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Video - Neal Stephenson on Optimism
Acclaimed author Neal Stephenson addresses the following question: Is there a categorical imperative for science fiction to be optimistic?
This past spring, Jason Pontin, Editor in Chief of MIT Technology Review, conducted a wide-ranging but informal conversation with science fiction writer Neal Stephenson about his craft, preoccupations, influences, and inspirations. Enjoy a six-part weekly...
MONDAY 27. AUGUST 2012
One-time Solar Giant Q-Cells to be Sold Off Soon
Consolidation in solar continues as Germany's Q-Cells reaches an agreement to be acquired by Hanwha Group.
Insolvent German solar manufacturer Q-Cells said it has an agreement with Hanwha Group to buy the company, a sign of the rapid consolidation moving through the solar industry....
Securing Your Voice
Researchers turn voiceprints into passwords to avoid storing your actual speech anywhere.
Voice authentication is increasingly used by tens of millions of people, including bank and telecom customers: you record a sample upon enrollment, and then speak that passage each time you call in, confirming your identity with a certainty regular passwords can't match. But if hackers obtain your...
SATURDAY 25. AUGUST 2012
Apple Wins Big in Major Patent Trial
The iPhone maker gains the advantage in patent fight with Samsung
After only three days of deliberation in a complicated and high-profile trial, a nine-person jury found that Samsung has infringed on six of Apple’s mobile technology and design patents and determined the iPhone maker should be awarded more than $1 billion in damages. ...
FRIDAY 24. AUGUST 2012
Another Bust for Alzheimer's Drugs
Although Eli Lilly's anti-amyloid compound fails to slow decline in two large trials, patients with mild forms of the disease show some benefit
For the second time this summer, a candidate drug has failed to slow the rate of mental decline in large trials of patients with Alzheimer's disease. But some hope remains that the compound could help patients with milder forms of the disease....
How Many Smart Watches Would You Buy?
One for every mood?
Odds are you only have one smartphone (unless you have a work-issued BlackBerry). But might there ever come a time where you would buy multiple smart watches?...
Is It Time to Go Back to My Flip Phone?
If I get a tablet, maybe I could shake my smartphone addiction.
Back in 2006, I had a really cool phone. It was a Motorola Razr. It made calls and got texts, and did little else. It was thin and lightweight. It made a pleasing sound as it snapped open and shut. “Ooh, a Razr,” people would say, causing me to blush....
Turning garbage into sugar for fuel
Waste Management signs a deal with Renmatix to explore making fuel and high-value chemicals from urban waste.
Municipal waste hauler Waste Management yesterday announced a deal to explore making chemicals and fuels from trash with Renmatix, a startup which has a low-cost process for converting biomass into sugars. ...
Cable-Shaped Batteries with a Twist
LG Chem's flexible, knottable batteries could be integrated into textiles and headphone cords.
Korean battery maker
Smart Sutures That Detect Infections
Plastic or silk threads covered with temperature sensors and micro-heaters could keep tabs on infections and provide therapy.
Surgical sutures are mindless threads no more. Researchers have now coated them with sensors that could monitor wounds and speed up healing....
What Your App Usage Tells Advertisers
Towards the data-driven mobile ad.
Monetizing mobile: it’s the talk of the tech world. Semi-famously, Facebook in its S-I filing
THURSDAY 23. AUGUST 2012
Outlier Patients in Cancer Drug Trials Could Personalize Treatment
Researchers use DNA sequencing to identify the molecular basis of a patient's unique but beneficial response to an experimental cancer drug.
No cancer is like any other, so it's no surprise that there's a lot of variability in how patients respond to cancer drugs. This variability creates a challenge for drug developers: A compound can fail in clinical trials if it does not...
WEDNESDAY 22. AUGUST 2012
Vestas Speeds Layoffs in Face of Uncertain Wind Energy Outlook
The world's largest wind turbine maker is cutting employees to prepare for softer demand and adjust to unknowns in U.S. policy.
Wind turbine maker Vestas has accelerated plans to reduce headcount to prepare for a difficult year ahead and the possible ending of a wind energy tax credit in the United States....
Special Relativity And The Curious Physics of Chronology
Einstein showed that two unrelated events can appear in any order depending on your point of view. Now physicists have discovered the chronologies of three events, and more
Special relativity has changed the way we think about time and the order of events. Einstein famously showed that two events can look simultaneous to one observer but not to another. In fact, it's possible to make two...
Can Windows 8 Win Over Game Developers?
Or will it be a "catastrophe"?
It all started with these stark words from Gabe Newell of the gaming company Valve: “Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space.”...
TUESDAY 21. AUGUST 2012
The Tweeting of the President
A new social media analytics effort points toward the White House.
The Puzzle Of The 13 Solar Towers of Chankillo
Chankillo, a Peruvian "Stonehenge", has 13 towers in a straight line. Nobody knows why but one physicists thinks that software for simulating the position of the Sun for solar panels can help
That's a useful interpretation. (In fact, Sparavigna has been using this software to re-analyse the role of the Sun in a number of ancient solar observatories round the world.) ...
Video - Meet 2012 TR35 Winner Ren Ng
Entrepreneur of the Year Ren Ng discusses his innovative work.
Video - Meet 2012 TR35 Winner Leila Takayama
Takayama applies the tools of anthropology to make robots easier to live and work with.
MONDAY 20. AUGUST 2012
IBM Breaks Efficiency Mark with Novel Solar Material
An IBM-led research teams says that a combination of copper, zinc, tin, and selenium (CZTS) could meet current thin-film efficiencies with more abundant materials.
IBM says it has made technical progress on a solar technology that researchers hope will yield efficient thin-film solar cells made from abundant materials....
First Atomtronic Radio Broadcasts Matter Waves
The new device is the atomtronic analogue of a transistor radio
Oscillating circuits are the workhorses of many electronic devices. In particular, oscillating electrons emit electromagnetic waves, a mechanism that has lead to one or two applications that readers may have come across....
Few Options in the West Nile Fight
The seasonal and unpredictable nature of the infection makes it difficult to test any potential treatment or vaccine.
Last week, officials in Dallas County in Texas began spraying insecticide from airplanes to curb the worst outbreak of West Nile virus that Dallas has ever seen. With no options for treating or preventing the disease, officials hope to prevent more people from contracting the...
FRIDAY 17. AUGUST 2012
A Playboy Model and Nanoscale Printing
Approaching maximum theoretical resolution with help from an unlikely source.
Scientists using a novel printing method have managed to make a color image whose resolution approaches the maximum theoretical limit. The Singapore team published their work in...
THURSDAY 16. AUGUST 2012
Verizon Wins Some Spectrum Wiggle Room
The U.S. Justice Department has approved a $3.6 billion deal for the carrier to buy airwave capacity from cable companies.
Verizon Wireless increased its ability improve its network speeds and capacity, after...