June brainmail In this issue: FERTILITY TOURISTS CONSUMER-MADE ADS GOOGLE TRENDS JOINT JUICE SLEEP TRENDS And much much more... ------------------------------------------------------------ ____ ____ ___ _____ ____ ______ ______ * / __ )/ __ \/ | / _/ | / / |/ / | / _/ / / __ / /_/ / /| | / // |/ / /|_/ / /| | / // / / /_/ / _, _/ ___ |_/ // /| / / / / ___ |_/ // /___ /_____/_/ |_/_/ |_/___/_/ |_/_/ /_/_/ |_/___/_____/ *Keeping brains healthy since 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail email issue 16 - June 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail is a free monthly newsletter about new ideas, innovations and trends. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit the website at http://brainmail.nowandnext.com Tell the world about brainmail - forward this to a friend. ------------------------------------------------------------ > Real life fantasies What do Briton's dream about doing if they weren't doing what they're doing? Top of the list is retraining for another career (58%) followed by emigrating (51%), taking a career break (49%), starting a business (49%), quitting their job (33%), finding a job for love not money (22%), writing a book (21%) and volunteering (20%). Ref: The Times (UK) > Google trends Remember blogpulse.com? The latest idea from Google is similar although it's based on trends contained in Google searches rather than blog posts. Google Trends is essentially a way of finding out who is searching for what broken down by city or region. See google.com/trends Ref: Contagious (UK) > Joint juice Coca-Cola and Pepsi take note. A beverage compony in the US is producing a canned drink called Joint Juice. The drink contains glucosamine - a joint lubricant - and is aimed squarely at ageing baby boomers. Ref: nowandnext.com > Lack of sleep In 1960 the average American adult slept for 8-9 hours a night. By 2000 this had decreased to just 7 hours. Ref: The Times (UK) > Entertainment ATMs Download stations that play demos and trailers related to specific game systems such as Nintendo DS or PlayStation Portable have been spotted in Japan. We've already seen music download kiosks so how about ATMs that download movies? Ref: Trendcentral (US) > Future scenarios The British government has funded a rather dry sounding reported called Intelligent Infrastructure Systems looking at four alternative scenarios for infrastructure in the year 2050. More interesting than it sounds. Get the report at www.foresight.gov.uk Ref: Doorsofperception.com (UK) > Smart glasses The University of Arizona (US) has unveiled some prototype glasses that automatically shift between objects that are close up and those that are far away. Not only that they also act as a hearing aid amplifying close up sounds. Ref: Futurewire.blogspot.com > Mucky mice A company called Scrollseal has developed the world's first washable mouse. Apparently dirty computer mouses (mice?) are a real problem in hospitals where they can spread germs like MRSA. Ref: The Times (UK) > Ads you can eat A company called EggFusion has come up with the idea of selling ad space on eggs. Putting media money where your mouth is nothing new - P&G did it recently with ads for Trivial Pursuit on Pringles - but it looks like 'digital food imaging' as the trend is known could be catching on. Ref: The Times (UK) > Word detective: Fertility Tourists Fertility tourists are couples that travel to other countries (primarily in Eastern Europe) to shop for cheaper IVF treatments or to choose the sex of their child. Ref: The Times (UK) > Ethical investment The Norwegian government, the third largest oil exporter in the world, has hired an ethicist to advise its Petroleum Fund on moral investments. Ref: Wall Street Journal (US) > Consumer-made ads The latest buzz in consumer created content is homemade ads. Nike now has an online ad gallery where customers can showcase their ads and Mastercard, Mercedes and Burger King are all getting in on the act too. Selected commercials can win cash prizes, get screened virally or be shown on channels like MTV. Ref: Adage (US) > Skin scanning A US company called BrighTex BioPhotronics has created a device that can scan your face for UV damage. Applications could include doctors looking for early signs of skin cancer. Ref: Business 2.0 (US) > Fertility clocks for men? A French study claims that women who marry men aged 40-plus are 25-50% less likely to conceive than women who marry younger partners. Ref: The Week (UK) > Could tobacco ever cure cancer? Farmaceuticals is the term being applied to a new breed of genetically modified crops that are being designed to fight specific diseases. Examples could include rice that increases infant immune systems and tobacco that treats colds and tooth decay. Ref: Business 2.0 (US) > Fingered by technology Nightclubs in a small town in the UK are using fingerprint scanners to identify regular troublemakers. Previously drunks and violent customers that were ejected from one bar could simply walk into another further down the street. Ref: The Guardian (UK) > Urban trends According to the Brookings Institute (US) downtown areas are getting younger and smarter. For example, in 1970 only 15% of downtowners had a Batchelor's degree. By 2000 this figure had risen to 45%. Equally, the percentage of those aged 25-34 increased from 13-25% over the same period. Ref: The Atlantic Monthly (US) > Outsourcing growth Outsourcing back-office functions like loan, deposit and credit card processing have trebled since 2001. However, according to McKinsey & Co, this may represent only 10% of the potential market. Outsourcing is expected to grow by a further US $80 billion between 2006-2011. Ref: Newsweek (US) > Word detective: Cord cutters Cord cutters are people that have dropped their fixed phone line at home in favour of mobile only services. The number of cord cutters is estimated to be in excess of twenty million in the US alone. Ref: Wordspy.com > Immediate gratification - in reverse A study by scientists at the University School of Medicine in Atlanta (US) has found that most people prefer immediate pain to the promise of pain later. 84% of respondents expressed a preference to receive an electric shock immediately rather than wait. Of this group 28% were willing to endure a stronger shock to avoid any further delay. Ref: New Scientist (UK) > Back to the future Retrofuture.com is website dedicated to 'futuristic' ideas from the distant past. Ideas include smell-o-vision, flying cars and rocket mail. Top stuff. Ref: Futurewire (US) > Sniff 'n' shoot Military researchers in the US are attempting to find ways of giving soldiers the sensory powers of cats, dogs, owls and fish. The idea is that if you can see, smell or feel your enemy first you'll be the first to fire. Ref: Innovation Watch (US) > Poetry in motion A poet in the UK has been commissioned to write verses for specific locations on a cycling and walking route. The verses can be downloaded to your mobile phone. Ref: Whitecliffscountryside.org.uk (thanks RP). > Married later In 1970 24% of Australians were married by the time they were 20 and 87% were married by the time they were 30. Today only 5% are married by the age of 20 and only 50% are married at the age of 30. Ref: The Australian (Aus) > Music for pets We've had Baby Einstein videos for babies so perhaps this was inevitable. A company in Australia is selling audio CDs for cats and dogs. Ref: Sun Herald (Aus) ------------------------------------------------------------ : STATSHOTS 31% of teenagers in America think they'll be famous some day Ref: Psychology Today (US) 33% of French citizen's describe themselves as either "racist" or "a bit racist." Ref: Time (US) Ikea is the 19th most visited food retailer in the world. Ref: Guardian (UK) There has been a 1,800% increase in the number of 'adult' web pages between 1998 and 2003 (from 14 million to 260 million pages). Ref: Financial Times (UK) Adult sites on the Internet generate revenue of approximately US$2.5 billion compared to US $1.1 billion generated from legal music downloads. Ref: Washington post (US) 2 out of 3 lesbians and 1 in 3 gay men in the US say they plan to add kids to their families over the next 36 months. Ref: SFGate.com (US) The three richest people in the world have assets exceeding the combined GDP of the 48 poorest countries. Ref: Viva.org (UK) There has been a 300% increase in the number of children being prescribed anti-psychotic drugs in the US between 1995-2002. Ref: Iconowatch (US) 64 million Americans voted on the recent Pop Idol final compared to 62 million that voted for George W. Bush as President. The total number of votes cast in the 2004 Presidential election was 122 million. Ref: The Times (UK) 70% of American students claim that religion is either "somewhat important" or "very important in their lives." Ref: San Jose Mercury News (US) 15% of all houses in Western Europe are second homes. Ref: Newsweek (US) ------------------------------------------------------------ : QUOTE OF THE MONTH "People have an enormous need for art and poetry that industry does not yet understand" Alberto Alessi. ------------------------------------------------------------ : 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 a friend. ------------------------------------------------------------ : SUBSCRIBE TO BRAINMAIL Brainmail is a free monthly newsletter about new ideas, innovations and trends. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit the website at http://brainmail.nowandnext.com ------------------------------------------------------------ : THE NICE SMALL PRINT Brainmail is written by Richard Watson at http://nowandnext.com and designed by Phil Beresford at Back Creative http://back.net.au. Any part of this newsletter can be reproduced by anyone for any purpose whatsoever so long as due credit or acknowledgement is given. Of course, if you make a lot of money or friends doing this we'll get all bitter and twisted but that's just life.