Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2014 ORLANDO, Fla., October 8, 2013 View All Press Releases Analysts Examine Top Industry Trends at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2013 October 6-10 in Orlando Gartner, Inc. today highlighted the top ten technologies and trends that will be strategic for most organizations in 2014. Analysts presented their findings during Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, being held here through October 10. Gartner defines a strategic technology as one with the potential for significant impact on the enterprise in the next three years. A strategic technology may be an existing technology that has matured and/or become suitable for a wider range of uses. “We have identified the top 10 technologies that companies should factor into their strategic planning processes,” said David Cearley. Mr. The top ten strategic technology trends for 2014 include: Mobile Device Diversity and Management Mobile Apps and Applications The Internet of Everything Hybrid Cloud and IT as Service Broker Cloud/Client Architecture The Era of Personal Cloud
According To A Nasa Funded Study, We're Pretty Much Screwed Our industrial civilization faces the same threats of collapse that earlier versions such as the Mayans experienced, a study to be published in Ecological Economics has warned. The idea is far from new, but the authors have put new rigor to the study of how so many previous societies collapsed, and why ours could follow. Lead author Mr Safa Motesharrei is no wild-eyed conspiracy theorist. Motesharrei is a graduate student in mathematics at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, a National Science Foundation-supported institution, and the research was done with funding from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "The fall of the Roman Empire, and the equally (if not more) advanced Han, Mauryan, and Gupta Empires, as well as so many advanced Mesopotamian Empires, are all testimony to the fact that advanced, sophisticated, complex, and creative civilizations can be both fragile and impermanent," the forthcoming paper states
Researchers May Have Created A H1N1 Flu Strain Capable Of Evading The Immune System Back in June, we heard of a controversial study conducted by a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers that generated an influenza virus with similar characteristics to the infamous 1918 pandemic flu virus. The research was criticized by many and branded as crazy, foolish and dangerous by experts. Now, according to The Independent, lead researcher Yoshihoro Kawaoka has gone one step further by manipulating the 2009 H1N1 flu strain so that it can evade the immune system. The 2009 influenza A H1N1, or swine flu, pandemic is estimated to have resulted in between 151,700 and 575,400 deaths within the first year that the virus circulated. While that may pale in comparison to the 1918 pandemic “Spanish” flu virus that killed an estimated 50 million people, given the number of people exposed to the 2009 virus it is likely that a large number of individuals worldwide are now immune to this particular strain. We are sure many of you are yelling “Why?!”
Reactionless motor: Needs more evidence. Photo by Paramount Pictures The ‘Net has been buzzing about a paper published by a team of engineers at NASA claiming that they have built a device that creates thrust without propellant. There have been lots of articles written about it, it’s spawned a zillion tweets, and I’m getting plenty of email asking me about it. Here’s the thing: I'm not convinced. I could write a lot about this, but instead I’ll point you to two people who already have written excellent discussions on what’s going on here: John Baez on Google Plus (you should read both his first article and his second one) as well as my old friend Steve Novella. The bottom line here is what the team is proposing violates a very basic law of physics; all the forces inside the device appear to be balanced, yet a thrust is still generated. I’ll be clear: Of course science has overturned earlier notions of how the Universe works. Photo by Brady et al., from the paper This device doesn’t have that yet.
New Study Suggests The World Is On The Brink Of The Next Great Extinction Just as we all die, all species eventually go extinct. However, the rate of extinction varies dramatically, and a new estimate suggests we are currently running at 1000 times the normal rate. This rate of extinction is only seen in the fossil record after incredibly dramatic and unusual occurrences, such as huge asteroid strikes or supervolcano eruptions. In order to calculate the effect humans are having we need to know two things – how many species are disappearing each year, and how many vanish as part of the normal background. Estimating the number of current extinctions is hard enough, since some species disappear without us ever knowing they were there in the first place. Professor Stuart Pimm of Duke University has published a paper in Science in which he and his coauthors, “Document what we know, how it likely differs from what we do not, and how these differences affect biodiversity statistics.” “We start by asking how many species are known and how many remain undescribed.
Following the Money: Who’s in Control? Human beings are beginning to question the environment around them more so than ever before. Our capability to step outside of the box and observe events taking place on planet Earth from a neutral standpoint continues to increase at an exponential rate. Observing the entire Earth experience from an open mind has cleared the way for a change in perception, which has the potential to change our planet and the way we operate on it forever. We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented – The Truman Show
Hologram Projectors For Your Smartphone Could Be Close | IFLScience Just in time for the new Star Wars film, it seems the technology from the originals is starting to come true. First it was lightsabers, then prosthetic arms like Luke Skywalker's, and now we're being promised hologram projectors like R2D2 - although maybe not as cute. At the moment if you want to project three dimensional holograms into space you need to use mirrors or multiple sources placed around where the hologram is formed, so that light can interact from different directions. Ostendo Technologies, a California start-up are dreaming much smaller. They have already demonstrated a prototype chip less than a centimeter long and a lens that fits on the palm of your hand. This tiny apparatus can, they say, control the color and brightness of enough LED beams to light up a million pixels on a screen with a 1.2m diagonal. What Ostendo are not revealing is how they manage to project these images onto the air from a single direction.
Top 10 Reasons We Should NOT Fear The Singularity Some people fear flying. Others fear sky diving. Others still loathe crowded spaces or elevators. Some can even give you 10 reasons to fear the singularity. Whatever the case may be, the feeling of fear is both healthy and normal, though it may or may not be always justified. If you ask me, fearing something often means that you should do it. Take flying for example. So what makes the difference? Well, dumb luck surely can. In the long run, however, it is not luck that is the decisive factor – it is things like knowledge, skills and preparation. So, what better way to get motivated in creating the best possible future than to list the 10 most inspiring and allegedly impossible reasons we should not fear but embrace the singularity: 1. The search for immortality is as old as humanity. At any rate, eccentric or visionary researchers such as Aubrey de Grey have made it their life’s goal that we are either going to live forever, or die trying. 2. 3. 4. If anything it’s pretty obvious Robert J.
These 29 Clever Drawings Will Make You Question Everything Wrong With The World Polish artist Pawel Kuczynski has worked in satirical illustration since 2004, specializing in thought-provoking images that make his audience question their everyday lives. His subjects deal with everything from social media to politics to poverty, and all have a very distinct message if you look closely enough… Even if you don’t agree with the messages behind some of these illustrations, it’s impossible not to appreciate the creativity involved in them. Maybe we really do need to start paying more attention to the things we accept as part of our daily reality. Like this article? Then join the Conversation with many others in EWAO ! Check out Pawel’s website here! H/T: imgur.com Source:
Gecko-Inspired Climbing Paddles Allow A Man To Climb A Glass Wall | IFLScience We’ve heard a lot of stories recently describing awesome bio-inspired materials, from superhydrophobic surfaces to 3D printed shark skin. Now DARPA has gone and topped the biomimetics chart by showcasing their gecko-inspired climbing paddles that allow humans to climb vertical glass walls. The technology may be a little less glamorous than a spidey suit, but who cares, this is an amazing achievement. The devices form part of DARPA’s Z-Man program which aims to develop bio-inspired climbing equipment for use in warfare that will do away with conventional tools that have not advanced much over the years. The demonstration involved a 218-pound (99 kilogram) man using two hand-held paddles to ascend a 25 foot (7.5 meter) glass wall, without needing a safety belay. In order to produce this impressive technology, DARPA first had to understand how geckos achieve their incredible climbing abilities. DARPA scientists had two main hurdles to overcome whilst attempting to mimic the gecko toe.
Top 10 Reasons We Should Fear The Singularity “I think the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race” said Stephen Hawking. “With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon…” said Elon Musk. So why are some of the world’s greatest minds and some of the world’s best entrepreneurs considering the potential rise of super-smart artificial intelligence – aka the technological singularity, as one of the world’s greatest threats?! I have previously published a list of what I believe are the Top 10 Reasons We Should Fear the Singularity and it is one of the all-time most popular posts on Singularity Weblog. Today I want to share this neat new inforgraphic that Michael Dedrick designed based on the content of the original article. Have a look and don’t fear letting me know what you think: Do you fear the singularity?! Want to publish this infographic on your own site? Copy and paste the below code into your blog post or web page:
10 Shocking Photos That Will Change How You See Consumption And Waste As individual and anonymous consumers, it's seemingly impossible to even estimate the physical ramifications of our daily consumption and waste. While our personal imprints may not seem in themselves worthy of alarm, the combined effect of human's habits and rituals is hard to look away from. Cell phones #2, Atlanta 2005 Photographer Chris Jordan works with the debris we as a society leave behind, photographing massive dumps of cell phones, crushed cars and circuit boards. The series, dubbed "Intolerable Beauty: Portraits of American Mass Consumption," shows the unmistakable imprint of our American culture in all its horror and strange, dark appeal. Crushed Cars, Tacoma 2004 Faced with Jordan's unshakeable images, we lose our ability to shrug off the consequences of our consumption, a small but necessary first step on the way to lasting change. See Jordan's striking works below and watch as dumped electronics morph into something resembling brushstrokes or building blocks.