In this issue:
A solar cell that could mimic photosynthesis—the process that plants use to convert sunlight and water into energy—has long been deemed impractical due to the high costs and instability of its materials. Now, a new artificial leaf that overcomes these problems has been developed by a team of researchers led by Daniel Nocera of MIT.
Powerful and inexpensive catalysts made of nickel and cobalt can split water into its component hydrogen and oxygen, with 10 times the efficiency of natural photosynthesis, according to Nocera.
To be used as a power source, the hydrogen and oxygen would be stored in fuel cells. With the artificial leaf, a single gallon of water could produce a day’s worth of electricity for one house in a developing country, Nocera reported to the American Chemical Society meeting in March. —Cynthia G. Wagner
Source: American Chemical Society, http://www.acs.org
Assistive-reproductive technologies that result in multiple births may be behind many of the admissions to neonatal intensive care units. As many as 17% of newborns receiving care at one Canadian hospital were from such multiple births, according to a study led by Keith Barrington of the University of Montreal.
Of these infants, roughly 91%, or 75 babies, were twins or triplets whose mothers used in vitro fertilization or IVF. Health problems among them were serious: “There were six deaths, five babies who developed a brain bleed, and four babies who developed a potentially blinding eye condition,” Barrington reports.
Barrington and his colleagues now advise that the number of eggs implanted during an IVF procedure should be limited to one to prevent twinning. While this could decrease the number of babies born with birth defects, it may also result in women being forced to undergo additional IVF procedures before conception.
New techniques for pre-implantation genetic screening, such as that developed by researchers at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), could help doctors improve the chances for genetically healthier fertilized embryos prior to IVF implantation. Using the new technique, doctors can screen embryos for almost all structural and numerical chromosomal abnormalities and implant the embryos within 12 hours, which increases chances for successful pregnancy.
Sources: University of Montreal http://www.nouvelles.umontreal.ca/udem-news/news/20110414-le-financement-de-la-procreation-assistee-comporte-de-grands-bienfaits.html
Keith Barrington’s paper, published in the Journal of Pediatrics (Canadian): http://download.journals.elsevierhealth.com/pdfs/journals/0022-3476/PIIS0022347611001806.pdf
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona http://www.uab.es/servlet/Satellite/latest-news/news-detail/improvements-in-embryonic-preimplantation-genetic-screening-techniques-1096476786473.html?noticiaid=1302676660322
The new Johns Hopkins Systems Institute, initiated in April, will bring together experts in engineering, medicine and public health, education, and other areas to generate innovation and long-term solutions for health-care delivery, infrastructure, education, and energy.
“The complex problems in these areas don’t lend themselves to simple solutions that rely only on engineering and technology. The solutions will have to integrate other factors, such as socioeconomic, education and cultural issues, to be viable on the large scale,” says Mo Dehghani of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, the Institute’s director.
Source: Johns Hopkins University, http://releases.jhu.edu/2011/04/04/systems_institute/
If you own a highly capable smartphone that can play high-definition movies and games, take photos, and connect you to the global positioning system with a flick of the wrist, then congratulations. You also own a power-hungry device that needs constant recharging. All that capability is part of the problem. Even though you can only use one app at a time on the iPhone, your device is doing a lot processing you don’t see, such as storing videos, dialoging with servers, and hooking up with satellites, and it’s doing all that all the time.
Wonyoung Kim, a Harvard University graduate student, has developed a tiny DC-DC power converter to help the chips in your so-called smartphone use energy with a bit more intelligence. Kim’s multi-core voltage regulator (MCVR) would work to keep each chip in the device from drawing too much power when not in use, and then draw power quickly during instances of user demand.
“Including the MCVR on a chip would add about 10% to the manufacturing cost, but with the potential for 20% or more in power savings,” says Kim.
Source: Harvard University, http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news-events/press-releases/multi-core-voltage-regulator
A mathematician who helped bring scientific rigor to speculation about the future, Olaf Helmer died in Oak Harbor, Washington, on April 14, less than two months from his 101st birthday.
Helmer (ranked number 37 on the Encyclopedia of the Future’s list of the world’s 100 most influential futurists) is best known as the co-inventor of the Delphi forecasting methodology — the systematic polling of experts in multiple rounds to create an authoritative consensus about some aspect of the future.
He was a “legendary futurist,” notes Paul Saffo, president of the Institute for the Future, which Helmer co-founded after departing the RAND Corporation in 1968.
It was important, Helmer believed, to use this new methodology for the public good and not exclusively for military strategy. Many of Helmer’s early papers on Delphi polling and other futures work are available at RAND. —Cynthia G. Wagner
Sources:
RAND: http://www.rand.org/pubs/authors/h/helmer-hirschberg_olaf.html
Olaf Helmer on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olaf_Helmer
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WorldFuture 2011: Moving from Vision to Action promises to be a fun, fast, and information-packed weekend, but have you considered taking a “deeper dive” into a particular futurist area at a preconference course? These sessions, held on the Thursday and Friday before the opening General Session, take an in-depth view of important topics. Follow the links below to learn more and register for these sessions or luncheons.
Preconference Courses
Thursday, July 7
Friday, July 8
Education Summit
Thursday and Friday, July 7-8
Education and the New Normal
Don’t forget to register for luncheon sessions before these special events sell out. Register online.
Saturday: The New Maritime Arctic: Global Connections
Lawson W. Brigham, distinguished professor of Geography and Arctic Policy, University of Alaska–Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska
Sunday: Prospects for Defeating Aging Altogether
Aubrey de Grey, biomedical gerontologist, chief science officer SENS Foundation, editor-in-chief, Rejuvenation Research, Cambridge, United Kingdom
We hope to see you there.
A selection of articles, special reports, and other future-focused material on our Web site that you might have missed. Members may sign in to read and comment. Not a member? Join now at http://www.wfs.org/renew.
Breakthroughs now emerging in biotechnology, robotics, and other key areas bear the potential to reshape life on Earth. Two military analysts describe the 20 innovations that will have the biggest impacts in the near future, plus five prospective technologies that could have major repercussions in the longer term. Read more
Two futurists map out the convergence of multiple global challenges, offering divergent viewpoints — one optimistic and one pessimistic — on the likelihood of successfully meeting these challenges and turning them into global progress. Read more
Global commercial trends threaten farmers’ livelihoods — and the global food supply along with them, argues an agricultural policy watcher. The consequences for human beings everywhere could be dire.Read more
A Japanese company is pitching an alternative energy plan that’s out of this world — and potentially the largest public infrastructure project in human history. Read more
The author of Saving Sea Turtles: Extraordinary Stories from the Battle Against Extinction warns that ocean-going species throughout the world face other dangers: fishing, coastal manufacturing, excess tourist activity, and climate change. Read more