Do disruptive ideas always lead to successful innovation?

Alfonso Llanes, studied at Florida International University

Answered just now

Disruptive innovation is a particular type of innovation that occurs when an innovator brings to a market an innovation that is simple, which is convenient and that’s accessible as in the words of Scott Anthony who writes an Innovation Insights blog for Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning Scott continues: A disruptive innovator transforms existing markets and creates new ones by playing the innovation game in a fundamentally different way. The drivers of change in this light are not only technical but also the model of business adopted making either simpler or more accessible.

The business model must look for something that makes it difficult for people to answer in their occupation and don’t have the skills to resolve the question. Sometimes is lack of funds for accessing a particular solution and other times it just takes too long. Finding a solution to these barriers for obtaining either a technological access or the answer to a difficult question that requires specialized skills can qualify as disruptive innovation. It is not necessarily about doing it better, it is about making it simpler, cheaper, more accessible, more affordable and easier to understand that is what disruption is in a nutshell.

Many a time, detailed quantitative research needs to really pinpoint reality at what the areas of frustration in the market are and where opportunities exist. Sometimes companies provide ways at getting “better and better at things people want less and less” and when that happens, innovation won’t help but innovation of the business model should bring fresh air to the old business practice.

A new technology in the field of innovation which is still work in progress is quantum computing in order to make direct use of quantum-mechanical phenomena, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform operations on data. The difference between quantum computers from binary digital electronic computers based on transistors is that digital computing requires that the data be encoded into binary digits, each of which is always in one of two definite states (0s or 1s). Quantum computing on the other, hand uses quantum bits, which can be in superposition of states. For example, a quantum Turing machine is a theoretical computer model which is also known as the “universal quantum computer.”

According to current research, as of 2017, the development of actual quantum computers still is in its early stages, but experiments have been carried out in which quantum computational operations were executed on a very small number of quantum bits. As both practical and theoretical research continues, many governments and military agencies are funding quantum computing research in additional effort to develop quantum computers for application to civilian, business, trade, environmental and national security purposes.

The basis for this leap in technology is that in quantum theory, light is not only an electro-magnetic wave but also a set of particles called photons which travel with the speed of light. Research and study in the physics of quantum theory tells us that both light and matter consists of tiny particles which have wavelike properties associated with them. Light is composed of particles called photons, and matter is composed of particles called electrons, protons, neutrons.

Much of the current research on the development of a quantum computer involves work at very low temperatures. One of the burning challenges is therefore, to make them more practical for everyday use at room temperature.

According to the University of Chicago, entanglement is one of the strangest phenomena predicted by quantum mechanics, the theory that underlies most of modern physics: “It says that two particles can be so inextricably connected that the state of one particle can instantly influence the state of the other—no matter how far apart they are. “In the long term, it might even be possible to go from entangled states on the chip SIC to entangled states across distant SIC chips. Such long-distance entangled states have been proposed for synchronizing global positioning satellites and for communicating information in a manner that is fundamentally secured from eavesdroppers by the laws of physics.”

Why has the Spanish IBEX 35 stock market index still not climbed up to its pre-2008 high levels?

Alfonso Llanes, studied at Florida International University

Answered just now

Spain’s IBEX 35 reports that the benchmark lost nearly 2% in the new quarter’s first week as tensions increased between the country’s government and Catalonia’s leaders.

According to Spanish newspaper “El Pais”, Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told Catalonia's leader Carles Puigdemont that he will invoke Article 155 and take back all regional power unless the Barcelona parliament confirms it's not seeking independence weakening the Euro as investors watched and waited for the next shoe to drop.

Bloomberg Politics reports that It has been a critical period of brinkmanship. The Catalan leadership is running out of options while Spain is calmly ready to escalate the conflict in an attempt to bring an end to the country’s most dramatic political crisis for four decades. Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is exercising the never tested powers of Article 155 of Spain’s 1978 Constitution to try to impose central government control on Catalonia. The aim is to trigger regional elections within six months and it is expected that Spain will pursue the application of the clause gradually, but will act against people within the administration who obstruct the Constitutional process.

In northern Spain Basque Nationalists, who endorsed Rajoy’s minority government to pass a budget earlier this year, abandoned the prime minister as the Catalan crisis began to escalate, delaying approval of next year’s budget and adding further uncertainty to the outlook of the IBEX 35 and the Spanish economy in general.

The Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFR) at the Atlantic Council has assessed claims of Russian interference and found some evidence to support a role for the Russian propaganda machine in playing up the tensions in the region. Russian bots employed similar tactics during the U.S. election and have flooded social media with controversial posts, influencing in favor of the Catalan move for independence. Moreover, Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange has been actively supporting Catalonia's push for independence and the Kremlin joined in on Assange's in an effort to destabilize the EU just like in the recent French and German elections or the coming elections in Spain and the Czech Republic. Brett Schaffer, an analyst of the Alliance to Safeguard Democracy, stated that Russia is not necessarily interested in the independence of Catalonia for what it seeks is divisions among EU members to foment political disruption and gradually undermine Europe’s democracy and institutions.

In the meant time, the future of the IBEX 35 and the Spanish economy in general remain in limbo waiting for the political crisis to be resolved.

What are the drawbacks of bullet trains?

Alfonso Llanes, studied at Florida International University

Answered just now

There several high-speed design proposals for mass transit in addition to the existing bullet train. One of the biggest problems with anything moving is the physics of friction on a surface or a medium such as air, water or a vacuum. For this reason engineering and construction costs are exponentially high and related to an increase on the speed of any surface vehicle.

A design such as the Hyperloop proposes to do away with traditional wheels by using air bearings and pods instead. This allows the pod to float on air. The design is similar to the maglev, in which the electromagnetic levitation of the train avoids friction unlike a traditional train that runs on tracks.

This is how current maglev trains can achieve super speeds, like the 500km/h maglev train in Japan. One Hyperloop design, from Virgin Hyperloop One, uses “passive magnetic levitation”, meaning the magnets are on the trains and work with aluminum track. Current active maglevs need powered tracks with copper coiling, which is very expensive.

Maglev (derived from magnetic levitation) is a public transport technology that uses magnetic levitation to move vehicles without making contact with the ground or an electrical conduit. Maglev ultimate concept is to compete with high speed rail and airlines.

Maglev technology has fewer moving parts, allowing vehicles to move more smoothly, quietly and faster than transport on wheels. A vehicle travels along a guide way equipped with magnets to control “in-flight” stability and create propulsion and lift, thus, eliminating the physical constraints of friction. In the case of conventional high speed trains, there is a lot of wear and tear of wheels on rails and on the electrical pickup which limit higher speeds.

Maglev vehicles hold the speed record for trains. In practice, as with all high speed transport, time for acceleration and deceleration must be included with having fewer stops if higher top speeds are to be effectively utilized. In the case of maglev, acceleration and deceleration are in essence restricted to protect the safety and comfort of the passengers.

Vactrain technology has been proposed as a means to overcome this limitation. Elon Musk has started the building revolution for a new train system. It's based on the very high-speed transit (VHST) system proposed in 1972. The system combines magnetic levitation with moving in a vacuum transit tube. It has evolved from the original ideas of VHST, but it still uses the tubes and pods to move from place to place liken to the tube-pod combination used by banks to send paperwork from office to office only in a larger scale.

Did the Hurricanes Harvey and Irma give climate change deniers second thoughts?

Alfonso Llanes, studied at Florida International University

Answered just now

Probably the most recognized voice on the issue of global warming is Vice-President Al Gore with his superb work of awareness and documentaries. Gore explains that the vast majority of climate scientists agree that global warming is happening and that it poses a serious threat to the planet. Scientists also agree that the issue is caused largely by human activities releasing greenhouse gases, such as burning fossil fuels and deforesting the land. This scientific consensus emerged gradually over decades of research and debate. The present state of knowledge on the subject climate is found in the periodic reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This report is a collection of data from thousands of scientists. Regrettably the report states, much of the American public remains unaware or unwilling to acknowledge this scientific body of knowledge. Most of the blame comes from well-coordinated campaigns by interest group to spread misinformation about global warming.

The Environmental Defense Center as an NGO proclaims a mission statement that reads: “EDC is dedicated to protecting the environmental rights of all people, including the right to clean air, clean water, healthy food and flourishing ecosystems. Guided by science, we work to create practical solutions that win lasting political, economic and social support because they are nonpartisan, cost effective and fair.”

In 2005 the Environmental Defense Center published a scathing report which is partially reproduce here:

“The Latest Myths and Facts

On Global Warming “

By

Dr. James Wang ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE SCIENTIST and

Dr. Michael Oppenheimer PROFESSOR OF GEO-SCIENCES, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

MYTH: Global warming can’t be happening, since winters have been getting colder

FACT: Winters have been getting warmer. Measurements show that Earth’s climate has warmed overall over the past century, in all seasons, and in most regions.

MYTH: Satellite measurements of temperature over the past two decades show a much smaller warming in the atmosphere than is measured by thermometers at the surface.

FACT: Recent research has corrected problems that led to underestimates of the warming trend in earlier analyses of satellite data.

MYTH: The global warming over the past century is nothing unusual. For example, the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), roughly from A.D. 1000 to 1400, was warmer than the 20th century.

FACT: Ten independent scientific studies all have found a large 20th-century warming trend compared to temperature changes over the past millennium or two.

MYTH: Human activities contribute only a small fraction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, far too small to have a significant effect on the concentration of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

FACT: Before the Industrial Revolution, the amount of CO2 emitted from large natural sources closely matched the amount that was removed through natural processes.

MYTH: The Earth’s warming is caused by natural factors like increased sunlight and sunspots or decreased cosmic rays, not by greenhouse gases (GHGs).

FACT: Modeling studies indicate that most of the warming over the past several decades was probably caused by the increase in human-produced GHGs.

MYTH: The warming observed during the past century was caused by urbanization (urban heat island effect).

FACT: Urbanization does increase temperatures locally, affecting thermometer readings in certain areas.

MYTH: Models have trouble predicting the weather a few days in advance.

FACT: Climate prediction is different from weather prediction, just as climate is different from weather.

MYTH: The science behind the theory of global warming is too uncertain to draw conclusions useful to policy makers.

FACT: The primary scientific debate is about how much and how fast, rather than whether, additional warming will occur as a result of human-produced GHG emissions.

MYTH: Global warming and increased CO2 would be beneficial, reducing cold-related deaths and increasing plant growth (“greening the Earth”).

FACT: If society does not limit further warming, the beneficial effects probably will be heavily outweighed by negative effects.

MYTH: Society can easily adapt to climate change; after all, human civilization has survived through climatic changes in the past.

FACT: While humans as a species have survived through past climatic changes, individual civilizations have collapsed.

MYTH: CO2 is removed from the atmosphere fairly quickly, so we can wait to take action until after we start to see dangerous impacts from global warming.

FACT: Global warming cannot be halted quickly. CO2 and other GHGs can remain in the atmosphere for many centuries.

In closing the EDC states that this report is intended to provide a comprehensive discussion of common myths and misunderstandings regarding climate change. The goal is to provide members of Congress and their staff, journalists and the public with detailed, well-researched and user-friendly information on these issues. This will allow readers to see that global warming science is not split between two opposing camps, as the public may often believe. Our rebuttals of myths are based on peer-reviewed, widely accepted scientific publications, which are cited and listed at the end of the report.