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VCs invest $3 billion in clean tech in 2007
VCs investment in clean tech in 2007 increased 43 percent over similar investments in 2006; U.S.-based companies received $2.52 billion, or 83 percent of the total, in 159 clean-tech deals
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Chevron, Weyerhaeuser to develop fuels from non-food sources
Using food crops such as corn to produce fuel may not be such a good idea after all, as the contribution to pushing up the price of corn-based fuel would likely be greater than the contribution to reduce oil dependence or clean up the environment; two companies offer a way out
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Qinetiq in £951 million test and evaluation MoD contract
Good news for Qinetiq: the Ministry of Defense signed a £951 million contract with the company, part of a contract values at £5.6 billion over 25 years; company has already been paid £964 million for the 2003-9 period
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Israeli clean-car project largest recipient of VC clean-tech funding in 2007
Israeli electric car venture raises $200 million in first round financing — the largest single recipient of VC cleantech funding in 2007; total VC 2007 investment in cleantech: More than $3 billion
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Europe's Northrop Grumman/EADS group wins $35 billion aircraft deal
A big loss for Boeing, as its European rivals win a $35 billion U.S. Air Force tanker deal; Boeing may have paid the price for the tanker contract it had in 2003, but which was annulled after revelations of procurement fraud; Boeing paid a record $615 million settlement to the government
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More than $3 billion lost in 2007 in phishing attacks
New survey shows the 3.6 million U.S. adults lost an average $886 each to phishing schemes, totaling in $3.2 billion loss; the good news: More victims were able to recover some of their losses relative to previous years; phishing and malware attacks will continue to increase through 2009 because it is still a lucrative business for the perpetrators
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Integrating smart cards with biometrics a growing market
The market for integrated smart cards and biometric products earned $249.1 million in 2007 and is expected to reach $822.2 million by 2013; market driven by growing interest in national biometric IDs; market grew in 2006 by 55.2 percent, despite many of the national ID projects not operating at full scale
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Bankrupt Pay By Touch to auction off its assets
Pay by Touch came to market with a big splash; its system was installed in more than 700 U.S. retail locations; its biometrics and personalized marketing businesses, however, lost $137 million last year on only $600,000 in revenue; it sought buyers, but there were no satisfactory offers, so it is planning to auction off its assets
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Bain's effort to acquire 3Com on verge of collapse
Bain Capital and a Chinese partner wanted to buy 3Com for $2.2 billion; 3Com’s TippingPoint unit sells security software used by U.S. government agencies, and persistent questions were raised over the national security ramifications of the deal; Bain and Huawei Technologies have now withdrawn their application to CFIUS
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Aussie company in $20 million wave energy project for Maui
Australian specialist in wave energy to build three platforms off the coast of Maui; project aims to provide up to 2.7 megawatts
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Textual analysis reveals corporate fraud
The textual analysis technique can be used to identify language patterns in management communications which are inconsistent with either the company’s financial performance or with the communications of other companies in the same industry, indicating fraud
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Australian biometrics software developer finds success in U.K.
Aussie biometric company finds success in the United Kingdom, with recent order from Wales bringing to company’s U.K. orders to more than $1 million; company still awaits similar recognition at home in Australia
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Lockheed Martin wins FBI database contract
Lockheed Martin built and maintains the FBI’s current ten-fingerprint database, so it was expected to win the contract for the agency’s new database — and it did; contract potential value is $1 billion
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World’s first commercial-scale tidal stream
The tidal farm scheme would be capable of generating 10.5 MW of power drawn entirely from the sea’s major tidal currents; project will be built off the north-west coast of Anglesey, north Wales
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Spain to explore oil reserves on its east coast
Spanish oil company signs up a leading Norwegian engineering company to do infrastructure work for to oil exploration projects off the east coast of Spain
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The long view
U.S. Reliance on Chinese Drones: A Sector for the Next CHIPS Act?
More and more lawmakers from both parties are beginning to pay attention to the issue of drones and national security. Different bills seek to regulate federal agency procurement and use of certain foreign-made unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), or drones. Annie I. Antón and Olivia C. Mauger write that “Building on the bipartisan consensus to enact the 2022 Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science (CHIPS) Act, there is a compelling case that UASs should be a next sector for similar action.”
PEGA Committee Votes on Spyware Recommendations
In July 2021, the Pegasus Project—a consortium of 80 journalists from 17 media organizations in 10 countries—broke the story that several governments were using the Israel-made Pegasus spyware against journalists, activists, politicians, academics, and even heads of state. Responding to the public backlash, the European Parliament set up a committee of inquiry (PEGA committee) to investigate the allegations concerning misuse of spyware on the continent.
Using AI to Find Rare Minerals
A machine learning model can predict the locations of minerals on Earth—and potentially other planets—by taking advantage of patterns in mineral associations.