Human imprinting on the Earth as seen from above

Big Data can be exploited in diffrent ways for different purposes. An example is the work of anthropologist Felix Pharand-Deschenes who has used the information to map the human connection systems (from roads to airplanes to pipelines to the internet) in the Anthropocene (the era of humans domination on the Earth). The Cartography of the Anthropocene is an effort to illustrate the many different ways that global humanity connects and is interdependent. Apart from its initial educational purposes, this information retrieved from multiple sources, provides an interesting perspective for further speculations both in academic and business environments.
Big Data are like underearth treasures: they are there waiting to be dug and exploited by those who have the knowledge and vision to take advantage of them. Here is the new gold rush!

Big Data are becoming a hot issue. The skill shortage of Hadoop profesionals has already hit the jobs market. Not only web2.0 companies are on the search.
The trend among companies of different sectors is to look at the huge amount of data they generate and at those available on the market as a source of valuable information for those able to extract value from them.
The search for workers goes in parallel with the search for value… and, as for the gold rush, there are already pioneers out there while others are setting to move in order to exploit the new opportunities ahead.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/info_management/231902645

Researchers at Northwestern University in the US are using nanomaterials to create devices that can rewire themselves

The Chamaleon reconfigurable chip

Future mobile devices may be able to reconfigure themselves to meet new demands, ­according to researchers that have developed a nanomaterial that can “steer” electrical currents. The discovery could lead to the development of smartphones and devices that can reconfigure their internal ‘wiring’ and evolve into an entirely different and new device, to reflect the changing needs of consumers.

It is not the first time that researchers find a way to introduce flexibility in hardware by designing circuits that can change themselves on the fly. Another example is the Chamaleon in the picture.

We are going to see more and more of them as we learn to use nano materials.

The University of Delaware and energy supplier NRG have formed a new national company, eV2g, to tap and distribute electricity stored in fleets of electric vehicles; the”vehicle-to-grid” hookups will be managed by a system that continuously evaluates grid needs and assembles or “aggregates” power from enough electric vehicle sources to supply those needs.

Charging the car or... recharging the grid!

Architects of the eV2g venture say the approach will give owners of electric vehicle fleets and even individual car owners a secure way to sell surplus, stored energy back into the power grid without jeopardizing the availability of cars and trucks for regular use.

Thirty percent of the cars in the United States,  would have the same capacity as all electric generation in the United States. Local pilot tests have provided as much as 15 kilowatts of electricity to the grid, on demand, from a handful of Autoport and university test vehicles. That amount is more than enough to supply 10 homes for a short period. Efficient use of stored but unused electricity in the batteries of parked vehicles can help regional electricity systems manage sudden spikes in electricity demand or abrupt falloffs in supplies from other sources.