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As we move into a new way of work - one based on more fluid and looser connections, grounded in freethinking, humanist and scientific approaches to the social contract - it's becoming clear that the traditional model of "collaboration tools" is based arou

"In The Nature Of The Future: Dispatches From The Socialstructed World, Marina Gorbis argues we are moving away from the depersonalized world of institutional production toward a new economy built on social connections and rewards--a process she calls socialstructing. Along with the exciting opportunities to create new kinds of social organizations--systems for producing not merely goods but also meaning, purpose, and greater good--there is a possibility that this form of creation will bring new challenges, new inequities, and new opportunities for abuse. We need to understand the potential disadvantages of socialstructing as well, if we are to minimize the potential pitfalls. The following is an excerpt from the book, available April 9."

The third of the four principles of multicellular systems is that much of the communication between cooperating entities (cells, social insects or computers) is indirect. The entities deposit long-lived cues in external structures -- connective tissue, te

"Machines are about to change what it means to be human. According to social theorist Jeremy Rifkin, they will undermine our sense of private property, take away our jobs and turn us into free agents in a new global "sharing economy". For good measure, they will also destroy capitalism before the middle of the 21st century."

This report is the latest research report in a sustained effort throughout 2014 by the Pew Research Center Internet Project to mark the 25th anniversary of the creation of the World Wide Web by Sir Tim Berners-Lee (The Web at 25). A February 2014 report from Pew Internet Project tied to the Web's anniversary looked at the strikingly fast adoption of the Internet. It also looked at the generally positive attitudes users have about its role in their social environment. A March 2014 Digital Life in 2025 report issued by Pew Internet Project in association with Elon University's Imagining the Internet Center looked at the Internet's future. Some 1,867 experts and stakeholders responded to an open-ended question about the future of the Internet by 2025. They said it would become so deeply part of the environment that it would become "like electricity"-less visible even as it becomes more important in people's daily lives.

n a new and novel study, scientists are looking to nature - specifically, to ants, bees and viruses - for ways to improve human collaboration during disaster relief efforts. At the center of the scientists' sights are a sub-group of their own species - s