Category: Life

Designer Curated Guide for Cities

7/16/2015

On The Grid is a "designer's neighborhood guide" that is both modern and helpful. There are beautiful photos, maps, and illustrations of local landmarks by local designers.
See more @ On The Grid

Send Directions From Desktop Google Maps To Your Android Device - Here's How

7/10/2015

"It can be convenient to pull up directions at a PC while you're sitting at your desk, but you're not going to lug that thing outside to the car when it's time to hit the road. That means you have to get the directions to your phone or tablet, which often means just searching a second time. Back in April, Google tried to alleviate this issue by introducing the ability to send directions directly from Search. Now the company is providing the option to send the information from desktop Maps to the Android app.If you have the latest version of Google Maps installed (9.11.0), you should see Send to deviceappear at the bottom of the card detailing..."

Read more @ Android Police

Check Out the World's Largest Indoor Vertical Farm

7/9/2015

Using LED's and aeroponic methods, the farm is 75 times more productive than an outdoor farm and uses 95% less water. This technology would be amazing in our drought stricken California. We're excited that this "new" industry will be supporting our nutrition needs, and more importantly our students will have the chance to contribute to this industry.
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"With state-of-the-art, cleantech technology using aeroponics and LEDs, AeroFarms is the commercial leader for indoor vertical farming, utilizing a totally controlled growing environment without sun or soil and minimizing harmful transportation miles."

Read more @ AeroFarms

NHS to give volunteers 'synthetic blood' made in laboratory within two years

6/28/2015

Imagine a world when we will no longer worry about blood supply - especially in emergency transfusions and/during catastrophic events.
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"The first attempt at giving human volunteers “synthetic blood” made in a laboratory for the first time will take place within the next two years, the NHS has announced.

A long-awaited clinical trial of artificial red blood cells will occur before 2017, NHS scientists said. The blood is made from stem cells extracted from either the umbilical cord blood of newborn babies or the blood of adult donors.

The trial, thought to be a world first, will involve small transfusions of a few teaspoons of synthetic blood to test for..."

Read more @ The Independent

Unlocking the potential of the Internet of Things

6/25/2015

Many of our students will be involved in further unlocking the potential of the Internet of Things (IoT) providing opportunities and advantages for themselves and for others.
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"The Internet of Things--sensors and actuators connected by networks to computing systems—has received enormous attention over the past five years. A new McKinsey Global Institute report, The Internet of Things: Mapping the value beyond the hype, attempts to determine exactly how IoT technology can create real economic value. Our central finding is that..."

Read More @ McKinsey & Company
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‘Screen Time’ For Kids Is Probably Fine

6/19/2015

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Screen Time | FiveThirtyEight

A student at Milpitas Unified spends around 30 to 150 minutes a day (depending on grade level, instructional objectives, and other learning/personal factors) with a screen. Here is one person's perspective based on evidence.
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"When I was a kid, my parents had strict television rules: no more than an hour a day, and the content must be educational. This meant a lot of PBS. I did briefly convince my mother that the secret-agent show “MacGyver” was about science, but that boondoggle ended when she watched an episode with me. These restrictions seemed severe at the time, but my parents were just following the orders of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): Children and teens should have no more than..."

Read on @ FiveThirtyEight

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Sidewalk Labs

6/11/2015

Sidewalk Labs (SL) is looking to "improve life in cities for everyone through the application of technology to solve urban problems" in the areas of housing, energy, transportation, and government. As many of our students will be participating in solving and/or living the urban experience, we're looking forward to SL's innovation in the urban space.

Chinese and Indian immigration trends above Mexican immigration rates

6/8/2015

Chinese (Mainland + Hong Kong + Taiwan) and Indian immigration is on the rise.
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"For decades, Mexicans have been the largest contingent in America’s 41.3m foreign-born population. But the annual inflow has slowed dramatically. In 2013 Mexico was overtaken as the biggest source of new migrants by both China and India, according to the Census Bureau. In 2007, just before the recession, Mexicans made up 23.6% of all..."

Read more at The Economist

Which Flight Will Get You There Fastest?

4/30/2015

Wonderful infographic if you're planning a trip by air.
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FiveThirtyEight analyzed 6 million flights to figure out which airports, airlines and routes are most likely to get you there on time and which ones will leave you waiting.

Find your fastest route @ FiveThirtyEight

Do we really use only 10 percent of our brains?

9/11/2013

This is an oldie but an oftentimes misquoted myth.
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"Barry L. Beyerstein of the Brain Behavior Laboratory at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver explains.
Whenever I venture out of the Ivory Tower to deliver public lectures about the brain, by far the most likely question I can expect as the talk winds up is, "Do we really only use 10 percent of our brains?" The look of disappointment..."

Read on @ Scientific American