Since we first examined the space elevator concept as one of several revolutionary space commercialization technologies, its proponents have quietly made progress on several fronts. We'll update you on this progress and what it's likely to mean for you.

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As we've discussed in prior issues, the private equity boom is creating some great opportunities for those smart enough to get in early. However, the parallels to the junk-bond boom of the '80s and the Internet IPO boom of the '90s are ominous. It's clearly too early to panic. In fact, most of the profit opportunities still lie ahead. But it's smart to go in with your eyes wide open. We'll tee up some of the critical considerations that you should monitor to protect your wealth.

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As the Trends editors forecasted more than 20 years ago, a generation of workers, usually referred to as "the Xers," can't get ahead because aging Baby Boomers above them won't budge. What are the implications? We'll provide the insights you need.

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Since the earliest times, hunger and malnutrition have stalked the earth. But, in the past 150 years, famine has essentially been eradicated in the modern world. And, even among the world's poorest, most of the starvation is due to social unrest or outright warfare disrupting the supply chain. However, malnutrition still robs up to half the world's people of their health. Fortunately, that may not be true much longer, as genomic technologies maximize the quality and abundance of the world’s food supply. What will this mean for humanity and for agribusiness? We'll explain.

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Thanks to the confluence of wiki-based content, Moore’s Law, and virtually free bandwidth, the information explosion promises to transform the lives of the two billion people in the world who still live in extreme poverty. The business implications are huge, but the social and human implications are even bigger.

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The collective contribution of crowds can do more than produce good forecasts. This realization is driving the rise of a new and powerful business model that just might provide opportunities for you. Keep listening.

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As explained in previous issues of Trends, the collective wisdom of thousands of amateurs is often better than that of the best experts. Until the past decade, this fact was usually irrelevant, because there was no way to collect and analyze those thousands of judgments in a timely fashion. But now, for a diverse set of companies in a wide range of industries, smart questions, ordinary people, and ubiquitous technology are combining to create a competitive advantage. We’ll show you how.

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