Urbanization is happening at a pace that has never been seen before in history. Experts predict that by 2050 the majority, approximately 75% of the world’s population will live in cities. In the future, we can also expect to see a dramatic rise in the number of megacities, which are formed when…

The first time I was on an airplane was in 1982 and the experience of flying has not changed much since then. While long haul flights now offer in-flight entertainment systems, security is certainly slower and I do not seem to get my bags any quicker. In the future, however, we can expect to see…

Economic progress has provided us with conveniences and luxuries that previous generations only dreamed about. At the same time, this progress has created some serious and harmful side effects that will be inherited by future generations. One of the dirtiest secrets of our planet is the “Great…

The impact of the mobile phone on Africa has been nothing sort of extraordinary. Over the past 15 years, the number of mobile connections has grown by 44% per year and today there are more subscribers in Africa than in Europe and the U.S. combined. Now contrast this picture with the one described by…

The Cold War derives its name from the fact that there was no large scale fighting between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. What actually happened was an exercise in game theory, where both nations were forced to recognize that advantage could not be gained through the use of nuclear weapons. This is…

Back in 1960, the typical office layout was like a traditional schoolhouse where desks were lined up in a big open room all facing the same way. In an effort to modernize the workplace, Herman Miller launched an intensive study by bringing in all sorts of experts to discover the optimal office…

When NASA shut down its space shuttle program back in 2011, it closed a door but also opened a big window. This open window is now being accessed by private businesses that have the resources and capital to help NASA send a human to an asteroid by 2025 and to Mars sometime in the 2030s. The first…