Year: 2013

Impact Lab > 2013
Great Videos, Science & Technology News, Solar Power

Solar Roadway – a road built out of solar panels to charge our cars

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi14nhBACEk[/youtube]

For several years Scott and Julie Brusaw have been working on their Solar Roadway, a road made of solar panels. And, now, they’re finally ready with their first full trial: a 12 by 36 foot parking lot in north Idaho, about an hour from the Canadian border. Funded with a $750,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration, the 5,700-watt installation is set to be completed in April, and will be a key step in proving viability.

 

 

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Analysis, Science & Technology News

Older and wiser: Software developer’s skills improve over time

“Tech is a young person’s game.” “You can’t teach old dogs new tricks.” “A child could solve this problem–someone send for a child.”

Prejudice against older programmers is wrong and inaccurate according to new research.  Two computer scientists at North Carolina State University, in Raleigh have discovered a natural experiment to test the technical chops of the old against the young.

 

 

Continue reading… “Older and wiser: Software developer’s skills improve over time”

Alternative Transportation, Photo Perspectives, Science & Technology News, Solar Power

Airplane flies across U.S. powered by sunshine

Solar Impulse

The goal of Solar Impulse is to fly around the world using no fuel other than sunlight. But before the solar plane circumnavigates the globe they will fly across the U.S. Solar Impulse took off on May 3 proving that airplanes can fly long distances on nothing more than sunshine. (Photos)

 

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

Shrinking cost of solar energy drives mega-projects around the world

US solar installations jumped 76% in 2012.

There has been a dramatic fall in the cost of solar power generation. Solar is at grid parity in many countries such as Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal, and in parts of the US such as the Southwest. That means it is as inexpensive to build a solar plant as a gas or coal one. The pace of technological innovation in the solar field has also accelerated, so that costs have started falling precipitously and efficiency is rapidly increasing.

 

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Analysis, Health & Fitness, Latest Trend, Nanotechnology, Science & Technology News

The future of medicine is wearable, implantable, and personalized

As doctors and scientists continue to make huge leaps in terms of genome sequencing and scanning devices, everything about your medical treatment is going to change.

There are approximately 7 billion human beings on Earth and each of us is special and unique. We are the walking, talking instantiation of the 3 billion instances of four nucleotides (abbreviated GATC) that constitute our unique genome’s DNA. Just as important, the interplay of that DNA with the environment and our individual lifestyles determines our susceptibility and predisposition to diseases.

 

 

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Analysis, Health & Fitness, Latest Trend

Suicide rates rise sharply among middle-aged Americans

More people now die of suicide than in car accidents.

The rate of suicide among middle-aged Americans have risen sharply in the past decade, prompting concern that a generation of baby boomers who have faced years of economic worry and easy access to prescription painkillers may be particularly vulnerable to self-inflicted harm.

 

 

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Great Videos, Insects, Robots, Science & Technology News

World’s smallest flying robot takes off

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9FDkJZCMuE[/youtube]

A robot the size of a fly that is able to perform the agile maneuvers of the ubiquitous insects has been created bu scientists in the United States. This “robo-fly”, built from carbon fiber, weighs a fraction of a gram and has super-fast electronic “muscles” to power its wings.

 

 

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Analysis, Business, Science & Technology News

Mobile phone carriers profit from phone theft ‘are not innocent,’ says DC police chief

Carriers benefit from phone theft.

Theft of mobile phones is a massive and growing problem, accounting for more than 40 percent of all thefts in San Francisco in 2012. But is that a good thing for mobile carriers like AT&T and Verizon?

 

 

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Analysis, Business, Economy, Globalism, Internet, Latest Trend

Global luxury goods ecommerce market rises by 25%

Luxury goods ecommerce soars.

The worldwide appetite for luxury goods doesn’t seem to have been slowed down by concerns about the state of the global economy, according to research released by business consulting firm Bain & Company in October 2012. In fact, total demand for luxury goods has remained very strong, with worldwide revenues estimated to have grown 10% in 2012.

 

 

Continue reading… “Global luxury goods ecommerce market rises by 25%”

Analysis, Business, Latest Trend

Crowdfunding trend will revolutionize the U.S. investing landscape

The tan building in the middle is 1351 H Street NE, where the plans for the restaurant Maketto are being drawn up.

Micah Lubens bought a share of a vacant, two-story brick building that was promoted as the next up-and-coming hot spot along D.C.’s bustling H Street corridor for only $100.

 

 

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