these sphere is 2.1 nanometer.
Can Businesses Actually Make The World Better While Making Money? When we think of businesses acting in the community, several images may come to mind: fundraising in the office for a charity, colleagues getting active with a day out volunteering or pro-bono services, or maybe a product line that ties sales to giving something to those in need. Increasingly, however, today’s corporate leaders think their social action should become less about "giving" and more about "acting"--moving corporate activity into what was previously firmly charity or government turf. A delivery service can use its infrastructure to transport goods for purchase, as well as to link up with charities and rural delivery systems to create a new network for delivering supplies for medical relief. A freight management firm can use its expertise in risk avoidance to minimize costs, as well as to consult with local government and NGOs and build a mutually beneficial partnership for improving road safety. The idea has gone mainstream. So how do businesses begin to go about this?
The Shock Doctrine In THE SHOCK DOCTRINE, Naomi Klein explodes the myth that the global free market triumphed democratically. Exposing the thinking, the money trail and the puppet strings behind the world-changing crises and wars of the last four decades, The Shock Doctrine is the gripping story of how America’s “free market” policies have come to dominate the world-- through the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries. At the most chaotic juncture in Iraq’s civil war, a new law is unveiled that would allow Shell and BP to claim the country’s vast oil reserves…. Immediately following September 11, the Bush Administration quietly out-sources the running of the “War on Terror” to Halliburton and Blackwater…. After a tsunami wipes out the coasts of Southeast Asia, the pristine beaches are auctioned off to tourist resorts.... International Editions
Electric “thinking cap” controls learning speed by Liz Entman | Posted on Friday, Mar. 21, 2014 — 12:58 PM Study coauthor Geoffrey Woodman demonstrates the experiment. Lead author Robert Reinhart (John Russell / Vanderbilt University) Caffeine-fueled cram sessions are routine occurrences on any college campus. But what if there was a better, safer way to learn new or difficult material more quickly? What if “thinking caps” were real? In a new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, Vanderbilt psychologists Robert Reinhart, a Ph.D. candidate, and Geoffrey Woodman, assistant professor of psychology, show that it is possible to selectively manipulate our ability to learn through the application of a mild electrical current to the brain, and that this effect can be enhanced or depressed depending on the direction of the current. The medial-frontal cortex is believed to be the part of the brain responsible for the instinctive “Oops!” Stimulating the brain Robert Reinhart applies the electrical stimulus to subject Laura McClenahan.