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Concerns about online hotel scams grow

Bambi Majumdar Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

For years, hoteliers have lobbied Congress to act against growing online scams that lead to fake confirmations of reservations, unnecessary fees, customer harassment, and deal a significant blow to hotel brands. It seems that their calls are finally being heeded. A bipartisan bill, the Stopping Online Booking Scams Act, has been reintroduced in both chambers of Congress to combat online hotel booking scams. If passed, hotel scams would become punishable by law, and scammers would find it harder to get away with their schemes.

Can stem cells help teeth heal? Scientists say yes

Tammy Hinojos Oral & Dental Healthcare

It is generally accepted in the medical community that stem cells play an important role in wound healing. They can develop into specialized cell types throughout the body, aiding in all kinds of tissue regeneration. A new study led by Dr. Bing Hu from the University of Plymouth's Peninsula Dental School, with collaboration from researchers worldwide, asserts that certain stem cell tissue regeneration extends to teeth. This finding offers up a new and novel potential solution to tooth repair and may inform the way dentists treat teeth in the future.

How to use personalization as a family marketing tool

Lisa Mulcahy Marketing

Personalization is one of the biggest trends in online marketing right now, and that’s for good reason. The closer you can tailor your marketing approach to the specific needs of your audience, the bigger the bang you'll get for your advertising bucks — and the more ad revenue you'll attract. Is your brand family-friendly? If so, personalization is an incredibly effective way to boost sales and loyalty. Try these scientifically tested tips to give your clientele what they want in a powerful way.

Which industries will benefit most from the industrial internet of things?

Joseph Zulick Science & Technology

A common statement among historians of the 1849 gold rush was that the people who were most likely to make the most money were the ones who made tools for the miners and not the actual miners themselves. As industries like transportation, manufacturing, technology, energy and healthcare pursue success with the industrial internet of things (IIoT), this colloquial wisdom stands true. IIoT equips these sectors with the information and data to operate their businesses more effectively.

Important 3-D technologies arrive at police departments

Bambi Majumdar Law Enforcement, Defense & Security

The Santa Ana, California, Police Department is of one the latest to use new 3-D scanning technology to survey crime scenes. The latest version of the Leica 3-D scan station that Santa Ana PD is using can help officers and detectives process crime scenes faster and with more accuracy. The technology creates a virtual image of a crime scene in less than two minutes. The St. Louis County Police Department is also now using new 3-D technology that is quite similar to Santa Ana's.

Designing intelligent interactive environments

Michael J. Berens Interior Design, Furnishings & Fixtures

Integrating interactive technologies into interior environments is becoming increasingly common. So, too, is the use of interactive robots in nonindustrial settings. What if you could combine the two to create an interior space that is itself an intelligent, interactive agent? That’s the goal of a project being developed at Cornell University’s Architectural Robotics Lab.

Access to K-12 computer science education grows across the country

Bambi Majumdar Education

One recent change in education involves a multistate initiative to expand access to and diversity in K-12 computer science. 33 states have passed legislation to that effect in 2019, and about $42.5 million has been funded for this cause. Interest in computer science education is rising, as it should in the digital age. Stakeholders, from parents to policymakers, recognize the importance of this investment. Much of this success can be attributed to the Code.org Advocacy Coalition, which has worked hard at advocating the cause since 2013.

Infographic: Could universal basic income work?

Brian Wallace Civil & Government

A universal basic income means different things to different people, and presidential candidate Andrew Yang has once again brought the concept to the forefront. Many people say that it could alleviate poverty or mitigate the financial fallout from the next Industrial Revolution, in which artificial intelligence and robots could displace a large percentage of the workforce. Is it time to give this idea some serious thought? Or is it better left to the annals of history?

Popular European RV website launches in the US

Dave G. Houser Recreation & Leisure

Following its successful introduction in Europe in 2015, CaraMaps, a French collaborative website and mobile app dedicated to RVers, has come to the United States. Already serving nearly 250,000 travelers in six European countries with a free database of more than 60,000 locations (campgrounds, parking and service areas, tourist offices, etc.), CaraMaps is confident that its slick, intuitive online directory will find acceptance in the vastly larger U.S. market, which is 9 million RV owners strong.

Research: One way to boost organic shares on social media

Emma Fitzpatrick Marketing

Most marketers don’t count on social shares much! That’s because from 2015 to 2017, social sharing dropped by half, according to BuzzSumo data. Yet, there is an outlier: original, authoritative content. Publications like The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, and The Economist actually saw a substantial increase in the number of their social shares. For marketers, publishing original research was their ticket to capitalize on the above trend. For the most part, it seemed to work.

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