We Are Now One Year Away From Global Riots, Complex Systems Theorists Say

What’s the number one reason we riot? The plausible, justifiable motivations of trampled-upon humanfolk to fight back are many—poverty, oppression, disenfranchisement, etc—but the big one is more primal than any of the above. It’s hunger, plain and simple. If there’s a single factor that reliably sparks social unrest, it’s food becoming too scarce or too expensive. So argues a group of complex systems theorists in Cambridge, and it makes sense.
In a 2011 paper, researchers at the Complex Systems Institute unveiled a model that accurately explained why the waves of unrest that swept the world in 2008 and 2011 crashed when they did. The number one determinant was soaring food prices. Their model identified a precise threshold for global food prices that, if breached, would lead to worldwide unrest.

The MIT Technology Review explains how CSI’s model works: “The evidence comes from two sources. The first is data gathered by the United Nations that plots the price of food against time, the so-called food price index of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN. The second is the date of riots around the world, whatever their cause.”  Read More...
http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/we-are-now-one-year-and-counting-from-global-riots-complex-systems-theorists-say--2#ixzz2UZHy1OUO

Jib.li connects people who need to send something, somewhere, with those travelling that way.

 

Jib.li connects people who need to send something, somewhere, with those travelling that way. Jibli is pronounced dʒi:b li: which means Bring Me in Arabic.

Founded in Dec 2011 and based in Paris, Jib.li is a social platform that connects people who are travelling, with those who want to ship something. The site was designed and developed by two young Algerian information technology engineers. Jib.li is based on social networks to build trusted relations between people. It could be to send your keys to your roommate who lost them when you're on holidays, or maybe a sudden desire to taste your grama's delicious cookies. You can also just carry stuff for people to make some money.

The newborn site provides a platform for those seeking to get round the classic excess baggage weight problem. A search engine allows users to see who is available to transport certain objects, what routes they are travelling on and the price offered for the service. Similarly, those who may have some spare room in their suitcase can post an advertisement stating their departure and arrival cities and can search for objects to transport.

The concept is simple and easy to use and is just a way of formalising a practice which is already in vogue among those who are often led to travel, especially young passengers.

Link to jib.li

FreshWall Indoor Vertical Garden Purifies the Air While Growing Plants and Fresh Veggies

FreshWall is a vertical garden that redefines indoor agriculture while maximizing the air purification ability of plants. The innovative green wall combines high-end technology with Scandinavian design aesthetics to encourage a green and healthy lifestyle.

It is an affordable, automated green wall for the urban dwellers, which does not take too much of the floor space. FreshWall brings vertical gardening indoors and requires minimal maintenance. All you need to do is to put the plants into the pot, plug it to your FreshWall and add water to the reservoir. Plug in the cord and the FreshWall takes care of the rest.

Moreover, each plant in FreshWall purifies air as well as 100 normal plants. FreshWall combines the best of hydroponics and aeroponics to help you grow plants throughout the year. The integrated watering system delivers the right amount of water and nutrients to all the plants. As the air circulates through the plants root systems, plants grow healthier and faster. Currently the product is mainly for business use, but the team just launched an Indiegogo campaign with the goal of making it available to everyone.

Sweden’s Quest To Be The First Oil-Free Nation

Sweden’s Quest To Be The First Oil-Free Nation (via Clean Technica)

This post first appeared on Fuel Freedom By Zana Nesheiwat Famous for Volvo, Ikea and Absolut Vodka, Sweden is now on a new pursuit to become the first completely oil-free economy in the world by 2020. The oil crisis in the early 1970s forced Sweden to embark on a quest for alternative energy sources…

The Tunnel People That Live Under The Streets Of America

Did you know that there are thousands upon thousands of homeless people that are living underground beneath the streets of major U.S. cities?  It is happening in Las Vegas, it is happening in New York City and it is even happening in Kansas City.  As the economy crumbles, poverty in the United States is absolutely exploding and so is homelessness. Read More..
The Tunnel People That Live Under The Streets Of America

Scientists Develop Robobees to Pollinate Flowers as Bee Populations Decline

Honey bee populations around the world are in decline due to causes ranging from ‘super mites‘ to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and even cell phones – and if the insects disappear completely the planet’s ecosystems would be in peril. The issue has become so dire that now a team of Harvard and Northeastern University scientists are working on a swarm of miniature Robobee robots that could pollinate flowers and do the job of real bees if required.
Speaking to Scientific American, the team leaders said: “In 2009 the three of us began to seriously consider what it would take to create a robotic bee colony. We wondered if mechanical bees could replicate not just an individual’s behavior but the unique behavior that emerges out of interactions among thousands of bees. We have now created the first RoboBees—flying bee-size robots—and are working on methods to make thousands of them cooperate like a real hive.”

World’s First Algae-Powered Building by Splitterwerk Architects Opens This Month in Germany

(Source: Inhabitat)

We’ve all heard about buildings powered by solar or wind energy, but an algae-powered building? Splitterwerk Architects have designed just such a structure, dubbed BIQ, which will be the very first of its kind. Covered with a bio-adaptive façade of microalgae, the distinctive building has been designed for the International Building Exhibition in Hamburg and is slated to open this month!
Read more: World’s First Algae-Powered Building by Splitterwerk Architects Opens This Month in Germany

Megafactories Tesla Model S (English)- Video

National Geographic recently produced a 45-minute video on the Tesla Motors “megafactory” in Fremont, California. Of course, it’s also a video on Tesla as a whole, the Model S, Elon Musk, and a potential electric vehicle revolution. It’s worth a watch. Elon Musk the South African American entrepreneur and inventor is best known for founding SpaceX, and co-founding Tesla Motors and PayPal (initially known as X.com). The Tesla Model S is a full-sized electric four-door sedan produced by Tesla Motors.