In this issue: DEATH FORECASTING SMART TAPS CONTACTLESS CREDIT CARDS HUMAN RECYCLING NANOPAINT And much much more ------------------------------------------------------------ ____ ____ ___ _____ ____ ______ ______ * / __ )/ __ \/ | / _/ | / / |/ / | / _/ / / __ / /_/ / /| | / // |/ / /|_/ / /| | / // / / /_/ / _, _/ ___ |_/ // /| / / / / ___ |_/ // /___ /_____/_/ |_/_/ |_/___/_/ |_/_/ /_/_/ |_/___/_____/ *Keeping brains healthy since 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail email issue 17 - July 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. ------------------------------------------------------------ > Clever taps How do you know if the water coming out of a tap is hot or cold? You don't, especially if you're a child. A company called Delta is developing a tap that uses coloured light to 'colour' the water - red for hot and blue for cold. Ref: Time (US) > Death forecasts A medical center in the US has developed 12-questions that can predict with 80% accuracy whether someone aged 50 plus will be alive in four years time. The so-called 'death index' has obvious implications for health insurance and hospital resources. Ref: Journal of the American Medical Association (US) > Getting smaller Hitachi has unveiled the world's smallest RFID chip. The chip is just 0.15 mm square and 7.5 microns thick. Ref: Nikkei Weekly (Japan) > Not what you'd expect? 71% of 21-65-year-olds in the US disagree with the statement: "There are many new and cool wireless products coming onto the market that I am keen to buy". Meanwhile, 76% agree that: "I'm not interested in watching TV shows or movies on my handheld device". Ref: New York Times (US) > Let them eat cake Back in 1999, a study found that people that were asked to memorise a seven digit number were more likely to choose cake over fruit salad as a reward compared to people that were asked to memorise a two digit number. Apparently the larger number distracts the cognitive side of the brain so that people make an emotionally based food choice. Ref: Business 2.0 (US) > Paranoid parents Hot on the heels of the school blazer with embedded GPS that alerts parents of the safe arrival of their child at school comes another idea. Parents in Japan can now buy a train pass that sends a location message to their mobile phone when their child passes through a ticket gate. Ref: Nikkei Weekly (Japan) > Word detective: Otaku Otaku is a Japanese term meaning obsessive fans or geeks. Otaku are important because they represent the spearhead of a revolution where communities of amateurs are becoming responsible for innovation rather than internal R&D and NPD departments. In other words corporate innovation is moving from a top down to a bottom up model. Ref: Nikkei Weekly (Japan) > In the right place According to McKinsey almost 70% of the organic growth of publicly listed companies in the West is a direct result of being in the right markets and the right geographies. Ref: McKinsey Quarterly (US) > Faster shopping American Express and JP Morgan have both introduced express pay credit cards containing RFID chips. The idea is that contactless credit cards speed up transactions because they do not require signatures or PIN numbers. The removal of basic identity verification has some people worried but the companies insist that they usually know when a card is stolen long before the customer does. Ref: Futurewire (US) > Global ups and downs Global wealth is predicted to fall by 36% by 2025. Japan, Europe and the US will all register a decline while China and India will see an increase in wealth. Ref: Financial Express (India) > Monkey business Japanese researchers have discovered that monkeys have regional accents. The differences could be a result of local environmental conditions. Ref: Ethology (US) > Eye tech An optical company in Japan has developed a pair of glasses to prevent hayfever by closing the gap between the face and the glasses, thus preventing pollen from entering the eyes. Ref: Nikkei Weekly (Japan) > Robocop The Belgian Police Force is using a robot to patrol the streets of Brussels. The copbot features a camera and a microphone so that it can interact with humans. Ref: Innovation watch (US) > Crash pads Honda is introducing the world's first motorcycle air bag that inflates in front of the rider if sensors on the forks detect an impact. So what's next - air bags in aeroplanes? Ref: Time (US) > Be a snob and get a life University College London (UK) says that overestimating your social standing, status and achievements can add years to your life. Previous research has linked actual status and income to longevity, but this latest survey suggests that it's subjective perceptions that matter the most. Ref: The Times (UK) > Gossip mongers An experiment by researchers at the University of St Andrews (UK) has found that gossip-like information (e.g. information about known third parties) is transmitted with greater speed and is remembered with greater accuracy that other information. What are the implications of this for marketing? Ref: New Scientist (UK) > Freeze-dried human recycling The latest idea in organic human disposal is something called 'promession'. One of the problems facing the funeral industry is that cremations release CO2 emissions while burials can release various chemicals into the ground. A new technique gets around both problems. By freezing bodies in liquid nitrogen at minus 196 degrees everything becomes so brittle that sound waves can shatter the corpse into a fine powder. The water component is then removed along with any metal objects and what remains is then buried to become compost within a few months. Ref: The Times (UK) > Negative equity A survey in Australia has revealed that 3% of women are saving up for a divorce. 6% of men and 4% of women are also saving up for their funeral. Ref: Sydney Morning Herald (Aus) > Celebrity obsession A study by the University of Leicester (UK) says that around 1/3 of people in the UK are obsessed with celebrities and this obsession is growing. 22% of people are interested in celebrities for entertainment reasons, 8.8% for personal reasons and 0.8% exhibit borderline pathological tendencies. Ref: The Times (UK) > Chicken or egg? According to researchers at the Institute for the Study of Labour in Germany, people who take risks are happier than people who don't. However, it is unclear whether people are happy because they take lots of risks or take lots of risks because they are happy. Apparently you are more likely to be a risk taker if you are male, tall and young. Ref: The Times (UK) > Bottled up emotion iLove is a bottle of water that's also a women's magazine. The magazine is wrapped, almost invisibly, around the round 600ml bottle and is targeted squarely at women. Ref: Springwise.com (Neth) > Nanopaint A company in Japan has invented a new type of paint using nanotechnology that prevents mobile phones from working. Customers could include movie theatres and concert halls. Ref: Trendcentral.com (US) > Terrific towel A company in Japan has invented a bath towel that dries 1.8 times faster than ordinary towels. Ref: Nikkei Weekly (Japan) > Class of 2006 According to the Future Foundation (UK) class distinctions in Britain are falling away. Apparently old upper, middle and working class segments are giving way to a new set of alignments based on education and housing. Of course the new groups all have new names including Rich Ordinary Britains, High Earning Workers and Suburban Asset Lightweights. Ref: Earthtimes.org > Is body waxing the new tattooing? Manscaping is term being given to the removal or relocation of body hair on men. Ref: Los Angeles Times (US) ------------------------------------------------------------ : STATSHOTS There were 77 serious accidents involving humans and robots in the UK last year. Ref: New Scientist (UK). McDonald's has at some time employed almost one in eight workers in America. Ref: Fast Food Nation (Eric Schlosser) 70% of the antibiotics produced in the US are used for animals. Ref: Desalvo.org According to the US Census Bureau, 18 out of the 25 largest metropolitan areas in America lost population between 2000 and 2004. Ref: Futurewire (US) 34% of households in Japan will be occupied by just one person by the year 2025. Ref: National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (Japan) 26% of American workers don't take vacations Ref: Herman Trend Alert (US) 25,000 US tax returns were completed in India in 2003. Last year the figure had increased to 400,000 Ref: McKinsey Quarterly (US) In China demand for electricity has increased by 700% since 1978 while consumption of beer has increased by 6,000% over the same period. Ref: The Guardian (UK) After the age of forty people shrink by 1.2cm every ten years. Ref: Harvard Health Letter (US) Every year 25,000,000 trees are cut down in China to produce 45,000,000,000 pairs of chopsticks. Ref: Time (US) All five of the world's biggest grossing movies last year were fantasies. Ref: Variety (US) China consumes 40% of the world's steel production, 30% of the world's coal and 25% of the world's aluminium and copper. The country also accounts for 40% of the increase in demand for oil since 2001. Ref: The Guardian (UK) 30,000,000 pieces of luggage were lost by airlines last year (a new record) of which 250,000 were never returned. Ref: Time (US) 15% of 13-15 year-olds in the UK has their own fridge. Ref: Campaign (UK) ------------------------------------------------------------ : QUOTE OF THE MONTH "All great discoveries are made by people whose feelings run ahead of their thinking" C.H. Oakhurst ------------------------------------------------------------ : 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 ------------------------------------------------------------