Jun 1, 2015
By 2040 knowledge workers will decide where and how they want to work. This is according to the Smart Workplace 2040 report on the workplace of the future by Johnson Controls’ Global WorkPlace Solutions (GWS) business, which describes how in 25 years’ time work will be seen as something workers do, rather than a place they commute to each day. Work patterns will be radically different compared with today, with no fixed place or timetable. Instead, a new generation of workspace consumers will choose their workplace based on an often fluid work schedule.
May 26, 2015
When you do a simple Web search on a topic, the results that pop up aren’t the whole story. The Internet contains a vast trove of information – sometimes called the “deep Web” – that isn’t indexed by search engines: information that would be useful for tracking criminals, terrorist activities, sex trafficking and the spread of diseases. Scientists could also use it to search for images and data from spacecraft. The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has been developing tools as part of its Memex program that access and catalogue this mysterious online world.
May 25, 2015
Scientists from IBM Research, the University of Melbourne and the University of Queensland have moved a step closer to identifying the nanostructure of cellulose – the basic structural component of plant cell walls. Tapping into the IBM Blue Gene/Q supercomputer at the Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative (VLSCI), researchers have been able to model the structure and dynamics of cellulose at the molecular level. The insights could pave the way for more disease-resistant varieties of crops, and increase the sustainability of the pulp, paper and fibre industry – one of the main users of cellulose.
