GLIMPSES OF THE FUTURE
A monthly digest of technologies, developments and trends that will shape our lives. (If you would prefer not to receive these digests, flip back 'NO THANKS' and you will be removed from the list).

Beat The Casinos With Your iPhone

Nevada gambling regulators have warned Las Vegas casinos about a new card-counting program for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch that can illegally help players beat the house in blackjack.

Card counting by players is not illegal in Nevada but using a device to count cards is considered a felony.

Nevada regulators learned of the program from California gambling regulators who said officials at an Indian casino found customers using it.

Card counting can help blackjack players determine when they are likely to win a hand and should adjust their bets.

The Personal Jet Pack Finally Arrives! (Or Does It?)

A new water-powered personal jet pack has been demonstrated in the USA. Priced at $200,000 it isn't cheap, but the video makes it look like a lot of fun.

The drawback is that the jet pack is tethered to the ground by the hose that delivers the high pressure water jets that keeps the pilot aloft.

Brain Stimulation Prevents Memory Loss In Later Years

Participating in certain mental activities, like reading magazines or crafting in middle age or later in life, may delay or prevent memory loss, according to a study by the Mayo Clinic due to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's Annual Meeting in Seattle in April.

The study found that during humans' later years, reading books, playing games, participating in computer activities and doing craft activities such as pottery or quilting led to a 30 to 50 percent decrease in the risk of developing memory loss compared to people who did not do those activities.

People who watched television for less than seven hours a day in later years were 50 percent less likely to develop memory loss than people who watched for more than seven hours a day

But Hold On! Brain Training In Later Life May Not Work Says Another Study

A study commissioned by US health organisation Lifespan and published recently in the health journal Alzheimer's & Dementia found 'no evidence that brain exercise programmes delay or slow progression of cognitive changes in healthy elderly.'  

The study looked at trials undertaken since1992 on the impact of brain exercises - known as 'cognitive training' - on older people.

It found few trials met their criteria and those that did were often limited or lacking in follow-up.

And it concluded that more research is needed into the medium and long-term impact of brain training.

High Definition TV And Movies Over WiFi?

An American startup company called Quantenna plans to improve the speed of wireless connectivity simply by supercharging Wi-Fi.

The company, based in Sunnyvale, California, will release chip sets in the coming months that can handle a gigabit of data per second over Wi-Fi - enough to stream high-definition video and other content over short distances.

A system using these chips could wirelessly connect components of home theatres, streaming high-definition content between, for example, a DVD player and a television.

'Mobile Phone' Will Become A Doctor In Your Pocket

We've all understood that the phrase 'mobile phone' is unhelpful in visualizing what that device will become, but now it seems as if at last one industry grouping thinks it will become a 'doctor in your pocket'.

In Barcelona last week The Rockefeller Foundation, the UN Foundation and The Vodafone Foundation announced the Mobile Health (mHealth) Alliance, a partnership to advance the use of mobile technology in healthcare.

Among a slew of possible applications in poor countries, the alliance stressed the potential for the mobile phone to remind people to get vaccinations, take medicine, or undergo HIV tests.

Designer Dog Breeds On The Way

New discoveries in dog genetics could soon provide dog breeders with far more control than they have today in selecting for traits such as size, colour and perhaps even temperament. Breeds such as miniature Labradoodles may become a reality. It may also be possible to design a genome for extra intelligence.

Thanks to a fully sequenced dog genome and genetic tools that allow researchers to rapidly scan hundreds of thousands of gene mutations at once, geneticists have uncovered a handful of genes that determine coat colour, variations in size, as well as some congenital diseases.

Elaine Ostrander, a pioneering dog geneticist at the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda Maryland, reviewed some of these developments at the recent American Association For The Advancement of of Science meeting in Chicago.

Electric 'Cannon' Will Deliver Shells Over 200 Miles At Mach 5

British-based defence contractor BAE is developing an 'electric rail' canon for the U.S. Navy which can fire a shell over 200 miles at a speed of Mach 5.

The technology uses high-power electromagnetic energy instead of explosive chemical propellants (energetics) to propel a projectile farther and faster than any preceding gun.

At full capability, the rail gun will be able to fire a projectile more than 200 nautical miles at a muzzle velocity of Mach seven and impacting its target at Mach five. In contrast, the current Navy gun, MK 45 five-inch gun, has a range of about 13 miles.

Nano Particles Could Double Concrete Life

Engineers at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed and patented a new technique for strengthening concrete using nano-sacle additive particles.

Concrete suffers badly during cold weather conditions, especially when roads and bridges are salted and gritted. The developers claim that the technique could potentially double the lifespan of a piece of concrete.

By mixing a nano-sized additive with cement, they devised a method that slows the infiltration of road salt. They reasoned that the longer it takes for deteriorating agents to penetrate, the longer concrete will last without cracking.

Microsoft's monopolies have become old news. The new Washington administration may now be putting Google in its sights.

Christine A. Varney the U.S.’s new antitrust chief, has described Google Inc. as a monopolist that will dominate online computing services the way Microsoft Corp. ruled software.

While Ms. Varney's remarks about Google were made months before Obama picked her to head the Justice Department’s antitrust division, the comments signal her approach to the job if confirmed by the Senate. The Microsoft case, brought in 1998 by the Clinton administration, could have led to the breakup of the software giant and was a landmark in antitrust law.

4G Phone Connections Can Provide 50 - 60 Mbt Speeds

Just as we're finally switching to 3G, telecoms companies are testing 4G networks capable of providing ten times the bandwidth of 3G.

America's Verizon Wireless said recently that it is testing a 4G service with the aim of launching commercial service in 2010. Verizon Wireless said the 4G network in field trials has demonstrated download rates of 50 to 60 megabits per second, but the final user speeds are still to be determined. 

Men! Do You Feel Inadequate On The Beach? Try Padded Swimming Trunks For Extra Confidence

Described as the male equivalent of the Wonderbra for women, swimming trunks with a padded cod piece have been developed by an Australian company

The swimwear features a hidden pocket in which a variety of different foam padding options can be concealed, in case of cold-water shrivelling.

But she'll be all the more disappointed when you get back to her place.

www.rayhammond.com

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