Decarbonizing Energy...Workplace Trend Watcher’s Advice...Oceanic “Lab on a Chip”...Cracking Down on Scientific Fraud...Click of the Month: eHow...Editor's Query: Wild Cards.
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
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
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.
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!):
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.
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!
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