In this issue: SELF-DESTRUCTING EMAIL MOST HATED PROFESSIONS VIRTUAL STAFF And much, much more... ------------------------------------------------------------ ____ ____ ___ _____ ____ ______ ______ * / __ )/ __ \/ | / _/ | / / |/ / | / _/ / / __ / /_/ / /| | / // |/ / /|_/ / /| | / // / / /_/ / _ _/ ___ |_/ // /| / / / / ___ |_/ // /___ /_____/_/ |_/_/ |_/___/_/ |_/_/ /_/_/ |_/___/_____/ *Feeding hungry minds since 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail email issue 56 - October 2009 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail is a free monthly (usually) newsletter dedicated to current and future trends, statistics and other nuggets of information. To subscribe, or unsubscribe, to the world's best cerebral snackfood visit http://brainmail.nowandnext.com/ Tell the whole world about brainmail - forward this to zillions of friends. ------------------------------------------------------------ > Strange but possibly true Shark attacks worldwide fell during 2008 due to the worldwide recession according to a University of Florida researcher. Why? The reason is probably that the GFC caused a reduction in holidays, which reduced the number of people going to the beach. A similar decline in shark attacks was observed in 2001. Ref: Science Daily (US) > End of the line for fixed phones In the US around 700,000 households per month are getting rid of fixed telephones in favour of email and cell-phones. In 2005 around 7.3% of homes were cellphone only but by the end of 2008 this figure had risen to 20.2%. One estimate even puts the number of US household without a landline telephone at around 25%. So why are companies still producing forms that insist on a landline telephone number? Ref: Economist (UK) > Self-destructing email It sounds like something out of Mission Impossible but researchers at the University of Washington have developed a system whereby email messages, documents, blog posts and images will self-destruct after a set period. Ref: Wired (UK) > Artificial memories Researchers at the University of Oxford have found a way of creating artificial memories in fruit fly brains. The technique involves putting fake memories into the cells of a fly's brain, thereby making the fly think it's had a bad experience. Sci-fi fans might be pondering the possibility of engineering false memories in future human subjects. Ref: New York Times (US) > Word detective: Grief hallucinations Grief hallucinations are sights, sounds, smells and even 'presences' of departed loved ones. According to a study by the University of Goteborg around 80% of elderly people see their partner up to 4 weeks after their death. Ghosts could be another term but whatever word is used most people keep quiet about such events for fear of being labelled insane. Ref: Scientific American (US) > Futurist predictions The World Future Society's latest Outlook Report contains some intriguing predictions. These include: the next big trend in automotive design being solar roof panels; The number of man-made islands and micro-nations rising; Major cities becoming car-free; Wearable devices uploading medical data in real time; Smart mobile (cell) phones telling whether a potential love match is in your vicinity; Life logging devices allowing individuals to record every moment of existence from birth to death; Brain-to-brain telepathy and Home 3D printers transforming online retail from selling items to selling designs. Ref: World Future Society (US) > 12 dangerous ideas for 2010 A recent list of ideas, from the US edition of Wired magazine, includes: cyber-attacks to prevent real wars (John Arquilla); the recruitment of autistic people (Thorkil Sonne); embracing human cloning (Gregg Easterbrook); cutting Africa loose (Dambisa Moyo); opening the prison gates (Nils Christie); building shanty towns to protect the environment (Stewart Brand); legalising assisted suicide (Ludwig Minelli) and ignoring medical privacy (Jamie Heywood). Ref: Wired (US) > Most hated professions An Australian survey has found that estate agents, politicians, journalists and bankers are the most loathed professions in the community whereas doctors, fire fighters and law enforcement officials are the most liked. Ref: The Australian (Aus) > Virtual staff Enterprise robots (i.e. semi-intelligent service avatars) are coming to a customer call centre near you soon. The idea (and it's not a bad one) is that human operatives cost lots of money and are not efficiently employed when they are answering dumb questions from customers. Hence, avatars that can guide customers through routine tasks. Ref: The Age (Aus) > Sleep is the new sex - and here's the pill Scientists at Harvard Medical School and Monash University have developed a drug called Tasimelteon that can re-set your body clock, thereby allowing jet-setters shift workers and late night clubbers to get a "proper night's sleep" at any time of the day. Ref: Popular Science (Aus) > Open healthcare One of the dilemmas of electronic health records is that many people are worried about sharing information with other people, notably employers and insurance companies. Moreover, doctors seem especially worried about patients sharing information with other patients. However, it looks as if collective sharing (intelligence) might be a wave of the future with websites such as PatientsLikeMe.com being just the beginning. Ref: Newsweek (US) > Future jobs According to the World Future Society, the hottest jobs in the year 2016 will include network systems and data analysts, personal and home care aids, computer software engineers and vets. Ref: World Future Society (US) > Dogmatic beliefs A series of experiments conducted by Friederike Range at the University of Vienna has found that dogs have a sense of fairness and will refuse to play if they are unfairly treated. Ref: The Guardian (UK) > An erosion of empathy Scientists at the University of California (San Diego) claim that constant exposure to digital information means that there is no longer enough time available for what has been termed 'emotional processing'. In short, digital devices are not only making us impatient but they are leading to a loss of empathy and compassion too. Ref: The Times (UK) > Brain-machine interfaces Researchers at Toyota in Japan have invented a wheelchair that can be controlled by a user's mind. Mind control machines are relatively new but it is likely that we will soon see a number of applications including thought controlled toys and thought controlled household appliances. Meanwhile, archrival Honda has developed a thought-controlled robot. Ref: Nikkei Weekly (Japan) ------------------------------------------------------------ : FAST FACTS 60% of Twitter users are aged 35+. Ref: The Times (UK) 1/3 of the world's stamp collectors are Chinese. Ref: Slate (US) 26% of children in the UK have no siblings. In 1972 the figure was 18%. Ref: Observer (UK) Mobile phone penetration is forecast to reach 75% of the world's population by 2011. Ref: World Future Society (US) According to the US Department of Energy and the International Energy Agency, energy use will increase by around 50% between now and the year 2030. Ref: Foreign Policy (US) The average length of stay on major newspaper websites in the US is 26 seconds. Ref: Harper's (US) Spending on corporate R&D increased by between 1 and 2% in the US and Europe during 2001 and 2006. In China the increase was 26%. Ref: Economist (UK) In 2008, 93% of the world's executions took place in just five countries: China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the US. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) There are approximately 18,000 tracked objects circulating the Earth. About 900 of these are satellites, the rest is space junk. Ref: Economist (UK) In Australia around 60% of households are connected to the internet. In 1998 the figure was 16%. Ref: Sydney Morning Herald (Aus) 50% of people living in the UK think that the countryside is "boring". Ref: Farmer's Guardian (UK) 15 of the world's 20 top oil companies are now state owned. Ref: Foreign Policy (US) There was a 17% decrease in the number of new websites created during the last quarter of 2008. Ref: Harper's (US) 27% of UK households own two cars compared to 23% that have none. Ref: Office of National Statistics (UK) There was a 760% increase in the number of architects claiming social security benefits between February 2008 and February 2009. Ref: Architects Journal (UK) 25% of salaried people in the UK earn more than £31,759. 10% earn more than £44,881, 5% earn more than £58,917 and 1% earn more than £118,027. Ref: BBC (UK) In 1975, 9% of births in the UK were to unmarried women. By 2005 this figure has increased to 43%. Ref: Daily mail (UK) Since the start of the GFC, the price of gold has risen by around 35%. Ref: FT (UK) In the US, the number of jobs done by telecommuters is predicted to grow by almost 400% by 2010. Ref: World Future Society (US) The British Post Office uses 872 million plastic bands every year. Ref: Sunday Times (UK) 1/3 of the women that go to bed with James Bond end up dead. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) ------------------------------------------------------------ : BOOK OF THE MONTH "The Age of the Unthinkable: why the new world disorder constantly surprises us and what we can do about it" by Joshua Cooper Ramo ------------------------------------------------------------ : WEB SIGHT OF THE MONTH Analogue nostalgia... http://www.poladroid.net/ ------------------------------------------------------------ : QUOTE OF THE MONTH "I put instant coffee in a microwave oven and almost went back in time." - Steven Wright ------------------------------------------------------------ : STILL HUNGRY? You might not know this, but brainmail is put together using all the leftover bits from the What's Next trends report. So if this snack-sized newsletter is leaving you a bit hungry, go to www.nowandnext.com for something more substantial (and that's free too). ---------------------------------------------------- : LOOKING FOR AN INSIGHTFUL AND ENTERTAINING SPEAKER? If you are considering a futurist speaker for your next event ask your speaker agency about Richard Watson or contact him direct via www.nowandnext.com. Richard is the creator of brainmail (along with help from Phil, Matt and occasionally Corrina). Richard's recent speaker clients have included IBM, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Samsung, CSIRO, The Welsh Government Assembly and Procter and Gamble. ----------------------------------------------------- : SMALL PRINT The material appearing in brainmail is sourced from a variety of reliable publications worldwide. However, brainmail cannot guarantee the truthfulness of stories and a degree of commonsense should be applied before quoting or using any of this material in a commercial context. If something appears to be too good to be true it probably is.