In this issue: GENDER BENDING CHEMICALS CLEVER PAINT PLASTIC BRIDGES GODCASTING BACKWARDS EATING And much much more... ------------------------------------------------------------ ____ ____ ___ _____ ____ ______ ______ * / __ )/ __ \/ | / _/ | / / |/ / | / _/ / / __ / /_/ / /| | / // |/ / /|_/ / /| | / // / / /_/ / _, _/ ___ |_/ // /| / / / / ___ |_/ // /___ /_____/_/ |_/_/ |_/___/_/ |_/_/ /_/_/ |_/___/_____/ *Keeping brains healthy since 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail email 008 - September 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail is a free bi-monthly newsletter about new ideas, Innovations and trends. If you'd like to receive regular copies simply click on yes please. If you'd like to be removed from future mailings just click on no thanks. Yes please: mailto:subscribe-brainmail@nowandnext.com No thanks: mailto:unsubscribe-brainmail@nowandnext.com Please feel free to forward this to a friend ------------------------------------------------------------ >SPRAY ON STREET CRED A man called Colin Dowse is selling bottles of spray-on mud to owners of SUV (4X4) vehicles in the UK and US. The mud costs US $18.80 per bottle and is presumably selling because owners of clean looking SUVs are under attack from green activists who argue that most SUVs never go off-road. Perhaps in the future new cars will be sold with dents and scratches as optional extras (a bit like the dirty denim fashion trend). Ref: The Guardian (UK) >COOL PAINT JOB A company in Japan has created an exterior house paint that reduces the interior temperature of your home by 2-3 degrees centigrade, thus reducing the need for air conditioning. The same company (Toto) has also created wallpaper that absorbs noxious substances. Ref: Nikkei Weekly (Japan) >ARE BOOKS THE NEW HANDBAGS? According to AC Nielsen in Australia, non-fiction titles now make up 53% of book sales with fiction accounting for 28% and kids books another 18%. But apart from books being a new social identifier, what's selling? Answers range from books with white covers (evidence of growing design awareness), books dealing with adversity, lifestyle travel books and any book linked to a TV show. What's not in fashion is popular science and so-called mono-history books (eg the history of salt). Ref: Sun-Herald (Aus) >CHANGING GEAR AT TOYOTA A report by the Toyota Motor Company says that in Japan the company's product development program will need to change to address the country's rapidly ageing population. Meanwhile, in the US, Toyota is opening a series of pharmacies inside car plants to save money on healthcare costs. Ref: Various including Nikkei Weekly (Japan) >GODCASTING Podcasting, grassroots broadcasting using an i-Pod, is becoming so popular in some parts of the US that some local radio stations may be forced to close down. Meanwhile, a vicar in the small Suffolk village of Wrentham (UK) has started using his i-Pod to deliver parish sermons to his flock via their MP3 players. Ref: BBC (UK) >GENDER BENDER Chemicals called phthalates, that are used to make plastics, are starting to find their way into the human body according to researchers at the University of Rochester in New York State (US). The chemicals can trigger anatomical and behavioural changes in men, ultimately making men less like men and more like women. Ref: New Scientist (UK). >WASH AND GO Here's an idea your mum will like. The laundry rug is a rug, laundry basket and bag all rolled into one. Just roll the rug out onto your floor, throw your dirty clothes on top and, when it's full, roll it up and carry it to the nearest washing machine. Ref: Iconoculture (US) >STRANGE BUT (MOSTLY) TRUE Got a secret? Want to share it? Go to http://postsecret.blogspot.com/ Weird but strangely compelling. Ref: Bowblog.com (thanks Steve) >THE COLOUR (AND SHAPE) OF MONEY Mastercard is talking to several UK banks about card customisation. Apparently, many customers see the shape, colour and layout of a card as a status symbol. Ref: Marketing (UK) >I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE Last year an Italian wine maker put microchips on bottles in order to guarantee the authenticity of the wine. This year another winemaker is adding a code to labels so that customers can 'interrogate' the wine to find out where it's from and how it was made. Ref: Sense Bulletin (UK) >BOTTLED TRUST Scientists are working on a nasal spray containing a substance called oxytocin that makes people trust complete strangers. Didn't someone invent a similar product many years ago that was supposed to make strangers fall in love with you? (no, not alcohol!). Ref: Nature (US) >MORE WOMEN WANTED Companies should be closed down if more than 60% of board members are men according to a Norwegian cabinet minister. In the last 3 years the percentage of women on Norwegian boards has risen from 6% to 11%, but this is still way behind the percentage of women who sit in the cabinet or are MPs in Norway (40% and 37% respectively). Ref: Sydney Morning Herald (Aus) >TAKING ART TO THE PEOPLE The departure hall in Amsterdam's Schiphol airport has for some years featured fine art from the likes of Rembrandt. Entry to see the originals is free. Reproductions of the art in the gallery shop aren't. Where else could you put art galleries? How about shopping centres, supermarkets, hospitals and train stations? Ref: Trendwatching.com (Neth) >WORD DETECTIVE: FOLKSONOMY If you don't know what this is it's informally collaborating with a group of people (usually people you don't know via the Internet) to categorise information with tags or key words. Ref: Bowblog.com (also see Wikipedia) >ROBOWASH If robotic lawnmowers and vacuum cleaners are a bit last century, perhaps you need a robotic mop. The product, named Scooba, sweeps and cleans stone, wood or tiled floors. Ref: New Scientist (UK) >BACKWARDS EATING And the latest diet fad is...eating backwards. That's right, eat a huge breakfast, a small lunch and a tiny dinner. Ref: The Times (UK) >SPIDER STITCHES Russian and American scientists say that the material used to make spiders webs could be used instead of conventional stitches because the material is stronger and more elastic. Ref: The Times (UK) >CASUAL DINING How's this for an indicator of social change. A house was recently sold in London for GB £15 million. But the 10,000 square foot house didn't even have a dining room. Is this because the owners were never at home or because the kitchen is the new dining room? Ref: Financial Times (UK) >ARE YOU A NEEDY NEUROTIC? Then perhaps you need a Needie doll - a co-dependant soft-toy that responds to your attention. Shower them with praise and they'll love you back. But devote too much time to another toy and they'll get jealous. Ref: The Times (UK). >A FATAL FACINATION Police in the UK have started to use portable screens to hide sections of motorways because drivers travelling in the opposite direction are slowing down and taking pictures of accidents with their mobile phones. As well as being somewhat distasteful, the voyeurs (or 'rubberneckers' are they are known) are causing more accidents in the other direction. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) >TOO MUCH TECHNOLOGY Just because you can doesn't mean who should. Engineers at Mercedes-Benz have put so many technologically advanced gizmos in the Mercedes S-Class sedan that it's started to break down. According to Consumer Reports, the S-Class is now the most unreliable sedan in the US. Not good, especially when you consider that an S-Class costs from US $75,000 - US $125,000. Ref: Forbes (US). >QUESTIONS FOR ROBOTS As the science of robotics evolves a number of questions are starting to emerge. Amongst the best are: Should robots be allowed to carry weapons? Should animals be used as robot bodies? and should robots be allowed to win patents? Ref: Wired (US) >MARRYING WORDS WITH PICTURES Here's a nice idea that plugs into trends like scrap booking and life-caching. The Wedding Book Company in Australia writes and designs books to celebrate your special day. The content includes photographs and interviews with your nearest and dearest. Ref: Voyeur (Aus) >PRINT YOUR ID At the Edeka supermarket in Germany, customers can now pay by placing their finger on a fingerprint scanner. Apparently the payment process saves customers about 40 seconds. Ref: Grabageek (US) >IMAGINING THE UNTHINKABLE According to Orion magazine, a mega-drought is one likely consequence of global warming and the Dust Bowl of the 1930s was just a very big drought. This links to a 2002 Pentagon scenario called 'Imagining the unthinkable' which forecast mass global migrations and conflict due to severe climate change. Ref: The Orion (US) >BOOM BOOM ROOMS According to The Hindu newspaper, boom boom rooms (a.k.a. home theatres and music rooms) are the new must have accessory in middle-class Indian homes. Ref: The Hindu (India) >A BRIDGE TO TOMORROW Bridges made of plastic have been around for a while but a team of engineers in the Netherlands have designed a plastic bridge that's as easy to buy as a new car. Buyers just specify height, width and colour (adding any options like handrails) and, hey presto, you've bridged that gap. Bridges can also be floated into position or quickly dismantled. Ref: The Economist (UK) >STAT SHOTS In 1992, 31% of people living in the UK described themselves as English. By 2000 the percentage had increased to 41%. Ref: British Social Attitudes Survey (UK). In Germany, 1/3 of all computers are sold by supermarkets. Ref: AC Nielsen (GER) IBM is cutting 13,000 staff in Europe and the US whilst almost simultaneously hiring 14,000 new staff in India. Ref: New York Times (US) In the UK, 71% of seven-year-old girls, and 28% of five-year-old girls, would like to be thinner. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) 50 years ago 50% of people in Sydney travelled to work by train. The figure is now 10% Ref: Sydney Morning Herald (Aus) In 1911 the median number of people living in a house in Australia was 4.5. The figure is now 2.6. Ref: Sun Herald (Aus) Since 1985 poverty has increased by 100% in sub-Saharan Africa, whilst in East Asia it has been reduced by 50% over the same period. Ref: The Guardian (UK) ------------------------------------------------------------ >QUOTE OF THE MONTH Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats - Howard Aiken. ------------------------------------------------------------ >PREVIEW OF NEXT ISSUE Will we see smart blueprints in the future? - Imagine being able to scribble on a blueprint at a building site, roll it up and then download the revisions onto your laptop back at the office. And what else can we expect to see once flexible screens become a reality? ------------------------------------------------------------