Searching for innovation

Innovation is about finding a better way of doing something. Like many of the new development buzzwords (which many of them are over-used on many business documents), the concept of innovation originates from the world of business. It refers to the generation of new products through the process of creative entrepreneurship, putting it into production, and diffusing it more widely through increased sales. Innovation can be viewed as t he application of better solutions that meet new requirements, in-articulated needs, or existing market needs. This is accomplished through more effective products, processes, services, technologies, or ideas that are readily available to markets, governments and society. The term innovation can be defined as something original and, as a consequence, new, that “breaks into” the market or society.

Innoveracy: Misunderstanding Innovation article points out that  there is a form of ignorance which seems to be universal: the inability to understand the concept and role of innovation. The way this is exhibited is in the misuse of the term and the inability to discern the difference between novelty, creation, invention and innovation. The result is a failure to understand the causes of success and failure in business and hence the conditions that lead to economic growth. The definition of innovation is easy to find but it seems to be hard to understand.  Here is a simple taxonomy of related activities that put innovation in context:

  • Novelty: Something new
  • Creation: Something new and valuable
  • Invention: Something new, having potential value through utility
  • Innovation: Something new and uniquely useful

The taxonomy is illustrated with the following diagram.

The differences are also evident in the mechanisms that exist to protect the works: Novelties are usually not protectable, Creations are protected by copyright or trademark, Inventions can be protected for a limited time through patents (or kept secret) and Innovations can be protected through market competition but are not defensible through legal means.

Innovation is a lot of talked about nowdays as essential to businesses to do. Is innovation essential for development work? article tells that innovation has become central to the way development organisations go about their work. In November 2011, Bill Gates told the G20 that innovation was the key to development. Donors increasingly stress innovation as a key condition for funding, and many civil society organisations emphasise that innovation is central to the work they do.

Some innovation ideas are pretty simple, and some are much more complicated and even sound crazy when heard first. The is place for crazy sounding ideas: venture capitalists are gravely concerned that the tech startups they’re investing in just aren’t crazy enough:

 

Not all development problems require new solutions, sometimes you just need to use old things in a slightly new way. Development innovations may involve devising technology (such as a nanotech water treatment kit), creating a new approach (such as microfinance), finding a better way of delivering public services (such as one-stop egovernment service centres), identifying ways of working with communities (such as participation), or generating a management technique (such as organisation learning).

Theorists of innovation identify innovation itself as a brief moment of creativity, to be followed by the main routine work of producing and selling the innovation. When it comes to development, things are more complicated. Innovation needs to be viewed as tool, not master. Innovation is a process, not a one time event. Genuine innovation is valuable but rare.

There are many views on the innovation and innvation process. I try to collect together there some views I have found on-line. Hopefully they help you more than confuze. Managing complexity and reducing risk article has this drawing which I think pretty well describes innovation as done in product development:

8 essential practices of successful innovation from The Innovator’s Way shows essential practices in innovation process. Those practices are all integrated into a non-sequential, coherent whole and style in the person of the innovator.

In the IT work there is lots of work where a little thinking can be a source of innovation. Automating IT processes can be a huge time saver or it can fail depending on situation. XKCD comic strip Automation as illustrates this:

XKCD Automation

System integration is a critical element in project design article has an interesting project cost influence graphic. The recommendation is to involve a system integrator early in project design to help ensure high-quality projects that satisfy project requirements. Of course this article tries to market system integration services, but has also valid points to consider.

Core Contributor Loop (CTTDC) from Art Journal blog posting Blog Is The New Black tries to link inventing an idea to theory of entrepreneurship. It is essential to tune the engine by making improvements in product, marketing, code, design and operations.

 

 

 

 

4,879 Comments

  1. Tomi Engdahl says:

    The Tiny Bee⁺⁺ Solves a Big Problem in Insect-Like Robotics: Yaw Control
    This insect-inspired flying robot has finally cracked the tricky problem of yaw control, with a full six degrees of freedom.
    https://www.hackster.io/news/the-tiny-bee-solves-a-big-problem-in-insect-like-robotics-yaw-control-bc9788b0e36c

    Reply
  2. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Mysterious rumblings were recorded in Earth’s stratosphere
    https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/11/world/stratosphere-sounds-scn/index.html

    Giant solar balloons were sent 70,000 feet up in the air to record sounds of Earth’s stratosphere — and the microphones picked up some unexpected sounds.

    Reply
  3. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Newly discovered electrical activity within cells could change the way researchers think about biological chemistry
    https://phys.org/news/2023-04-newly-electrical-cells-biological-chemistry.html

    Reply
  4. Tomi Engdahl says:

    When ‘Clean Code’ Hampers Application Performance
    https://thenewstack.io/when-clean-code-hampers-application-performance/

    Seattle-based programmer Casey Muratori sparked a debate in the programming community over some long-held assumptions about best practices.

    Reply
  5. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/ai-means-everyone-can-now-be-programmer-nvidia-chief-says-2023-05-29/

    We’ve heard all of this before with CASE tools, low code systems etc. They never fully realise the stated benefits. The technology is great and useful, but they’re never a magic panacea.

    1986: CASE tools will eliminate the need for programmers. Business people will just input the requirements and the tools will kick the code out.

    Ya, we know how **that** turned out.

    Reply
  6. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Researchers in Australia have shown how gold nanoparticles can successfully remove unwanted sulphur aromas from wine through a scientific trial. https://bit.ly/3MLo0UZ on
    The Drinks Business
    #wine #australia #gold

    Reply
  7. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/majordomo/permalink/10163241814419522/
    happy 50th Birthday ETHERnet!

    computerphile explains how more than one machine can talk on the network at a time the whole wire has to be silent with only one signal on the wire at a time. If any other signal exists, then no-one may speak — but will wait a random interval to attempt to speak again (because only one packet may be spoken, and we know how long that takes) — the whole thing is patterened on Claude Shannon’s notion of a BIT — on may.22.1973 Bob Metcalfe proposed an ETHER Network which ‘Propagates Bits to All Stations’. coupled with this first physical layer definition, the notion of multiple machines on a single wire treating signals digitally instead of as analogue audio or radio data, and the notion of an ethernet Packet (a bunch of BITS) which has a originating IP (internet protocol) and destination IP address — and every packet of data in the network traverses the wandering saleman’s problem — this is where the modern world of networking was born

    https://youtu.be/TkOVgkcrvbg

    Reply
  8. Tomi Engdahl says:

    40 Famous Inventors Who Made Their Mark on History
    We can thank these creators for video games, life-saving transportation devices, and more.
    https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/design/g44006978/famous-inventors/?utm_campaign=socialflowFBPOP&utm_medium=social-media&utm_source=facebook

    Reply
  9. Tomi Engdahl says:

    SCIENTISTS JUST X-RAYED A SINGLE ATOM
    https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-x-rayed-single-atom

    THE X-RAY MARKS THE SPOT.
    X-Ray Specs
    For the first time, a team of scientists has imaged a single atom by using X-rays. And according to the resulting study published in the journal Nature, it offers transformative advantages over other techniques.

    “Atoms can be routinely imaged with scanning probe microscopes, but without X-rays one cannot tell what they are made of,” study co-author Sai Wai Hla, a physicist at Ohio University and the Argonne National Laboratory, said in a press release.

    Scientists report world’s first X-ray of a single atom in Nature
    https://www.ohio.edu/news/2023/05/scientists-report-worlds-first-x-ray-single-atom-nature

    A team of scientists from Ohio University, Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Illinois-Chicago, and others, led by Ohio University Professor of Physics, and Argonne National Laboratory scientist, Saw Wai Hla, have taken the world’s first X-ray SIGNAL (or SIGNATURE) of just one atom. This groundbreaking achievement was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences and could revolutionize the way scientists detect the materials.

    Over the years, the quantity of materials in a sample required for X-ray detection has been greatly reduced thanks to the development of synchrotron X-rays sources and new instruments. To date, the smallest amount one can X-ray a sample is in attogram, that is about 10,000 atoms or more. This is due to the X-ray signal produced by an atom being extremely weak so that the conventional X-ray detectors cannot be used to detect it. According to Hla, it is a long-standing dream of scientists to X-ray just one atom, which is now being realized by the research team led by him.

    “Atoms can be routinely imaged with scanning probe microscopes, but without X-rays one cannot tell what they are made of. We can now detect exactly the type of a particular atom, one atom-at-a-time, and can simultaneously measure its chemical state,”

    For demonstration, the team chose an iron atom and a terbium atom, both inserted in respective molecular hosts. To detect X-ray signal of one atom, the research team supplemented conventional detectors in X-rays with a specialized detector made of a sharp metal tip positioned at extreme proximity to the sample to collect X-ray excited electrons – a technique known as synchrotron X-ray scanning tunneling microscopy or SX-STM. X-ray spectroscopy in SX-STM is triggered by photoabsorption of core level electrons, which constitutes elemental fingerprints and is effective in identifying the elemental type of the materials directly.

    Reply
  10. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Scientists Create First “Living Robots” Made Entirely Of Living Cells
    https://www.iflscience.com/scientists-create-first-living-robots-made-entirely-of-living-cells-54673

    Scientists have created a new form of “robot,” not made out of metal, plastic, and wiring but formed entirely out of living cells.

    Reporting in the journal PNAS, researchers from the University of Vermont and Tufts University describe how they crafted the first-ever “living machines” out of cells taken from the embryos of frogs. Dubbed “xenobots,” these miniature monsters were designed using algorithms that mimic the forces of natural selection.

    Reply
  11. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Surface Plasmon Polariton Waves Could Help High-Performance Processors Keep Their Cool
    https://www.hackster.io/news/surface-plasmon-polariton-waves-could-help-high-performance-processors-keep-their-cool-c8a20ba5d6b8

    Designed to better move heat away from semiconductor hotspots, this nanoscale approach can boost thermal conductivity by 25 percent

    Reply
  12. Tomi Engdahl says:

    With Moore’s Law ending, photonic computing is getting a second look — and a cellular automata-based architecture may unlock its potential.

    Shining a Light on Cellular Automata
    https://www.hackster.io/news/shining-a-light-on-cellular-automata-38973f062c4a?fbclid=IwAR3mg5xbpF30z_nigbm9HKOg96ktRoHG0gGfXXtLpN1ER6hsda2iYGwDayw

    With Moore’s Law ending, photonic computing is getting a second look — and a cellular automata-based architecture may unlock its potential.

    However, the continuation of Moore’s Law is increasingly being challenged by physical constraints as components shrink to smaller and smaller sizes.

    To prevent slowdowns in the advancement of computer chips caused by the end of Moore’s Law, researchers are exploring alternative technologies, such as photonic computing. Photonic computing leverages light, or photons, instead of electrons, to transmit and process data. Light has already been successfully used in the field of communications, allowing for faster data transmission over long distances compared to traditional wired connections. While light can transmit information quickly, it is difficult to manipulate and control light for complex computations. As such, it is still not clear how this technology could replace traditional computer architectures.

    It may not be a fully general-purpose computer, but a team of engineers at the California Institute of Technology believe that their photonic computing architecture is a step towards that goal. Their solution is based on the concept of cellular automata, or simulated cells, that follow a predefined set of rules. The most recognizable example of cellular automata is Conway’s Game of Life, in which rules that simulate things like overpopulation and reproduction cause the cells to die or flourish. These systems typically run in software on traditional computing hardware, but in this work, a hardware-based cellular automata system was developed that leverages photonics for computation.

    Unlocking Photonic Computing Power with Artificial ‘Life’
    https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/unlocking-photonic-computing-power-with-artificial-life

    Reply
  13. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Scientists detect the breath between atoms
    The discovery may lead to a new method of quantum computing.
    https://interestingengineering.com/science/scientists-detect-the-breath-between-atoms

    University of Washington researchers have detected the mechanical vibration between two layers of atoms (the atoms’ breaths) by observing the type of light those atoms emitted when stimulated by a laser.

    This is according to a press release published by the institution on Friday.

    This new development could lead to a new method for quantum computing. In fact, the researchers have already engineered a device that could serve as a new type of building block for quantum technologies.

    “This is a new, atomic-scale platform, using what the scientific community calls ‘optomechanics,’ in which light and mechanical motions are intrinsically coupled together,” said senior author Mo Li, a UW professor of both electrical and computer engineering and physics.

    Reply
  14. Tomi Engdahl says:

    OPINION
    OPINION: Algebra matters, so let’s stop attacking it and work together to make it clearer and more accessible
    It’s time for algebra to consistently be seen and experienced as more than a meandering stream of abstract variables and procedures
    https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-algebra-matters-so-lets-stop-attacking-it-and-work-together-to-make-it-clearer-and-more-accessible/?fbclid=IwAR0xOTrHVKqsg5wg2cIxlYTeZpJzNSz_IRynPm6OGR2P_aFnZXjsmeYyzBQ_aem_th_AW4x8tYej9HExlYrs5t7tDWU0d8Ny4AV5jPz2mNyu2Hm8JXYH24EChdXOR7OazH3qf3Rj4AdYFZPGKfSe1j0wrJ0

    Algebra can be breathtaking. Yet most people don’t encounter it this way.

    Algebra’s power and significance remain hidden inside a system of symbols and rules. For far too many, these symbols and rules lead to frustration and disillusionment instead of understanding.

    Such disillusionment continues to put the entire idea of requiring the subject in high school and college up for questioning and spirited attack.

    Reply
  15. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Tänään tv:ssä: Tämä on pahinta mitä aivoille voi tehdä – sama kuin tupakointi keuhkoille
    https://www.is.fi/tv-ja-elokuvat/art-2000009608953.html

    TV1:n Aivojen arvoitus -dokumentti muistuttaa, että aivoilla on kyky muuttua ja niitä voi myös itse muokata. Omat aivonsa voi kuitenkin myös pilata.

    Tv-lehti arvioi: Toinen osa Prisma-sarjaan kuuluvasta Aivojen arvoitus -dokumentista (Our Brain, 2022) kertoo, että ei ole olemassa hyviä aivoja tai huonoja aivoja. Ero on siinä, onko niitä treenattu. Älykkyyttä voi kehittää harjoittelemalla.

    Ihmisen aivot ovat plastiset, ja siksi niillä on kyky muuttua. Niitä voi myös itse muokata.

    Koemme jatkuvasti uusia asioita, joten aivot muovautuvat koko ajan. Uutuuden viehätys ajaa hakemaan virikkeitä, joita nettiaikana riittää.

    Dokumentin mukaan ihminen saa nykyään informaatiota 20 000-kertaisen määrän 20 vuoden takaiseen aikaan verrattuna. Nettiaikana informaatiota on tarjolla rajattomasti. Se kuormittaa aivoja.

    Kiinnostavinta dokumentissa on kuulla, miten aivot toimivat digiympäristössä. Digilaitteet heikentävät aivojen toimintakykyä.

    – Multitaskaaminen on pahinta, mitä aivoille voi tehdä, asiantuntija sanoo dokumentissa.

    – Multitaskaaminen on sama aivoille kuin tupakointi keuhkoille. Ainaisen multitaskaajan aivot ovat kuin aikaisen alzheimerin alkuvaiheessa.

    Reply
  16. Tomi Engdahl says:

    These 3D Printed Biocatalytic Fibers Scrub Carbon Dioxide
    https://hackaday.com/2023/06/09/these-3d-printed-biocatalytic-fibers-scrub-carbon-dioxide/

    On today’s episode of “What If?” — what if the Apollo 13 astronauts had a 3D printer? Well, for one thing, they may have been able to avoid all the futzing with duct tape and procedure list covers to jury rig the lithium hydroxide filters, at least if they’d known about these 3D printed enzymatic CO2 filters. And time travel…they probably would have needed that too.

    A bit of a stretch, yes, but environmental CO2 scrubbing is at least one use case for what [Jialong Shen] et al from the Textile Engineering Department at North Carolina State University have developed here.

    Carbonic Anhydrase Enhanced UV-Crosslinked PEG-DA/PEO Extruded Hydrogel Flexible Filaments and Durable Grids for CO2 Capture
    https://www.mdpi.com/2310-2861/9/4/341

    Reply
  17. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Books You Should Read: Prototype Nation
    https://hackaday.com/2023/06/07/books-you-should-read-prototype-nation/

    Over the years, I’ve been curious to dig deeper into the world of the manufacturing in China. But what I’ve found is that Western anecdotes often felt surface-level, distanced, literally and figuratively from the people living there. Like many hackers in the west, the allure of low-volume custom PCBs and mechanical prototypes has me enchanted. But the appeal of these places for their low costs and quick turnarounds makes me wonder: how is this possible? So I’m left wondering: who are the people and the forces at play that, combined, make the gears turn?

    Enter Prototype Nation: China and the Contested Promise of Innovation, by Silvia Lindtner. Published in 2020, this book is the hallmark of ten years of research, five of which the author spent in Shenzhen recording field notes, conducting interviews, and participating in the startup and prototyping scene that the city offers.

    https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691207674/prototype-nation

    Reply
  18. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Columbia professor Sheena Iyengar disagrees. Here’s what she recommends instead.

    Ivy League expert: Brainstorming doesn’t work—here’s a better way to find new ideas
    https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/12/ivy-league-expert-brainstorming-doesnt-work-what-she-does-instead.html?utm_content=Main&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR3QFf22ck3mRDXQdT_oMe43Yg7fmzQKhT_AYC9ZgUwIkQjDrc10wvkl2eU

    Brainstorming is a popular way of coming up with new ideas. Just because it’s well-known, however, doesn’t mean it’s the most effective, according to a Columbia professor.

    After becoming an educator herself, though, Iyengar realized that brainstorming “doesn’t deliver.” You’re better off coming up with ideas solo, she says.

    This became even more evident to her while she was teaching her classes. “I began to see up close that brainstorming wasn’t working,” Iyengar says. ”[My students] would generate so many ideas and feel really proud of themselves. And yet, when I would ask [them], ‘So what idea on your list do you think is worth pursuing?,’ that’s where things started to fall apart.”

    The problems with brainstorming as a group
    Brainstorming as a group often gets underwhelming results, according to psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic’s 2015 Harvard Business Review article, for a few reasons, including social loafing, production blocking and anxiety.

    Social loafing, “also known as free riding,” speaks to the way “people to make less of an effort when they are working in teams than alone,” Chamorro-Premuzic wrote. Production blocking, meanwhile, is when “individuals can only express a single idea at one time if they want other group members to hear them.”

    In other words, the more people are in a brainstorming group, the fewer suggestions people will make to solve the problem at hand.

    Brainstorming can also introduce bias, Iyengar explains, as the person who speaks first usually “serves as a reference point.”

    The DIY strategy that beats brainstorming
    The real way to produce quality ideas is through “independent thought,” Iyengar says.

    “I have asked thousands of people now over the years a very simple question. I’ll say, ‘Think back to the last time you had your best idea. Where were you? What were you doing?’” Iyengar says. “And I will guarantee you … maybe less than a handful of people will [say] ‘I was brainstorming.’ It’s usually, ‘I was in the shower, I was taking a nap, I was doing a jog or I was talking to my friend,’ but not a formal brainstorm.”

    Thinking independently requires some structure to be effective, she says.

    Write your ideas on a piece of paper, detailing what the problem is and why each solution could possibly fix it.
    Say what you’ve written out loud. Our ideas can seem great in our head, but turn out to be a lot more “vague” when we vocalize them.
    Trust your own judgment.
    The last is arguably the most difficult step, Iyengar acknowledges. But coming up with ideas on your own can be way more fulfilling than those created through groupthink.

    ″[Independent thinking] can feel really good because you love those flashes of insight that you have when you’re on a jog or taking a nap,” she says. “Actually, we value those a lot more than we value anything we’re doing in a brainstorm.”

    Reply
  19. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Tech Challenge Seeks New Solutions for Affordable, Universal Internet Access
    May 30, 2023
    A bold initiative invites the world’s tech-preneurs to rethink how we might help deliver internet service to nearly one-quarter of the world’s citizens who are still offline.
    https://www.mwrf.com/technologies/embedded/systems/article/21266900/electronic-design-tech-challenge-seeks-new-solutions-for-affordable-universal-internet-access?utm_source=RF+MWRF+Today&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS230609109&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.identpull=omeda|7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

    What you’ll learn:

    The IEEE’s “Connecting the Unconnected Challenge” is inviting technical innovators to propose solutions to the problems that are currently denying internet access to many of the world’s citizens.
    How affordable internet access can play a key role in providing over one-quarter of the world’s population with better education, economic possibilities, and healthcare.
    The event will provide opportunities for its winners to commercialize their proposed solutions.

    Reply
  20. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Kiinalaisakku nostaa litiumakun energiatiheyden yli kolminkertaiseksi
    https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/15117-kiinalaisakku-nostaa-litiumakun-energiatiheyden-yli-kolminkertaiseksi

    Kiinan tiedeakatemian eli CAS:n fysiikan instituutin tutkijat ovat tehneet uuden ennätyksen litiumakkujen energiatiheydessä. Uusi lukema kirjataan 711 wattituntia kiloa kohti. Tämä on kolminkertainen tiheys tämän hetken sähköautojen kuten Teslan akuston lukemiin verrattuna.

    Kun keskitytään siirtymään sähköisiin liikennemuotoihin, energiatiheys on este, jonka tutkijat haluavat voittaa. Suuremmat energiatiheydet lisäävät ajoneuvojen tehokapasiteettia, mikä lisää niiden kantamaa tai parantaa hyötykuormakapasiteettia.

    Reply
  21. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Tutkijat ylsivät lopulta energiatiheyteen 711,30 Wh/kg. Tilavuusenergiatiheytenä tämä on 1653,65 wattituntia litraa kohti. Esimerkiksi 4680-kennojen, joita Tesla aikoo käyttää tulevissa malleissaan, energiatiheys on 244 Wh/kg.

    Reply
  22. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Päiväunet hellivät pääkoppaa – tirsoittelijoiden aivot ovat suurempia kuin muiden
    Ikääntyminen viivästyy, kun aivot pysyvät tavallista kookkaampina.
    https://yle.fi/a/74-20038094?fbclid=IwAR1tELn912pY-K34nGVDstiWOBd_LjRIZFf_VtunwOlNWdAWhPtGYjxNNEA

    Reply
  23. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Tuija Siltamäen kolumni: Nykyihminen ei pysty lukemaan kirjoja, ottamaan selvää asioista eikä olemaan ajoissa ja syyttää siitä yhteiskuntaa
    https://yle.fi/a/74-20036514

    Kirjojen lukeminen, ajoissa oleminen ja oman ruutuajan rajoittaminen ovat nykyihmiselle liian suuria vaatimuksia, kirjoittaa Siltamäki.

    Paljon kuulee näinä päivinä huolestuneesti huokailevaa puhetta siitä, miten paljon ihmiseltä tätä nykyä vaaditaan. Ihminen uupuu ja musertuu ”nykyajan vaatimusten” äärellä, tuntee itsensä riittämättömäksi eikä aina muista olla armollinen itselleen.

    Toisinaan lehtiä lukiessa tuntuu enemmän siltä, ettei nykyihmiseltä voi vaatia mitään.

    Turun Sanomat kertoi, että osa Turun yliopiston opiskelijoista pitää kirjojen lukemista liian vaikeana. ”Kirjan kannesta kanteen lukeminen on pitkäjänteinen projekti, joka on käynyt viimeisen parin vuoden aikana yliopisto-opiskelijoille ennenkuulumattoman haastavaksi”, lehti kertoo kai vakavissaan.

    Helsingin Sanomissa puolestaan vaadittiin Aalto-yliopistoa vastaamaan, miksei myöhässä paikalle tullutta nuorta päästetty pääsykokeeseen. Samaisen lehden kulttuuritoimittaja juhli taannoin saavutuksena sitä, että pystyi katsomaan kokonaisen elokuvan, ja julkaisun nuoriso-osastolla kerrottiin, että osa nuorista pitää emojeja kuormittavina, enkä edes jaksa listata, mitä kaikkia vastoinkäymisiä tietämättömyys, toistaitoisuus ja korkojen nousu ovat omistusasujille aiheuttaneet, olen niiden juttujen takia syvästi uupunut, toivottavasti ymmärrätte.

    Kieltämättä ”nykyaikana” on joitakin isoja vaatimuksia. Ilmastonmuutos, luontokato, kestävyysvaje, huoltosuhde, polarisaatio, eriarvoisuus ja vastaavat ihmisen aiheuttamat ongelmat odottavat ratkaisemista.

    Ehkä on käynytkin niin, että isojen ongelmien äärellä pieni hauras ihminen (joka tosin on kokoonsa nähden usein hyvin äänekäs) musertuu ja käyttää vähäiset voimavaransa hallittavan kokoisista ongelmista riehaantumiseen. Pieneltä hauraalta ihmiseltä sen vielä ymmärtää, mutta on masentavaa, kun ne, joiden pitäisi keskittyä globaalin tason ongelmien ratkaisemiseen, ratkovat ilmastonmuutoksen sijaan mieluummin bensan hinnan mahdollisesti aiheuttamaa mielipahaa.

    Omituista on se, että myös aivan normaalit asiat on mystifioitu lähes mahdottomiksi koettelemuksiksi.

    Osallistuin hiljattain – en voi muistaa milloin ja miksi, kuormitus on aiheuttanut aivosumua – paneelikeskusteluun, jossa aikuiset ihmiset miettivät aivan vakavissaan, miksi toiset aikuiset ihmiset eivät lue ja miten heidät saataisiin lukemaan. Lukeminen kun kuulemma tuntuu monista hankalalta ja sen aloittaminen vaikealta.

    Epäilemättä esimerkiksi lukihäiriö ja ADHD hankaloittavat lukemista, mutta suuresti epäilen, että kaikilla lukemista karttavilla suomalaisaikuisilla olisi kumpaakaan. Ei tarvitse olla kummoinenkaan ihmistuntija käsittääkseen, että usein se, minkä aikuinen väittää johtuvan vaikeudesta, johtuu oikeasti aikuisen laiskuudesta. Jos ”ei tule luettua”, mutta tulee oltua puhelimella, ei tosiasiallisesti halua lukea, vaan olla puhelimella.

    Nykyihmistä ei voi vaatia liikkumaan, lukemaan, olemaan ajoissa tai ottamaan vastuuta itsestään ilman, että se säntää lehteen, ajankohtaisohjelmaan tai someen valittamaan vastoinkäymisistään, syyttämään niistä yhteiskuntaa ja kerjäämään sääliä. Muut paijaavat ja toivottavat voimia.

    Reply
  24. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Chemists have found a way to make certain rubber-like polymers — used in car parts and ink for 3D printing — much more resistant to tearing. Perhaps surprisingly, the method involves introducing weaker bonds into the material.

    Surprise! Weaker bonds can make polymers stronger
    https://news.mit.edu/2023/weaker-bonds-can-make-polymers-stronger-0622

    By adding weak linkers to a polymer network, chemists dramatically enhanced the material’s resistance to tearing.

    Reply
  25. Tomi Engdahl says:

    A victim of its own success. https://trib.al/AC1TRM5

    NYC APPEARS TO BE SINKING BECAUSE ITS SKYSCRAPERS ARE SO HEAVY
    https://futurism.com/the-byte/nyc-skyscrapers-sinking?fbclid=IwAR00X3jUdoZxVfCLLhiDoHSEti7BrUOTmkoe0ZDiHLozartV9MiCBiyDiW8

    AWESOME, THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT NEW YORK NEEDS.
    Sinking Feeling
    Bad news for New Yorkers: the Big Apple appears to be sinking a little deeper into the Earth each year, under the unfathomable weight of its iconic skyscrapers.

    A new study published in the journal Earth’s Future finds that the geological process of subsidence, in which sediments shift and settle, seems to be occurring rapidly in specific parts of NYC, including the just-at-sea-level area of Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn and Queens as well.

    Reply
  26. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Confidently incorrect is the worst kind of incorrect.

    Reply
  27. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Nämä asiat Simpsonit-sarja on ennustanut jopa kymmeniä vuosia etukäteen
    Simpsonit ovat naurattaneet katsojia jo vuodesta 1989.
    https://www.iltalehti.fi/tv-ja-leffat/a/a10439c6-ffa9-4888-afe1-4a6648ce3699

    Reply
  28. Tomi Engdahl says:

    New scoring system aims to set the record straight on ‘bad carbs’
    The Carbohydrate Food Quality Score aims to support policymakers and researchers with the full nutritional picture on carbohydrate-dense foods.
    https://www.nature.com/articles/d42473-022-00443-0

    Reply
  29. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Scientists find key evidence for existence of nanohertz gravitational waves
    https://phys.org/news/2023-06-scientists-key-evidence-nanohertz-gravitational.html

    Reply
  30. Tomi Engdahl says:

    An Enormous Gravity ‘Hum’ Moves Through the Universe
    By
    JONATHAN O’CALLAGHAN
    June 28, 2023
    https://www.quantamagazine.org/an-enormous-gravity-hum-moves-through-the-universe-20230628/

    Astronomers have found a background din of exceptionally long-wavelength gravitational waves pervading the cosmos. The cause? Probably supermassive black hole collisions, but more exotic options can’t be ruled out.

    Reply
  31. Tomi Engdahl says:

    A New Experiment Casts Doubt on the Leading Theory of the Nucleus
    By
    KATIE MCCORMICK
    June 12, 2023
    https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-new-experiment-casts-doubt-on-the-leading-theory-of-the-nucleus-20230612/

    By measuring inflated helium nuclei, physicists have challenged our best understanding of the force that binds protons and neutrons.

    Reply
  32. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Ninth Dedekind number discovered: Scientists solve long-known problem in mathematics
    https://phys.org/news/2023-06-ninth-dedekind-scientists-long-known-problem.html

    Reply
  33. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Decades-long bet on consciousness ends — and it’s philosopher 1, neuroscientist 0
    Christof Koch wagered David Chalmers 25 years ago that researchers would learn how the brain achieves consciousness by now. But the quest continues.
    https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02120-8

    Reply
  34. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Aivoaaltoja havaittiin vielä hetki sydämen lakattua lyömästä
    Tietoisuus voi jatkua vielä senkin jälkeen, kun sydän on pysähtynyt ja ihminen on kuoleman rajalla.
    https://www.hs.fi/tiede/art-2000009634918.html

    Reply
  35. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Tuija Siltamäen kolumni: Nykyihminen ei pysty lukemaan kirjoja, ottamaan selvää asioista eikä olemaan ajoissa ja syyttää siitä yhteiskuntaa
    Kirjojen lukeminen, ajoissa oleminen ja oman ruutuajan rajoittaminen ovat nykyihmiselle liian suuria vaatimuksia, kirjoittaa Siltamäki.
    https://yle.fi/a/74-20036514

    Reply

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