Futurist Foresight - Applied Technotopia

A biologists grim view for the future of humanity.

Biologist Paul Ehrlich gives dire prediction for global civilization

“We’re a small-group animal, both genetically and culturally. We have evolved to relate to groups of somewhere between 50 and 150 people,” he said. “And now suddenly we’re trying to live in a group not of 150 or 100 people, but of seven billion people, somewhat over seven billion people at the moment, and that is presenting us with a whole array of problems.”

Full story: VTDigger

Futurescope: Silicon Valley Tries To Reinvent Food -- Literally →

Soylent strives to be the food of the future - a meal in a glass.

technoccult:

Klint Finley

Fake meats have been around for years, but a new crop of Bay Area startups backed by tech investors think they can make meat substitutes good enough to compete with the real deal. Beyond Meat — backed by Twitter founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone via their company Obvious Corp — created an eerily accurate chicken substitute, for example.

But the most ambitious project is Rob Rhinehart‘s cheekily named “Soylent,” an attempt to replace food entirely with a liquid shake that has all the protein, fat, carbohydrates and micronutrients you need. The only ingredients recognizable as food are salt and olive oil. He claims to have lived exclusively on the stuff for a month. He says he has started eating real food again, but two months later he still gets 92 percent of his meals from Soylent.

Rhinehart makes an unlikely food scientist. He’s an engineer fresh off a stint at a Y Combinator-backed networking startup called Level RF that never exited stealth mode. He says he doesn’t have a background in chemistry. “Formally no more than an undergraduate level, but I am a huge proponent of self-study, online courses, and textbooks,” he says.

Full Story: TechCrunch: Silicon Valley And The Reinvention Of Food

Previously: The Food Free Diet

food

An infographic look at some of the latest wearable tech available.

futuretechreport:

Wearable Tech: Head & Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Think Wearable Tech is just about Pebble and Google Glass? This infographic by footwear retailer Brantano, breaks down this technology by body part to give you the real lay of the land.

Awesome to see InteraXon’s Muse on the list as well as the Apple Smart Shoe.

Source: http://mashable.com/2013/05/04/wearable-tech-fashion/

A 3d printed gun - let great debate begin!

futuramb:

This Is The World’s First Entirely 3D-Printed Gun (Photos) - Forbes

All sixteen pieces of the Liberator prototype were printed in ABS plastic with a Dimension SST printer from 3D printing company Stratasys, with the exception of a single nail that’s used as a firing pin. The gun is designed to fire standard handgun rounds, using interchangeable barrels for different calibers of ammunition.

[…]

Of course, Defcad’s users may not adhere to so many rules. Once the file is online, anyone will be able to download and print the gun in the privacy of their garage, legally or not, with no serial number, background check, or other regulatory hurdles. “You can print a lethal device,” Wilson told me last summer. “It’s kind of scary, but that’s what we’re aiming to show.

(via futurescope)

3D Bioprinting creates a functional ear.

joshbyard:

3D Printing Cyborg Tech: ‘Bio’ Ear Melds Electronics and Biology to Hear Radio Waves

Scientists at Princeton University used off-the-shelf printing tools to create a functional ear that can “hear” radio frequencies far beyond the range of normal human capability.

The researchers’ primary purpose was to explore an efficient and versatile means to merge electronics with tissue. The scientists used 3D printing of cells and nanoparticles followed by cell culture to combine a small coil antenna with cartilage, creating what they term a bionic ear.

(via futurescope)

A look at the world´s population averaged out to a 100 people.

dreamcitieskenya:

Demographic information about our world population via Olive Ventures http://bit.ly/11XjvcI

(via thisbigcity)

A more detailed look at IBMs solar power system. (See more in this previous post).

smartercities:

This High Concentration Photovoltaic Thermal System (HCPVT) can harness the energy of 2,000 suns and provide fresh water and air conditioning in remote locations. The prototype HCPVT system under development uses a large parabolic dish, made from a multitude of mirror facets, which is attached to a tracking system that determines the best angle based on the position of the sun. Once aligned, the sun’s rays reflect off the mirror onto several microchannel-liquid cooled receivers with triple junction photovoltaic chips — each 1x1 centimeter chip can convert 200-250 watts, on average, over a typical eight hour day in a sunny region.

Read more: http://huff.to/11vTQGE

A look at the future of mobile devices?

thisistheverge:

Shapeshifters: phones of the future could morph on demand

Scientists in Europe have developed prototype devices that could drastically change the way we interact with our smartphones and tablets. The six working prototypes, known as “Morphees,” are thin, electronic displays capable of automatically changing shape to perform certain functions. Researchers say that if brought to market, the devices could usher in a new era in mobile computing, breaking down the physical barriers that have traditionally defined smartphones, tablets, and gaming consoles.

(via emergentfutures)

tech
mobile

A wonderful look at humanity´s endeavors to explore space.

n-a-s-a:

Humanity Explores the Solar System

Illustration Credit & License: Olaf Frohn (The Planetary Society)

Explanation: What spacecraft is humanity currently using to explore our Solar System? Presently, every inner planet has at least one robotic explorer, while several others are monitoring our Sun, some are mapping Earth’s Moon, a few are chasing asteroids and comets, one is orbiting Saturn, and several are even heading out into deep space.

An infographic look education and mobile.

gjmueller:

The infographic highlights findings from the mobile learning report, Living & Learning with Mobile Devices, released today from Grunwald & Associates and the Learning First Alliance. According to the report more than 50 percent of parents believe that schools should make more use of mobile devices in education.

Embiggen here

I’m really surprised by the data collected in this survey (2,392 parents) which isn’t unfortunately broken down into age categories. A couple of notes I looked at:

83% said their school does not require use of personal electronic devices and 72% said it was not allowed at all.

Parents are concerned about theft of personal devices (81%), but 45% still plan to buy or have a personal mobile device purchased for their student. 32% of parents surveyed think schools should require this.

(via gamechangeafrica)