Rapid Virus Detection

It's easy enough to avoid people who are obviously sick, but what if they've just been infected and aren't showing symptoms yet? An infection could spread and endanger many before anyone's been diagnosed.

A portable, ultrasensitive virus detector could perceive a virus within just five minutes, using samples of an individual's saliva, blood, or other body fluid. The device, under development at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, contains an array of receptors such as antibodies that will bind to microorganisms in the sample, thus creating a detectable interference pattern, like a fingerprint.

The ability to detect viruses almost instantly in clinics or other places without access to laboratories and trained personnel could be a boon to preventing future epidemics. The device can also detect bacteria, proteins, and DNA molecules. The university's spin-off company, Ostendum, plans to introduce the first detector to market in late 2010.

SOURCE: University of Twente, www.utwente.nl/en/ via WFS

Ideas on 'Quality Time' with your family

What ideas do you have for spending just 1 hour during a work week to reconnect and spend quality time with your family?

Background: I'm working with a charity called RedKite.com.au that helps kids with cancer and their families. They are starting a new campaign in September where employees will get KiteTime - one hour to spend during their work week - to reconnect and spend time with their family. Their employer and/or the employee will donate $20 to support KiteTime and RedKite.

They are looking for a list of great ideas that families can do together in just 1 hour to reconnect and spend quality time together.

Please suggest some activities - maybe some out of the ordinary - that families can do in just one hour.

Thanks for your help!

My "How to Think Like a Futurist" book preview gets featured on Slideshare.net! I'm honored..

How to Think Like a Futurist

View more PDF documents from Craig Rispin, csp.

Robot scientist becomes first machine to discover new scientific knowledge

Scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have created a Robot Scientist which the researchers believe is the first machine to have independently discovered new scientific knowledge. The robot, called Adam, is a computer system that fully automates the scientific process. The work will be published tomorrow (03 April 2009) in the journal Science.

Prof Ross King, who led the research at Aberystwyth University, said: "Ultimately we hope to have teams of human and robot scientists working together in laboratories".

The scientists at Aberystwyth University and the University of Cambridge designed Adam to carry out each stage of the scientific process automatically without the need for further human intervention. The robot has discovered simple but new scientific knowledge about the genomics of the baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, an organism that scientists use to model more complex life systems. The researchers have used separate manual experiments to confirm that Adam's hypotheses were both novel and correct.

"Because biological organisms are so complex it is important that the details of biological experiments are recorded in great detail. This is difficult and irksome for human scientists, but easy for Robot Scientists."

Using artificial intelligence, Adam hypothesised that certain genes in baker's yeast code for specific enzymes which catalyse biochemical reactions in yeast. The robot then devised experiments to test these predictions, ran the experiments using laboratory robotics, interpreted the results and repeated the cycle.

Adam is a still a prototype, but Prof King's team believe that their next robot, Eve, holds great promise for scientists searching for new drugs to combat diseases such as malaria and schistosomiasis, an infection caused by a type of parasitic worm in the tropics.

Did You Know?

Below is a fantastic video on the progression of information technology. Researched by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod, and Jeff Bronman.

Tapping into social networking

Julianne Dowling quotes me and several other Thought Leaders in her article entitled, 'Tapping into social networking.'

--

Corporate Australia needs to try harder when it comes to tapping into tools such as Twitter, Facebook, forums and LinkedIn, say online experts.

And they say deep pockets don't always guarantee an edge.

Regard some of the mistakes made by the big end of town in terms of blasting corporate messages and clumsy YouTube uploads seeking to 'engage and bond'.

However, internet business coaches such as Gihan Perera say the very attributes of small business (agile, creative and personal) really suit the social networking community.

"The secret is to choose (the tool) appropriately and who you will connect with,'' he says.

Perera says business owners should stop being cynical and get on board with social media because of the benefits.

"Small business have innate advantages; they have trust,'' Perera explained.

Jennifer McNamara, who runs the Art Est. Art School in Sydney's inner-west, recently joined professionally networking site LinkedIn and intends to set up a portal on Facebook for her students, to save money on mailouts.

"People can more easily find out more information on art classes, art competitions and special offers through the internet,'' she says.

"If I can entice would-be students to sign up, then I can contact them all at a push of a button. It's a bit more instantaneous, and since we're very grassroots, we need to be innovative in the way we communicate.''

However business consultant Jennifer Dalitz, founder of online women's network www.sphinxx.org, with almost 1,000 women members, is considering taking off the social network functionality after she found many senior women didn't really use it.

"Sphinxx is about circulating information and support for working women with common challenges. A couple of years ago everyone believed online communities were the way to go but I don't think it's a meaningful way to connect for most women,'' she says.

"Women like face-to-face contact with access to female role models; they almost prefer the off-line contact.

"A lot of men embrace online social networks because it appeals to their inner ego.

"But really, a lot of women just don't have time once they come home to families.''

Dalitz say she often gets Facebook friend requests "from people I don't even know'' but her preferred network is LinkedIn, which is about her existing database.

"People just don't want to be bombarded with requests. It's not what busy women do,'' she says.

"So that's the limitation.''

With Facebook featuring over 175 million users and six million user groups, and Twitter revolutionising the idea of mass speak, Gihan Perera says the trick is to think about the commercial applications and make an effort to join the conversations.

His firm - www.gihanperara.com - advises entrepreneurs and internetpreneurs on better utilising the tools.

"There's so much information around and your audience will rely on you, if you can interpret that. Your job is to lead a community that you are involved with; that applies to any business.

"So, it's not just about giving new information but relevant information. No one can read everything, but business owners are experts in their field, and can share information out.''

One of Perera's clients is rossclennett.com, which is set up for an online member community.

A HR recruitment trainer who runs an online subscriber-based service, Clennett's site also makes use of LinkedIn.

Clennett has been writing a fortnightly newsletter for two years with a well-established following, so when he wanted members, they were ready to sign up.

"It worked because he had a two-year track record rather than just doing it cold. That's the difference,'' says Perera.

Perera's advice is to start slowly, sign up to some networks, and get to know how they work.

"When a large organisation in say, the financial services sector, starts from scratch, they may be going against their current customer style, and so customers will be sceptical,'' he says.

Indeed, many professionals are the trailblazers and larger companies, such as H&R Block in the US, already offer free tax advice on Second Life and tweet regularly on Twitter on the subject.

Futurecaster, author and professional speaker Craig Rispin, of www.futuretrendsgroup.com, says that while some entrepreneurs may be mentally blocked about social media tools, young staff or even work experience students can help get them started.

He often asks his audience to review his talks on Twitter or other social media as a way of getting the word out.

"Everything is being rated now,'' he observed and it's likely that all professions will be reviewed by the end users in future - see the US academic ratings by students in www.ratemyprofessors.com.

So how can medium-sized companies use this knowledge to increase their competitive position?

"The interesting thing is that many businesses, who find themselves squeezed by larger and smaller players, are downsizing and shedding their costs,'' said Rispin.

"I think that's a great opportunity.''

Of course, there's still plenty of focus on the global financial crisis, but "you have to take the time out from the gloom and doom and look over the horizon.''

There are also countless examples of businesses which started in a recession and became raging successes.

Evan Williams is the guy behind Blogger, which started in the last tech crash in 2001, and now runs online messaging service Twitter.

Speaking at the TED (technology, entertainment, design) conference held in California last month, Williams told the audience he had learned to follow his hunches.

Twitter was one such hunch. The idea was to allow brief text-like messages of 140 characters or less, allowing people to connect instantly.

'Tweet' updates were used during events such as the San Diego fires and Barack Obama also harnessed this method (or at least, one of his staff members did) to post daily election campaign messages until he became president.

Of course, being pushy or selling something too hard isn't the way to go, say these experts. Social media congregations are much more subtle.

Rispin says everyone should be future thinkers about their business and now, 'rebooting' your model is the name of the game.

"Technology is a great enabler; small business should stop and ask themselves what is it that they want?'' he says.

"Those who are innovating and creating the future will boom.''


Source: Small Business SMH

Technology revolutionises the learning experience

I was reading an article recently that highlighted that not only do the respected major universities overseas offer their content online but Australian institutions are following suit.  The article started, "Missed a lecture? It's probably online. Forgotten the building technique you just learned? Refer to the instruction video on your iPod. The book isn't on the shelf? Search for it in the E-library."

Having such content online has certainly improved over time. But the point the article was highlighting was how do you find it the content? Does a simple Google search provide you with everything you need to know?  The article quoted University of Western Sydney (UWS) pro-vice chancellor for learning and teaching, Professor Stuart Campbell, "Most young people have a pocket full of electronic devices and are huge users of social networking sites and messaging, but a lot of that is superficial. No matter how smart they are with technology, when students start using technology at uni, they have to prepare for a much deeper use. When they're searching for resources, they can't get away with a quick Google search - they need to put a lot more skill into finding things."

UWS now offer a range of workshops to bridge the gap in using gadgets versus technology.  Most subjects have their own websites for students to access notes, lectures and communicate via forums with other students or with academic staff.  Many universities offer wireless networks to make it more flexible to study while on campus.

Professor Campbell expects to see a greater move towards tertiary institutions delivering information via smaller devices. Will it replace face-to-face learning? "Learning is...a social experience. What we will be seeing more of is blended learning - human interaction with support from technology."

Source: Sydney Daily Telegraph (20 February 2009 - "Savvy Gen Y must dig deeper")

Long-term benefits of Recession-proofing Strategies

With more businesses and individual workers seeking ways to "recession-proof" themselves, could the economy emerge from hard times stronger and more innovative than ever?

Recession-proofing workers might focus on becoming more fearless and innovative. Take your ideas to the boss rather than allow uncertainties to back you into your cubicle, urges Robin Fisher Roffer, author of THE FEARLESS FISH OUT OF WATER (Wiley, 2009). "It may seem scary to make such a bold move in tenuous times," she says, "but leaders will appreciate any innovation that will get business moving right now."

Businesses, too, are encouraged to be fearlessly proactive rather than cautious and reactive. Hard times are the time for action, suggests consultant Suzanne Caplan, because inaction "spawns a pattern of victimization, and pins us down into a habit of only reacting to the bad, instead of planning for the better."

SOURCES: www.wfs.org

Robin Fisher Roffer, author of FEARLESS FISH OUT OF WATER 

Suzanne Caplan, founder and chief blogger, www.womenetcetera.com

Half the planet may face Food Crisis

Humanity must adapt to climate change now or face food crises that will affect half the world's population by 2100, warns a team of scientists led by David Battisti of the University of Washington, Seattle.

Rapid warming alters crop yields in both the tropics and subtropics, with the most-severe potential food shortages hitting the equatorial belt, home to the world's fastest-growing and poorest populations.  Water supplies are also affected by the climate, further imperiling food security, according to Battisti.

Studying historic food disruptions and temperature change, the researchers found that humanity has been able to adapt to conditions.  In the future, however, food systems will need to be rethought completely, the researchers argue. For instance, wheat currently makes up one-fourth of the calories consumed in India, but wheat yields there have been stagnant for a decade.

"We have to be rethinking agriculture systems as a whole, not only thinking about new varieties but also recognizing that many people will just move out of agriculture, and even move from the lands where they live now," says team member Rosamond Naylor, director of Stanford University's Program on Food Security and the Environment.

Source - University of Washington, Seattle

Aussie travellers Google before they go

I was recently interviewed for an article written by Britt Smith of SMH.  The following is her article.

Aussie travellers Google before they go

Cyber-savvy tourists are travelling to their holiday destinations from their desks, long before they get on an aeroplane.

With the click of a mouse, soon-to-be jetsetters are transported into cities where they zoom around the streets, check out hotels and find the nearest pizza joint, bus stop or internet cafe.

And Australians can't get enough of the sophisticated, cyberspace tools.

About 20 million maps are being viewed on the internet in Australia every month - the third-most searched item after giant search engines Google and Yahoo, according to Sydney-based innovation expert Craig Rispin, who has worked for IBM and Apple.

And Nielsen NetRatings figures show Google Maps alone has 2.6 million Australian users each month.

"That's a lot of maps, that's huge, that's gigantic. People are really getting into this location-based searching," Rispin says.

"It's about imagining. Think about the amount of time people spend imagining what their holidays are going to be like - it's probably more time than they actually spend on their holidays.

"But now with the tools they don't have to visualise it - they have pictures."

Sophisticated cyberspace tools like Google Earth, Street View, and photo-sharing sites Flickr, are futuristic guide books that lets users fly anywhere in the world to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, buildings and up-to-date photos. They can even access street-level images of several countries.

The genius of the devices is that they're a one-stop-shop allowing the traveller to try before they buy, says Rispin.

He calls the phenomenon "location-based searching," made possible by the latest web technology which weaves together 3D images and text.

Rispin, who makes more than 100 overseas trips a year and researches every one of them online, isn't alone.

A recent Google-commissioned survey of Australians with internet access showed that 50 per cent used maps in the trip research process, and 80 per cent of those were online.

The survey also found 70 per cent used a website to help them decide which destination to visit.

Google Australia's Head of Travel, Claire Hatton said maps are "by far the biggest" searched item in the online travel sector.

"There is no doubt about it. Using maps has always been crucial to the travel process, but now it's more accessible and viewable - you can actually see the street," she says.

"People are using (web maps) to chose destinations and decide where to stay. It's a major part of how consumers use online to research holidays."

Hatton says hotels and tour operators are also jumping on board, adding maps to their websites for increased usability. And travellers are creating their own online travel maps using Google to share with friends and strangers.

Aside from the statistics, Rispin, says map searching is already mainstream, judging by the number of people he hears talking about it. But travellers, he says, usually couple the practise with text-based research on websites like the American tripadviser.com, which carries the tag line `Get the truth. Then go'.

Australians make up about 6 per cent of the site's traffic, he says, and its popularity is owed to independent, user-generated reviews.

It's such accessible resources that make him so confident that the 25 per cent of Australians who research their holidays online, will skyrocket to two-thirds within two years.

They'll be quick to catch on. A few mouse clicks could prevent a disastrous trip, he jokes.

"If you have ever travelled to Paris you want to see what the hotel looks like before you get there. I mean, you can be in the really bad part of town and you don't have any idea before you go.

"Now you can walk the streets and go, `oh that's just down the road' (with a) couple of clicks of the map."

Google's top ten overseas destination searches for 2008:

1. New Zealand
   
2. China
   
3. Singapore
   
4. London
   
5. USA
   
6. Beijing
   
7. Japan
   
8. Paris
   
9. New York
   
10. France
    

Yahoo7's top travel searches for 2008:

1. Gold Coast
   
2. Noosa (Sunshine Coast)
   
3. Apollo Bay (on the Great Ocean Road)
   
4. Surfer's Paradise
   
5. Melbourne
   
6. Alice Springs
   
7. Port Douglas
   
8. New Zealand
   
9. Vietnam
   
10. Europe
    

Nanotechnology Breakthroughs of the Next 15 Years

Nanotechnology — the manipulation of materials and machines at the nano-scale — one billionth of a meter — promises exciting new developments. Interviews with a group of nanotechnology experts yielded this list of likely developments:

Two to five years from now:

Car tires that need air only once a year.

Complete medical diagnostics on a single computer chip.

Go-anywhere concentrators that produce drinkable water from air.

Five to 10 years:

Powerful computers you can wear or fold into your wallet.

Drugs that turn AIDS and cancer into manageable conditions.

Smart buildings that self-stabilize during earthquakes or bombings.

10 to 15 years:

Artificial intelligence so sophisticated you can't tell if you're talking on the phone with a human or a machine.

Paint-on computer and entertainment video displays.

Elimination of invasive surgery, since bodies can be monitored and repaired almost totally from within.

Source - World Future Society

Forecasts for the Next 25 Years

Would you like to know what the next 25 years holds?  Here are 10 thoughts from the World Future Society.

Forecast #1: The world will have a billion millionaires by 2025. Globalization and technological innovation are driving this increased prosperity. But challenges to prosperity will also become more acute, such as water shortages that will affect two-thirds of world population by 2025.

Forecast #2: Fashion will go wired as technologies and tastes converge to revolutionize the textile industry. Researchers in smart fabrics and intelligent textiles (SFIT) are working with the fashion industry to bring us color-changing or perfume-emitting jeans, wristwatches that work as digital wallets, and running shoes like the Nike +iPod that watch where you’re going (possibly allowing others to do the same). Powering these gizmos remains a key obstacle. But industry watchers estimate that a $400 million market for SFIT is already in place and predict that smart fabrics could revitalize the U.S. and European textile industry.

Forecast #3: The threat of another cold war with China, Russia, or both could replace terrorism as the chief foreign-policy concern of the United States. Scenarios for what a war with China or Russia would look like make the clashes and wars in which the United States is now involved seem insignificant. The power of radical jihadists is trivial compared with Soviet missile capabilities, for instance. The focus of U.S. foreign policy should thus be on preventing an engagement among Great Powers.

Forecast #4: Counterfeiting of currency will proliferate, driving the move toward a cashless society. Sophisticated new optical scanning technologies could, in the next five years, be a boon for currency counterfeiters, so societies are increasingly putting aside their privacy fears about going cashless. Meanwhile, cashless technologies are improving, making them far easier and safer to use.

Forecast #5: The earth is on the verge of a significant extinction event. The twenty-first century could witness a biodiversity collapse 100 to 1,000 times greater than any previous extinction since the dawn of humanity, according to the World Resources Institute. Protecting biodiversity in a time of increased resource consumption, overpopulation, and environmental degradation will require continued sacrifice on the part of local, often impoverished communities. Experts contend that incorporating local communities’ economic interests into conservation plans will be essential to species protection in the next century.

Forecast #6: Water will be in the twenty-first century what oil was in the twentieth century. Global fresh water shortages and drought conditions are spreading in both the developed and developing world. In response, the dry state of California is building 13 desalination plants that could provide 10%-20% of the state’s water in the next two decades. Desalination will become more mainstream by 2020.

Forecast #7: World population by 2050 may grow larger than previously expected, due in part to healthier, longer-living people. Slower than expected declines of fertility in developing countries and increasing longevity in richer countries are contributing to a higher rate of population growth. As a result, the UN has increased its forecast for global population from 9.1 billion people by 2050 to 9.2 billion.

Forecast #8: The number of Africans imperiled by floods will grow 70-fold by 2080. The rapid urbanization taking place throughout much of Africa makes flooding particularly dangerous, altering the natural flow of water and cutting off escape routes. If global sea levels rise by the predicted 38 cm by 2080, the number of Africans affected by floods will grow from 1 million to 70 million.

Forecast #9: Rising prices for natural resources could lead to a full-scale rush to develop the Arctic. Not just oil and natural gas, but also the Arctic’s supplies of nickel, copper, zinc, coal, freshwater, forests, and of course fish are highly coveted by the global economy. Whether the Arctic states tighten control over these commodities or find equitable and sustainable ways to share them will be a major political challenge in the decades ahead.

Forecast #10: More decisions will be made by nonhuman entities. Electronically enabled teams in networks, robots with artificial intelligence, and other noncarbon life-forms will make financial, health, educational, and even political decisions for us. Reason: Technologies are increasing the complexity of our lives and human workers’ competency is not keeping pace well enough to avoid disasters due to human error.

Source - World Future Society

Oceanic "Lab on a Chip"

A sturdy array of miniaturized sensors promises to help marine scientists track nutrients and pollutants in oceans, as well as temperature and other important chemical and biochemical characteristics.

Having passed its tests at depths of 1,600 meters (5,250 feet), the marine "lab on a chip" will be developed further for commercialization, according to project directors at the University of Southampton.

The scientists also aim to develop small chips that could identify individual phytoplankton in the oceans. Among the future applications of the chips will be environmental impact analysis and monitoring ship ballast water.

SOURCE: University of Southampton, http://www.soton.ac.uk/mediacentre/news/2008/dec/08_233.shtml

Decarbonizing Energy

Solar, wind, and biomass energy technologies that are available now could cut carbon emissions by one-third by 2030, as well as generate thousands of new jobs, according to "Low-Carbon Energy: A Roadmap," a new report from the Worldwatch Institute.

These power sources will need to be integrated with digital smart grids that can flexibly meet changes in supply and demand. In addition, economical energy storage capacity must be developed, says the report.  These measures will help retire hundreds of coal-fired plants, which provide 40% of the world's energy.

"We no longer need to say 'in the future' when talking about a low-carbon energy system," says Worldwatch President Christopher Flavin, author of the report. "These technologies—unlike carbon-capture facilities—are being deployed now and are poised to make the most carbon-intensive fossil fuels obsolete."

DETAILS: Worldwatch Institute, www.worldwatch.org/node/5948

10 Forecasts for 2009 and Beyond - Part Two

Forecast #6: The race for biomedical and genetic enhancement will — in the twenty-first century — be what the space race was in the previous century. Humanity is ready to pursue biomedical and genetic enhancement, says UCLA professor Gregory Stock, the money is already being invested, but, he says, “We'll also fret about these things — because we're human, and it's what we do.” — Gregory Stock quoted in THE FUTURIST, Nov-Dec 2007.

Forecast #7: Professional knowledge will become obsolete almost as quickly as it's acquired. An individual's professional knowledge is becoming outdated at a much faster rate than ever before. Most professions will require continuous instruction and retraining. Rapid changes in the job market and work-related technologies will necessitate job education for almost every worker. At any given moment, a substantial portion of the labor force will be in job retraining programs. — Marvin J. Cetron and Owen Davies, "Trends Shaping Tomorrow's World, Part Two," THE FUTURIST May-June 2008.

Forecast #8: Urbanization will hit 60% by 2030. As more of the world's population lives in cities, rapid development to accommodate them will make existing environmental and socioeconomic problems worse. Epidemics will be more common due to crowded dwelling units and poor sanitation. Global warming may accelerate due to higher carbon dioxide output and loss of carbon-absorbing plants. — Marvin J. Cetron and Owen Davies, “Trends Shaping Tomorrow's World,” THE FUTURIST Mar-Apr 2008.

Forecast #9: The Middle East will become more secular while religious influence in China will grow. Popular support for religious government is declining in places like Iraq, according to a University of Michigan study. The researchers report that in 2004 only one-fourth of respondents polled believed that Iraq would be a better place if religion and politics were separated. By 2007, that proportion was one-third. Separate reports reveal a countertrend in China. — World Trends & Forecasts, THE FUTURIST Nov-Dec 2007.

Forecast #10: Access to electricity will reach 83% of the world by 2030. Electrification has expanded around the world, from 40% connected in 1970 to 73% in 2000, and may reach 83% of the world's people by 2030. Electricity is fundamental to raising living standards and access to the world's products and services. Impoverished areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa still have low rates of electrification; Uganda is just 3.7% electrified. — Andy Hines, “Global Trends in Culture, Infrastructure, and Values,” Sep-Oct 2008.

Source: World Future Society http://wfs.org

10 Forecasts for 2009 and Beyond - Part One

Forecast # 1: Everything you say and do will be recorded by 2030. By the late 2010s, ubiquitous unseen nanodevices will provide seamless communication and surveillance among all people everywhere. Humans will have nanoimplants, facilitating interaction in an omnipresent network. Everyone will have a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address. Since nano storage capacity is almost limitless, all conversation and activity will be recorded and recoverable. — Gene Stephens, “Cybercrime in the Year 2025,” THE FUTURIST July-Aug 2008.

Forecast #2: Bioviolence will become a greater threat as the technology becomes more accessible. Emerging scientific disciplines (notably genomics, nanotechnology, and other microsciences) could pave the way for a bioattack. Bacteria and viruses could be altered to increase their lethality or to evade antibiotic treatment.— Barry Kellman, “Bioviolence: A Growing Threat,” THE FUTURIST May-June 2008.

Forecast #3: The car's days as king of the road will soon be over. More powerful wireless communication that reduces demand for travel, flying delivery drones to replace trucks, and policies to restrict the number of vehicles owned in each household are among the developments that could thwart the automobile's historic dominance on the environment and culture. If current trends were to continue, the world would have to make way for a total of 3 billion vehicles on the road by 2025. — Thomas J. Frey, "Disrupting the Automobile's Future," THE FUTURIST, Sep-Oct 2008.

Forecast #4: Careers, and the college majors for preparing for them, are becoming more specialized. An increase in unusual college majors may foretell the growth of unique new career specialties. Instead of simply majoring in business, more students are beginning to explore niche majors such as sustainable business, strategic intelligence, and entrepreneurship. Other unusual majors that are capturing students' imaginations: neuroscience and nanotechnology, computer and digital forensics, and comic book art. Scoff not: The market for comic books and graphic novels in the United States has grown 12% since 2006. —THE FUTURIST, World Trends & Forecasts, Sep-Oct 2008.

Forecast #5: There may not be world law in the foreseeable future, but the world's legal systems will be networked. The Global Legal Information Network (GLIN), a database of local and national laws for more than 50 participating countries, will grow to include more than 100 counties by 2010. The database will lay the groundwork for a more universal understanding of the diversity of laws between nations and will create new opportunities for peace and international partnership.— Joseph N. Pelton, "Toward a Global Rule of Law: A Practical Step Toward World Peace," THE FUTURIST Nov-Dec 2007.

Part Two to follow next week.

Source: World Future Society http://wfs.org

Are businesses pulling back on innovation spending?

It's impossible to assess the success of an innovation strategy if you have trouble measuring it.

Keep this in mind while you read the headline that has emerged from the Boston Consulting Group report on innovation: there is strengthening correlation between executives frustrated with the return on innovation spending and businesses cutting back on innovation investment.

Fewer than half of the 3,000 managers surveyed are satisfied with the financial return on their investment in innovation.  And these figures have been declining steadily - 52% of executives were satisfied in 2006, 46% were satisfied in 2007, and 43% are satisfied in 2008.

The number of managers who say that their business plans to spend more on innovation in the coming year has also fallen - from 72% in 2006 to 67% in 2007 and 63% in 2008.

This is of great concern.  But a big clue as to what is driving this can be found in the results of the survey's question about how companies measure innovation success.  Just 43% of businesses surveyed track innovation as vigorously as they track other core business operations, and a mere 35% are happy with their innovation metrics.   This might be why: the most popular metrics are customer satisfaction, the percentage of sales from new products, and overall revenue growth.  These are all important measures of a company's management execution, but they hardly measure innovation success accurately.  Innovation metrics must be both specific and incremental.

Here is another interesting finding - the challenges that executives say get in the way of successful innovation strategies are directly within their control: lengthy development times, a risk-averse corporate culture, difficulty selecting the right ideas to commercialise, silos hindering internal co-operation.  BCG adds that year after year, respondents have consistently identified the same obstacles to innovation return.

An inescapable conclusion is that having identified exactly what ails them, managers and leadership teams are unable or unwilling to fix the root causes.  If that is the case, scaling back all efforts to innovate make sense.

Wait - does it make sense?  Wouldn't giving up on innovation, foresight, strategic thinking be a crippling decision?  Isn't innovation one of the few consistent sources of long-term competitive advantage?

In a tough economic environment, surely now is not the time to scale back on innovation.  Surely now, more than ever, businesses that are wavering need to redouble their efforts and fix the root causes that are holding them back.

What do you think?  How important is the ability to successfully innovate?  And how are you finding the process?

Source: Kristen Le Mesurier - http://blogs.theage.com.au/business/executivestyle/innovator/archives/2008/11/are_businesses.html

Do Futurists know the future?

"Futurists do not claim to be able to predict the future. So much of what will happen in the future depends on what we humans decide to do. If we could know the future with certainty, it would mean that the future could not be changed. Yet this is a main purpose of studying the future: to look at what may happen if present trends continue, decide if this is what is desirable, and, if it's not, work to change it. Knowing the trends can empower you for effective action." - Timothy Mack, President World Future Society

So what is the benefit of engaging a Futurist? Futurists keep abreast of developments, in our rapidly changing world, as new opportunities are emerging everywhere. By getting advance notice of these possible changes, you can take action and prepare to benefit from it in all aspects of your life. Understanding trends and possible future developments is some of the most valuable knowledge you can tap into. It enables you to prepare while you still have the opportunity and time to act.

To truly benefit you need to have confidence in a respected source. If you would like to Know First, Be First and Profit First then you need to hear Craig Rispin of The Future Trends Group. For more information please contact support@futuretrendsgroup.com

Livescribe's Pulse™ Smartpen - Software Updates

If you have a Livescribe Pulse™ Smartpen, upon my recommendation, then you may want to know that there has been some significant updates to its software.

Livescribe Desktop for Mac Public Beta:  The Pulse smartpen is now compatible with all Intel-based Mac computers with Leopard OS 10.5.  The software makes it possible for Mac users to upload their notes and audio recordings, play them back, search for words, and easily browse through digital copies of their notes.

Handwriting to Text Transcription: Responding to the number one requested feature among Pulse smartpen owners, Livescribe's partner Vision Objects is offering “MyScript for Livescribe” text transcription software, which allows note takers to seamlessly transcribe their handwritten notes into text.

With MyScript for Livescribe, consumers can make edits to their converted text and even create a personal dictionary of frequently used words to ensure a more accurate conversion.  The text can be copied and pasted into a variety of applications, including Microsoft Word and Outlook  MyScript for Livescribe transcription software can be downloaded as a free 30-day trial or purchased for $29.95 at www.visionobjects.com/store.  The software works best with neat and legible handwriting.

Print Your Own Paper: With the release of Livescribe Desktop for Windows 1.4, consumers have the ability to print dot paper notepads for free.  Dot paper notepads can be printed directly from the Livescribe Desktop toolbar on most color laser jet printers that are Adobe Post Script compatible and print at 600dpi or higher.  In addition, Livescribe provides a variety of dot paper notebooks, including lined and unlined journals and college-ruled notebooks for purchase at prices comparable to other college-ruled notebooks.

For more information regarding Livescribe Pulse™ Smartpen click here.

Scientist turns to inkjet printer for a new heart

ONE day we may be able to "print out" new human hearts using simple inkjet technology, according to a scientist who has already started printing cells.

Professor Makoto Nakamura has begun working on a printer that could jet out thousands of cells per second — rather than ink droplets — and to build them up into a three-dimensional organ.
"It would be like building a huge skyscraper on a micro level using different kinds of cells and other materials instead of steel beams, concrete and glass," he said. "Ultimately I hope to make a heart," said Prof Nakamura, from the graduate school of science and technology for
research at the state-run University of Toyama.

While he says it would take him some 20 years to develop a heart, the feat could pave the way to mass produce "good hearts" for patients waiting for transplants. A heart made of cells originating from the patient could eliminate fears that the body would reject it.
In the emerging field of organ printing, Prof Nakamura bills his work as the world's finest printed 3D structure with living cells. The technology works a bit like dealing with sliced fruit: an organ is cut horizontally, allowing researchers to see an array of cells on the surface. If a printer drops cells one by one into the right spots and repeats the process for
many layers, it creates a 3D organ. Much like a printer chooses different colours, the machine can position different types of cells to drop.

Prof Nakamura has already succeeded in building a tube with living cells as narrow as narrow as human hair. The tubes are made by a 3D inkjet bioprinter that Prof Nakamura's team developed over the past three years. The printer can adjust where to drop cells in the order of one-thousandth of a millimetre and produce a tube at a speed of three centimetres per two minutes.

Future planes, cars may be made of "buckypaper"

It's called "buckypaper" and looks a lot like ordinary carbon paper, but don't be fooled by the cute name or flimsy appearance. It could revolutionize the way everything from airplanes to TVs are made.

Buckypaper is 10 times lighter but potentially 500 times stronger than steel when sheets of it are stacked and pressed together to form a composite. Unlike conventional composite materials, though, it conducts electricity like copper or silicon and disperses heat like steel or brass.

"All those things are what a lot of people in nanotechnology have been working toward as sort of Holy Grails," said Wade Adams, a scientist at Rice University.

That idea — that there is great future promise for buckypaper and other derivatives of the ultra-tiny cylinders known as carbon nanotubes — has been floated for years now. However, researchers at Florida State University say they have made important progress that may soon turn hype into reality.

Buckypaper is made from tube-shaped carbon molecules 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. Due to its unique properties, it is envisioned as a wondrous new material for light, energy-efficient aircraft and automobiles, more powerful computers, improved TV screens and many other products.

So far, buckypaper can be made at only a fraction of its potential strength, in small quantities and at a high price. The Florida State researchers are developing manufacturing techniques that soon may make it competitive with the best composite materials now available.

"If this thing goes into production, this very well could be a very, very game-changing or revolutionary technology to the aerospace business," said Les Kramer, chief technologist for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, which is helping fund the Florida State research.

The scientific discovery that led to buckypaper virtually came from outer space.

In 1985, British scientist Harry Kroto joined researchers at Rice for an experiment to create the same conditions that exist in a star. They wanted to find out how stars, the source of all carbon in the universe, make the element that is a main building block of life.

Everything went as planned with one exception.

"There was an extra character that turned up totally unexpected," recalled Kroto, now at Florida State heading a program that encourages the study of math, science and technology in public schools. "It was a discovery out of left field."

The surprise guest was a molecule with 60 carbon atoms shaped like a soccer ball. To Kroto, it also looked like the geodesic domes promoted by Buckminster Fuller, an architect, inventor and futurist. That inspired Kroto to name the new molecule buckminsterfullerene, or "buckyballs" for short.

For their discovery of the buckyball — the third form of pure carbon to be discovered after graphite and diamonds — Kroto and his Rice colleagues, Robert Curl Jr. and Richard E. Smalley, were awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1996.

Separately, Japanese physicist Sumio Iijima developed a tube-shaped variation while doing research at Arizona State University.

Researchers at Smalley's laboratory then inadvertently found that the tubes would stick together when disbursed in a liquid suspension and filtered through a fine mesh, producing a thin film — buckypaper.

The secret of its strength is the huge surface area of each nanotube, said Ben Wang, director of Florida State's High-Performance Materials Institute.

"If you take a gram of nanotubes, just one gram, and if you unfold every tube into a graphite sheet, you can cover about two-thirds of a football field," Wang said.

Carbon nanotubes are already beginning to be used to strengthen tennis rackets and bicycles, but in small amounts. The epoxy resins used in those applications are 1 to 5 percent carbon nanotubes, which are added in the form of a fine powder. Buckypaper, which is a thin film rather than a powder, has a much higher nanotube content — about 50 percent.

One challenge is that the tubes clump together at odd angles, limiting their strength in buckypaper. Wang and his fellow researchers found a solution: Exposing the tubes to high magnetism causes most of them to line up in the same direction, increasing their collective strength.

Another problem is the tubes are so perfectly smooth it's hard to hold them together with epoxy. Researchers are looking for ways to create some surface defects — but not too many — to improve bonding.

So far, the Florida State institute has been able to produce buckypaper with half the strength of the best existing composite material, known as IM7. Wang expects to close the gap quickly.

"By the end of next year we should have a buckypaper composite as strong as IM7, and it's 35 percent lighter," Wang said.

Buckypaper now is being made only in the laboratory, but Florida State is in the early stages of spinning out a company to make commercial buckypaper.

"These guys have actually demonstrated materials that are capable of being used on flying systems," said Adams, director of Rice's Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology. "Having something that you can hold in your hand is an accomplishment in nanotechnology."

It takes upward of five years to get a new structural material certified for aviation use, so Wang said he expects buckypaper's first uses will be for electromagnetic interference shielding and lightning-strike protection on aircraft.

Electrical circuits and even natural causes such as the sun or Northern Lights can interfere with radios and other electronic gear. Buckypaper provides up to four times the shielding specified in a recent Air Force contract proposal, Wang said.

Typically, conventional composite materials have a copper mesh added for lightning protection. Replacing copper with buckypaper would save weight and fuel.

Wang demonstrated this with a composite model plane and a stun gun. Zapping an unprotected part of the model caused sparks to fly. The electric jolt, though, passed harmlessly across another section shielded by a strip of buckypaper.

Other near-term uses would be as electrodes for fuel cells, super capacitors and batteries, Wang said. Next in line, buckypaper could be a more efficient and lighter replacement for graphite sheets used in laptop computers to dissipate heat, which is harmful to electronics.

The long-range goal is to build planes, automobiles and other things with buckypaper composites. The military also is looking at it for use in armor plating and stealth technology.

"Our plan is perhaps in the next 12 months we'll begin maybe to have some commercial products," Wang said. "Nanotubes obviously are no longer just lab wonders. They have real world potential. It's real."

Computers begin to 'understand' the meanings of words

The technology now exists to teach computers the meanings of words so that they can "understand" the English language in much the same way as a human.

Cognition Technologies has released a "semantic map" that can give machines a vocabulary that is 10 times larger than that of a typical American college graduate.

The firm has begun licensing the map to software creators interested in developing programs that "understand" words based on their tenses and context in a sentence - in a similar way to the human brain.

"We have taught the computer virtually all the meanings of words and phrases in the English language," Cognition chief executive Scott Jarus told AFP. "This is clearly a building block for Web 3.0, or what is known as the Semantic Web. It has taken 30 years; it is a labour of love," Jarus said.

When applied to Internet searches, semantic technology delivers results directed at what users actually seem to be looking for instead of simply matching words used to online content. For example, a semantic online search for "melancholy songs with birds" would know to link sadness in lyrics with various species of birds.

Cognition's semantic map is already used in a LexisNexis Concordance "e-discovery" software to sift through documents amassed during evidence phases of trials.

"We help them find the needle in a haystack," Jarus said.

Cognition's Caselaw program uses the technology to look through more than a half-century of US federal court decisions for legal precedents, according to the company. The semantic map is also used in a widely-used medical database.

Cognition has a handful of rivals, with each firm taking its own approach to semantic technology. In July US software giant Microsoft bought San Francisco-based Powerset, a three-year-old start-up which specialises in interpreting the intent of people's Internet searches instead of matching specific words they use. Microsoft said it planned to use Powerset technology to enhance its free Live Search service.

China Milk Scandal Shows Ties Between Companies, City Officials

Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- A week before the Beijing Olympics began on Aug. 8, officials in Shijiazhuang, China, learned that baby formula made by one of the city's biggest companies was tainted with a toxic chemical. They said nothing.

It wasn't until five weeks later that they notified the provincial government, spurring the recall of Sanlu Group Co. milk, says Andrew Ferrier, chief executive officer of Auckland- based Fonterra Cooperative Group, which owns 43 percent of Sanlu.

The scandal, now involving 22 dairies and at least four deaths, shows the extent to which local officials protect large employers to create jobs, tax revenue and momentum for their political careers, says Peter Cheung, a professor at the University of Hong Kong who studies policy making in China.

``Local governments are always watching out for their local companies, and the bigger the company, the bigger the sway they'll have,'' says Bruce McLaughlin, a Shanghai-based consultant who investigates patent infringement in China. ``We never go to the local government when we investigate a company. They're no help or they'll leak information to the company.''

Authorities have arrested 18 people in connection with the milk scandal. Sanlu Chairwoman Tian Wenhua was detained by police, fired and removed from her Communist Party post, the official Xinhua News Agency reported this week. Five Shijiazhuang city officials, including the mayor, have been fired.

Calls to Sanlu weren't returned over the past two days. Sanlu apologized to consumers and promised to recall all milk powder produced before Aug. 6, Xinhua reported Sept. 15.

1,300 Hospitalized

More than 1,300 children have been hospitalized after drinking milk formula contaminated with melamine, a toxic chemical normally used in making plastics and tanning leather.

``These companies are too disgusting,'' Li Chunling, 60, said at a Shanghai market while returning milk powder she bought for her 9-month-old grandson. ``I don't have any sense of direction anymore about what to buy. I don't trust any of these products.''

The Communist Party in June announced plans to fight corruption with increased scrutiny of state-owned companies and local officials.

``Firmly punishing and effectively preventing corruption relates to the popularity and survival of the party, and is a political task the party must fully grasp,'' the party's Central Committee said June 22.

Corruptions Costs

Corruption costs the Chinese economy as much as $86 billion a year, or 3 percent of gross domestic product, the Washington- based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said in a report released last October.

In the run-up to the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Olympics, international media featured reports about fish spiked with antibiotics and cancer-causing chemicals; chicken and duck eggs laced with a carcinogenic red dye; and frozen dumplings injected with pesticide. Melamine-laced pet food from China was blamed for killing as many as 4,000 dogs and cats in the U.S. last year.

This is the second time in four years that unsafe infant formula has killed children in China. Thirteen babies died of malnutrition in 2004 and almost 200 were hospitalized in Anhui province after drinking milk powder with no nutritional content.

Two Fuyang city officials received two-year and six-month jail terms for dereliction of duty in that case.

``I don't doubt there is corruption and collusion at the local level between governments and companies,'' says Cheung, director of the Master of Public Administration program at the University of Hong Kong. ``China needs to give more resources to regulators, and it needs more transparency.''

March Complaints

The milk scandal began in March, when Sanlu received complaints about its products, Ferrier said Sept. 17 in Auckland. At the time, tests by outside firms didn't find any melamine. Melamine can be used to disguise diluted milk because it makes protein levels appear higher than they really are.

On Aug. 2, Sanlu's board was informed that its formula was contaminated, Ferrier said. Sanlu's board includes three members from Fonterra.

Fonterra urged Sanlu to go public ``from day one,'' Ferrier said. The New Zealand company didn't speak out earlier because it wanted ``to work within the Chinese system.''

The New Zealand government was told about the contamination Sept. 5 and three days later ordered its own officials to inform authorities in Beijing, Prime Minister Helen Clark said, according to the New Zealand Press Association.

Officials in Shijiazhuang, 120 miles south of Beijing, didn't notify the Hebei provincial government until Sept. 9, provincial vice governor Yang Chongyong said this week at a briefing in Beijing. Yang's administration informed the central government a day later.

Deng Credo

Chinese government policy is driven by the 1992 credo of former leader Deng Xiaoping: ``To get rich is glorious.'' Local officials are considered for promotions based mainly on how they manage economic growth and maintain order, Cheung said.

In a nation where the World Bank says 207 million people live on about $1.25 a day, bribery is rampant. Last year, the former head of the nation's food and drug regulator was executed for accepting 6.5 million yuan ($950,000) in bribes and gifts. Six types of fake medicines were approved during his tenure, according to Xinhua.

``It's an impossible mission to keep away from poisoned food in China,'' says Lu Erjia, 31, who uses imported milk powder for her 7-month-old son. ``It is just another attack on our confidence in China's food safety.''

Craig Rispin Business Futurist Speaks About Trends & Tech Impacting Marketing

Business Futurist & Innovation Expert, Craig Rispin, spoke at the George P. Johnson customer event "Face to Face with the Future" on 24th June 2008. His topic was on trends and technologies impacting marketing. The audience included marketing executives leading corporations including: Virgin Airways, Salesforce.com, Toyota, AMP Investments, VMWare, and many others.

Craig Rispin is a Business Futurist and Innovation Expert. His expertise is in emerging business, people and technology trends - and how companies can profit from them. Craig has over 20 years experience working where the future has been created - with some of the most innovative companies in the world in the IT, consumer electronics, internet and broadcasting industries. Craig has addressed audiences from 15 to 3,000 on 5 continents and has consulted with CEOs of leading companies worldwide.

Some of his clients include: Apple, Philips, IBM, GE, Canon, Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, Symantec, and Disney. Now a keynote speaker and innovation consultant Craig Rispin shows his clients how to: Know First, Be First, and Profit First.

You can contact Craig Rispin here: www.FutureTrendsGroup.com

View the presentation on Google Video here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3787484523790292651&hl=en

Quantum Leap - Researchers have controlled the position of a single electron in a silicon circuit.

An international team of researchers has shown that it can control the quantum state of a single electron in a silicon transistor--even putting the electron in two places at once. Their discovery could help pave the way toward a practical quantum computer.

Quantum computers take advantage of the strange properties of subatomic particles to perform certain types of calculations much faster than classical computers can. Researchers are exploring a host of different approaches to quantum computing, and some have even built primitive quantum circuits that can perform calculations. But practical quantum computing would require the ability to manufacture devices with millions of quantum circuits--rather than the 12 or 16 achievable now--that can be integrated with more-conventional electronics.

One theoretical approach to practical quantum electronics is to use conventional electronics--tiny semiconductor transistors--to control the state of a quantum system. Researchers led by Sven Rogge, a researcher at Delft University of Technology, in the Netherlands, performed the first practical experiments to verify the approach's theoretical predictions. The team--which also included researchers from Purdue University; the University of Melbourne, in Australia; and IMEC, in Belgium--found that it could control the quantum state of a single electron simply by altering the voltage applied to a transistor. "This represents a nice step towards future devices where performance is determined by manipulation of quantum states of single atoms," says Thomas Schenkel, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The researchers used prefabricated transistors built for nanotech research, each of which consisted of two crossed silicon nanowires. One of the nanowires--the bottom one--was connected to electrodes that contained arsenic. When that wire was charged, it would sometimes draw arsenic atoms into the transistor. After applying a voltage across about 100 transistors, the team found six that appeared to have individual arsenic atoms embedded in the nanowire. They then found that varying the voltage across the top wire would control the quantum state of one of the atom's electrons. Using an imaging technique called scanning tunneling spectroscopy, they were able to distinguish three states of the atoms in all six devices. One of those states corresponded with the electron's being in two places at the same time--a property necessary for quantum computing.

"But to understand the behavior of one atom, you have to model millions," says Rogge. So he and his colleagues used an off-the-shelf program called NEMO 3D to characterize a large-scale system containing 1.4 million atoms. They found that the measurements of their model system were in good agreement with the spectroscopy results. "It is really cool to see how well their simulations can describe randomly doped transistors, which are all different in detail," Schenkel says.

Depending on the strength of the electric field created by the top nanowire, an electron could be found in one of three states. At low electric fields, the electron remained bound to the arsenic atom. At high electric fields, the electron was pulled away from the atom. But when the electric field was at just the right level, the electron would be in both places at once.

In order for a quantum computer to work, its qubits--the quantum equivalent of a classical computer's bits--need to be "entangled": their quantum states have to be coupled with each other. Pulling an electron away from its atom "might be an interesting way to couple" adjacent qubits, says Schenkel.

"While this result is an important one, the real challenge to making future single-dopant devices is in figuring out how to position the [arsenic atoms] into the silicon host with the required precision," says Bruce Kane, a research scientist at the University of Maryland. The researchers found their six devices by chance; to produce working circuits, they would need to be able to position atoms of arsenic--or some other material--in the transistors more reliably.

While the researchers eventually hope to be able to control the position of the atoms in the transistor, "our next step is to add a second electron and see what happens to the configuration of the electron state," says Gabri Lansbergen, another Delft researcher. "In the far future," Rogge adds, "we would like to experiment with several [materials] and see how they interact."

The latest trend: 'microgreens'

By Jessica Vander Velde, Times Staff Writer

Published Monday, June 23, 2008 4:00 PM

---

ODESSA

Everything about Marvin Wilhite's farm is small — except the demand for his crop. His hydroponic operation uses less land and water than a traditional farm, but he pulls in $30 a pound for the microgreens he grows. You could imagine that as about 48 bags from the produce section of your supermarket.

The tiny, leafy vegetables, harvested before they reach an inch in height, are popular at high-end restaurants, including Cafe Ponte in Clearwater and Mise en Place in Tampa. They're tender and flavorful, and orders are on the rise as more chefs discover them and holistic doctors promote their nutritional value.

A delicate carpet of purple and green microgreens grows in a raised, shallow bed of sterilized white pebbles at Cahaba Club Herbal Outpost. The tables sit in a cooled greenhouse that protects fragile greens from rain and sun. A week after the seeds are sowed, the thin, tender stems measure about three-quarters of an inch: ready to harvest.

Wilhite grows 14 types of microgreens at his farm, including mustard, beets, broccoli and cabbage. Sampled fresh from the greenhouse, the micro mustard has a bit of a spicy kick like horseradish; the micro basil tastes more potent than its big brother. Chefs like the deep purples and greens — the "bling bling" on the plate, Wilhite said.

"It looks a lot prettier than parsley, and it tastes a lot better," he said.

But he didn't start growing microgreens for their look.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found that broccoli shoots contain the cancer-fighting agent sulforaphane, more even than fully grown broccoli. So when his mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1999, he began to cultivate the greens. Her cancer went into remission for five years, and though it's impossible to directly link the greens to her improved health, he noted that she ate them every day.

Many of Wilhite's microgreens are sold to restaurants in the bay area and beyond — even Philadelphia and New York, he said. Of course, chefs are more concerned with how it looks on the plate than the phytochemicals.

But some doctors are becoming distributors, selling Wilhite's microgreens to patients. Bill Huggins, a researcher at the Nutritional Health Institute Laboratories in Clearwater, suggests that people battling chronic illnesses try microgreens.

"It's basically the best kind of nutrition you can get from the plant kingdom," he said.

As the vegetables grow in popularity, farmers are taking notice. Each year, small-farm operators gather in North Florida to learn new techniques. This year extension agent Robert Hochmuth of Live Oak gave tips on how to start growing microgreens, another option for small farmers looking to diversify their crop.

"The diversity is important so they don't have all their eggs in one basket," he said.

Of course, now that everyone's using microgreens, top chefs are looking for the next trend: a slightly larger version. These "tiny exotic vegetables" — about 1.5 inches tall — taste a lot like microgreens but they look different because they've reached the second leaf stage. The micro mustard's tiny leaves begin to look like gloves, Wilhite said.

Chris Ponte, chef-owner of Cafe Ponte, said he's interested in these tiny vegetables, which are smaller than the types of baby vegetables often found in salads.

"Once the mainstream gets the product, it takes away from the wow factor for the guests," he said.

Wilhite keeps in touch with chefs, and he recently started a greenhouse devoted to tiny vegetables.

"It's something people haven't seen before," he said.

Jessica Vander Velde can be reached at jvandervelde@sptimes.com or (813) 661-2443.

>>fast facts

Shopping for microgreens?

To buy Cahaba Club's:

Cahaba Club Herbal Outpost in Odessa sells a set of six 1.5-ounce packs to the public for $25. It includes two packages of micro red cabbage, two of micro red kale and two of micro broccoli. Shipping and handling is extra, or buyers can pick them up at Cahaba Club Herbal Outpost at 18625 Rustic Woods Trail, Odessa. To place an order, call Pat Whitehead at (727) 937-8076 or fax him at (727) 937-8408.

To grow your own
microgreens

A husband-wife team in California sells microgreen kits and seeds online at sproutpeople.com.

Optus Installs Ciscos Conferencing Suite

Optus Installs Ciscos Conferencing Suite

By Branko Miletic | Friday | 2008-06-20

Optus has deployed Australia's first multipoint Cisco TelePresence solution, with systems in two locations in Sydney and a third in Melbourne. Cisco TelePresence is an "in-person" meeting experience over a converged network. It delivers real-time face-to-face interactions between people and places, using advanced visual, audio and collaboration technologies.

Click to enlarge

These technologies transmit life-size, high-definition images and spatial discrete audio, which gives users the ability to discern facial expressions for business discussions and negotiations across the "virtual table."

John Simon, Managing Director, Optus Business said; "The Cisco TelePresence implementation provides Optus with a multitude of benefits for our business, our staff, and our customers. Already, we have experienced a significant reduction in travel for the Optus senior leadership team since deploying the solution. Not only will the technology help us to reduce travel and its associated costs but it will also provide us with a proven solution to demonstrate to customers and prospects."

The multipoint TelePresence System 3000 gives Optus employees the ability to employ up to 48 systems in different locations. A three-screen Cisco TelePresence System 3000 unit for six participants on one side of the virtual table has been implemented at the Optus Macquarie Park campus in Sydney and in Optus' Melbourne office.

Optus is also deploying Cisco's TelePresence System 500 at its Macquarie Park campus. This personal Cisco TelePresence system retains the same qualities of the ‘in-person', lifelike, interaction while giving organizations the flexibility to support intimate, one-on-one meetings and enable employees to join larger group meetings from personal workspaces. The deployment of all four Cisco TelePresence systems at Optus will allow up to 15 users to collaborate between Sydney and Melbourne.

Les Williamson, vice president of Cisco Australia and New Zealand, said: "Networking technologies, particularly those that use video such as Cisco TelePresence, are playing a critical role in the evolution of business as it becomes more collaborative and productive. Optus will benefit from its deployment of Cisco TelePresence in terms of encouraging collaboration and reducing the impact and cost of its travel."

Mini DNA replicator could benefit world's poor

A pocket-sized device that runs on two AA batteries and copies DNA as accurately as expensive lab equipment has been developed by researchers in the US.



The device has no moving parts and costs just $10 to make. It runs polymerase chain reactions (PCRs), to generate billions of identical copies of a DNA strand, in as little as 20 minutes. This is much faster than the machines currently in use, which take several hours.

"I hope this will make PCR more available," says Victor Ugaz of Texas A&M University in Texas, US, whose group made the new device. He says the system could enable DNA-based tests to be carried out in the field or in developing countries, where large, expensive laboratory equipment is neither practical nor affordable.

Running a PCR requires treating DNA strands, along with chemical materials needed to make new DNA strands, at three different temperatures. The highest temperature (95°C) causes two strands of a DNA molecule to separate. The lowest temperature (60°C) makes DNA building blocks stick together. Then, holding the temperature in the middle (72°C), allows an enzyme to quickly assemble replica DNA strands.

Facsimile machine

To cycle through these temperatures, a conventional PCR machine heats and cools a large metal block holding multiple tubes containing samples of DNA and the material needed to make copies.

In the new device, created by graduate student Nitin Agrawal, a centimetre-wide loop of tubing wraps in a vertical ring around a set of three metal rods. The rods, together the size of an AA battery, are kept at three different temperatures. With this set-up, the parts of the tube closest to each block are heated differently.

This keeps the liquid flowing through the millimetre-wide tube, and so the DNA and building blocks cycle automatically through the three temperatures needed for PCR. "It's similar to how a lava lamp works," says Ugaz.

As the fluid is heated, it becomes less dense and more buoyant, so it flows upward. When the fluid cools in another part of the loop, it becomes denser and moves down. And because the device only heats the three small blocks of metal, it also runs off just two AA batteries.

Incomplete solution

"This is a significant advance in the proof of the concept," says biomedical engineer Samuel Sia of Columbia University in New York, US. "It shows you can use convection-driven flow to do PCR in a miniaturized format."

The device shows promise for a variety of tests, Sia says, including monitoring levels of HIV virus in a person's body or diagnosing tuberculosis. "There's nothing like this in developing countries," he explains. "There's a great need everywhere in the world for doing DNA- and RNA-based tests."

For the full potential of the device to be realised, however, Sia says that cheap and simple methods of preparing samples, by isolating DNA from cells, will be needed along with miniaturised DNA analysis equipment.

Journal reference: Angewandte Chemie International Edition (DOI: 10.1002/anie.200700306)

Scientists beat internet speed record

Japanese researchers have sent data over the internet at a speed of 9.08GB/s - which would allow a user to download a film in 4 seconds

Jonathan Richards

The prospect of downloading a feature film in seconds came a step closer today after Japanese scientists announced they had achieved a new speed record for transferring data over the internet.

The record - which involved sending a stream of data over a 30,000km network, the equivalent of three quarters of the earth’s circumference - achieved a speed of 9.08 GB/s, about 1,000 times faster than current top of the range broadband connections.

At that speed, a full-length feature film of 1.5 GB would be downloaded in matter of seconds. Most household broadband connections would take more than 40 minutes to download a film.

The benefits were not likely to be felt by regular internet users any time soon, however, because the record was set using a custom-built fibre optic network, which enables speeds far greater than the copper cables through which most homes connect to the internet.

It also used a ‘next generation’ internet protocol called IPv6, which has several benefits over the current protocol, IPv4, but is yet to be widely rolled out.

The researchers led by a team at the University of Tokyo set the record in December last year over a network which stretched from Tokyo to Chicago, on to Amsterdam, and then back to Tokyo via Seattle, a distance of 32, 372km.

For a period 20 minutes on a night they knew net traffic would be at a low - New Year's Eve - they streamed data at a speed of 9.08 GB/s, surpassing the previous record of 8.8 GB/s, which was set in February last year.

Dr Kei Hiraki, professor of computing science at the University of Tokyo who led the research, said: "These records are final for the 10GB/s network era because they represent more than 98% of the upper limit of network capacity.”

The increased speed had resulted from "several technical improvements," Dr Hiraki said, including more precise "pacing" of data and better "buffering capability," which resulted in less "packet loss."

The 'path' used for the record was custom-built fibre optic network used by universities and government agencies for research purposes.

A spokeswoman for internet2, a US-based consortium which helped develop the network, said that it was currently in the process of being upgraded to allow speeds of 100GB, which would allow films to be downloaded in fractions of a second.

"In order to deliver those kinds of speeds to consumers, however, you're talking about a significant investment in the existing infrastructure, and that's something that has to come from the network providers," the spokeswoman said.

Dr Hiraki said that he expected to achieve speeds of 40GB within 2 years, and 100GB in 6 years.

Asked whether he was already working on the next record attempt, he said: "Of course. But the method is still confidential."

Blogger Bar :: Firefox Add-ons

Blogger Bar :: Firefox Add-ons

Hey guys don't use this one use the Google Bar instead.

Find it under Add Ons on the Mozilla.org website.

Craig