In this issue: WISHFUL EATING LOVING AND LOATHING FUTURE CRIME MAPS 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 88 --------------------------------- 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. --------------------------------- : INSIGHTS & IDEAS > Wishful eating Research by Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management claims that people on a diet consistently underestimate (by an average of 13.5%) the calorific content of a main meal if the dish is accompanied by a side salad. Ref: The Week (UK) > See what you eat, eat what you see A study by the Food and Brand Laboratory at Cornell University (US) has found that people with a high Body Mass Index (BMI) sit, on average, 5 metres closer to a buffet than people with an average BMI. 76% of people with high BMIs will also seat themselves facing a buffet rather than away. Ref: New Scientist (UK) > Loving and loathing Researchers at Oxford University's Internet Institute have found that 80% of Britons now rely on the Internet for daily activities, up from 60% ten years ago. However, the study also reveals that 1 in 7 users "hated" the Internet and thought it was "taking control of their lives." Almost 1 in 4 users felt they had no choice but to be online and 1 in 2 (51%) only had "moderate enthusiasm" for the Internet. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) > Technology regression Following on from news that the Kremlin has resorted to the use of typewriters to keep information secret comes news that India too has gone backwards. The Indian High Commission in London has apparently gone back to typewriters and paper for highly sensitive information and has started to have meetings outside its buildings in order to avoid electronic eavesdropping. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) > When two heads can be wrong The idea that two heads (or more) are better than one is deeply embedded in contemporary digital culture. However, Julia Minson, a psychologist at Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) claims that collaborative working can get people (and projects) into difficulty. The trouble, it seems, is that people working in pairs can become overly confident in their abilities and often shy away from external advice. Ref: Psychological Science (US) > Future crime maps The Metropolitan Police in the UK are using algorithms to create hyper-local daily maps of crimes that have yet to be committed. The maps, which highlight different areas, make use of historical data but also use theories about wild animal foraging. For example, with foraging, animals move on when food supplies run out in a particular area and the same effect can be seen with criminals when crime targets dry up or attract too much attention. Similar anticrime predictive mapping has been used in Manchester with crime falling by 26% as a result. Ref: Sunday Times (UK) > Nature-nurture mapping The idea that nature and nurture both influence human behaviour and life outcomes is well known. However, a study of 13,000 pairs of twins (identical and non-identical) has found that the balance of genes and environment varies widely from one region to another. Ref: Journal of Molecular Psychiatry (UK) > All in a name Back in 2002, a study revealed that individuals might be subconsciously influenced by their own names. For example, Georges very often become geologists and there are a disproportionate number of women called Georgia in the US state of the same name. Ref: The Economist (UK) > Tech-free tourism If you like checking Facebook while you're on holiday you should avoid the Lake Placid Lodge in upstate New York. Upon arrival, guests are encouraged to surrender all digital devices. Meanwhile, budding neo-Luddites may be pleased to hear that Afshin Mehin and Hugo Eccles have created a 'social bomb' to jam or disrupt the signal of any device within a 30-metre radius. Ref: Wired (UK) > Calm kids A study of 2,500 school children by Intelligent Health, an IT company, claims that walking to school results in calmer and more attentive children that are more able to concentrate during lessons. Whether or not a lack of outdoor exercise contributes to ADHD is unclear, although the NHS spends 31 million pounds annually attempting to treat hyperactivity. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) --------------------------------- : THE NUMBERS 30% of UK children live in homes that contain no books. Ref: Independent (UK) 24% of children in the UK live in a single parent family. Re: Civitas (UK) 10% of families in the UK never eat a meal together during the week. Ref: Food Network, EMEA America spent 18% of its GDP ($2.6 trillion) on healthcare during 2010. Ref: The Economist (UK) 17.6% of the UK population (11 million people) can expect to celebrate their 100th birthday. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) Sleep deprived workers cost the US economy $63.2 billion annually. Ref: New York Times (US) 1 in 8 people living in the UK were born somewhere else. Ref: The Times (UK) The average Brit says "Sorry" 8 times per day (I thought this number was crazy at first, but sitting on the train editing this a number of people brushed past and all said "sorry"). Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) 7 out of 10 people in the UK spend 20 or more hours per day seated or lying down. Ref: Business Life (UK) Only 13% of 18-24-year-olds in the UK have ever used a physical photo album. The number of photographs now taken each month in the UK is 1.9 billion. Ref: Times (UK) 1 in 86 UK households is a net millionaire household (total assets excluding the value of the home they live in). Ref: Coredata/Business Life (UK) 11% of European teens have disabled parental controls on online devices. Ref: Business Life (UK) 10% of UK shops are empty. Ref: British Retail Consortium (UK) Twice as many first generation Americans start new businesses in the US than do native-born Americans. Ref: Forbes (US) Over the last 20 years, around 50% of the world's skilled migrants have gone to the US. Migrants in the US start 25% of all US venture capital backed businesses. Ref: HBR Blog (US) According to a US study, hotel TV remotes are more heavily contaminated with bacteria than any other surface in a hotel room including toilet seats. Ref: University of Houston (US) Russia has the 3rd largest rate of teenage suicide in the world. Ref: Daily Mail (UK) 88% of New Year's resolutions fail. Ref: Wall Street Journal (US) 60% of gym memberships opened as part of a New Year's resolution are never used beyond the first week. Ref: Time (US) 25% of UK holidaymakers pack teabags when they travel outside the UK. Ref: Business Life (UK) On average, it takes people 3.2 days to relax when they go on holiday for 7 days. Ref: Business Life (UK) 14% of UK adults have never been online. Ref: ONS (UK) 97% of children aged 11 in the UK own a mobile phone. Ref: Prospect (UK) 60% of UK teens describe themselves as "addicted" to their mobile phones. For adults the figure is 37%. Ref: Ofcom (UK) The average person knows the meaning of 100,000 words, but only uses 0.5% of these words in everyday communication. Ref: Harvard Business Review (US) If you ask people in the UK to rank on a scale of 1-10 how satisfied they are with their life, the average response is 7.4. Ref: ONS (UK) --------------------------------- : QUOTE OF THE MONTH "No sensible decision can be made without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be." - Issac Asimov --------------------------------- : PREDICTION OF THE MONTH It is predicted that more buildings will be erected over the next 35 years than were built during the whole of previous human history (40,000 years give or take). Ref: Newsweek (US) --------------------------------- : BOOK OF THE MONTH Who Owns the Future by Jaron Lanier --------------------------------- : WORD DETECTIVE Return Fraud: What do you do if you need some new clothes but can't afford to buy any? One solution is to buy something, wear it once and then return it seeking a full refund. Return fraud, as it's called, costs US retailers $14.4 billion every year. Ref: The Economist (UK) --------------------------------- : WEB SIGHT OF THE MONTH A series of podcasts about scientific questions: http://tgr.ph/11zqeGK --------------------------------- : 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.