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HOW DID OUR LIFESTYLES GET SO OUT OF CONTROL IN THE WEST? Step back for one minute. We multi-task, work 7-24, commute long distances, juggle kids, put our parents in old people's homes and are bombarded by violent TV. The previous generation of Americans did not live under such pressure. Their economy permitted one salary to suffice for a family. Their TV was more innocent. The political dialogue was kinder. Perhaps even the family was less far-flung. Whatever the factors are, they are toxic, and we have obesity and malnutrition as devil twins creating all manner of pathological consequences. View in LinkedIn

LIVESTOCK FEED CAKE is a byproduct from oily harvests like olive, canola, groundnut, sunflower, where following mechanical squeezing of the oils, the remaining oil is extracted by toxic solvents, leaving Press Cake. The UK government issued warnings about these solvents and the Spanish government banned the oils. Regardless, these cakes are used as livestock feed additives. Cows and grass? How far have we strayed to save a buck? http://lnkd.in/VqCZTf View in LinkedIn

CATALAN'S ECONOMIC MINISTER IS OPTIMISTIC. I met with Minister Dr. Andreu Mas-Colell at his Barcelona office. He was charming and thoughtful. This world famous economist and Harvard Professor has committed a chunk of his life to Catalan economics: over the last 13 years, he had created the Knowledge Revolution in Catalunya. He spoke of the continuing Catalan transition away from old mistrust by public entities of the private sector. He was animated about efforts to attract and retain international talent to the region. But above all, he was optimistic. View in LinkedIn

ENHANCED EBOOKS FROM HARPER COLLINS: 13 titles in this genre have been released, where the eBook has video, multimedia or interactive features. This is 3D reading. I saw a business plan along these lines several years ago and was skeptical , but here it is. This enhances not only the density of information, but also changes the reading experience from relatively passive to interactive. http://lnkd.in/U_pQhn View in LinkedIn

PIEZOELECTRIC SMART SKINS FOR ROBOTS have been developed at Georgia Institute of Technology by Professor Lin Wang (BBC News April 26, Science magazine) using zinc oxide nanowire transistor arrays that turn mechanical pressures into small electric currents, in the same range of sensitivity of human fingertips. The goal is to enable robots or human-computer interfaces to have a sense of touch. 4-27 View in LinkedIn

SET THEORY SOLUTIONS USED FOR GENOME DATA to work through data handling and interpretations by this small Do-It company. They have married Big Data handling with diagnostics aimed at actionable results in prenatal screening applications. Great confluence of disciplines. http://lnkd.in/DKUxsH View in LinkedIn

BETATROPHIN CONTROLS REPLICATION OF PANCREATIC BETA CELLS IN MICE, and this has been a diabetes drug researcher's dream. Insulin producing beta cells are depleted in diabetes, so this is a stunning finding. While a long way to go, it is an encouraging discovery. http://lnkd.in/n5xsfH View in LinkedIn

THE GHASTLY YAWING SOUND OF A VENERABLE INDUSTRY GOING DEEP SIX: publishing as we knew it is changing and it is not clear that the old dinosaurs will wake up in time. Just like Boston's Kodak could not grasp the entry of digital film, so the great publishing houses are thrashing around trying to grasp Publishing On Demand and Digital Books. Blanky time for Noddy? http://lnkd.in/4c9wHa View in LinkedIn

TAIWAN'S VC INDUSTRY HAS BEEN VIGOROUS FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS. They were one of the earliest to invest in a Knowledge Culture and mastered the semiconductor sector. As this started to migrate to cheaper manufacturing locations, they made a decision to invest in the healthcare sector. This resulted in a number of tech parks, exceptional tax holidays, and even deals where portions of clinical trial costs would be paid. They attracted many companies also due to their high GDP commitment to education, and respect for patent treaties. Many of this generation of industrialists were US educated. View in LinkedIn

CHINA HAS THE NUMBER TWO VC INDUSTRY AFTER THE US. Read this excellent summary of the Chinese VC environment. In reality, Chinese risk investment has been going on quietly and largely undocumented for centuries, and is far from new. The pockets of enormous wealth in China have always put their money to work by investing. The only thing that is new today is that there is a spotlight shining from the West, curious to see what is going on. http://lnkd.in/3JFcch View in LinkedIn