The Futurist back issues from January 2009:
Navy returns to sail power.(TOMORROW IN BRIEF)(Brief article)
Jan 01, 2009 ... Sails may be making a comeback on ships. Using a giant computer-controlled kite called a skysail, a cargo ship chartered by the U.S. Navy for the Military Sealift Command will move supplies and equipment around the globe. Rising 100 yards into the air, the ...
Celebrity trumps beauty.(TOMORROW IN BRIEF)
Jan 01, 2009 ... Consumers make more of a connection with famous faces than beautiful ones, so marketers are looking more toward the stars to sell their products. A recent study by psychologists Carl Senior and Baldeesh Gakkal of Aston University (Birmingham, U.K.) concluded that the modern brain has ...
Space research leads to depression treatment.(TOMORROW IN BRIEF)(Brief article)
Jan 01, 2009 ... A self-guided depression-treatment program developed for astronauts could one day be used for Earthbound sufferers. NASA's Virtual Space Station, a multimedia program for addressing problems that astronauts may encounter on long-term missions, includes a module to guide space crews through ...
Burials at sea benefit coral reefs.(TOMORROW IN BRIEF)(Brief article)
Jan 01, 2009 ... Cemetery plots are growing increasingly scarce and more people are seeking ways to maintain their eco-friendly lifestyles after they die. One option in the "green burial" movement is to contribute your remains to reef restoration. Eternal Reefs, a company founded by a pair of college ...
Microwaves may "pump" water on Moon.(TOMORROW IN BRIEF)(Brief article)
Jan 01, 2009 ... When future astronauts need water on the Moon or Mars, they'll need to go only as far as an outpost where subsurface ice has been pumped out with microwave beams. Materials scientist William Kaukier of the University of Alabama, Huntsville, has devised a system for extracting water by ...
Bad advice on stopping cyberbullies.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
Jan 01, 2009; ... I have to take exception to the terrible advice of psychiatrist Izzy Kalman to not react to the libelous or slanderous acts of cyberbullies ("Beating the Cyberbullies" World Trends & Forecasts, September-October 2008). Bullies don't stop when you ignore them. They push until they are ...
Imagining a religion-free future.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
Jan 01, 2009; ... As one who escaped being indoctrinated with religious dogma as a youngster, I found Aaron M. Cohen's article "Young, Single, and Spiritual" (World Trends & Forecasts, July-August 2008) amusing and confusing. Imagine a world without religion, and then tell me how it would follow ...
When mentors and mentees switch roles: baby boomers and millennials must learn to teach each other.(Economics)
Jan 01, 2009; ... Old-timer Victor remembers that bad run-in your company once had with a certain supplier; he warns you to check all references before signing a crucial contract. New comer Sasha seems to keep to herself, but she turns out to be one of the best salespeople on your staff. She shows the rest ...
Investing in water.(Economics)
Jan 01, 2009; ... Water-related services and technologies represent a trillion-dollar-a-year global investment opportunity, according to a new report from Calvert, an investment management firm specializing in sustainable and socially responsible investment. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...
Video games and behavioral modification: new technological methods help foster self-esteem.(Technology)
Jan 01, 2009; ... Anyone who's ever been snapped at by someone having a bad day knows that feelings of insecurity lead people to behave in ways that might be deemed aggressive. Psychologist Mark Baldwin of McGill University says that insecurity, bullying behavior, and so on are emotional reactions that ...
Be your own big brother.(Technology)
Jan 01, 2009; ... Call it Web-based personal fitness, or maybe Vanity 2.0: In January 2009, a Silicon Valley start-up called Fitbit will release a wireless system that allows people to track and monitor intimate physical information about themselves and then upload that info to a publicly viewable Web site ....
Teens and cell phones: cell phones can be noisy and distracting. But they can also be an aid to learning.(Society)
Jan 01, 2009; ... Many schools frown on students using cell phones in the classrooms, but a British study suggests that they reconsider. The mobile technology could in fact be a powerful learning tool. "We hope that, in the future, mobile phone use will be as natural as using any other technology ...
Seoul: model of sustainability: Korean capital doubles as a research lab for megacity development.(Government)
Jan 01, 2009; ... The population, of Seoul, Korea, has exploded to more than 10 million--double that if you include the suburbs--so the city now claims to be the fifth largest metropolis in the world. The resulting environmental problems have contributed to an overall decrease in quality of life. The ...
Youth depression and suicide: medical advisory warnings may have some nasty side effects.(Demography)
Jan 01, 2009; ... Warning labels meant to protect young people might be doing them more harm than good, according to a Nationwide Children's Hospital study on antidepressants and youth suicide rates. The study finds that suicides of Americans under 20 years old rose 18% between 2003 and 2004 ...
Garbage as a renewable resource: cheap alternative energy may be no farther than your nearest landfill.(Environment)
Jan 01, 2009; ... Mark Redwood has a keen appreciation for garbage. As a research fellow with the University of Birmingham's Unit of Functional Bionanomaterials, Redwood has helped develop a process that uses bacteria cultures to convert food waste into hydrogen fuel. "There are ...
Reinventing morality: evolutionary biology and neuroscience are adding to our understanding of a historically unscientific area.(Report)
Jan 01, 2009; ... Morality may be something different for everyone; it may be the set of rules handed down by God to Moses on stone tablets, or the system in which karma is passed through the Dharma. But morality is also a decision-making process, one that plays out in the brain in the same way a mechanical ...
Marketing a more-healthful future: a moderate revolution: advertisers have cleverly coaxed us to supersize our waistlines, while urban planners and a knowledge-based economy have removed the necessity for us to move around. For a fitter future, we'll need the willpower to reverse these trends.(List)
Jan 01, 2009; ... One future of fitness may be tied to a pill that simulates the body's response to exercise. Just swallow it once a day and you'll have a healthy body-mass index, even if you munch chips on your couch from morning to night. Doctors may never prescribe such a pill, as much as you might want ...
Toward a fitter future: why education must get physical: positive trends toward a healthier future society include innovative fitness equipment and activities that are appealing to adults. But the fitness ethos must begin earlier in life, and education should reintroduce physical activity for children, argues a futurist consultant.
Jan 01, 2009; ... The promotion of healthy life-styles is benefiting from calorie-burning innovations that are almost as numerous as calorie-gaining temptations. One only has to view late-night cable TV for a little while to see an advertisement for some type of exercise equipment promising extraordinary ...
Immortality 2.0: a silicon valley insider looks at California's Transhumanist movement.
Jan 01, 2009; ... One afternoon in late 2007, a Yahoo executive named Salim Ismail stepped up to a podium at company headquarters to talk about what some call "the world's most dangerous idea." An intense man from India, Ismail faced a conference room packed with computer whizzes from the likes of Google, ...
The design economy: a brave new world for businesses and consumers.
Jan 01, 2009; ... A cutting-edge technology may soon converge with an innovative business model, giving consumers the power to download and print their own products--auto parts, jewelry, and even the kitchen sink. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] At this ...
Serving the Society's Professional Members: the World Future Society's founding president gives a brief history of the professional membership program and outlines its future.(NEWS FROM WFS)
Jan 01, 2009; ... The creation of a new journal, World Future Review, is a new and promising approach to a long-standing problem: How can the World Future Society best serve those members who want more-detailed information than can be published in THE FUTURIST magazine? The problem surfaced as ...
China's Ascent: Power, Security, and the Future of International Politics.(Brief article)(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009 ... edited by Robert S. Ross and Zhu Feng. Cornell University Press. 2008. 323 pages. $22.95. A great power transition likely to affect populations around the world is now under way as economic and political clout shifts from the United States to China, according to ...
Concrete Reveries: Consciousness and the City.(THE FUTURIST BOOKSHELF)(Brief article)(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009 ... by Mark Kingwell The Viking Press. 2008. 292 pages. $24.95. Cities both express who we are and shape who we are, says philosopher and cultural critic Mark Kingwell, arguing that to understand a city's form is to understand those who live and work within it. Citing the theories ...
Dignity for All: How to Create a World without Rankism.(THE FUTURIST BOOKSHELF)(Brief article)(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009 ... by Robert W. Fuller and Pamela A. Gerloff'. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. 2008. 86 pages. $13.95. Rankism--abuse of those who are perceived to be of "lower rank"--is a pernicious form of prejudice in society today, whether we are aware of it or not, according to former college ...
The Economics of Regional Clusters: Networks, Technology and Policy.(THE FUTURIST BOOKSHELF)(Brief article)(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009 ... edited by Uwe Blien and Gunther Maier. Edward Elgar Publishing Inc. 2008. 311 pages. $125. Why are some locales more economically vibrant than others? How might the laggards catch up? Economists Blien and Maier, together with 23 other contributing authors, seek ...
Future Imperfect: Technology and Freedom in an Uncertain World.(THE FUTURIST BOOKSHELF)(Brief article)(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009 ... by David Friedman. Cambridge University Press. 2008. 351 pages. $30. There is no telling what the world will look like a hundred years from now, and we best not worry too much about it, says physicist and law professor Friedman. The author stretches his forecasting skills to ...
High Wire: The Precarious Financial Lives of American Families.(THE FUTURIST BOOKSHELF)(Brief article)(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009 ... by Peter Gosselin. Basic Books. 2008. 374 pages. $26.95. America's high economic performance is the envy of the industrialized world., but its strong indicators mean little to the millions of average Americans who are themselves one medical emergency away from long-term ...
The Longevity Revolution: The Benefits and Challenges of Living a Long Life.(THE FUTURIST BOOKSHELF)(Brief article)(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009 ... by Robert N. Butter. Public Affairs Books. 2008. 553 pages. $30. A revolution is coming, but we're not ready for it, says gerontologist Butler, warning that after 2025, one out of every five people will be more than 65 years old. Butler takes account of this demographic sea ...
The New Invisible College: Science for Development.(THE FUTURIST BOOKSHELF)(Brief article)(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009 ... by Caroline S. Wagner. Brookings Institution Press. 2008. 157 pages. Paperback. $26.95. The many scientific communities of the world's nations are evolving into one "invisible college," and the world's poorest nations are the likely biggest winners, according to SRI ...
Nurturing Nonviolent Children: A Guide for Parents, Educators, and Counselors.(THE FUTURIST BOOKSHELF)(Brief article)(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009 ... by Elsie Jones-Smith. Praeger Publishers. 2008. 316 pages. $39.95. Homicides, suicides, school shootings, and other violent acts are frighteningly common among young people today, observes psychologist Jones-Smith. She calls upon parents to show their children better ways of ...
Planet Google: One Company's Audacious Plan to Organize Everything We Know.(THE FUTURIST BOOKSHELF)(Brief article)(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009 ... by Randall Stross. Free Press. 2008. 275 pages. $26. Beneath Google's anti-corporate credo and its official mantra "Don't be evil" lies a technological leviathan with frightening power and reach, according to New York Times columnist Strauss. The author combs from lengthy ...
Real Change: From the World That Fails to the World that Works.(THE FUTURIST BOOKSHELF)(Brief article)(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009 ... by Newt Gingrich. Regnery Publishing. 2008. 310 pages. $27.95. America's government needs to become more responsive to its citizens if it expects to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, says former House Speaker Gingrich. America could experience a new golden era of ...
Save the Males: Why Men Matter, Why Women Should Care.(THE FUTURIST BOOKSHELF)(Brief article)(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009 ... by Kathleen Parker. Random House. 2008. 215 pages. $26. Boys are growing up today in a society stacked against them, according to columnist Parker, who fears long-term trouble for hoys and girls alike, due to what she says is society's constant belittling of men and their ...
Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life.(THE FUTURIST BOOKSHELF)(Brief article)(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009 ... by Robert ?,. Reich. Vintage Books. 2008. 272 pages. Paperback. $15.95. There is such a thing as too much consumer choice, says former U.S. Labor Secretary Reich, who warns of increasing])' fierce competition among corporations to attract and keep customers. Reich traces the ...
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us).(THE FUTURIST BOOKSHELF)(Brief article)(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009 ... by Tom Vanderbilt. Alfred A. Knopf. 2008. 402 pages. $24.95. You can tell a lot about a society by the way it drives, according to freelance journalist Vanderbilt. The writer of culture, design, science, and technology news combines human psychology with demographics and crash ...
2008 State of the Future.(THE FUTURIST BOOKSHELF)(Brief article)(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009 ... by. Jerome C. Glenn, Theodore J. Cordon, and Elizabeth Florescu. The Millennium Project, World Federation of UN Associations. 2008. 104 pages. Paperback plus CD-ROM. $49.95. Life is improving in most parts of the world, but a number of factors could easily turn things for the ...
The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream.(THE FUTURIST BOOKSHELF)(Brief article)(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009 ... By John Zogby. Random House. 2008. 235 pages. $26. Using survey results and scholarly analysis, pollster Zogby portrays a vast movement among Americans toward diversity, global consciousness, life within limits, and spiritual fulfillment. At the forefront of this movement is ...
The Emergence of a Global Generation; A maverick pollster explains why the new American Dream is better than the old one.
Jan 01, 2009; ... In The Way We'll Be, pollster John Zogby draws exhaustively on the results of his organization's long-term polling to reveal what trends are guiding the United States into the future. On the one hand, distrust of political leaders and the mainstream media has become highly pervasive, ...
Hope in the State of the Future.(2008 State of the Future )(Book review)
Jan 01, 2009; ... 2008 State of the Future by Jerome C. Glenn, Theodore J. Gordon, and Elizabeth Florescu. The Millennium Project, www.millennium-project.org. 2008. 104 pages plus a CD-ROM containing 6,300 pages. $49.95. Order from the Futurist Bookshelf, www.wfs.org/bkshelf.htm. The Millennium ...
WorldFuture 2009: innovation and creativity in a complex World.(Conference notes)
Jan 01, 2009 ... Why should you attend the World Future Society's 2009 conference? In these times of unprecedented volatility, the soundest business and governmental strategies address the greatest number of possibilities and identify risks and opportunities in the midst of crisis. At WorldFuture 2009, ...
A "Silent Spring" draws closer: the disappearance of many common birds from our everyday lives bodes ill for the future of the global environment.(VISIONS)
Jan 01, 2009; ... Populations of many familiar birds are experiencing dramatic declines around the world, reports BirdLife International. In its latest State of the World's Birds report, the organization looks with alarm at the trend not just to the loss of birds, but also for what this loss indicates about ...