In this issue: BENEFITS OF SEXISM MOMS 2.0 FOOD INFLATION TIMBERLAND And much, much more... --------------------------------- BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL *Feeding hungry minds since 2004 --------------------------------- Issue 75 - May 2011 --------------------------------- 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. --------------------------------- : NEW TRENDS, NEW TECHNOLOGY & NEW THINKING > Moms 2.0 Female viewing figures for soaps have been shrinking for decades in the US, partly due to the increasing number of women in the workforce and partly because of the multi-channel universe. However, social gaming may be moving the female audience in a new direction. FarmVille, the popular Facebook game created by Zynga, regularly reaches 40 million monthly active players, while CityVille attracts 88 million. Ref: New Scientist (UK) > Benefits of sexism According to Nicholas Kristof, a journalist on the New York Times, the exclusion of women from the workforce during the last century did have one benefit - many of the most brilliant became school-teachers. So how can we lure more exceptional women (and men) back to school? One answer would be to radically increase pay. In 1970, a graduate teacher in a government school in NTC earned about $2,000 less than a counterpart at a major city law firm. Nowadays the trainee lawyer makes about $115,000 more than the trainee teacher. Ref: New York Times (US) > Memory enhancement A study of older people in the US and Europe has found that memories decline fastest after people retire. Meanwhile, researchers in Israel have developed a drug called PKM-zeta that can boost recall in rats. If you don't fancy that just keep working. Ref: New York Times (US) > Too much information According to research conducted by the University of Southern California, the average individual receives 174 newspapers' worth of information every day. We also create and distribute 6 newspapers' worth of information every day. Back in 2007 it was 2.5. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) > Cyber-crimes and misdemeanours According to recent studies, online discussions often degenerate into nasty comments and threats and empathy is often deadened by the existence of a computer screen. Ref: New York Times (US) > Giving life to death and dying How's this for a mission statement. Dr Timothy Domer, a geriatrician who specialises in end of life care for native American Indians, says his goal is to "not just change the way people die, but to change the way dying people live." Ref: New York Times (US) > Sleep well and live longer A study of almost 475,000 people in 8 countries tracked across 25 years has found that people that regularly sleep for less than 6 hours per night, or whose sleep is highly disturbed, had a 50% greater chance of developing heart disease and a 15% greater risk of a stroke. Ref: Daily Mail/University of Warwick (UK) > Food inflation Not so long ago a bag of typical potato chips (crisps) weighed 35.5g. Something called a 'grab bag' weighing in at 50g was soon developed to appeal to social snackers in pubs, but it appears that this big 50g bag is now the standard size. Ref: Sunday Telegraph (UK). > Fat tax In Oldham (UK) 25% of young adults are now obese. In response to this the local council has hit retailers of unhealthy foods with a 'fat tax' of GBP 1,000 to fund local healthy eating campaigns. Ref: Sunday Telegraph (UK) > Just in - timber land According to trend-spotter Li Edelkoort, wood is a mood maker and will play a huge role in architectural finishes in the future. Expect to see more rough, uncut wood and planking in interiors and also more wood wallpaper used like timber. Ref: Trend Union (France) > Pond life If you thought that we were special you might have to think again. A minute water flea, Daphnia pulex, has more than 31,000 genes. Humans have 23,000. Ref: Science (US) > Food for thought A study of 4,000 children by the University of Bristol has found that junk food is bad for brains as well as bodies. Children aged under 3 that had diets high in sugars, fats and processed foods were found to have significantly lower IQs 5 years later than kids that consumed lots of fruit, vegetables and home cooked foods. Ref: Journal of Epidemiology (UK) > Employers beware A study conducted by Marwick and Danah Boyd of Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society claims that teens are adapting online profiles to appeal to universities and prospective employers. For example, drinking as a favoured pursuit is dropped in favour of tennis and reading newspapers. Ref: New Scientist (UK) > Scary scraper A US company called Spokeo is using software delightfully known as a "scraper" to look for information about individuals without their permission. The program searches public records, social networks, photo albums and mailing lists to build a profile, which is then sold to anyone that's willing to pay. If you don't like the idea of human interactions and emotions being turned into a commodity by a private company, you can remove your profile at spokeo.com/privacy. Ref: Various. --------------------------------- : THE NUMBERS There are more than a billion Africans, but they use only 4% of the world's electricity. Ref: Intelligent Life (UK) 20% of UK children aged 4 and under has a television in their bedroom. Ref: Daily Mail/Mintel (UK) By 2014, the number of journeys made by air passengers is expected to increase to 3.3 billion, from 2.5 billion in 2009. This is partly due to falling ticket prices, which have decreased by 60% in real terms, over the past 40 years. Ref: The Economist (UK) Credit card use in the US fell by 31% between 2007 and 2009. Ref: Javelin Strategy (US) When Procter & Gamble (P&G) reduced the number of SKUs of its Head & Shoulders shampoo brand from 26 to 15 it saw sales rise by 10%. Ref: The Economist (UK) Cotton uses 25% of world fertiliser production. Ref: New York Times (US) The average US supermarket carries 48,750 lines - a 500% increase since 1975. Ref: The Economist (UK) Between 1800 and 1855, the cost of English cotton fell five-fold, while production increased fifty-fold. In 1800, cotton represented one third of English exports and by 1855 it represented half. Ref: Jacques Attali, A Brief History of the Future 11% of people in Britain think that holidays on the moon will be possible by the year 2020. 16% think that sub-sea trans-Atlantic rail travel will also be an option. Ref: Daily Mail (UK) China has one third of the world's reserves of rare earths but accounts for 97% of current production. Ref: The Economist (UK) In 2008, Americans had 2.5m Botox injections, 355,671 breast implants, 341,144 liposuctions, 195,104 eyelid lifts and 147,392 tummy tucks. Ref: American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (US) There are more Scots living outside Scotland than in it. Ref: What's Next by Chris Patten 51% of single men aged 21-34 want kids. Only 46% of single women from this age group do. Ref: Match.com Car sales in China increased by 30% during 2010. Ref: Financial Times (UK) Prescriptions for drugs to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the UK have grown from 3,500 in 1993 to over 610,000 in 2009. Ref: The Times (UK) Almost 50% of students leaving schools in the UK do so without gaining 5 GCSE pass grades including English and maths. Ref: The Economist (UK) There are 448,000 teachers working in UK schools. Only 8 were dismissed for incompetence over the past 3 years. Ref: Sunday Times (UK) According to Prof. Friedrich Schneider at Linz University (Austria), more than 20% of the money circulating within the Belgian, Italian and Spanish economies is illegally obtained. In Britain the figure is thought to be around 10%. Ref: Patrick Dixon, Futurewise. Dog owners walk an average of 23,739 miles with their pooch over its lifetime. Ref: Daily Mail (UK) There has been a 28-fold increase in the number of applications to employment tribunals (for workplace disputes) in the UK over the last 40 years. Ref: The Week (UK) 84% of people in Britain think that school discipline is too weak. Ref: Sunday Times/YouGov (UK) --------------------------------- : BOOK OF THE MONTH "Superpower: The Amazing Race Between China's Hare and India's Tortoise" by Raghav Bahl --------------------------------- : WEB SIGHT OF THE MONTH Comics for people with big brains (or eternal students): http://www.phdcomics.com/ --------------------------------- : QUOTE OF THE MONTH "Always make new mistakes." - Esther Dyson --------------------------------- : PREDICTION OF THE MONTH "Mobile" will be more of a transformative activity than "online" ever was. - Gerd Leonhard & David Kusek, The Future of Music --------------------------------- : 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 considering a future focused speaker for your next conference, workshop, or other event ask your speaker agency about Richard Watson or contact him direct via nowandnext.com. Richard is the creator of brainmail (along with Matt and Phil). --------------------------------- : 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.