A variety of thinkers have converged on the notion that humans rely on what is essentially "software" to build our simulation(s) of the world around us.
Abstractions Driving the Flynn Effect: Cognitive historian James Flynn attributes the steady rise in IQ over the past 100+ years (known as the Flynn Effect) to better human abstraction abilities, not to any significant increase in physical brain power: 
Our brains at conception are no better than they ever were. But in response to the evolving demands of society, we can attack a far wider range of problems than our ancestors could. It is like the evolution of the motor car in the 20th century. Are automotive engineers any brighter than they were 100 years ago? – no. But have cars evolved to meet modern demands for more speed and entertainment while we drive (radios, tape decks, etc) – yes. Our brains are no better but our minds have altered as dramatically as our cars.
Flynn's observations line up nicely with both the concept of memes & temes advanced by Dawkins and Blackmore, as well as philosopher Terence McKenna's theory that culture is in fact an operating system.
In other words, the abstract thought frameworks that we drill into our children during critical periods, including math, science, biology, maps, businesses, social networks, new language, etc, are in fact a form of software that affects our IQ and ability to navigate the world.
This simple yet powerful abstraction (npi) is a critical paradigm shift in our definition of what it means to be human and opens the door to additional metaphors for social, economic and intelligence studies.
Particularly intriguing is the question of how quickly and/or regularly we (individuals, groups, societies, nations) experience software upgrades, akin to loading the latest Windows or Linux versions.
Continue Reading
January 06 2009 / by memebox
Category: Other Year: General Rating: 1 New
The Future Scanner Daily Top 5 highlights several of the most though-provoking scans submitted to the Future Scanner over the previous 24 hours. 
Scanned by: il pinolo
Scanned by: Garry Golden
Scanned by: Bora
Scanned by: juldrich
Scanned by: Garry Golden
The University of Michigan announced recently that they had made artificial bone marrow that can continuously make red and white blood cells. According to Nicholas Kotov, the PI of the lab, it uses 3D scaffolding that mimics the tissues that support bone marrow in the body.
In addition to possibly providing an inexhaustible source of blood for transfusions, which in and of itself would be great, it has the potential to simplify the pharmaceutical drug-testing process. As the world of discovery speeds up, the process of safely testing and bringing to market drugs and treatments in less than the standard 7-10 years is a difficult obstacle to overcome and one which is in great demand.
Continue Reading
January 05 2009 / by memebox
Category: Other Year: General Rating: 1 New
he Future Scanner Weekly Top 10 highlights some of the best scans submitted to the Future Scanner during the previous 7 days.
Scanned by: Adam Cutsinger
Scanned by: Andriod
Scanned by: Garry Golden
Scanned by: smarteconomy
Scanned by: Jeff Hilford
Continue Reading
2009 promises to be a big year on the media landscape as next stage public adoption of online product will spur tremendous growth. Here are 5 things to watch for:
- Tweet! Twitter explodes and joins the parade - MySpace --> YouTube --> Facebook --> Twitter - as an elite meme that everybody has heard of. In the process it requisitely transforms into a corporate tool and attracts an older demographic cohort.
- Online Advertising Hangs Tough Despite all of the end times rhetoric, online advertising actually increases 10%. The efficiency of the web is wreaking havoc on traditional media. Companies still need to advertise their products and eyeballs are continuing to flock to the web. Bang for the buck and big metrics make web media undeniably compelling.
- The Future Gets Hot The present stinks and people will turn their attention elsewhere. While many will pine for a return to the past they will be forced to look ahead. The doom and gloom of the economic meltdown and global warming combined with the incredible pace of technological change provide a fertile backdrop for projection. ABC's 2100, Discovery's 2057 and plenty of content about the next decade will push this meme to the forefront. Sweet.
Continue Reading
January 03 2009 / by DSMason
Category: Economics Year: 2009 Month: Jan Rating: 3 New
Cross Posted from The End of the American Century
In my book The End of the American Century, I point to China as one of America’s new rivals, but 
also as a major factor in U.S. profligacy and in U.S. economic decline. To a large extent, the false U.S. affluence of the last decade has been underwritten by China, in two ways: the country has supplied American consumers with cheap toys, gadgets and clothes; and has been bailing out the federal government by purchasing U.S. debt.
The rapid growth of foreign ownership of U.S. debt is yet another dimension of the unraveling of the U.S. economy. In 1970, only 4 percent of U.S. debt was held by foreigners; now almost half is. In recent years, foreigners have financed about 80 percent of the increase in public debt. The two biggest holders of U.S. debt are Japan and China, with China alone owning about $1 trillion in U.S. debt. Senator Hilary Clinton raised concerns about foreign ownership of U.S. debt in early 2007, when she sent a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. “In essence,” she observed,
"16% of our entire economy is being loaned to us by the Central Banks of other nations."
Continue Reading
January 02 2009 / by Garry Golden
Category: Science Year: 2014 Rating: 2 New
We are not going to 'consume' ourselves into a future global economy driven by clean energy technologies.
We have to build it using new scientific knowledge based on nanoscale interactions of light and molecules mostly- carbon, hydrogen, oxygen reacting to metals and enzymes.
Energy = Interactions
Creating 'clean energy' means using materials that make these molecular interactions that capture and release energy more efficient and less wasteful.
While consumers might be the ones who get the credit for changing behavior, the real heros of our cleantech energy future will be people involved in chemistry, biology, physics and materials engineering.
And the good news is that these scientists are increasingly turning to advanced computers and simulation software to accelerate the development of energy related materials!
Computational Power & Materials Science - Recent Examples for Materials Science
Continue Reading
December 16 2008 / by joelg
Category: Energy Year: 2008 Rating: 1
By Joel Greenberg
Putting a face to energy happened in a big way in 2008. From T-Boone Pickens' full court press promoting his Picken's Plan for wind energy and natural gas to Shai Agassi coming of age with his Wired cover story promoting his electric vehicle infrastructure company Better Place, energy technology became humanized. And what do you do for an encore once you've cracked the Human Genome? Ask scientist Craig Venter and he'll tell you it's using algae to create bio fuels that replace oil. He's hoping to have something on the market in five years.
Could personality be the thing that takes a vital, but dry industry from infrastructure to top of mind in the eyes of customers?
Continue with Top Energy Stories of 2008
Continue Reading
December 31 2008 / by Adam Cutsinger
Category: Metaverse Year: 2015 Rating: 3 Hot New
I wouldn't have predicted ABC News going all bleak futurist, but they did. Earth 2100 is a massive online roleplaying game that starts out with global turmoil and devastation. And they're going prime time with it.
The project is pretty ambitious, but considering the recent popularity of games like Superstruct and Second Life, there should be no doubt that participation will be high. To participate you need to record a short fictional video depicting something in 2015, then, based on those submissions, the ABC News people will design a scenario for 2050, then 2070 and finally 2100.
Continue Reading
A lot of people keep telling me that if one has nothing to hide, then why worry about wire-taps or security cameras? If you're not planning to rob a bank or kidnap a spoiled celebrity then you should be fine, right?
I have to admit, that argument is pretty solid. I don't plan on doing anything like kidnapping rich kids (at least until the economy gets worse) so I shouldn't worry. But the real issue here is privacy. Humans love privacy, and yet we're afraid of just about everything. Finding a balance between the two can be difficult at times and rarely easy. You might not be doing something illegal that would cause you to fear security cameras, but think again.
Chances are you've done something that could be construed as illegal and fined. Not coming to a full stop at stop signs lands you a ticket for every mistake. Urinating in public when you're coming home from the bars at 2am could land you an indecency ticket and possible jail time. Any prank you've ever pulled from toilet papering a house to stealing a road sign would be prosecuted (for those that notice these crimes are kinda specific examples, I've never TP'd a house, it's a waste of paper).
Someone will always be watching and to think that minor offenses will be ignored is naive since cities are always looking for new sources of revenue. And as it becomes clear that the cameras don't actually prevent any crime (London has 1.5 million CCTV cameras and bombings still happen) people will rely more and more on security cameras which do more. Facial recognition is the next step, following people from camera to camera, tracking their paths. Your entire path from when you leave your house to when you finally return is on record. Great for Alzheimers patients, but I think I'll pass.
I prefer a world where I can enjoy anonymity and freedom to do silly things like hit golf balls off my front lawn, or drop water balloons from a parking garage, or streak on campus. Would I like to find out who broke into my car? Yes. But not at the cost of killing my privacy.
December 30 2008 / by memebox
Category: Other Year: General Rating: 1 New
The Future Scanner Daily Top 5 highlights several of the most though-provoking scans submitted to the Future Scanner over the previous 24 hours. 
Scanned by: Garry Golden
Scanned by: Jeff Hilford
Scanned by: il pinolo
Scanned by: Garry Golden
Scanned by: Bora
December 29 2008 / by Garry Golden
Category: Energy Year: Beyond Rating: 3 New
"Whether you think you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right." - Henry Ford
The worst thing we can do when thinking about the future of energy is to look at possible solutions and simply extrapolate today's technologies and scientific assumptions forward about what 'is' or 'isn't possible'.
There is still a lot we do not know about the basics of energy systems dealing with photons, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, enzymes and metals. Our current first phase efforts to design nanoscale materials used in energy production, conversion and storage are certain to yield systems that will change how we live in the world in the decades ahead.
Remember, only a century ago, coal and wood were king, magical 'electric' light intimidated the general public, only a few could see the potential of oil, rockets and nuclear science were beyond our imagination, and the vision of a tens of millions of 'horseless carriages' reshaping the urban landscape was a ridiculous proposition.
So what seemingly novel ideas could shape the next century?
List of 10+ Novel Energy Stories from 2008:
Continue Reading
