• THE COMING IMPACT OF ADDITIVE MAUFACTURING – aka 3D PRINTING – CANNOT BE OVERSTATED. Its convergence with robotics and artificial intelligence will continue to rapidly accelerate “the shift of wealth from labor to capital… dramatically reducing the costs and number of people required… displacing laborers who will have no income, radically affecting global wealth distribution… and likely lead to a slowing (and perhaps even reversal) of the decades-long trend of increasing globalization.” Neither a product’s nature nor size is much longer a factor. 3D printing now includes most metals, ceramics, carbon fiber & nanotubes, as well as stem cells and foods – in fields ranging from manufacture to design, biology and agriculture. IBM can now print microchips; large printers are producing cars, houses and even five-story buildings; Australians have actually printed a jet engine; UPS has a factory with 100 printers that accepts orders, prices, prints and ships the same day, with plans to expand to 1,000 printers; a military plan calls for daily production of 10,000 autonomous, explosive-loaded drones. The coming decade will unequivocally change the world we know today. [WARONTHEROCKS.COM – Dec 28, 15]
  • SINCE THE NEXT U.S. PRESIDENT WILL LIKELY APPOINT 3 OR 4 SUPREME COURT JUSTICES, this year’s federal election will literally determine the direction of America’s culture for at least a generation to come. Between the stark alternatives of conservatism and unabated progressivism, the impact of Supreme Court appointments will turn America clearly in one direction or the other, versus the ‘limbo’ status which has currently evolved from flip-flop decisions – including conflict over matters of “social equality, political democracy, and the nature of government… stemming from the rise of the Internet, changing patterns in immigration, racial & ethnic diversity, family organization & gender roles, and declining religious piety… The 2016 election looms as one of the most pivotal moments of our time.” [ROLLING STONE – Dec 17, 15]
  • SELF-DRIVING CARS ARE AROUND THE CORNER. Ford Motors and Google have agreed to jointly develop self-driving vehicles which support “a new business of auto ride-sharing… with a goal of eventually launching taxi or car-sharing services in urban areas that would compete with Uber and others.” Google already has 53 test vehicles with 1.3 million road miles of experience in California and Texas, soon to be accelerated with a target of customer sales within five years. [YAHOO.COM – Dec 21, 15]
  • MENS’ GENERAL COMMITMENT TO HEALTH IS WANING. (1) A 500-guy survey found that average 1-hour ­­­­­workout time is down to only 34 minutes. Nearly half the average gym session is now spent watching TV, texting or emailing (4 min); waiting or resetting equipment, judging others & small talk (11½ min); or resting, water breaks, self-weighing, etc. (10½ min). So actual workout is less than 57% of the hour. (2) Increasing television-time not only competes for exercise but increases risk of death, since “sitting for too long (in ‘potato position’) can cause blood clots in legs which may then travel to lungs, causing pulmonary embolism.” An 18-year Japanese study of 40 to 60 year olds found that 2½ to 5 hours  of daily TV-viewing triples the risk of flat-lining, and more than 5 hours increases risk by 600%.  [MEN’S HEALTH – Jan/Feb 16]
  • NEXT TECHNOLOGY ADVANCE: SOON, GAMBLING TABLES WITHOUT DEALERS. The recent Casino Trade Show in Macau introduced an attractive & sexy female robot who, via “scanners located in card shoes (where shuffled cards are stored before dealing), is enabled to recognize hands dealt… She is more efficient, typically dealing 30% more than a human can in any given period… and her next-advanced model will incorporate face-recognition capabilities so that customers – especially high rollers – get more personalized service, such as being greeted by name and in their own tongue.” [BLOOMBERG BUSINESS WEEK – Dec 28, 16]
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK: Google’s Quantum Computer is 100 million times faster than a normal computer!               

Check out brilliant Israeli military technology – 3 minute video:   https://www.facebook.com/ScoopeIsrael/videos/436040796602415/

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