A company called Pilus Energy has a new technology for harvesting renewable energy from wastewater. The company has tweaked bacteria to come up with proprietary energy-harvesting organisms it calls BactoBots™, leading to a new generation of high efficiency microbial fuel cells.
Continue reading… “Self-destructing microbial robots turn wastewater into high value products”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKJbGhlqmaw[/youtube]
Virgin Mobile decided to harness our contempt for advertisements into nothing other than another advertisement: 25, to be exact. There is something different about this ad campaign, though. If you blink just once, you just might miss it. Using the power of your webcam and your eyes, the phone company created something called “blinkwashing,” which kinda sounds like some sort of psychological torture. As the final installment in Virgin’s “Retrain Your Brain” campaign, the ad’s premise is to persuade consumers to ditch their current “controlling” pricey mobile plans for Virgin’s no-contract ones.
Continue reading… “Virgin Mobile’s ‘blinkwashing’ ad changes scenes when the viewer blinks”
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/74499770[/vimeo]
When it comes to 3D printing there seems to be few limits to what the technology can do or what range of products it can spawn, from lampshades to lunar bases. It’s easy to neglect one key factor amid all the hype: Printing capabilities are directly wedded to the size of one’s printer. As home printers become more readily available, the size of their printing beds shrink. Any budding designer with a desktop 3-D printer can create an intricate scale model of the Millennium Falcon, but what about something as straightforward yet functional as a chair? It simply won’t fit inside the printing box.
Continue reading… “A new smarter way to 3D print unveiled by MIT researchers”
The U.S. has massive renewable energy potential.
Transmission lines hold much of the same challenge and promise of the interstate highway system a century ago. The transmission network – the high voltage, long distance power lines that carry electricity from power facilities and into communities – is currently a patchwork system, lacking centralized organization or planning. Assuming that America cannot achieve 100% clean energy with distributed resources, the transport of renewable electric energy across state lines is a major hurdle to realizing a future without fossil fuels.
Continue reading… “The future of the energy infrastructure in the U.S.”
The best teams might be temporary, but their company’s success is enduring.
We often think of high-performance teans as long-term allies—a band of brothers in the organizational world. It takes a while for teams to move through the traditional phases of storming and norming before they start to really perform. It’s easy to assume that the longer a team is together, the better they’ll be at performing. But research into the inner workings of teams, particularly creative teams, suggests a different conclusion, one supported by experience from many of the most innovative companies: The best teams might temporary, with members forming around a given project and then going their separate ways to work on new projects.
UCLA smartphone virus scanner
Scientists have finally developed a technology that makes it possible to avoid a trip to the doctor. The UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science scientists have created a lightweight, virus-detecting device that attaches to a common smartphone and is able to scan the human body for human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) particles. The troublesome virus is the root of various illnesses, including birth defects like deafness and brain damage. HCMV can also expedite the death of adults who have HIV, a weak immune system and those who have undergone organ transplants, making early detection of the virus useful.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO5asUTbCR0[/youtube]
A few years ago, a public transit concept from China was making the rounds. It has resurfaced recently in a video that suggests someone is taking it seriously.
Continue reading… “Land Airbus could be coming to China (Video)”
Why are vinyl record sales up?
In the era when it seems like all of our music has gone digital, an interesting trend has been reported by Amazon: sales of vinyl records are up 745% since 2008.
Continue reading… “Amazon reports vinyl record sales are up 745% since 2008”
If we lived in a PR utopia, it would look something like this: Businesses would send journalists timely, interesting stories. Journalists would receive an ongoing supply of quality information. Readers, in turn, would grow enthusiastic about brands, turning media coverage into a conduit for sales and investor interest.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are prevalent in the U.S.
Antibiotic-resistant infections are rapidly increasing in the United States, according to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the U.S., more than two million people get drug-resistant infections every year. About 23,000 die from these diseases that are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics in doctors’ arsenals.
Continue reading… “Hospitals now a major source of contracting antibiotic-resistant infections: CDC”
Tesla could be joining a number of companies who say they will create their own fully autonomous cars.
Tesla is searching for an autonomous driving engineer, someone who will likely bring some of those great hands-free features to its electric carsin the future. They put out a call for applicants on its careers page for an “Advanced Driver Assistance Systems Control Engineer,” or ADAS. The applicant will perform a research role, looking at how to add autonomous features and working with the “firmware team” to actually put this research into action.
Continue reading… “Tesla hiring a driverless-vehicle engineer”
A rendering of BiblioTech, a public library offering only electronic books.
Officials in Bexar County, Texas, celebrated the opening of the BiblioTech library, an all-digital public library, last week . The facility offers about 10,000 free e-books for the 1.7 million residents of the county, which includes San Antonio.
Continue reading… “All-digital, bookless library opens in Texas”