Inspiration to learn about yourself

The temperatures in the earth’s interior are very high. 99% of the planet is hotter than 1,000° C, and only 0.1% is cooler than 100° C. This vast geothermal energy reservoir can be exploited with the aid of suitable methods, I read here . Geothermal power is energy generated by heat stored in the earth, or the collection of absorbed heat derived from underground, in the atmosphere and oceans. As of 2008, geothermal power supplies less than 1% of the world's energy, according to Wikipedia . Geothermal power belongs to the energy sources that Stadt Zürich wants to use to become a 2000 Watt society . Currently, each person in Switzerland needs, on average, 6000 watts per person per year. Source Starting, according to this recent article , in Spring 2009, Elektrizitätswerk der Stadt Zürich (EWZ) will drill down to 3.2 kilometres in order to possibly generate energy to use for heating and electricity. For every 100 metres you drill down in the earth, the temperature increases by appro...

I came across this 1 minute video on The Offical Google Blog .

During a walk yesterday at Pfannenstiel , a beautiful place not far from Zürich, Switzerland, I passed this solar powered fence. Innovative way to bring down electricity costs – and thereby become more competitive on the market for, for example, milk and cheese. On the walk, I also noticed the hot air balloon on the photo below. Speaking about solar technology, did you know that solar balloons exist, where the air inside the balloon gets heated because of the sun's radiation?

The management lab , founded by Gary Hamel , brought together leading thinkers and practitioners to explore the challenges and opportunities of 21st century management. In the videos, you can watch by clicking here , they identity the central flaws of company organization and offer innovative solutions. My advice for you: Watch all of the 9 short videos. Every single one of them is great. As I listened to Mr. Hamel, who suggests creating multiple places that people can go to with their ideas , I thought about websites such as brainfloor.com . What do you think?

On Technorati's State of the Blogosphere 2008 , I read that 37% of bloggers have been quoted in traditional media based on a blog post.

In this Economist.com article , that I came across through dialogin.com , I read this: ”..there is a reasonable chance that Africa may survive the current world financial crisis less bruised and battered than some other parts of the world. The very factors that damaged the continent in the past may now be working in its favour. Take the banking sector. Businessmen and budding entrepreneurs have always moaned about the excessive regulations and conservatism of African banks. Controls on foreign exchange often prevent them raising more money by investing in exciting financial instruments in the West. Foreign ownership of banks is unusually limited (to less than 5% in Nigeria and South Africa). Now, however, this very de-linkage from the Western financial system has turned out to Africa’s advantage. Its banks have almost no exposure to the subprime market causing such havoc elsewhere in the world. Benedicte Christensen, deputy director of the IMF’s African Department, says confidently tha...

With 1,200 swimmers per day on average, ” Hallenbad City ”, the current indoor swimming pool in the centre of Zürich is very popular. However, this swimming pool needs renovation and will be closed in 2010 for a period of 2 years. To replace the current indoor swimming pool in this period, the architects Kathi Menziger and Felix Peyer have developed an interesting concept for a new swimming pool (photo below) in Lake Zürich . In the sponsor brochure , I read that Ms. Menziger and Mr. Peyer have calculated the costs for building the swimming pool, which can be ready in 21 months, to be CHF 7.3 Million. You can read more about the project in this NZZ online article .

In this Global Strategy Institute posting , I read about a new method to turn manure of cattle into fresh water. An interesting innovation. Reflecting on the cows I passed, as I went for a walk on the top of Üetliberg in Zürich last Sunday, it seams quite peculiar to imagine manure of cattle being turned into fresh water – even though I find the cows, I saw there (photo below), beautiful.

On BBC and TED , I learned about the brain surgery of the musician Eddie Adhock. To treat a hand tremor that could threaten Mr. Adhock's abibilty to perform professionally, surgeons placed electrodes in Mr. Adcock's brain and fitted a pacemaker in his chest delivering a small current that shut down the region of his brain causing the tremors. To test the success of the procedure, Eddie Adcock played his banjo throughout the brain surgery process. Watch this 2½ minute BBC video to see for yourself.

In Andermatt, Switzerland , an impressive project is being developed which will make Andermatt a year-round destination. On www.andermatt.travel I read that the project includes 710 residential units, 30 private villas, and six 5- and 6-star hotels with a total capacity of 600 guest rooms. The resort will feature a professional 18-hole golf course as well as a sports complex incorporating a swim hall and a spa. The visionary person behind the project is Mr. Samih Sawiris . Although I did not see everything in and around Andermatt, when I was there, I was a little surprised to see just one solar panel, as I visited the nice place. Why? Because I noticed that the sun seems to be somewhat stronger and shine more often in the mountains than at sea level. I spotted the solar panel (photo below) at Gemsstock, 3 kilometres above sea level. You can reach Gemsstock from Andermatt by taking the "Seilbahn".

The top 5 countries of the overall ranking in the Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009 of the World Economic Forum are: 1. USA. 2. Switzerland. 3. Denmark. 4. Sweden. 5. Singapore. As I live in Switzerland, I found it interesting to have a closer at what was written in the report about this great country. Here's an extract: ” Switzerland retains the same ranking as last year, second only to the United States. Similar to the United States, Switzerland’s economy is characterized by an excellent capacity for innovation and a very sophisticated business culture, ranked 2nd for its business sophistication and 3rd for its innovation capacity.The country is characterized by high spending on R&D. Switzerland’s scientific research institutions are among the world’s best, and the strong collaboration between the academic and business sectors ensures that much of this research is translated into marketable products and processes, buttressed by strong intellectual property protection...

Over at indexed I came across this: Are you among the people who experience that the more meetings are held, the less work gets done? If you are, consider, for example, using a facilitator / moderator to manage meetings. For inspiration, have a look at this presentation .

101 Free Learning Tools View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: thinking tools )

To understand how the next President of the United States of America is elected, watch this interesting 4 minute video by Mr. Lee LeFever

Seeing a person laugh makes you laugh, I found out as I watched this 2 minute video. And laughing makes you feel better. Via epn.dk , I noticed that the video is # 10 on the list of the mostly watched videos on YouTube . It has been watched more than 62 Million times.

In this article , I read that the European Parliament backed a European Commission proposal to designate 2009 as the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. I came across the article through InnovationTools .