In this issue: RISE OF THE HUMANS VINYL REVIVAL ROGUE ROBOT And much, much more... ------------------------------------------------------------ ____ ____ ___ _____ ____ ______ ______ * / __ )/ __ \/ | / _/ | / / |/ / | / _/ / / __ / /_/ / /| | / // |/ / /|_/ / /| | / // / / /_/ / _ _/ ___ |_/ // /| / / / / ___ |_/ // /___ /_____/_/ |_/_/ |_/___/_/ |_/_/ /_/_/ |_/___/_____/ *Feeding hungry minds since 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail email issue 100 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail is a free monthly (usually) newsletter dedicated to intellectual miscellany and ephemera. A file of hand picked curiosities, cerebral snacks and fortuitous facts. To subscribe or unsubscribe (or to search the whole ten year brainmail archive) visit: http://brainmail.nowandnext.com/ Like it? - then surely share it on Twitter and Facebook. ------------------------------------------------------------ : INSIGHTS & IDEAS > Rise of the humans Humans are replacing robots at Toyota's manufacturing plants across Japan. In what seems like a counter-intuitive move, Toyota says it is trying to develop new craft skills and work out ways to improve the efficiency of the car-making process. According to a spokesman: "We cannot simply depend on the machines that only repeat the same task over and over again... to be master of the machine, you have to have the knowledge and the skills to teach the machine." Ref: Bloomberg (US) > We have shorter attention spans than goldfish Did you know that the average human attention span is now... look a new tweet. Sorry, 8 seconds. It's fallen from 12 in the year 2000, according to researchers. Oh, I've got new mail too. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) > Read a whole book? Are you mad? Academics in the UK are starting to refrain from recommending whole books to university students because they are seen as too daunting. Shorter attention spans, together with easy online access to 'answers', mean that books are now seen as too long and too boring. Probable casualties include nuanced and complex arguments and serendipity. Ref: The Times (UK) > One book people do still read Research conducted by the Happiness Research Institute in Denmark says that people that give up Facebook for as little as a week can be happier and less lonely. Ref: The Times (UK) > Dual screening Cinemas in the US are experimenting with 'texting zones' to allow millennial audience members to text whilst watching movies. As the Chief Executive of AMC Cinemas remarks: "When you tell a 22-year-old to 'turn off the phone, don't ruin the movie,' they hear: 'Please cut off your left arm below the elbow.'" Ref: Variety (US) > Team sport? Ronald Koeman, the manager of Southampton FC, requires players to take part in twice-weekly sessions to learn how to communicate with teammates. "They don't talk to each other on the pitch anymore," he says. > Vinyl revival Who saw this coming? Musicians are making more money from sales of vinyl records than from digital streaming services, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Vinyl sales in the US increased by 28 per cent to $385 million in 2015. Ref: Daily Mail (UK) > Wheelie good idea (good eh?) Have you ever wondered how to improve the lives of millions of people in poorer countries? One blindingly obvious way is to make large plastic water carriers that roll along the ground like wheels. See Hipporoller.org. Ref: Tatler (UK) > Comfortably numb Good news for wine-soaked writers. According to researchers at the Harvard Medical School and Brigham Women's Hospital, people that drink a glass of wine or a bottle of beer a day in middle age significantly reduce their risk of heart failure. People that drink up to 7 glasses per week cut their risk by 20 per cent versus teetotallers. Just don't overdo it. Ref: European Heart Journal (EU) > SAD (Stressed Anxious Depressed) A World Health Organisation report looking at 42 countries says that British teens are among the least satisfied with their lives, with only those from Poland and Macedonia being less happy. English teens are also among the most stressed, with 73 per cent of 15-year-old girls and 52 per cent of boys reporting stress due to schoolwork. In a separate report, 70 per cent of teachers in the UK report that they have to deal with depression among their students and 66 per cent are dealing with self-harm. Do you like the acronym? Just made it up. Ref: The Times (UK) > Fun fact In 1992, when Douglas Coupland wrote a manuscript for a new book, he was reprimanded by his publisher for including a fax machine as part of the plot. Apparently the publisher saw the fax as unaffordable and elitist. Ref: Times (UK) > The future is now Remember the Babel Fish in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? Well you can now buy one, kind of. For a mere 65 UK quid you can buy a cool bracelet from speechtrans.com. You speak into it, and it can translate your voice into 44 languages. Ref: Sunday Times (UK) > Rogue robot Love this. A chatbot designed by Microsoft went rogue recently, swearing and making racist remarks on Twitter. The experimental AI, which was designed to converse with 18-24-year-olds, is apparently undergoing some "adjustments". Ref: BBC (UK) > Telling tales Is this an Irish thing? Cape Clear Island, off the southern coast of Ireland (population 120), is hosting what is rapidly becoming one of the world's leading storytelling festivals, in which people gather to hear traditional stories and folklore in open-microphone style events. But the festival is one of many in Ireland. Others include the Sneem Storytelling Festival in County Kerry, The Ramelton Storytelling Festival in Donegal and the Yarn Storytelling Festival in County Wicklow. Ref: Financial Times (UK) ------------------------------------------------------------ : THE NUMBERS In the UK around 350 libraries have been closed over the past six years, with a loss of around 8,000 jobs. Who needs to burn books if you just close libraries? Ref: BBC (UK) 43 per cent of primary school children in the UK have never visited a farm. 25 per cent also think that farmers 'grow' mud. Ref: Daily Mail (UK) In the 1950s, half of UK men aged under 25 were married. By 2015 the figure was less than 2 per cent. On the other hand, only 10 per cent of men witnessed the birth of their children in 1950. Now it's 98 per cent. Ref: BPAS/The Times (UK) 66 per cent of parents in the UK help with their children's homework. 16 per cent do all of it for them. Ref: Bett/Daily Telegraph (UK) 77 per cent of parents with overweight children refuse to admit that their children are overweight. Ref: Imperial College/The Times (UK) In 1979 the richest 1 per cent of Americans took home 9 per cent of GDP. Today they take home 25 per cent. Ref: Financial Times (UK) The US horse population grew sixfold to 21 million between 1840 and 1900. By 1960, however, the US had just 3 million horses, a decline of 88 per cent. Ref: Foreign Affairs (US) In Glasgow between 1998 and 2002, the gap in life expectancy between the richest and poorest sections of the city was 28 years. Meanwhile the difference between Japan and Sierra Leone is currently 40 years, which is roughly the same as the gap between Dickensian London and modern-day London. Ref: Financial Times (UK) 80 per cent of large businesses in the UK suffered cyber attacks or breaches of online security last year. However, only 10 per cent have any kind of cyber insurance. Ref: Association of British Insurers (UK) 30% of all fuel burnt in cities comes from cars (could this be because the energy used by buildings is burnt elsewhere?). Ref: McKinsey Quarterly (US) 25 per cent of auto accidents in the US are now caused by drivers fiddling with their phones, according to the National Safety Council. Ref: MIT Technology Review (US) College students who worked the phones trying to gain financial contributions from university alumni were 171 per cent more successful when a graduate from the university made a short speech about how contributions had affected his life. Ref: New York Times (US) Anxiety, depression, self-harm and eating disorders - the four most common mental heath issues reported by teens - have risen by 600 per cent in the UK over the past decade. Ref: The Times (UK) Children aged six to nine years who sleep for less than ten hours per night are 250 per cent more likely to be obese. With adults, less than six hours of sleep per night is linked to a 50 per cent increase in obesity. Research also shows a link between sleep restriction and the development of type 2 diabetes. Ref: Scientific American (US) Companies that place a high value on human resources are almost 20 per cent more likely to last for five years than those organisations that do not. Ref: New York Times (US) ------------------------------------------------------------ : SHOP OF THE MONTH Have you still got your Breville toastie maker? If not, get yourself down to 26 Noel Street in London's Soho and order what's now called a 'melt' from the Melt Room. Straight-up pure cheese for that back-in-the-day flavour, but do go for the sourdough bread to banish any lasting trauma caused by Mother's Pride loaves. Ref: Time Out (UK) ------------------------------------------------------------ : BOOK OF THE MONTH Time for some self-promotion. My new book, Digital vs Human is published this month. It's good. Please buy it. www.futuretrendsbook.com/digital-vs-human ------------------------------------------------------------ : QUOTE OF THE MONTH I quite like "there is refuge in infinity" from my book, but we'll go instead with: "The true delight is in the finding out, rather than the knowing." - Isaac Asimov ------------------------------------------------------------ : HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US In case you haven't noticed, this is issue number 100. Hip hip... ------------------------------------------------------------ : STILL HUNGRY? Not a lot of people know this, but brainmail is put together using some of the leftover bits from the What's Next trends report. So if this snack-sized newsletter is leaving you a bit hungry, go to nowandnext.com for something more substantial (and that's free too). ------------------------------------------------------------ : BRAINMAIL LIVE If you are looking for an interesting speaker for your next conference, workshop, or event ask your speaker agency about Richard Watson or contact him direct via nowandnext.com. Richard, who is based in London, is the creator of brainmail (along with Matt Doyle and Phil Beresford, both of whom had the good sense to stay in Australia). ------------------------------------------------------------ : SMALL PRINT The material appearing in brainmail is sourced from a variety of usually reliable publications worldwide. However, we cannot guarantee the truthfulness of stories and a degree of commonsense should be applied before quoting or using any material in a commercial context. If something appears to be too good to be true it probably is.