Business Opportunities Weblog

October 25, 2011 by Dane Carlson | Inventions

BBC:

Mark Post has been given €300,000 to make a hamburger, in one year. Easy money, you might think, but try doing that without using meat that has come from an animal.

Professor Post is one of the few people on the planet who can. As head of the department of vascular physiology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, he is in the vanguard of a new wave of research to create a way of producing meat that cuts out the need for animal husbandry altogether.

Some ideas, some technologies may sound like science fiction, but they are fast becoming science fact. In our eight-part series we will be exploring ideas that are the future of technology.

Instead of getting meat from animals raised in pastures, he wants to grow steaks in lab conditions, directly from muscle stem cells. If successful, the technology will transform the way we produce food. “We want to turn meat production from a farming process to a factory process,” he explained.

Photo by Todd Klassy/ShutterStock.

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Tags: Animals, meat

October 25, 2011 by Dane Carlson | Profiles

Richard Branson:

“In ‘79, when Joan, my fiancee and I were on a holiday in the British Virgin Islands, we were trying to catch a flight to Puerto Rico; but the local Puerto Rican scheduled flight was cancelled. The airport terminal was full of stranded passengers. I made a few calls to charter companies and agreed to charter a plane for $2000 to Puerto Rico. Cheekily leaving out Joan’s and my name, I divided the price by the remaining number of passengers, borrowed a blackboard and wrote: VIRGIN AIRWAYS: $39 for a single flight to Puerto Rico. I walked around the airport terminal and soon filled every seat on the charter plane. As we landed at Puerto Rico, a passenger turned to me and said: “Virgin Airways isn’t too bad – smarten up the services a little and you could be in business.”

via Ravi.

Photo by Christopher Parypa/ShutterStock.

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Tags: branson, richard

October 25, 2011 by Angela Shupe | Inventions, News

The Vancouver Sun:

Billed as the world’s first polycarbonate saxophone, the Vibrato A1 E-flat alto was developed in Thailand in 2008 by inventor Piyapat Thanyakij. According to its U.S. patent application, the instrument is composed of an injectionmoulded body, bell, bow and keys, silicon valve pads, and aluminum rods on which the keys are mounted. The instrument weighs just 850 grams, less than a third of a conventional brass alto sax.

It is the first saxophone innovation that moves away from the traditional bell-metal brass instrument since the partlyacrylic Grafton sax of the 1950s. The British-made Grafton, which had a plastic body but brass outfittings, was experimented with by pros – notably Charlie Parker – but has been relegated to museum status.

“There is some mushiness in the sound,” Manzerolle said. “But if you know what you are doing, you can turn it to your advantage.”

Photo by christina rutz

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Tags: Instruments, Music

October 25, 2011 by Angela Shupe | News

Chicago Business believes that entrepreneurs fall short when hiring employees. So, what should you do?

1. Have a clear job description. Robert Half recommends not recycling old ones since chances are the role has changed since the description was written. Take a fresh look at business needs and the skills that should be added to the team this time.

2. Get referrals from satisfied employees. Robert Half suggests that the best place to start is to tap internal resources. Hiring is a team sport. Take advantage of the tools available inside the organization. Human resources can help with the job description and employees can offer referrals.

3. Shut up and listen in the interview. We all talk too much. Robert Half recommends a specific interview technique that allows a deeper dive into an applicant’s qualifications.

Photo by USACE Europe District

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Tags: Advice, Employees, hiring

October 25, 2011 by Angela Shupe | News

Monrovia Patch:

Gyl Elliot believes the path to good physical and spiritual health is through the practice of yoga and meditation.

Elliot has been teaching yoga for 12 years, and learning more all the time. After she studied structural yoga therapy, which emphasizes anatomy and physiology, with Mukunda Stiles, she also learned Sanskrit, and in 2009 she earned a Master’s in Eastern Philosophy at the University of the West in Rosemead.

“It’s this unbelievable school that’s right up the street,” she said.

In addition to training yoga instructors at her Yoga Alliance certified school, Shanti Yoga Center, Elliot now offers structural yoga therapy, ayurvedic assessments, meditation, private sessions, and classes for couples and small groups at the new location. She also gives workshops on a variety of topics, including Sanskrit, the Bhagavad-Gita, energetic anatomy, yoga sutras, mantras, and mudras.

“It’s very much focused on the spiritual. If you want to relieve anxiety and stress and find a spiritual center, I can help you,” she said.

Photo by Oleg Klementiev

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Tags: Hobby, Women, Yoga