2013 – Page 113 – Impact Lab

Analysis, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Wind Power

Wind power tops new electricity generation in U.S. for 2012

February 13, 2013

The US remains second to China, which had 62,000 MW of installed wind power at the close of 2011.

According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), wind energy was the single largest source of new electricity generation capacity in the U.S., during 2012. With 13,124 MW of new infrastructure, wind accounted for 42 percent of all new capacity, from renewable sources or otherwise, according to a press release put out by the organization.

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Business, Health & Fitness, Latest Trend

Medicare crackdown seems to be slowing down hospital readmission epidemic

February 12, 2013

Medicare has begun punishing hospitals with hefty fines if they have too many readmissions.

There are more than 1 million Americans who wind up back in the hospital only weeks after they are released for reasons that could have been prevented — a revolving door that for years has seemed impossible to slow.

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Analysis, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

We will see a shift from social networks back to blogs in 2013

February 12, 2013

Technorati is one of the largest sites that monitor blogs and their influence. Last week they released their Technorati Media’s 2013 Digital Influence Report which paints interesting numbers showing how brands spend their money online, and how people react to this branding effort. There are two trends which seem to indicate we may just see a shift in the coming months which should be of interest to any online marketer.

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Photo Perspectives, Science & Technology News, Space

China from space at night from 1992 to 2010

February 12, 2013

1992

There is a very cool film loop from the NOAA showing the progression of the night sky in China from 1992 to 2010. You can watch the full animation here. Above is a photo of 1992 and here is 2010. (Pics)

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Business, Crazy Stuff, Great New Product, People Making a Difference, Plant Life

‘Growing Jewelry’ – a wearable urban farm

February 12, 2013

“Growing Jewelry”

What would happen to our city gardens if space ever became scarce? Hafsteinn Juliusso, a jewelry designer, has shrunk these gardens and made them wearable. Juliusson’s line of “Growing Jewelry” holds active living plants.

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Analysis, Business, Science & Technology News

The future of 3D printing and the retail business

February 12, 2013

Recently, Marc Andreessen made some bold statements about the future of the retail business:

“Retail chains are a fundamentally implausible economic structure if there’s a viable alternative,” he says. “You combine the fixed cost of real estate with inventory, and it puts every retailer in a highly leveraged position. Few can survive a decline of 20 to 30 percent in revenues. It just doesn’t make any sense for all this stuff to sit on shelves. There is fundamentally a better model.”

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Analysis, Animals, Big Problems, Business, Health & Fitness, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Four-fifths of all antibiotics are consumed by the meat industry

February 11, 2013

Livestock consumption of antibiotics reached a record nearly 29.9 billion pounds in 2011.

The Food and Drug Administration, last year, proposed a set of voluntary “guidelines”designed to nudge the meat industry to curb its antibiotics habit. Since then, the agency has been mulling whether and how to implement the new program. Meanwhile, the meat industry has been merrily gorging away on antibiotics—and churning out meat rife with antibiotic-resistant pathogens—if the latest data from the FDA itself is any indication.

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Analysis, Animals, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

Does every animal get a billion heartbeats over their lifetime?

February 11, 2013

There may be some truth to the assumption that on average animals get one billion heartbeats out of their bodies before they die based on the relationship between metabolic rates, volume, and surface area.

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Analysis, App, Business, Science & Technology News

Why mobile apps get rejected from the Apple app store

February 11, 2013

There are nine surprising reasons an app might get rejected from the Apple app store.

To keep the app ecosystem healthy, the Apple App Store review process is designed to protect users from low quality or hostile apps. It works for the most part. Sometimes an app rejection might not be for the reason you might expect. Sometimes it can force developers to rush to push back their launch date or maybe even redevelop key features.

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Analysis, Business, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Top 15 emerging technology trends: Forrester

February 11, 2013

“We went a level deeper in our research by examining how today’s hot technology create platforms for future disruption,” analyst Bryan Hopkins writes.

Forrester, a research firm, understands that everyone who’s been listening knows that mobile, social, cloud, and data are big freight trains of change that are blowing up old business models and old business practices.

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Analysis, Great Videos, Historical Perspectives, Science & Technology News

Virtual fences will transform rural America

February 11, 2013

Virtual fencing promises radical transformation by removing the mile upon mile of barbed wire stretched across the landscape.

European farmers claimed North America with fences when they first arrived. Fences were the physical manifestation of a belief in private ownership and the proper use of land — enclosed, utilized, defended — that continues to shape the American way of life, its economic aspirations, and even its form of government. (Videos)

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