Recently added articles from The Futurist:
Trouble ahead for suburbanites?(TOMORROW IN BRIEF)(poor living in the suburbs )(Brief article)
Jul 01, 2009 ... Rising poverty rates in the United States may hit suburbs especially hard, warns a study by the University of Illinois, Chicago. A big yard and a quiet neighborhood away from the hustle and bustle of the city may be part of the suburban dream, but in economic hard times, many suburbanites ...
WordBuzz: open dictionary.(TOMORROW IN BRIEF)(Merriam-Webster Open Dictionary)(Brief article)
Jul 01, 2009 ... Trend watchers watching trends in language in order to identify trends in culture may want to check out Merriam-Webster's Open Dictionary. The latest-submissions page offers a frequently amusing glimpse into the minds of the word-centric, as well as new social norms. Among the ...
Ice that "burns".(TOMORROW IN BRIEF)(burnable fuel )(Brief article)
Jul 01, 2009 ... Harvesting chunks of ice from the bottom of the ocean and beneath the Arctic permafrost may yield a source of burnable fuel in the future Gas hydrates are a form of frozen natural gas that readily combusts when lit by a match, suggesting a promising source for renewable energy, according ...
Rising sea levels will threaten New York.(TOMORROW IN BRIEF)(Brief article)
Jul 01, 2009 ... New York City is only a few feet above water, so the rising sea levels predicted by climate modelers should give the city and other parts of the northeastern U.S. coast cause for urgent concern. Sea-level rise is now expected to occur twice as fast in the twenty-first century as it did in ...
Sunny--with a 50% chance of migraine!(TOMORROW IN BRIEF)(MediClim.com)(Brief article)
Jul 01, 2009 ... Allergy sufferers already can obtain warnings for oncoming sneezes and itches from weather forecasts during pollen season. Now, meteorologists can also help predict the likelihood of migraine headaches, asthma attacks, arthritis flare-ups, and other chronic conditions. A new, free service ...
Sifting trends out of clouds of data.(ABOUT THIS ISSUE)(Brief article)
Jul 01, 2009; ... The growing complexity of the world is compounded by increasing amounts of data, much of which we are producing ourselves--and about ourselves--simply by using technologies. This means not only that there's more to know about the world, but also that it's harder to understand. ...
Tomorrow's wild card generation.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
Jul 01, 2009; ... Regarding "Wild Cards in Our Future" (May-June 2009), I suspect that we will all bear witness to a fascinating "wild card" playing out when the first true Internet generation enters the workforce. These are the kids who began using the Web when they were two or three years old. ...
Understanding "The Design Economy".(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
Jul 01, 2009; ... In regard to "The Design Economy" by Thomas Easton (January-February 2009), I heard an interview on National Public Radio describing a technique whereby future consumers could order products online and receive them via their printers. This boggled my mind. I couldn't believe my ears and ...
Better futures for world's mothers: innovative transportation solutions could help save lives.(Demography)
Jul 01, 2009; ... It is still very risky to have a baby in many parts of the world. In Pakistan, for instance, an estimated 30,000 women a year die of complications related to pregnancy, and approximately 230 Filipino mothers die for every 100,000 live births. "The maternal mortality ratio in the ...
Child homelessness on the rise.(Demography)
Jul 01, 2009; ... The National Center on Family Homelessness currently estimates that as many as one in 50 U.S. children (1.5 million) are homeless or "precariously housed" in temporary quarters such as motels and shelters. As home foreclosures and job layoffs continue, the number of at-risk children will ...
Are small governments getting too big? Local and state governments in the U.S. may be restricting individual rights.(Government)
Jul 01, 2009; ... "Big Government" has been characterized by those on various sides of the political spectrum as an ever-expanding bureaucracy interfering with individual rights and limiting economic freedoms. Some also believe that small government may pose a similar threat. They charge that state and ...
How to win at social networking: new technologies still require old-fashioned manners.(Society)
Jul 01, 2009 ... If you want people to like you, get to know them and learn what your common interests are. That way, you'll have something to talk about. This good advice from your parents for your first day at a new school also works in cyberspace. It's how some people gain more friends than others on ...
A rendezvous with austerity: American consumers are about to learn new habits.
Jul 01, 2009; ... Twin forces of global economic contraction and technological evolution are altering the outlook for American consumers. If they can tighten their belts awhile, they may yet see a new paradigm of prosperity--one whose well-being is more sustainable. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...
Calculating Political Risk.(Brief article)(Book review)
Jul 01, 2009 ... by Catherine Althmus. Earthscan. 2009. 304 pages. Paperback. $48.95. From containing food-borne epidemics to preventing terrorist attacks, public officials have to continuously make decisions that involve high levels of risk. But what exactly is risk? How does it manifest ...
Future Scenarios: How Communities Can Adapt to Peak Oil and Climate Change.(Brief article)(Book review)
Jul 01, 2009 ... by David Holmgren. Chelsea Green Publishing. 2009. 126 pages. Papereback. $12. We need to find new ways of living in the face of climate change and global oil peak, says sustainability-innovator Holmgren. He envisions four future scenarios: techno-explosion, in which large new ...
Hacking the Earth: Understanding the Consequences of Geoengineering.(Brief article)(Book review)
Jul 01, 2009 ... by jamais Cascio. Self-published, www.lulu.com. 2009. 160 pages. $12.95. The greenhouse gases currently in the earth's atmosphere are not going away--unless we apply some special tools to remove them, says environmental futurist Cascio. In this self-published collection of ...
Mom-in-Chief: How Wisdom from the Workplace Can Save Your Family from Chaos.(Brief article)(Book review)
Jul 01, 2009 ... by Jamie Woolf. Jossey-Bass. 2009. 262 pages. $22.95. The skills that working mothers learn at the office can help them create happier family lives at home, says leadership consultant--and proud parent--Woolf. Drawing from her own experiences, she elaborates some readily ...
One Square Inch of Silence: One Man's Journey for Natural Silence in a Noisy World.(Brief article)(Book review)
Jul 01, 2009 ... by Gordon Hempton and John Grossmann. Free Press. 2009, 356 pages. $26. Includes compact disc. Natural silence is harder to find, according to geologist Hempton and freelance-writer Grossmann. In Hempton's expedition across the continental United States, he recorded the sounds ...
Political Economy in a Globalized World.(Brief article)(Book review)
Jul 01, 2009 ... by Joergen Oerstroem Moeller. World Scientific. 2009. 442 pages. $48. Our world's economy is a fragile system, as the widespread damage of the recent financial crisis demonstrated, says economist--and World Future Society Global Advisory Council member--Moeller. He advises ...
The Shut-Down Learner: Helping Your Academically Discouraged Child.(Brief article)(Book review)
Jul 01, 2009 ... by Richard Sehnick. Sentient. 2009. 160 pages. $15.95. Children with diagnoses of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, and other "learning disabilities" need much more than clinical tests and medications; they need understanding and support, says ...