Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Workhorse Drone Company Tests Package Deliveries in Ohio
October 18th, 2015Via: USA Today: A drone company is ready to start testing package deliveries in Ohio, but it’s not named Amazon or Google. Workhorse Group Inc. and the University of Cincinnati have been working for years to launch drones from the top of delivery trucks that look like typical UPS or U.S. Postal Service box trucks. […]
Oakland: Outlaw Shipping Container Community, Containertopia
October 15th, 2015And in Texas, instant slums. Via: sfist: “It’s pretty much my dream post-apocalyptic cyberpunk setup,” says Luke Iseman near his 160-square-foot box home. With a camp stove and a fridge “that’s a really simple hack,” his miniature shipping container nightmare chamber sits alongside 11 others in a warehouse at an undisclosed location in Oakland. File […]
Japan: Robo-Bulldozers Guided by Drones
October 14th, 2015Via: The Verge: Komatsu is the world’s second largest construction company, a venerable Japanese brand with 94 years of history that sells forklifts and bulldozers to customers around the globe. But in its home country, Komatsu has been struggling with an aging population, a trend that has left few young workers available to operate its […]
If You’re Not Paranoid, You’re Crazy
October 13th, 2015Via: The Atlantic: …we, the sensible majority, owe plenty of so-called crackpots a few apologies. We dismissed them, shrugging off as delusions or urban legends various warnings and anecdotes that now stand revealed, in all too many instances, as either solid inside tips or spooky marvels of intuition.
Paxil: Researchers Said a Popular Antidepressant Was Safe for Teens — It Was Actually Deadly
October 13th, 2015Via: Vox: For years, the drug company GlaxoSmithKline was illegally persuading doctors to prescribe paroxetine, sold under the brand name Paxil, as an antidepressant for children and teenagers. They did so by citing what’s known as Study 329 — research that was funded by the drug company and published in 2001, claiming to show that […]
Who Is Responsible for a Driverless Car Accident?
October 9th, 2015Via: BBC: Volvo says it will accept full liability for accidents involving its driverless cars, making it “one of the first” car companies to do so. It joins Mercedes and also tech firm Google, who have made similar claims. Volvo says it is trying to expedite regulation in the US, where “a patchwork” of rules […]
Wind Now Competes with Fossil Fuels, Solar Almost Does
October 9th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in NZ. I’m long Enphase Energy (ENPH). — Via: Fortune: When it comes to electricity, it’s all about the cost. A new report shows how clean energy electricity is becoming mainstream. Electricity generated by large wind farms is now cheap enough in many places around the world to compete […]
Gene Patents Probably Dead Worldwide Following Australian Court Decision
October 9th, 2015Via: Ars Technica: Australia’s highest court has ruled unanimously that a version of a gene that is linked to an increased risk for breast cancer cannot be patented. The case was brought by 69-year-old pensioner from Queensland, Yvonne D’Arcy, who had taken the US company Myriad Genetics to court over its patent for mutations in […]
CITE: The $1 Billion City That Nobody Calls Home
October 7th, 2015Via: CNN: In the arid plains of the southern New Mexico desert, between the site of the first atomic bomb test and the U.S.-Mexico border, a new city is rising from the sand. Planned for a population of 35,000, the city will showcase a modern business district downtown, and neat rows of terraced housing in […]
The Era Of Automatic Facial Recognition And Surveillance Is Here
October 5th, 2015Via: Forbes: ID checks were a common response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, but they’ll soon be obsolete. You won’t have to show your ID, because you’ll be identified automatically. A security camera will capture your face, and it’ll be matched with your name and a whole lot of other information besides. Welcome to […]
