Diet (food preparation and preservation)

On course to collapse or a future of abundance?

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

Deserted farmNews this week from a NASA sponsored study on the possibility of civilization collapse and how it might happen. The study was led by applied mathematician Safa Motesharrei and looked at five factors leading to historical collapses of past civilizations such as the Roman empire: population, climate, water, agriculture, and energy.

2030: A Day in the Life of Tomorrow's Kids

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

2030 book coverSo much energy goes into the future, both preparing for it and finding ways to retail it, but there aren't many good resources for the kids who will inherit it. 2030: A Day in the Life of Tomorrow's Kids is just that - a resource to help today's kids understand a bit of what their future might hold.

It's a nice resource and at only 30 pages long, it manages to cover a wide range of material, including clothing, communications, living space, careers, our populations, housing developments, transportation, recreation and education. The final page includes a nice list of books, reports and websites the reader can access for additional information.

Futurepath: 3D printing

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

Updated 8-7-14 with new content

3d printer setupIf you pay any attention to the tech world, you realize 3D printing, also called additive manufacturing, is the next big thing as dozens of startups are racing to get their product to market ahead of the competition. Everything from toys to guns, shoes to pizza - there are printers being developed to print anything we buy.

 

Artifact from the Future: Choice Reducer 5000

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

Choice reducer 5000 viewThere has been quite a bit of debate over adding facial recognition and allowing pop-up marketing on devices such as Google Glass - think iBeacon updates as an overlay on your vision. Today's IFTF artifact gives some control back to shoppers, using information overlays to help us identify the risk/reward for snacking.

Though I have to wonder if facial recognition could be just as useful. Walk in to a party and get an overlay of someone's real age, Facebook relationship status, favorite book or film, and how many times they've been married. Oh, and throw in their credit rating and you might fend off the jackals.

Where will technology and big data take our future?

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

Stratasys 3d printed shoes

Technology is slowly infiltrating every area of our human existence. I read Alistair Croll's Race Alongside the Machine today on re/code and it led me to a reflection on how we humans are being changed by the technology we develop and where this might lead in the future.

When I came up with the original idea for a future-focused site, I immediately created a short list I called "aspects of human existence." I've changed them to "elements of how we live" and use them as story tags, a taxonomy vocabulary in Drupal terms, in order to help users find content. After reading Croll's piece, I decided today's exercise would be to look at the (now much longer) list and see what I can come up with for where current trends and predictions will take us as we continue to combine humans, technology and big data.

Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next 50 Years

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

Tomorrow Now book coverBruce Sterling has written three non-fiction books. This is his second and was published in 2003. It's a multilayered work, with seven stages (chapters) based on William Shakespeare's As You Like It, in which Jaques's monologue outlines the seven ages of man as infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, and at the end of life. Through each stage, Sterling looks at current (at the time) research and runs it out 50 years, to the middle of our century, attempting to paint a picture of how our lives will change.

Hershey supporting 3D systems to print confections

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

Chocolate heart3D Systems previously announced products to print your own food. This week, The Hershey Company announced a multi-year partnership with the device maker to develop new ways of bringing 3D printed foodstuffs to market. Hershey is the first major food company to officially announce an interest in 3D printed foods.

Via The Verge

 

Whirlpool reinvents the kitchen of the future, all over again

Submitted by admin on

Shot of futuristic table top

Whirlpool shows off a futuristic kitchen design including a reworked cook top, responsive countertops with heating and cooling, and a new approach to refrigeration.  Honestly, it seem they've been reinventing the kitchen for so long, I'm amazed da Vinci didn't present a "Kitchen of the 17th century" when the calendar ticked to 1500.  They're always so colorful and fluid and look like they got blown into space from the Enterprise, but somehow my 2012 kitchen is still using gas fed flame and filled with stone that was ancient when da Vinci's mother was hoping for someone to invent disposable diapers.  That said, I can dream as well...

Pages

Advanced search