MySQL's lighter-weight database system may also fit into Sun's ambitions of becoming a major player in "utility computing, " a model of information technology infrastructure that pipes in software applications, processing and storage over the Internet rather than from a company's own data centers.

FORBES: Sun Snaps Up Database Firm, MySQL

The primary reason the United States led in aerospace, communications technology, information technology, computing and the major new energy technologies of the later 20th century (gas turbines, nuclear, wind and solar power) is because the U.S. government made a series of smart investments on the cutting edge of each of these technology fields to catalyze entrepreneurship and innovation.

FORBES: Yes, Clean Energy Jobs CAN Be Shipped Overseas

Besides securing the brightest minds in sports management, finance, economics, information technology and mathematics, Major League Baseball would be targeting exceptional individuals with an affinity for baseball as well as the capabilities to conduct quantitative research.

FORBES: Advancements in Recruiting Could Create a New Generation of Baseball Executives

Throughout the next decade major trends through an intermix of the life sciences and information technology will involve increasing use of biotechnological processes in understanding life, eradicating hereditary diseases, developing novel bio-industries, and furthering the uses of biomedical products in conserving the quality of life and the environment through the promotion of clean technologies.

UNESCO: Basic Sciences