In this issue: HUMAN HAIR HEISTS THE NEW NORMAL OMEGA MALES 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 78 - August 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 > Population trends According to the latest UN population report, the world's population will peak at 10 billion in the year 2100. This contrasts with earlier UN reports suggesting that population would level off at around 9 billion in 2050. The reason for the revision is that fertility rates in parts of Africa and South East Asia are not falling as fast as expected. Ref: New York Times (US) > Word detective: Digital litter Redundant or outdated virtual information, especially data applied to buildings, businesses or people, which is accessed via augmented reality applications. Ref: New Scientist (UK) > Human hair heists You couldn't make this up. In the US the crime of the moment is human hair heists by criminal gangs. Examples include the recent murder of a beauty shop owner in Michigan and the hair raising robbery of My Trendy Place Salon in Texas that netted $150,000 worth of human hair. Ref: New York Times (US) > Education and ageing A study by researchers at University College London (UCL) have found that people with higher academic qualifications age more slowly than those without. Cellular ageing does not appear to be related to household income. Ref: Financial Times magazine (UK) > The new normal US census data has revealed that married couples make up less than half (45%) of all US households. Married couples with children are even less common at 20% of all households, compared with 43% back in 1950. Ref: New York Times (US) > Word detective: Omega males Omega males are the partners of breadwinner wives. Often unemployed (usually under-employed), omega males tend to have a surplus of free time and an adolescent nature. Also known as supermarket hunter-gatherers. Ref: Wordspy.com > Social media and the law The most senior judge in the UK has warned that court-based use of Google, Twitter and Facebook by jury members could undermine the jury system because they allowed jurors to access potentially false or misleading information or allow them to be unduly influenced by the opinion of those outside the court. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) > Happiness metrics A study by Felicia Hupert and Timothy So at Cambridge University (UK) has found that Denmark and Switzerland have the happiest citizens, while those living in France, Hungry, Portugal and Russia are among the least happy. Happiness was measured by asking people about their moods and their relationships, but also by asking whether people felt they were doing or accomplishing something meaningful. Ref: New York Times (US) --------------------------------- : GO FIGURE The global fertility rate is forecast to be 2.17 in 2050. The global population replacement figure is 2.02. Ref: New York Times (US) For the top 10% of UK earners, wages increased by 400% between 1978 and 2008. For the bottom 10% or thereabouts the increase was 27%. Ref: Financial Times (UK) Pakistan's armed forces consume 16% of government spending compared to 1.2% for education. Ref: The Economist (UK) In the post war years, around 75% of the British workforce was classified as working class. It is now thought to be less than 30%. Ref: Financial Times (UK) Of 42 mainland Chinese companies that appear on the Fortune 500 list of the world's largest firms, 39 are owned by the Chinese government. Ref: The Economist (UK) In 1901, 90% of the Australian population said that they believed in God. By 2001 this figure had shrunk to 20%. Ref: The Australian (Aus) China's current 5-year plan includes a promise to build 36 million new houses. This is more than the UK's total housing stock. The 5-year plan also includes a quadrupling of China's railway system and 54 new airports. Ref: The Economist (UK) The value of the global music industry fell by 40% between 2004 and 2010. Ref: Financial Times (UK) Fewer than 15% of Wikipedia contributors (Wikipedians) are women. Ref: New York Times (US) In 1980, 20% of China's people lived in urban areas. Today the figure is 49.7%. Ref: Economist (UK) --------------------------------- : BOOK OF THE MONTH "World Wide Mind: The Coming Integration of Humanity, Machines and the Internet" by Michael Chorost --------------------------------- : WEB SIGHT OF THE MONTH Using smart-phones to help solve blood shortages: http://www.lifecircleplus.com/ --------------------------------- : QUOTE OF THE MONTH "I am only interested in technologies that have a 90% chance of failure but, if they do succeed, would change the infrastructure of society in some radical way." - Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures --------------------------------- : PREDICTION OF THE MONTH In China, the number of young people aged 20-24 is predicted to fall by 50% over the next ten years. Ref: Brookings Institution (US) --------------------------------- : 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.