Archive for November, 2012
First Vertical Farm Opens in Singapore
November 2nd, 2012Via: Wired: The first commercial-scale vertical farm has opened in the tiny, densely-populated city of Singapore, with the aim of decreasing dependence on food imports Singapore, which lies at the end of the Malay Peninsula, is just 710 square kilometres, almost all of which is city. That leaves little space to grow vegetables. As a […]
NJ to Use Military Trucks as Polling Places in Storm-Battered Areas, Extends Mail-In Voting
November 2nd, 2012Via: AP: New Jersey will deploy military trucks to serve as polling places on Election Day in storm-battered communities, the state secretary of the state announced Thursday during a visit to this flood-ravaged town. The state is also extending the deadline on mail-in ballots. Department of Defense trucks will be parked at regular polling places […]
Panic to Sell Businesses Before Tax Increase
November 2nd, 2012Via: Wall Street Journal: A looming increase in the capital-gains tax rate next year is fueling sales of some privately-held businesses. Many business owners—mostly founders who could gain a lot from a sale—are looking to close deals before next year, when the maximum tax on investment income is scheduled to rise from 15% currently to […]
‘Given Tablets but No Teachers, Ethiopian Children Teach Themselves’
November 2nd, 2012“For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.” —Sun Tzu, The Art o War Update: Nicholas Negroponte Is the Brother of John Negroponte Reader DW tipped me off to something pretty remarkable that I hadn’t noticed […]
Efficiency Breakthrough Promises Smartphones that Use Half the Power
November 2nd, 2012Via: MIT Technology Review: Powering cellular base stations around the world will cost $36 billion this year—chewing through nearly 1 percent of all global electricity production. Much of this is wasted by a grossly inefficient piece of hardware: the power amplifier, a gadget that turns electricity into radio signals. The versions of amplifiers within smartphones […]
Tokelau: 100 Percent Solar-Powered
November 2nd, 2012Via: Wired: Tokelau, a tiny collection of atolls in the South Pacific, is now completely able to support itself with solar energy — the first nation in the world to do so. A one-megawatt solar panel array has been erected across the three atolls to provide its more than 1,400 residents with 150 percent of […]
IBM’s Watson Goes to Medical School
November 1st, 2012Via: New York Times: Next up for Watson, I.B.M.’s clever question-answering computer? A stint as a medical student at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. The collaboration, announced on Tuesday, includes a bit of controlled crowdsourcing, with the Cleveland clinicians and medical school students answering Watson’s questions and correcting […]
Court OKs Warrantless Use of Hidden Surveillance Cameras
November 1st, 2012Via: Cnet: Police are allowed in some circumstances to install hidden surveillance cameras on private property without obtaining a search warrant, a federal judge said yesterday. CNET has learned that U.S. District Judge William Griesbach ruled that it was reasonable for Drug Enforcement Administration agents to enter rural property without permission — and without a […]
MTA Walkthrough in Flooded NYC Subway Station
November 1st, 2012Anyone play Crysis 2? Via: CBS News: The MTA has released video of a walkthrough inside New York City’s South Ferry and Whitehall Street Subway station flooded by Superstorm Sandy. MTA Pictures: Flooded Subway Stations
Why Germany Wants to See Its U.S. Gold
November 1st, 2012Via: Der Spiegel: For decades, almost half of Germany’s gold has been stored deep below the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Now, with the euro crisis swirling, German politicians are asking their central bankers to take stock of the reserves. Some even say that the gold should be shipped home. Research Credit: cgroove69
