DECARBONIZING ENERGY
Solar, wind, and
biomass energy technologies that are available now could cut carbon
emissions by one-third by 2030, as well as generate thousands of new jobs,
according to "Low-Carbon Energy: A Roadmap," a new report from the
Worldwatch Institute.
These power sources
will need to be integrated with digital smart grids that can flexibly meet
changes in supply and demand. In addition, economical energy storage
capacity must be developed, says the report. These measures will help retire
hundreds of coal-fired plants, which provide 40% of the world's energy.
"We no longer need to
say 'in the future' when talking about a low-carbon energy system," says
Worldwatch President Christopher Flavin, author of the report. "These
technologies—unlike carbon-capture facilities—are being deployed now and are
poised to make the most carbon-intensive fossil fuels obsolete."
DETAILS:
Worldwatch Institute
WORKPLACE TREND WATCHER’S ADVICE
Companies’ planned job
cuts in the United States rose steadily throughout 2008, and heavy
downsizing is expected to continue through the first half of 2009, according
to Chicago-based outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas. But
CEO John Challenger advises job seekers not to take a holiday from their
search.
“It is important for
job seekers to understand that even amid the slowdown there is the need for
organizations to continue hiring to build bench strength, as well as replace
employees who leave or retire,” Challenger observes. “Companies must also
continue to recruit knowing that any future economic expansion will likely
bring the return of labor shortages.”
The firm conducts a
free hotline service each year and will suspend its normal business
operations on December 29 and 30 to take phone calls from anyone needing
job-search advice. The two-day national job search call-in will run from
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central Standard Time both days. The telephone number
is 312-332-5790.
SOURCE:
Challenger,
Gray & Christmas
OCEANIC "LAB ON A CHIP"
A
sturdy array of miniaturized sensors promises to help marine scientists
track nutrients and pollutants in oceans, as well as temperature and other
important chemical and biochemical characteristics.
Having
passed its tests at depths of 1,600 meters (5,250 feet), the marine "lab on
a chip" will be developed further for commercialization, according to
project directors at the University of Southampton.
The scientists also aim to develop small
chips that could identify individual phytoplankton in the oceans.
Among the future applications of the chips will be environmental impact
analysis and monitoring ship ballast water.
SOURCE:
University of Southampton
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SAVE $200! REGISTER NOW FOR WORLDFUTURE
2009 !!
Sign up now for the
World Future Society's next annual meeting, WorldFuture 2009. The theme,
Innovation and Creativity in a Complex World, promises one of the most
inspiring programs yet! Join us in Chicago at the beautiful Hilton Chicago
hotel, July 17-19, 2009.
In addition to an
exciting conference program with leading futurist thinkers, the meeting will
also offer you the opportunity to invest in your own skills through
preconference courses, expand your horizons with a special tour of the
Advanced Photon Source at the Argonne National Laboratory, and help build
innovative and effective learning systems for the future at the Education
Summit.
SAVE $200! REGISTER BY DECEMBER 31:
LEARN MORE:
SUBMIT A CONFERENCE VOLUME ESSAY (Deadline, March 2, 2009. Early
submissions urged!): |
CRACKING DOWN ON SCIENTIFIC FRAUD
Fabricating, manipulating, and stealing data are among the abuses found
among some scientists. Though there is little hard evidence on the extent of
the problem, the impacts of misconduct in science can be deadly, as in the
case of falsified clinical results in drug trials.
While
the United States has given statutory powers to various agencies to
investigate fraud allegations, no European country has yet done so. Now, the
European Science Foundation has organized a new Research Integrity Forum, in
collaboration with the Spanish National Research Council, to help integrate
national codes of ethics.
Differences of national opinion on what constitutes unethical behavior and
how it should be dealt with becomes a big problem when so much more
scientific collaboration crosses national borders, the group notes.
SOURCE:
European Science Foundation
CLICK OF THE MONTH:
eHOW
www.ehow.com
Suppose you had some
really great striped socks that now have holes in the toes. With an economic
climate dictating frugality, you’ll need to save your cute socks by learning
how to repair them yourself. (Do they still even make “darning eggs”?)
Thanks to eHow’s
article on “How to Darn a Sock,” you’ll learn that you can simply use a
light bulb or a small hard ball in the toe of your sock while weaving
matching-colored yarn or embroidery floss over the hole.
Billing itself as the
"How To Do Just About Everything" site, eHow offers articles and videos in
categories ranging from advertising ("How to Advertise or Market with
Bluetooth for Free") to sex and conception ("How to Choose the Sex of Your
Baby").
And for those
interested in contributing their expertise to the eHow knowledge base, there
are also articles on how to write for eHow. A quick scan of the site
uncovered few if any articles on forecasting or scenario development, so
futurists, start your engines!
|
OUTLOOK 2009
More sex, fewer antidepressants. More religious influence in China, less
religious influence in the Middle East and the United States. More truth and
transparency online, but a totally recorded real life.
These are just a few
of the forecasts in the latest edition of the World Future Society’s annual
Outlook report. Order your own copy, or buy several to distribute to your
colleagues, clients, students, and friends!
ORDER PDF or print copies:
READ the Top 10 Forecasts:
WATCH video preview: |
EDITORIAL QUERY: WILD CARDS
Asteroid collisions or
robot invasions may never happen, but if they do, the impacts could be
significant.
What one Wild Card do
you think futurists need to pay attention to right now? Send us a brief
essay (maximum of 500 words) telling us what we should be looking out for,
how it might come about, what the impacts could be, and what we should do
about it. (And remember, not all Wild Cards are bad.)
E-MAIL your Wild Card
essay to mailto:cwagner@wfs.org
FUTURIST UPDATE: News & Previews from the World Future Society is an e-mail
newsletter published monthly as a supplement to THE FUTURIST magazine.
Copyright © 2008, World Future Society, 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 450,
Bethesda, MD 20814, USA. Telephone 1-301-656-8274; e-mail mailto:info@wfs.org
Web site www.wfs.org
mailto: info@wfs.org ; Web
site http://www.wfs.org .
Editor: Cindy Wagner,
mailto:cwagner@wfs.org
Senior Editor: Patrick
Tucker, mailto:ptucker@wfs.org
Network Administrator: Jeff
Cornish, mailto:jcornish@wfs.org
Vice President,
Membership/Conference Operations: Susan Echard,
mailto: sechard@wfs.org
To subscribe, enter your
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To unsubscribe or change
your e-mail address, send an e-mail to
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address" in the subject line.
Submit feedback: to
cwagner@wfs.org
The WORLD FUTURE SOCIETY is a nonprofit, nonpartisan scientific and
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Society, including a subscription to THE FUTURIST, is $59 per year, or $20
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