The importance and benefits of taking time off from work are well-documented. Without downtime, you and your team are likely less creative and more likely to burn out.

But Americans just can’t seem to unplug. Between 2000 and 2014, the number of vacation days U.S. workers took declined steadily from a long-term average of 20.3 days to 16. And while the number of vacation days taken ticked up to 16.8 in 2016, 54% of employees have unused vacation time, according to a report by the Project: Time Off Coalition, a group of businesses, mostly in tourism, retail, and related sectors.

In 1942 Wonder Woman, created by internationally famous psychologist Dr. William Moulton Marston, made her comic book cover debut. Since then, she’s been a suffragist, solider, sex symbol, one of the most popular comic book characters of all-time and, currently, the star of blockbuster movie. Not to mention someone millions of people around the world look up too as an inspiration.

Kansas City’s emerging tech hub and entrepreneurial ecosystem continue to attract national attention.

On Thursday, Kansas City ranked among the top tech cities in the U.S., according to the Tech Cities 1.0 report by Cushman & Wakefield. The report showcased the nation’s top 25 cities, with Kansas City nabbing the No. 22 spot on the list. The cities were determined by factors such as access to talent, investment capital and growth opportunity.

As technology grows and changes, the world changes--it's a basic idea of innovation and showcases the importance of thinking outside the box, especially as technology grows at an astronomical pace.

Leading the charge for innovation is Xerox and its CTO Sophie Vandebroek. At Xerox, innovation is all about helping customers serve their end users better and making sure everyone gets the care and solutions they need.

In his book, When the Boomers Bail, Mark Lautman diagnosed what separates Winnerville from Loserville, two hypothetical communities that take vastly different approaches to economic development and talent attraction.

It’s been six years since Lautman wrote his book, but his message still largely rings true: The war for skilled labor, what he sees as a zero-sum game, has intensified. A few regions are winning. Many others are losing.

Image: http://www.economicmodeling.com 

More than 70 Downtown Ann Arbor Companies to Open Their Doors to Community

Following the all-new Tech Talk from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., leading technology companies will participate in the third annual A2 Tech Trek on June 16, 2017, from 3 to 7 p.m. A2 Tech Trek, a free event, features open houses at downtown Ann Arbor’s technology companies and organizations. Ann Arbor SPARK, with support from the Michigan Economic Development Corp, Ann Arbor/ Ypsilanti SmartZone (LDFA), and PNC Bank, is hosting the event.

NASA is announcing a new class of astronauts today—but only after a selection process that’s been about 18 months in the making. That’s partly because more than 18,300 hopefuls from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa have flooded NASA with applications to join its human spaceflight program.

Image: NASA 

Austin is so hot right now — and no, we're not talking about the rising temperatures.

According to new data compiled by realtor.com, the Texas capital is seeing an influx of newcomers from other cities, and the population is booming, making it the No. 1 most popular place to live in the US right now.

What if you put on the TV to watch Game One of the NBA Finals Thursday night, or even bought tickets to the game, and discovered that LeBron James or Stephen Curry wasn’t there? Fans were not exactly thrilled earlier this season — and expressed their sentiments freely on social media — when several top players on the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs were kept from playing in some televised Saturday night games.

For many, weight training calls to mind bodybuilders pumping iron in pursuit of beefy biceps and bulging pecs. But experts say it’s well past time to discard those antiquated notions of what resistance training can do for your physique and health. Modern exercise science shows that working with weights—whether that weight is a light dumbbell or your own body—may be the best exercise for lifelong physical function and fitness.

It’s no secret that work can be stressful, but it doesn’t make it easier to face the fact that burnout is the cause for half of workplace turnover each year. In such a working environment, it’s imperative for companies to understand how to keep their employees happy, satisfied and productive to fight this type of mass exodus.

While this year’s CES hasn’t necessarily born any great surprises in debuting home tech, it has revealed that smart home tech is becoming the norm rather than niche as more big brands reveal their connected home products to the masses. Last year we saw a lot of the first wave of smart home devices with a particular focus on the basics like smart lighting and home security. Now everyday home products are rising to the challenge. Here’s what has our attention:

Maybe you didn’t successfully negotiate that promotion (maybe you didn’t even try). But while it’s true that how far your career advances—and how quickly—is largely up to your boss, you might have more power than you think. And particularly if you’re a woman, you may need to use it if you’ve got your eye on a leadership role down the line.

The CEO helps a transformation succeed by communicating its significance, modeling the desired changes, building a strong top team, and getting personally involved.

In today’s business environment, companies cannot settle for incremental improvement; they must periodically undergo performance transformations to get, and stay, on top. But in the volumes of pages on how to go about implementing a transformation, surprisingly little addresses the role of one important person. What exactly should the CEO be doing, and how different is this role from that of the executive team or the initiative’s sponsors?

When you have been on the startup firing line, you quickly learn that any insight from experts and entrepreneurs who have been there before you can make the difference between failure and success. Yet, many new entrepreneurs brazenly assume they are bulletproof, and march blindly into the fray. The result is that half or more of startups fail in the first two years.

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few.” Shunryu Suzuki

Many times in my missives I’ve stressed the importance of paying attention, of always keeping your mind open to new ideas and new possibilities. I have encouraged you to stay alert to what…and who…is going on around you. Now, for a change, I’m going to be quiet (well, sort of…those who know me know how difficult this can be for me) and let others impart their wisdom on these truths.

We live in an age obsessed with popularity. Adults spend more and more of their time thinking, and behaving, like high school students. In a new book — called, yes, “Popular” — the psychologist Mitch Prinstein explores popularity with a scientist’s eye. Prinstein, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, argues that there are, in fact, two types of popularity and that we, as a culture, have settled on the more dysfunctional type. There is, he says, a better way. He answered questions from Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook. 

Image: Psychologist Mitch Prinstein. Credit: Somer Hadley at Revolution Studios 

With all the attention Artificial Intelligence (AI) attracts these days, a backlash is inevitable – and could even be constructive. Any technology advancing at a fast pace and with such breathless enthusiasm could use a reality check. But for a corrective to be useful, it must be fair and accurate.

The industry has been hit with a wave of AI hype remediation in recent weeks. Opinions are surfacing that label recent AI examples so mundane that they render the term AI practically “meaningless” while others are claiming AI to be an “empty buzzword.” Some have even gone so far to label AI with that most damning of tags– “fake news.’

The 2017 Omnibus Grant Solicitations of the NIH, CDC, and FDA are now available for the SBIR and STTR (NIH only) programs.

The 2017 SBIR/STTR Omnibus solicitations and accompanying resources can be found below:

• SBIR: PA-17-302
• STTR: PA-17-303 
• 2017 Program Descriptions and Research Topics and Appendix A (SBA approved topics for budget waivers) 
• SF 424 (R&R) Online HTML Application Guide 
• SF 424 (R&R) PDF Guide Application Guide for SBIR/STTR Grant Applications 
• Annotated SF424 SBIR/STTR Form Set 

Standard Application Due Dates: September 5, 2017 and January 5, 2018.

The Maryland Tech Council (MTC), Maryland’s largest technology trade association, announced the winners of its 29th Annual Industry Awards during a celebration and ceremony at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center attended by more than 550 business leaders from around the state. “MTC was honored to recognize the Industry Award winners this year whose innovations are improving and saving lives,” said Tami Howie, CEO, Maryland Tech Council. “This year’s winners gave inspiring and heart-felt messages on their advancements and how they are changing the world.”