Haft2Know

A recent breakthrough might eliminate the need for diabetics to repeatedly check their blood sugar by pricking their fingers. A scientist at the University of Western Ontario has developed a contact lens that will react according to the body's blood sugar and change colour to convey elevated or reduced levels to the wearer. The lens is being hailed as among recent times' biggest medical breakthroughs. In the coming years, we think we'll see more technology emerging, in which colour becomes a language we can both speak, and understand.

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TrendWatching.com presents their annual list of top 10 consumer trends, for 2010. These are trends they feel will help shape global demand next year, and in turn, supply. Themes centre around the end of the recession, pragmatism of goods of services, and of course the environment.

The sociology of the city features high in the list. A hundred years ago, less than 5 percent of the world's population lived in cities. In 2008, that number crossed the 50 percent threshold for the first time in history. In the last two decades, urban population of the developing world has grown by an average of 3 million people per week. What does this all mean to those living in urban centres?

Another familiar one to us is known as 'Tracking & Alerting' - using wireless communication to notify potential customers of what's available, and where - at any given moment. A perfect example of this is this past Haft2Know, about a mobile truck that sells warm cookies and desserts and alerts its NYC customers to its whereabouts by its website, and its Tweets.

The trends are fascinating, and in depth. Check out all ten here.

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Move over, Kryogenics. Swiss DNA Bank offers a different way to be immortalized.

'Perpetual docs management' is how this company describes what they do. It's an infinite time capsule, and for a one-time starting fee of about $300 USD you'll receive a kit in the mail that will allow you to submit to the capsule any data you may wish - photos, music, stories, your cat's pointilist pieces - as well as your own DNA. And there it will sit in perpetuum below the Swiss Alps, allowing future generations of your own family not only to remember you, but clone one of your own offspring to be your genetic twin.

The infinite link is here

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Housed at Arizona State University, the International Institute for Species Exploration (yes you read it right - cool, eh?) just released their annual list of top 10 new species. Among the proud recipients for 2008 are a 14" long insect (the world's longest), a species of coffee that is naturally decaffeinated, and a snail with a shell that pivots around four separate axes (pictured).

The list is compiled every year to highlight how incomplete our knowledge of our earth, really is. Since modern taxonomy and classification began in the 18th Century, an estimated total of 1.8 million species has been catalogued, which many scientists believe is a fraction of the number of living species on our planet; some estimate there may be as many as 100 million species alive today, of which of course, humbly we are but one.

And so this got us thinking. It would appear that when you think you've exhausted all avenues, and thought through every possible idea, there are still undiscovered ones that exist - you just don't know about them yet - and sometimes they're as elusive as a half-inch long seahorse.

The top 10 are all listed here; they're not as good looking as Oscar winners, but they're much more important.

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The New York Times recently published this article, outlining a study conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia. Doctors there tested the effects of colour on people's cognitive abilities, and as it turns out, those faced with the colour red performed better on detail-oriented tasks: proofreading, memory, accuracy, correctness, etc. Those stimulated by the presence of blue fared better in the imaginative sense: coming up with a new creative use for something, or developing a new product.

An explanation for this duality may come from the mood people are in at the time. A difficult, or problematic situation will make people inherently pay more attention to detail, assessing one's entire surroundings for the best way to get through a situation. Red does this.

Blue rooms however, calm people, making them a little more at ease, and happier. When we're not confronted with danger, or even mere concern, we're freer to let our imaginations take flight a little.

Is your office the colour it should be?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/science/06color.html

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New research shows there's a good chance our galaxy could lose its celestial stability in 40 million years, throwing planets off course and crashing into one another. On the upside, no plastic bags are expected to exist afterward.

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Happy Earth Day. After nearly four decades of relative obscurity, April 22 is finally becoming more well known for its environmentally benevolent intentions than for its lesser known title as the Feast Day of St. Epidodius, (who coincidentally, is the patron saint of victims of betrayal). Some however, are starting to notice a creeping commercialization of this most uncommercial of dates. In fact, the more environmentally aware we become, the more retailers we're seeing that are offering Earth Day promotions and sales. (Could cut-out paper decorations and greeting cards be next?) There's a great article highlighting April's new oxymoronic Monday on Advertising Age's website. It'll make you question how green you really are.

adage.com

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