Tag archives for innovation
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A prominent social scientist says our best innovating days are behind us. Not a chance.
We’re trying something new. For decades, you’ve told us, your grandparents have sent you our paper edition. You’ve seen the photos, read the stories. But one thing your grandparents probably didn’t teach you was that geography can be social, too. You can follow your favorite photographers on Instagram, and interact with some explorers on Twitter and Facebook as they cross the planet and find amazing new things. Later this month, I’ll be starting an epic trip–and tweeting it, too.
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Earlier this week I was invited to London to spend an hour talking to the twenty-five “Join Our Core” semi-finalists, a social entrepreneurship competition set up through a collaboration between Ben & Jerry’s, Ashoka UK and VSO. It’s vital that we not only continue to encourage and inspire young people into the field, but that…
Posted by Watson, the IBM machine that proved its “Jeopardy!” dominance on national TV one year ago, remains a bright example of the way that research can make our future better, writes U.S. Congressman Rush Holt in this guest post. But it is up to us to make that future real by making the necessary investments in R&D, he adds.
In Digital Diversity, a new series of blog posts for Nat Geo News Watch starting today, innovator, anthropologist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer Ken Banks shares exciting stories about how innovative technologies and mobile phones are being used throughout the world to improve, enrich, and empower billions of lives. This first post sets the stage.…
Prelude to PopTech 2010: ‘Brilliant Accidents, Necessary Failures, Improbable Breakthroughs’
Posted by Ford Cochran on October 18, 2010 The PopTech 2010 conference–an annual gathering of “visionary thinkers, leaders and doers in science, technology, design, the corporate and social sectors, entrepreneurship, education and the arts”–kicks off this Wednesday in Camden, Maine. By Ford Cochran Curated by futurist and National Geographic Fellow Andrew Zolli, the event (much of which will be webcast live Thursday through…
Bioneers Seek, Share Solutions Inspired by Nature
Posted by Ford Cochran on October 14, 2010 Over the next three days, catch 2010 Bioneers Conference highlights streamed live here on Nat Geo News Watch. By Ford Cochran Kenny Ausubel coined the term “Bioneers” two decades ago to describe social and scientific innovators whose solutions to human problems derive from nature and natural systems. Ausubel’s vision became the nonprofit Bioneers, which promotes…
National Geographic Emerging Explorer Ken Banks is an anthropologist, conservationist, and mobile technology innovator who built a communications platform to empower grassroots organizations throughout the developing world. Frontline SMS solves critical communication problems by enabling cell phone users to exchange mass message information without access to the internet–or even constant electricity. His kiwanja.net organization strives…
National Geographic Emerging Explorer Albert Yu-Min Lin uses a suite of non-invasive technologies, like satellite imagery, remote sensors, and ground-penetrating radar, to explore the world’s wild places without disturbing them and set the stage for their future conservation. Nat Geo News Watch contributor Brian Handwerk interviewed Lin about the opportunities presented by innovation and technology to help…
Meat Farms, Solar Shingles, Tank-Farmed TunaAmong Some of the Year’s Best Inventions
Posted by Tasha Eichenseher of National Geographic on November 13, 2009 Along with teleporting technology, electronic eyes, and HIV immunization, a handful of green innovations that could change the way we eat, heat, and drive made Time magazine’s 2009 list of best inventions, released today. Coming in at number two: Tank-bred southern bluefin tuna that successfully spawned in Port Lincoln, Australia. Southern bluefin, sought after for…
