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San Francisco aggressively to promote use of electric vehicles
The City on the Bay to help build charging infrastructure throughout the city and the suburbs to make use of electrical vehicles viable
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Stephen Hawking looking for Africa's hidden talent
New initiative aims to promote the study of math and science in Africa; £75 million from private donors will be used to create Africa’s first postgraduate centers for advanced maths and physics; fifteen such centers will be open
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Past patients to provide fast flu vaccine to new patients
Currently it takes at least six months to produce a flu vaccine after a new strain appears; researchers find that a faster way would be to treat people with antibodies produced by earlier patients
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Scientists debate link between climate change and storm ferocity
Cyclone Nargis, just before it smashed into Myanmar, suddenly changed gear from a Category One to a Category Four cyclone just before it made landfall; similar changes were noted in other recent tropical storms; are changes linked to global warming?
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New cell-based sensors sniff out danger
New sensors will incorporate living olfactory cells on microchips; sensors would detect presence of IEDs –- but may also be used to sense the presence of pathogens, the presence of harmful bacteria in ground beef or spinach, and detect the local origin of specialty foods like cheeses or wines
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Flying saucers, tiny helicopters compete in British war game
The U.K. Ministry of defense held its first Grand Challenge technology competition last week; six finalists receive $600,000 each to develop their concepts into machines; finalists will meet for mock battle in August
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U.S. wireless landascpe about to change
Clearwire, Sprint Nextel to form $14.55 billion wireless company which will deploy WiMAX networks across the United States; WiMAX’s speed dwarfs current wireless technologies, holding the potential of rendering cable and phone line Internet obsolete
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Lockheed Martin’s Joint Air-To-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM)
The Iranian nuclear weapons program is moving full-speed ahead — the December 2007 NIE strangely opined that Iran had “halted” its nuclear weapon program, but Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says Iran is “hell-bent” on acquiring nuclear weapons – and Lockheed Martin successfully tests the JASSM which aims not only to destroy high-value hardened targets, but also evade the sophisticated air-defense systems the Russians are building for Iran
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IEEE-USA to host Boston-Area Homeland Security Conference
A business panel with local and national experts on technology commercialization is to be the main feature of the 2008 IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Homeland Security
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Plasma-powered flying saucer for surveillance
Passing a current of magnetic field through a conducting fluid generates force; a new patent application shows how this phenomenon — magnetohydridynamics — may be used as a form of propulsion
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HP CEO: Dwindling tech talent hurt U.S.
Mark Hurd, CEO of Hewlett-Packard, laments declining technical competence in the United States; only 40 percent of HP’s 40,000 engineers are now based in the United States
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Unassuming fungi lock depleted uranium out of harm's way
Common fungi, found in most back gardens, could help clean up battlefields contaminated with depleted uranium
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NTT shows commercial RedTaction security system
NTT shows Firmo, a Human Area Network (HAN)-based system which uses the surface of the human body for communication; the Firmo Kit is used as an alternative to short-range wireless security card entrance/exit systems
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German invents radar-camouflaging paint
A German amateur inventor invents radar-camouflaging paint; planes, vehicles, and buildings may be coated with the paint and made invisible to radar
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Smarter electric grid key to saving power, I
Power providers and technology companies are making the electric grid smarter; it will stop being merely a passive supplier of juice; installing smart controls in homes would allow consumers to decide how much energy they need at what price
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The long view
Nuclear Has Changed. Will the U.S. Change with It?
Fueled by artificial intelligence, cloud service providers, and ambitious new climate regulations, U.S. demand for carbon-free electricity is on the rise. In response, analysts and lawmakers are taking a fresh look at a controversial energy source: nuclear power.
Huge Areas May Face Possibly Fatal Heat Waves if Warming Continues
A new assessment warns that if Earth’s average temperature reaches 2 degrees C over the preindustrial average, widespread areas may become too hot during extreme heat events for many people to survive without artificial cooling.
Exploring the New Nuclear Energy Landscape
In the last few years, the U.S. has seen a resurgence of interest in nuclear energy and its potential for helping meet the nation’s growing demands for clean electricity and energy security. Meanwhile, nuclear energy technologies themselves have advanced, opening up new possibilities for their use.