In this issue: PRINT AND PAY CHEAP AS CHIPS SLEEP SCIENCE BIO HACKER BRAINY FRUIT And much, much more... ------------------------------------------------------------ ____ ____ ___ _____ ____ ______ ______ * / __ )/ __ \/ | / _/ | / / |/ / | / _/ / / __ / /_/ / /| | / // |/ / /|_/ / /| | / // / / /_/ / _ _/ ___ |_/ // /| / / / / ___ |_/ // /___ /_____/_/ |_/_/ |_/___/_/ |_/_/ /_/_/ |_/___/_____/ *Feeding hungry minds since 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail email issue 33 - November 2007 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail is a free snack-sized newsletter dedicated to current and future trends. To subscribe or unsubscribe go to http://brainmail.nowandnext.com Tell the whole world about brainmail forward this to a couple of friends. ------------------------------------------------------------ > It's not who you know, it's the keywords you know Around 2,000 resumes per day are sent to Fortune 500 companies in the US, and around 90% of these are sent in by email or via company websites. As a result, companies are using word-scanning software to quickly decide who's worth seeing and who's not. Thus, unless a resume is full of strategic keywords (e.g. some of the same nouns and verbs present in the job ad), you are increasingly invisible. Ref: International Herald Tribune (US) > Pay to go faster A US company called 'Clear' is offering travellers a biometric identity card for US $99.95, which allows users to use security fast lanes in airports. Potential users must first pass a number of government background checks before the card is issued. Ref: The Economist (UK) > The future of recruitment A UK think tank (Demos) has created a series of scenarios for the future of the recruitment profession. The critical uncertainties uncovered by the project were the level of disruption caused by new technologies and the focus of power within the labour market (i.e. will it lie with employers or employees?). Ref: Recruiter magazine (UK) > Print and pay A supermarket in Germany is testing a system whereby shoppers can pay for goods by using their fingerprints. Ref: Ananova.com (UK) > Buy one, loose one free An Italian luggage company is offering a travel promotion with a difference - free travel insurance with every new suitcase. The idea is that if the case gets lost between check-in and baggage claim they'll pay for another. Considering that airlines lost 30 million bags last year it's an idea that could work in other countries too. Ref: Springwise (Neth)/USA Today (US) > Send in the clowns A local council in Finland is employing clowns to increase the health and well-being of local inhabitants. Makes a change from having clowns run the local council. Ref: Helsingin Sanomat (Finland) > Shared spaces Shared spaces is a social networking website in the UK that matches potential real estate buyers, thereby facilitating the joint purchase of properties. A similar site in the US allows investors to find home buyers that need help with a deposit. Ref: Springwise.com (Neth) > Overworked, underpaid and getting old? According to research by St Thomas' hospital in London, people with manual jobs have cells that age up to seven times faster than cells within the bodies of non-manual workers. Apparently, this could be because the anxiety of belonging to a lower social class might causes stress at a cellular level, even after factors such as diet and exercise are taken into account. Ref: New Scientist (UK) > Foot where? If running shoes with computers in the heel (Adidas) weren't enough, now comes news of a sneaker with a GPS chip inside. Healthcare officials have already expressed some interest in the idea because the technology could help Alzheimer's patients remember where they're left their footwear. Equally, the shoes could appeal to paranoid parents that simply want to know where their kids are. Ref: South China Morning Post (China) > Long work hours. Boston Consulting Group has adopted a limited hours policy whereby contracts explicitly state that hours worked have nothing to do with future promotion. Moreover, the firm red flags employees that work more than 60 hours per week over any five-week period and employees that are regularly red flagged are referred to a career development committee. Ref: Fast Company (US) > A cut and paste generation According to the Dean of Duke University's business school in the US, almost 10% of the Class of 2008 were caught cheating. However, whilst 'aggregating' other people's work was once seen as academic fraud, it's now increasingly seen as post-modern learning. For example, at work knowledge is moving towards an 'open' model, while within a social context user generated content and filtering is becoming the model for how digital content is created. Time to redefine the word cheating? Ref: Business Week (US) > Cheap as chips A British company called Plastic Logic has announced that it is building a factory to manufacture semiconductors made from plastic rather than silicon. This may mean that the cost of electric components will drop by around 90%, making the likes of 'intelligent' clothing and packaging a reality. Ref: Financial Times (UK) > Pet likes A study in Australia has shown that children aged between 4 and 6 years of age that live in a house containing at least one cat or dog are 30% less likely to suffer from nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting than children that don't. Previously it was thought that animals were a likely cause gastroenteritis, but now it seems that the low levels of bacteria caused by the presence of animals actually improves the immune system. Ref: New Scientist (UK) > Regenerative medicine A company in the US has received US $560 million in second-round funding to develop a process to grow organs such as bladders using a patient's own cells. Future engineered items may include pancreas tissue, blood vessels, livers, heart tissue and even kidney cells. Ref: Red Herring (US) > Sleep science A study by the University of Helsinki (Finland) says that a lack of sleep could be more harmful than first thought. Experiments with rats indicate that the body treats chronic sleep deprivation as a threat, which can lead to stress-related illnesses such as heart disease. Danger levels could be as low as 4.2 hours of sleep per night for 10 consecutive nights. Ref: New Scientist (UK) > Lock up your Fathers An American study says that absent fathers could be the reason why girls are reaching puberty earlier. Apparently, fathers send out chemical signals that delay their daughter's physical maturity. Ref: American Journal of Human Biology (US) > Don't look at me when I'm talking to you Scottish psychologists say that looking away from someone when they are talking to you allows people to receive information more effectively. Ref: The Times (UK) > Digital privacy In the 1950s, music and fashion caused a 'difference of opinion' that defined a generation. Today, attitudes to online privacy are doing much the same thing. According to some observers this is because Gen Y and Gen i have grown up in a world that's connected as never before and have always had an audience. However, as Clay Shirky, professor of new media at New York University points out, whenever people are allowed to do something that earlier generations weren't, this always makes the older generation bitter. Ref: Wall Street Journal (US) > Shock tactics A professor of biomedical engineering has developed a tiny sensor that can be built into athletic footwear that warns the user of stress fractures. The device is based on technology used by earthquake scientist to record earthquakes. Ref: The Times (UK) > Word detective: Bio Hacker Proof that yesterday's luxury becomes tomorrow's necessity can be seen (sort of) by the fact that experimenting with genetic materials is now a hobby. Prospective bio-hackers (or DNA hackers as they are sometimes known) can swap tips through websites like dnahack.com or magazines like Biotech Hobbyist. Experiments range from extracting the DNA from peas using a kitchen blender to growing cultures of human skin that glow under ultraviolet light thanks to the splicing of DNA from coral. Ref: The Times (UK). > The lazy environmentalist Want to save the earth but can't be bothered to get up from the sofa? Then carbon offsets by SMS might be just the thing for you. A text to the World Land Trust (which costs GB £1.50) will result in 140kg of CO2 being offset for you. Ref: The Observer (UK) > Personalised clothing A Canadian company has created a series of t-shirts that display an owners 'Top 5' list, anything ranging from bands and films to food and websites. The idea, presumably, is that the clothing will be a social lubricant, introducing people with similar likes and dislikes. Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve. Ref: Springwise.com (Neth). > Solar sunroofs Traditionally, solar cells have been made from silicon, which meant they were expensive and were only available in black or blue. But recently Mazda has designed a car featuring a solar sunroof. This was achieved by using what are called Dye-sensitised solar cells, which are not only cheaper but can be made in any colour and allow the passage of light through the solar panels. Ref: Nikkei Weekly (Japan) > Brainy fruit A scientist at the University of Arizona (US) has invented a sticker which, when applied to fruit, turns from white to blue indicating whether the fruit is ripe or not. Ref: The Guardian (UK) > Liquid armour A professor of chemical engineering at the University of Delaware (US) has created a material that instantly stiffens when it is hit by an object. The primary use of this new material will be a new generation of body armour for police officers and soldiers. Business Week (US) ------------------------------------------------------------ : STATSHOTS 40 million men in China are unlikely to find a wife - ever. Ref: Cosmos (Aus) In the US, 11.9% of black men aged 25-29 are in prison, versus 3.9% of Hispanics and 1.7% of white males in the same age group. Ref: AP Britons eat 49% of all the ready-to-eat (RTE) meals in Europe. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) 40% of first time homebuyers in the UK now receive financial assistance from their parents. Ref: The Economist (UK) By 2015, the number of Chinese adults aged under 30 will have grown to 500 million - roughly the same as the entire population of the EU. Ref: Time (US) Costco is the number one supplier of Dom Perignon Champagne in the US Ref: Competitive Futures (US) By 2050 there will be more Egyptians alive than Russians. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) ------------------------------------------------------------ : BOOK OF THE MONTH The Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History Since 1990 David Edgerton ------------------------------------------------------------ : QUOTE OF THE MONTH "There is no such thing as the future. There are only futures, plural" Niall Ferguson. ------------------------------------------------------------ : WEBSITE OF THE MONTH Retro Future www.retrofuture.com delves into worlds that never were. ------------------------------------------------------------ : STILL HUNGRY? If this snack-sized newsletter still leaves you feeling hungry feed your brain with something a little more substantial at www.nowandnext.com (and yes, that's free too). ------------------------------------------------------------ : LOVE IT? THEN SHARE IT Do you know someone whose brain is not being fully exercised? Someone that is snacking on media that isn't terribly satisfying. Floss their brain and brighten up their day with a copy of brainmail in their inbox - forward this to your friends. ------------------------------------------------------------