In this issue: UGLY BETTY... AND JIM WOMEN AND SLEEP AGEING SKIN CLEANEST CITIES And much, much more... ------------------------------------------------------------ ____ ____ ___ _____ ____ ______ ______ * / __ )/ __ \/ | / _/ | / / |/ / | / _/ / / __ / /_/ / /| | / // |/ / /|_/ / /| | / // / / /_/ / _ _/ ___ |_/ // /| / / / / ___ |_/ // /___ /_____/_/ |_/_/ |_/___/_/ |_/_/ /_/_/ |_/___/_____/ *Feeding hungry minds since 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail email issue 44 - October 2008 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail is a free snack-sized newsletter dedicated to trends, innovations and other miscellany. To subscribe or unsubscribe to the world's best online cache of curiosities go to http://brainmail.nowandnext.com Tell the whole world about brainmail forward this to zillions of friends. ------------------------------------------------------------ > Just a minute According to social researcher Lyn Craig, Australian fathers spend less than a minute alone with their children each weekday. Overall, fathers spend just under one hour per week with their children but most of this time is largely 'event' orientated and the mother is also present for 90% of this time. Ref: The Australian (Aus). > Innovation myth #1 Youth begets innovation right? Not necessarily. Youthful energy and fearless exuberance (and the lack of a mortgage) certainly tends to drive certain types of start-up, especially Web-information firms. But, according to a Kauffman Foundation report, it's older guys (and gals) that tend to start the heavy industrial firms. Ref: Wired (US) > Sub-prime statistic 55% of African Americans that bought a first home in 2005 used a sub-prime mortgage to finance the purchase. In the case of whites, the figure was 17%. Ref: The Guardian (UK) > Ugly Betty... and Jim According to US and Canadian research attractive men earn 5% more than average while ugly men earn 9% less. With women the effect is less noticeable, with the beauty premium being 4% and the ugliness penalty being 6%. Ref: The Economist (UK) > Robotic personality types Scientists at Hertford University have found that introverted individuals prefer dealing with functional looking robots while extroverts prefer humanoid robots. Ref: The Times (UK) > Word detective: Leisure guilt Leisure guilt is the feeling that over-worked, anxious and guilt ridden individuals get when they go on holiday or otherwise relax. The condition, noted by Raymond Folen at the University of Hawaii, is related to the ever-increasing work-ethic endemic within most modern societies. Ref: Washington Times (US) > Diets...don't bother 33% of people on diets end up being heavier than before they started. The majority of people on slimming diets also return to their original weight within five years. Ref: The Week (UK) > Word detective: Credit Default Swaps Credit default swaps (CDS) are essentially a form of insurance on risky mortgage bonds. The CDS market has grown from virtually nothing to US$54.6 trillion. To put this figure into perspective, the value of all stocks on the NYSE was $25 trillion in 2006. Ref: Fortune (US) > Women and sleep Behavioural scientists at Duke University have found that a lack of proper sleep is strongly associated with distress, hostility, depression and anger amongst women. Furthermore, in one test, 33% of women that slept badly had protein levels that are usually associated with heart risk. Ref: The Times (UK) > Anthrax antidote Researchers at Cardiff University have revealed that a cup of tea could be an antidote to anthrax bacteria. The only problem is that if you add milk it becomes ineffective. Ref: The Times (UK) > Age verification in Japan The legal age for smoking in Japan is twenty, so how do you stop kids under twenty years of age buying cigarettes from vending machines? One solution is a Tobacco Passport. These are plastic ID cards that verify the age of the holder and allow people to buy cigarettes from smart vending machines. What's Next? Expect to see age verification technology embedded in mobile phones and digital wallets. Ref: Wired (US) > Ageing skin Researchers at Stanford University have potentially found a way to put makers of expensive skin cream products out of business. By blocking the activity of a gene called NF-kappa B (part of the genome associated with longevity), scientists have rejuvenated the skin of elderly mice to look like newborn skin. Ref: New Scientist (UK) > Drug responses and body weight Here's a good question: What are some of the lesser-known consequences of obesity? One critical implication is that increasing body weights mean that drug doses need to be increased. But how do you match doses to individual weights? Too little of a drug may render it useless but too much could result in an overdose. Ref: The Times (UK) > Wind power Small wind turbines installed in built-up areas often create more CO2 than they save. The problem is generally a lack of wind. For example, in Manchester (UK) the manufacture, installation and maintenance of 66% of wind turbines creates a carbon footprint greater than the savings produced. Ref: The Guardian (UK) > Bio-fuel backlash A number of foreign-owned companies, primarily from the US and China, are investing US$5.5 billion to build bio-fuel plants in Indonesia. However, the bio-fuel boom is having unwanted social and environmental consequences. First, the cost of palm oil (a staple for poor Indonesians) has risen by more than 50% since the end of 2006. Second, farmers are burning forests to make way for palm plantations and the smoke from these fires is causing emissions and harming the health of farmers. Ref: Nikkei Weekly (Japan) > Word detective: Gene Doping Gene doping is a form of gene therapy or molecular muscle building whereby athletes are given a synthetic gene to boost naturally occurring muscle building chemicals. The problem is that because nothing enters the bloodstream, traditional blood or urine tests are unable to detect this form of high-tech cheating. Ref: Scientific American (US) > Cleanest cities A report by the Brookings Institution reveals that the dirtiest city in America (from a carbon emissions per head point of view) is Lexington in Kentucky. The greenest city in the US is Honolulu in Hawaii. LA ranks second cleanest beating Portland, which comes in third and New York in fourth. Why? A major factor is weather. A warm climate with sea breezes reduces the need for heating or air conditioning. Another factor is population density. Ref: The Economist (UK) > Dumb and dumber Last year, £125,000 was spent on a new slogan to re-brand Scotland. The new slogan was "Welcome to Scotland". Meanwhile, another £1.25 million was spent persuading Scots to wash their hands. The campaign included the employment of fourteen 'hand washing co-ordinators' and the production of a guide explaining the "Ten Stages of Hand Washing". Ref: The Week (UK) The Elephant and The Bee Researchers at the University of Montreal have revealed that elephants are not afraid of mice...but they are afraid of bees. Ref: The Week (UK) ------------------------------------------------------------ : FAST FACTS Between 1945 and 1982 there were nine recessions in the US. Ref: Time (US) 90% of the world's PhD holding scientists and engineers will live in Asia by the year 2010. Ref: Time (US) In 1987 American Airlines saved $40,000 per year by removing a single olive from each salad served in First Class. Ref: Fortune (US) 60% of people living in the UK think that it is a worse place to live than it was five years ago. 52% think that things will be even worse in another five years time. Ref: Sunday Times (UK) There are 112.8 million blogs in existence worldwide (June 2008). Ref: Wikipedia (US) It is predicted that 30% of middle-aged Chinese men will die of tobacco-related illnesses by the year 2030. Ref: Sydney Morning Herald (Aus) In the year 1900 life expectancy in England was 43.7 for men and 47.5 for women. Ref: Financial Times (UK) The GDP of New York City is US$1,133 billion. Ref: Time (US) 90% of women that are of a normal weight want to lose weight and 50% of women that are underweight want to loose even more weight. Ref: Eating Behaviours (US) The number of Hispanic voters in the US has increased by 122% since 2000. Ref: Harper's (US) In 2005 there were 16 Chinese companies in the Fortune 500 list of the world's biggest companies. By 2007 there were 22. Ref: Sydney Morning Herald (Aus) 43% of Briton's agree that: "I like the taste of fast food too much to give it up" 44% of Americans agree. Ref: BBC News Online (UK) It is estimated that roughly 300 million Chinese speak English. Ref: Wired (US) Filling up a typical 4X4 with ethanol uses enough maize to feed a person for a year. Ref: The Economist (UK) The volume of traffic on UK roads increased by 84% between 1980 and 2006. Ref: Daily Mail (UK) Between 1996 and 2006 the number of South Asians living in Hong Kong grew by 43% Ref: Time (US) 34% of people living in New York come from somewhere else. Ref: Time (US) Noise is responsible for 3% of coronary heart disease. Ref: World Health Organization (Switzerland) In 2006, nearly 25% of London properties costing US$16 million or more were sold to Russians. Middle Eastern buyers were responsible for a further 16% of sales. Ref: Time (US) The murder rate in Russia in 2006 was 16.5 per 100,000 people. In the UK the rate was 2.03 and in the US it was 5.7. Ref: Design Council (UK) 1.5% of French GDP is spent on 'culture'. Ref: Financial Times (UK) ------------------------------------------------------------ : WEB SIGHT OF THE MONTH What did a Google search look like in January 2001? (Tip: search for 'Paris Hilton') http://www.google.com/search2001.html ------------------------------------------------------------ : QUOTE OF THE MONTH "I skate towards where the puck is going to be, not where it's been" - Steve Jobs. ------------------------------------------------------------ : BOOK OF THE MONTH Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely (thanks Sean) ------------------------------------------------------------ : 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). ---------------------------------------------------- : LOOKING FOR AN INSIGHTFUL AND ENTERTAINING SPEAKER? If you are looking for an inspiring speaker for your next event ask your speaker agency about Richard Watson or contact him direct via http://nowandnext.com Recent speaker clients have included IBM, McDonald's, Virgin, Commonwealth Bank and Disney. ----------------------------------------------------- : SMALL PRINT The stories, statistics and 'facts' appearing in brainmail are 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.