More harm than good?
Before you reach for that hand sanitizer, consider this: rather than killing germs, that action is actually more likely to make you – and society – sicker…
Continue reading… “Antibacterial hand sanitizer may actually make you sicker”
Some big numbers coming up here!
In LinkedIn’s first earnings call as a public company, CEO Jeff Weiner revealed that LinkedIn is adding two new members every second, which is up from one member per second in November 2010. In Q2 alone, LinkedIn added 14 million members, after passing the 100 million mark earlier this year…
Continue reading… “LinkedIn now adding two new members every second”
How many lives could this save?
Samuel K. Sia, a biomedical engineer at Columbia University, has developed a cheap test for HIV infection that can return accurate results almost instantly…
Continue reading… “New test for HIV takes 15 minutes, costs $1”
It looks like the Philips AmbientLED has won the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lighting Prize (modeled on the original X-Prize). The goal was to help “transform lighting technology” by making it more efficient. To win, the Philips LED had to go through some pretty sophisticated tests (see the video below) to make sure the light quality was good and that it was durable… (video after jump)
Continue reading… “Philips LED light wins U.S. Department of Energy’s $10m ‘Lighting Prize’”
Micro projectors for maximum viewing pleasure.
Sharing pictures of your kids used to be easy—whip out the wallet-sized photos and pass. Now, you pull out your phone and squint. With these new millimeter-cubed projector lenses, squinting, like wallet photos, may become a thing of the past…
Continue reading… “Projector lenses the size of pencil lead are big news for smartphones”
Powerful but oh so small!
Your watch battery isn’t small. This battery is small. At six times thinner than a bacterium, Rice University’s new battery is 60,000 times smaller than a AAA battery…
Continue reading… “The world’s smallest battery is six times thinner than a bacterium”
July was REALLY hot in a lot of places.
With July just behind us the National Weather Service confirms what you probably already knew: It was really seriously totally sweatily hot over the majority of the United States. In fact there were 2,676 tied or broken heat records across the nation, doubling last year’s stats. All told about 60 people died from the heat last month…
Continue reading… “July 2011 Heat Records Double Those Of Last Year”
Solar energy produced from all angles.
One of the difficulties with using solar energy is its inability to produce electricity around the clock. Torresol Energy in southern Spain has solved this problem by storing thermal energy in two tanks of molten salt. This enables the plant to generate electricity long after sundown in order to satisfy the energy needs of the local populace. The molten salt — known as MSES — stores enough thermal energy during the day to create steam power during the night…
Continue reading… “First 24/7 solar plant”
Anonymous is scared no longer.
Despite the recent spate of arrests on their side, Anon released 400MB of NATO data courtesy of big-time cybersecurity firm ManTech last night. This is their way of making good on a promise and reiterating that they “aren’t scared anymore”.
You’ll recall that NATO officially condemned Anonymous early last month. Well, as part of their long attack on ManTech, you’ll find a bevy of stolen NATO reports from the past several years, financial charts, and pictures of personnel both on duty and at rest. Pretty big, and this is only a portion of the gig of data they say they’re sitting on…
Continue reading… “Anonymous fires back at NATO with FBI hack, releases 400MB of their data”
Are you ready for the Green Flight Challenge?
Air travel may be time efficient, but based on planes’ carbon emissions, it’s not good for the environment. And while purchasing carbon offsets is a good move, it’s just a drop in the bucket. That’s why Google has teamed up with aircraft technology research group the CAFE Foundation to sponsor the NASA Centennial Challenge competition, called the Green Flight Challenge.
The more than $1 million first place prize will go to the team that designs the aircraft that best shows that the emission-free flight is not only possible, it’s practical…
Continue reading… “Google and NASA team up for a Green Flight Challenge with $1.65M prize”
Yummy irradiated food?
Irradiating food doesn’t make it radioactive, and it does kill dangerous bacteria, like the E.coli that killed many Europeans this summer. But it’s also not a panacea against food poisoning and it’s definitely not the most popular idea ever thought up…
Continue reading… “The pros and cons of irradiated food”
“Any industry that mislays 25-30% of its product in the process
of delivering it might reasonably be thought to have a problem.”
Between the water treatment plant and the tap in your kitchen, a lot can happen to water. Old pipes sometimes have slow leaks that are hard to detect, and sometimes there are bigger leaks that can waste a lot of potable water in a short time. According to a World Bank report published a few years ago, these leaks cost at least $14 billion a year.
Continue reading… “Slashing water waste with smart software could save billions of dollars”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.