In this issue: SPORTING TYPES MICRO-LOANS VIA TWITTER ONE INTERNET OR MANY? And much, much more... ------------------------------------------------------------ ____ ____ ___ _____ ____ ______ ______ * / __ )/ __ \/ | / _/ | / / |/ / | / _/ / / __ / /_/ / /| | / // |/ / /|_/ / /| | / // / / /_/ / _ _/ ___ |_/ // /| / / / / ___ |_/ // /___ /_____/_/ |_/_/ |_/___/_/ |_/_/ /_/_/ |_/___/_____/ *Feeding hungry minds since 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail email issue 60 - February 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------ 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. ------------------------------------------------------------ > Word Detective: Space Archaeology Space archaeology is the use of radar and satellite imagery to uncover hidden archaeological treasures back on Earth. Ref: Popular Science (US) > Participation Rates in Sport 35% of adults in the UK take part in an organised sport for at least 30 minutes, at least once a week according to the Active People Survey, published by Sport England. The most popular sports (in descending order) are: swimming, football, cycling, athletics, golf, tennis, badminton, horse riding, squash and rugby. Ref: Financial Times (UK) > Friends Before Family A good circle of close friends is more important than children or grandchildren when it comes to being happy during your retirement, according to a report by Greenwich University. Greenwich University? An oxymoron surely? Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) > Micro-Loans Here's a tweet idea. The UK-based Micro Loan Foundation has created something called the Pennies for Life Project. Each time subscribers send a tweet or update their Facebook page, they donate money to many of Africa's poorest nations. Donated funds are pooled and given out as small loans to female entrepreneurs. Ref: Financial Times (UK) > 24/7 Lifestyle Link to Type 2 Diabetes Researchers at North-western University at Evanstown in Illinois (US) think that our 24/7 lifestyles may be a trigger for type 2 diabetes. The theory is that disruption of normal night and day cycles via artificial lighting might disrupt the body's internal clock, which in turn impacts on insulin secretion. Ref: New Scientist (UK) > The Future of the Internet? Will the internet fracture and become many internets in the future? It might sound far-fetched but an increasing number of countries are looking at ways of geographically censoring content, while other countries are moving to ban the use of encrypted peer-to-peer communications, such as that used in emails. Ref: Financial Times (UK) > Pilot-less Planes The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is conducting a study looking into whether or not it would be practical to fly un-crewed aircraft in civil airspace. BAE Systems and EADS (the owner of Airbus) are conducting similar studies according to sources. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Ref: New Scientist (UK). ------------------------------------------------------------ : FAST FACTS By the end of 2010, approximately 10 million people in the US will have bought e-readers and around 100 million e-books will have been sold. This compares with 3.7 million readers and 30 million e-books in 2009. Ref: The Observer (UK) 40% of recently arrived immigrants in the US move directly to suburban areas. Ref: Harper's (US) Sales of organic food fell for the first time in 17 years in 2009 according to the Soil Association. The fall, 12.9%, took the value of the market to GBP 1.84 billion. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) Cash will be used in less than 50% of all UK transactions by 2015. Ref: The Payments Council (UK) 'The Way We Pay Report' Depressed people eat twice the amount of chocolate as non-depressed people. Ref: Wall Street Journal (US) 80% of babies born to teenage mothers in the US were unplanned. Ref: The Observer A Swedish survey has found that only 67% of young internet users were aware that Google monitors search activities. Ref: Future Orientation (Denmark) George Washington's salary was 2% of the US budget in 1769. Ref: Wall Street Journal (US) 21% of parents claim to have forgotten how to play with their own children. Ref: Guardian/State of Play Report (UK) ------------------------------------------------------------ : BOOK OF THE MONTH "Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality" by Alfred A. Knopf ------------------------------------------------------------ : WEB SIGHT OF THE MONTH Piled Higher and Deeper http://www.phdcomics.com ------------------------------------------------------------ : QUOTE OF THE MONTH "It is easy to be certain. One only has to be sufficiently vague." - C.S. Pierce ------------------------------------------------------------ : PREDICTION OF THE MONTH 3.4% of all cars sold in the year 2015 will feature some kind of hybrid motor. Ref: JD Power (US) ------------------------------------------------------------ : 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.