Shanghai Tower illustrations are displayed outside its construction site in Shanghai.
Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao, in Chicago today, will see a city famed as the birthplace of the skyscraper, for decades the towering symbol of U.S. economic ambition and power. These days, China has taken over as the skyscraper’s home.
The library with no books.
The residents of a small town in Britain have borrowed every single book from their local library in an attempt to stop it from being closed.
Continue reading… “Town Borrows All 16,000 Books From Library Threatened by Closure”
“Blue Devil”
Come this fall, there will be a new and extremely powerful supercomputer in Afghanistan. But it won’t be in Dave Petraeus’ headquarters in Kabul or at some three-letter agency’s operations center in Kandahar. It’ll be floating 20,000 feet above the warzone, aboard a giant spy blimp that watches and listens to everything for miles around.
Continue reading… “U.S. Air Force Giant Spy Blimp Could be Afghanistan’s Biggest Brain”
EDV-01
We’ve seen many post-apocalyptic housing concepts before, but none have been quite as, well, realistic as the Japanese EDV-01. Daiwa House is actually producing these houses, which can spring up into mobile-houses with the push of a button. (Video)
Continue reading… “Japanese Post-Apocalyptic Housing Springs Up with the Push of a Button”
Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farm
New research has shown that it is possible and affordable for the world to achieve 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, if there is the political will to strive for this goal.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsiVNr2vBYE[/youtube]
Tim Wu, the Columbia law professor who came up with the term “net neutrality” in a research paper, has just written a new book, “The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires,” published by Knopf. The book chronicles the rise and fall of companies that develop new technologies, and discusses the future of the Internet.
Like many ideas, waterproof notepads seem like a good one initially. If you’re a driver, and you’ve ever gotten in an accident in the rain, you know how tricky it is, to jot down your co-accidentee’s information on a wet car trunk, with a wet pen, on a wet piece of paper, with water trickling down your nose.
This is not the reason however, for which Mark Knudsen came up with a waterproof notepad. What M.Knudsen claims, is that he kept having these fabulous ideas, while in the shower…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uef17zOCDb8&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Who’s got two thumbs and needs glasses to see 3D? Not this guy! Francois Vogel’s figured out a way to remove those pesky spectacles from the equation, and he’s ready to revolutionize the stereoscopic industry forever...
Health problems could prevent Americans from obtaining health insurance.
As many as 129 million Americans under age 65 have health problems that could hurt their ability to obtain health insurance or force them to pay higher premiums, a U.S. government study said on Tuesday.
Continue reading… “Study: 129 Million Americans Under 65 Have Pre-Existing Health Conditions”
Ever composed a tweet so poignant, so incisive, that you’ve wanted to carve it into titanium, wear it on your ring finger and lovingly call it “My Precious”? Well, now you can, thanks to Tweet Rings…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqvf0hXFQUg[/youtube]
Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, today pledged to make public the confidential tax details of 2,000 wealthy and prominent individuals, after being passed the data by a Swiss banker who claims the information potentially reveals instances of money-laundering and large-scale illegal tax evasion.
Reloadable prepaid debit cards represent one of the fastest-growing segments of the financial services industry.
Last year, Michael Abukhader’s 12-year-old son, Jacob, received a $30 NASCAR prepaid Visa card from an aunt who thought it would provide a convenient way to give him cash for birthdays and other events. But once Abukhader, who lives in Queen Creek, Ariz., reviewed the terms of the card, he closed the account.
Continue reading… “Consumers Beware – Reloadable Prepaid Debit Cards Loaded with Fees”