MIT scientists have overcome one of the major hurdles in creating large-scale solar power plants. Instead of using batteries to store solar energy, they have found a solution which mimics mother natures energy storage solution - photosynthesis.

Nocera and Matthew Kanan have developed a revolutionary process which will allow use of the sun’s energy to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen and hydrogen are recombined later in a fuel cell - creating energy. This process in clean, efficient, and inexpensive.

Nocera hopes to see the technology implemented within 10 years, providing electricity in daylight through photovoltaic cells, while using excess solar energy to produce hydrogen and oxygen to power their own household fuel cell.

A few thoughts:

01.What percentage of our future energy requirements will be met by this technology?

02.Will ‘in-home’ renewable energy solutions replace the need for wired electricity (what will happen to all the electricity lines?)

03.Will ‘in-home’ renewable energy solutions replace the need for alternative energy plants, such as wind or hydro?

I am a member of the Generation Y, the Digital Native Generation. What does this mean? According to researcher Charles Golvin, technology is embedded into everything that I do. And I couldn’t agree more.

• Generation Y is made up of people aged 18 - 25
• 90% own a PC, 82% own a mobile phone
• Generation Y spends more time online than watching TV

This raises some interesting questions:

01.With the first Digital Native generation beginning to make an influence in the corporate world, what changes do you expect to see in regard to traditional business structures

02.Does the future of advertising involve more of a move away from traditional media and more toward online media

I believe that we will soon begin to see a move away from tradition business structures, because of the increased influence of Digital Native people on corporations. This will involve.

• A move away from a centralised office location - goodbye high-rises
  • Working from home
  • Improvements in internet communication technology
  • Supported by: Increased concern about the environmental impact and cost of daily commutes
• An extreme decline in the popularity of television
  • Television shows will be made available online for free
  • Decline in television advertisements
• An increase in online advertisments
  • Google text-based ads
  • Alternative and brand new advertising techniques
  • Not just on the www

What do you think? What are some of the other implications of an increasingly tech-savvy workforce?

Reporting from Microsoft’s research summit, Gizmodo has an article about a new multi-touch prototype unveiled by software giant.

The UnMouse Pad is touted as “Multi-Touch on steroids”. It’s pressure sensitive surface is paper thin, and, according to creator Ken Perlin, dirt cheap. With the next version of Windows set to be multi-touch focused, is the UnMouse the next Mouse?

Check out a video of the UnMouse Pad in action here.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are using ionic polymers submerged in a river to generate electricity in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania. If the project is successful, the city could one day get 20 percent or more of its electrical power from a mile-long array of tiny plastic devices wiggling away on the bottom of the Kiskiminetas River.

Ionic polymers have the ability to generate current when they move, and researchers are now focusing on finding the best size, shape and array of the plastics to put in the Kiskiminetas River sometime in the next five years.

What questions does this pose for the future?

01.Will Polymers be part of our renewable energy future?

02.How long will it be until we see Polymers used in hydro-electric plants in all major river systems (if at all)?

03.What percentage of our total power usage will Polymers account for?

04.Will Polymers be made redundant by other renewable energy sources?

An interesting article in Business Week discusses the growth in corporate takeovers by Chinese multi-nationals.

A few recent examples include, Lenovo’s aquisition of IBM’s personal computer, China National Offshore Oil Corp’s aquisition of US Based Unocal, Huaneng Power International aquisition of Singapore’s Tuas Power, and Sinosteel’s aquisition of Australian based Midwest.

As a beginning futurist, rather than make my own predictions as to the nature of this trend in Chinese Economics, I am only going to pose a few questions. Here they are:

01.What does a growing interest in foreign companies mean for China’s economic development?

02.What does a growing interest in foreign companies mean for Western Capitalist economic development?

03.If a large portion of companies in a given country are owned by the Chinese, how will this effect politics?

04.What part do the Chinese have to play in an increasingly globalised world?

05.How will the lack of Chinese cross cultural knowledge effect Chinese corportations which operate abroad? Specifically, will the Chinese adopt foreign cultures, or will foreign cultures adopt Chinese culture?

Let me know what you think.