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SINGAPORE — Crowd-funding may not be a huge deal in the Asian arts and entertainment scene here at the moment, but it will be soon. That’s what Jouko Ahvenainen, a speaker at the 6th Creative Content Production Conference at BroadcastAsia 2015, which will be held in June at Marina Bay Sands, feels.

Of course, several creatives in Singapore have tapped on crowd-funding as a source of capital. Thanks to Indiegogo, a website based in the United States, film-maker Kenny Gee raised funds for his short film, The Body, as did Han Yew Kwang for his sex comedy, Rubbers, which will open next week.

Gov. Bruce Rauner recently visited 1871, Chicago’s entrepreneurial hub for digital startups, to announce the creation of the Innovate Illinois Advisory Council, which he has formed to foster opportunity and increase Illinois’ global competitiveness.

Rauner toured 1871’s 75,000-square-foot facility, held a roundtable discussion with startups from 1871 and MATTER, and visited the recently-opened MATTER space, which is immediately adjacent to 1871 in The Merchandise Mart.

Well, that was awesome.

Last night was our State of Innovation, a three-hour exploration into where Chicago is as a tech hub, where it's been, and where it's headed. As multiple speakers reiterated at the event, there's never been a better time for tech in the Windy City. ("And there's no debating that," said Kevin Willer, Partner with Chicago Ventures).

However, it wasn't purely an evening of cheerleading. Yes, there's a ton to celebrate - record numbers of venture capital dollars, thriving startups, new incubators and accelerators, a healthy talent pipeline - but there's a lot that still needs to be done in order to keep competing at the top of the global innovation economy.

Indiana’s life sciences community has made tremendous strides over the last decade but still faces a number of challenges—including the need for more capital for early-stage companies and more executives with a proven ability to create businesses.

That was the consensus of the six-person panel at IBJ's Life Sciences Power Breakfast, which drew nearly 300 people to the downtown Marriott on Friday morning.

In this ten-minute TEDx York University talk, I recall the simple yet eye-opening bird-feeding experiment that sparked ten years of innovation research to suggest a much-needed shift in our innovation thinking: From creating breadcrumbs that catch on to designing market systems that include everyone.

How would it feel to be invisible? Neuroscientists at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet have found out. It can actually changes your physical stress response in challenging social situations, for example.

The history of literature features many well-known narrations of invisibility and its effect on the human mind, such as the myth of Gyges’ ring in Plato’s dialogue The Republic and the science fiction novel The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. Now it’s been studied in the lab.

Declining U.S. federal government research investment — from just under 10 percent in 1968 to less than 4 percent in 2015 — in critical fields such as cybersecurity, infectious disease, plant biology, and Alzheimer’s are threatening an “innovation deficit,” according to a new MIT report to be released Monday, April 27.

U.S. competitors are increasing their investment in basic research. The European Space Agency successfully landed the first spacecraft on a comet. China developed the world’s fastest supercomputer and has done research in plant biology uncovering new ways to meet global food demand and address malnutrition

The value of an MBA for entrepreneurs is hotly debated on both sides (as noted here and here). But for those set on getting the best MBA to launch their careers, some universities are teaching with a greater entrepreneurial focus than others.

A recent New York Times article suggested which universities would be the best fit for a given career aspiration.  For the entrepreneurially inclined, the Times picks Harvard as the standout choice.

The United States continues to suffer from a historically weak economic recovery. Monthly GDP and employment numbers remain near anemic. From a historical perspective the economy should be roaring by now given the pronounced contraction in 2008. Many explanations have been offered but the core reason for the U.S.’s slow recovery, and one that will continue to impede prosperity, is the decline in economic freedom and its impact on entrepreneurship, both of which began prior to the recession.

For years I have chosen to wake up to the shrill, unforgiving alarm on my BlackBerry — so much easier to program than the digital clock radio it supplanted. Tomorrow, I might shave with a custom-fit blade from Toronto-based Rockwell Razor, a passion-fuelled project of two Western University students whose throwback design obscures the company’s recent origin involving crowdfunding and 3D-printed prototypes.

I think we can all agree that throughout the rich and vast history of cinema, one film stands out among the rest.  Forget about Citizen Kane or Casablanca.  I’m referring of course to the 1984 classic, Ghostbusters.  In addition to being my favorite movie of all time (Fun fact: when I was five years old I insisted that my mother refer to me exclusively as Peter Venkman), I’ve found that it is full of valuable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs.

From plants to people, every living thing on this planet needs water. But getting enough to survive, and survive comfortably, that can be a little tricky. Just look at the furor around California's new water restrictions. If a state as wealthy as California is having to get creative in order to start saving water, you can bet that governments and municipalities with less money and clout are having to turn to even more inventive methods to get clean water without breaking the bank.

The 2015 Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) awarded more than $1.53 million in cash and prizes in a record number of prizes at this year’s competition. KiLife Tech from Brigham Young University, who created the Kiband for parents concerned about keeping track of young children in public crowded spaces took home $563,000 in cash and investment as well as in-kind prizes of $56,200 for total (cash and in-kind) of $619,200.

Rice University’s own team DexMat came in came in 5th with development of high-performance carbon nanotube fibers as a stronger, more flexible, lightweight replacement for old-fashioned metal wires initially targeting the aerospace and aviation markets. They also won the Heinlein Commercial Space Activity Prize and the CASIS ISS National Lab Space Flight Prize.

Here's the swimwear for one of the most polluted waterways in America: a yellow-and-black dry suit, flippers, thick, black gloves, a green swimming cap with the hashtag #hope scrawled on it in black marker, goggles and ear plugs—plus a whole lot of water-repelling gel on your neck and face. That's what Christopher Swain wrapped himself in before he plunged into the putrid Gowanus Canal on April 22, 2015. The 47-year-old is something of a professional swimmer of dirty waters, and he took to the Gowanus on Earth Day to highlight the need to clean it up. "I don't ever worry about being in the water," he says, calling swimming in the suit sort of like swimming in a bubble. "I'm not worried about getting gonorrhea."

Can trauma, stress, and even nightmares be passed down from generation to generation?

Scientists say yes. A number of research finds that those who have been traumatized around the time of conception can pass on a DNA code to their offspring that results in a higher vulnerability to stress in their molecules, neurons, cells, and genes. Furthermore, this gene expression—a chemical coating upon the chromosomes—is strong enough to be passed on to a third generation, which means grandchildren have "a kind of biological memory" of what their grandparents experienced, according to studies.

Waterloo – Renowned business executive, technology entrepreneur and philanthropist Mike Lazaridis has pledged $20 million to Wilfrid Laurier University to create a management institute that will enhance business programs and support the growth of a globally competitive technology industry in Canada. The Ontario government is providing $15 million to support the initiative, as announced in Thursday’s provincial budget.

The chief of innovation in the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration wants to bring more entrepreneurs into government, perhaps as two-year fellows, she said on Wednesday.

“There is lots of entrepreneurial thinking in government—it’s surprising,” Julie Lenzer Kirk, director of Commerce’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, told small business owners at a conference of the American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council. But she added that when she ran the state of Maryland’s Center for Entrepreneurship, “I would tell business people, ‘You’re my tribe.’ When I got to government, I’m still trying to fit into the tribe.” 

BERLIN, April 23 (Reuters) - The German parliament approved tighter rules on Thursday for firms selling financial products, including online platforms that support fledgling businesses through crowdfunding, in order to protect small investors against heavy losses.

Crowdfunding allows individuals and small businesses to raise funds, often via the Internet, from pools of investors who put money into peer-to-peer schemes or securities such as unlisted shares.

Worried that German companies are falling behind in the digital age, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government is keen to promote innovation and start-ups.

Inspired by the successess of last two year's Impact of Science conferences, we have decided with our partner to reconvene the conference in Amsterdam, to discuss measuring and demonstrating the societal impact of science on 4 and 5 June 2015. This conference brings international key players and experts in this field together and help them to understand the possibilities and impossibilities of measuring and demonstrating the societal impact of science has on. During the conference the recent developments in this field will be discussed. Furthermore, ideas on the next steps in measuring the societal impact of science and harmonization of definitions will be exchanged to further professionalize the measurements of the impact of science.