Improved future- August 27, 2005 By DICK PELLETIERBased on developments such asUniversity of Tokyo researchers have developed flexible artificial skin that will allow robots to feel pressure, temperature, light, humidity, strain and sound. IBMs new voice recognition systems will allow a more natural conversation with our silicon friends, and researchers at Redwood Neuroscience Institute dream of one day programming human cognitive behaviour into robots.Dick predicts a time-line for robots in our homes:2010: household robots...http://2020learning.blogspot.com/2005/08/improved-future.html 23 Theses about the future of work- August 27, 2005 by Jim WareThis article articulates 23 theses the author feels will be the way work is undergoing reform. Please read them yourself.Here are a few which attracts my attention a little more than others (because the likely impact on the way we should prepare ourselves and our next generation).1. We need to know our competency and response adequately:Project management tools will support the decomposition of complex, larger work tasks into more discreet units. The rule of two will become a...http://2020learning.blogspot.com/2005/08/23-theses-about-future-of-work.html Skin Cells Converted to Stem Cells- August 25, 2005 According to Washington Post,The technique uses laboratory-grown human embryonic stem cells -- such as the ones that President Bush has already approved for use by federally funded researchers -- to "reprogram" the genes in a person's skin cell, turning that skin cell into an embryonic stem cell itself....if further studies confirm its usefulness, it could offer an end run around the heated social and religious debate that has for years overshadowed the field of human embryonic stem cell...http://2020learning.blogspot.com/2005/08/skin-cells-converted-to-stem-cells.html Free Wi-Fi Get Ready for GoogleNet.- August 22, 2005 via engadget.Here is a possibility from not a too distant future - free wi-fi access powered by location-based advertisement.Digital divide will still exist, but takes on a different meaning.Tags: free wi-fihttp://2020learning.blogspot.com/2005/08/free-wi-fi-get-ready-for-googlenet.html Implications when human can repair ourselves and more- August 18, 2005 A few break-throughs, which are likely to happen in this decade or next will have significant impact on the way we see ourselves, the way we work, the way society can sustain and hence the way we should prepare ourselves and the future generation. I am throwing this open, rather than attempting to suggest any implications.Research for treating diseases with stem cells has been hampered with ethical issues. NewScientist.com has reported (and elsewhere in Australia previously) that primitive...http://2020learning.blogspot.com/2005/08/implications-when-human-can-repair.html Human Washing Machine- August 3, 2005 Via Boingboing. The Google translated English version.I wrote, back in September 2004 that in the future:all physical production will be outsourced to developing or underdeveloped countries, ...The only local jobs commonly available will be from the service industry - most are low paying jobs - restaurants, barbers, cleaners etc...It seems that such personal service, as washing your own body, may disappear as well. My question: What about the job of Hair-stylist Will they be replaced by...http://2020learning.blogspot.com/2005/08/human-washing-machine.html |