CQ Politics | Innovations - Web Picks: July 2008 Archives

Social Networking May Stimulate Science

July 31, 2008 10:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A new social network site, Labmeeting, is designed to let scientists easily upload their papers and lab notes to be shared with other members of their research team. TechCrunch tells us the site was started by Harvard graduate Mark Kaganovich with a $500,000 in seed round funding and opened last week to anyone with a college email account. His hope is to spur researchers to talk with each other more.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

California Opts for Paper Ballot System

July 31, 2008 5:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Given the fears about possible flaws and abuses with electronic voting machines, the California Secretary of State has announced the state will be relying on paper ballots that will be optically scanned but can be recounted by hand this election season. Debra Bowen says she opted for the paper ballots because they preserve the original vote, CNET News reports. Bowen commissioned a study last year that showed that electronic voting can be tampered with or have programming mistakes that alter the results.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Shaping the Next Generation Internet

July 31, 2008 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A project to re-think the Internet from the ground up has received $12 million in funding from the National Science Foundation. The Associated Press reports that the money will go toward developing prototypes for the Global Environment for Network Innovations, a testbed to try out new networking ideas. Actual construction of GENI would cost about $350 million.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

EPA Studies Nanotech Safety

July 31, 2008 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A number of chemical companies are supplying data to the Environmental Protection Agency so it can assess whether nanoscale materials used in their products may pose health risks. Scientific American reports that 13 companies, including BASF and General Electric, have provided data to the EPA, and another 17 are expected to do so. Some scientists worry that the tiny nanoparticles or carbon nanotubes could interact with human tissue, perhaps having an asbestos-like effect on the lungs.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Cars Have Each Other's Backs in Anti-Theft Network

July 30, 2008 5:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Car thefts could be reduced by having the cars in a parking lot keep tabs on each other, according to a plan by Sencun Zhu, a professor at Penn State University. MSNBC reports that Zhu would equip cars with small sensors that would wirelessly communicate with nearby parked cars, forming a mesh network. When the owner used his key to drive away, the car would send a goodbye signal, but if it stopped responding the other cars would send an alert to the parking lot owner.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Cabinet Secretary Blogs His Way Around the Press

July 30, 2008 1:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

US Department of Health and Human Services head Michael Leavitt spoke at a panel in Washington DC about being the first cabinet secretary to have his own blog. He says he finds it a useful way to communicate about policy without the formality of a press conference, where reporters choose the topic. Ars Technica says a follow-up panel discussed blogging, and agreed that a lack of editors can cause some bloggers to "go off half-cocked." (Not a problem here---Ed.)

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

"Super Blimp" Aims For Canadian Resources

July 30, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The JHL-40 "superaircraft" was designed by SkyHook and will be manufactured by Boeing. JHL stands for "Jess Heavy Lifter." (SkyHook International)

Natural resources in the far north of Canada - such as oil, natural gas, timber and rare metals - are difficult to reach. But one company has developed a neutrally buoyant aircraft, heavier than a blimp but lighter than an airplane, designed to operate in temperatures down to -40 degrees Fahrenheit. The Discovery Channel reports that Boeing has contracted to build the craft, which will be able to lift 80,000 pounds and should be available in 2012.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Internet Can Be Upgraded Privately, FCC Member Says

July 29, 2008 7:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Federal Communications Commission has been looking for ways to deal with the problem of peer-to-peer file sharing eating up much of the Internet's bandwidth. But Robert McDowell, a member of the FCC, argues in an essay in the Washington Post that the government should leave the issue to unregulated groups of engineers. Those groups, such as the Internet Engineering Task Force, have done a good job of solving previous issues that threatened the viability of the Net, he says.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Scientists Worry that Back-and-Forth Confuses Public About Climate Change

July 29, 2008 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Some climatologists are concerned that the natural progress of science, in which studies report new results, then are challenged by even newer studies, could be confusing the public about global warming. Part of the problem, according to The New York Times, is that it's difficult to clearly communicate scientific uncertainty through the media. Some experts say scientists have to be more careful about what they say to the public.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Continue reading Scientists Worry that Back-and-Forth Confuses Public About Climate Change.

Worried About Patriot Act, Librarians Launch Info Privacy Campaign

July 28, 2008 6:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With the Patriot Act allowing the government to seize library records and lawmakers trying to regulate the use of library computers, the American Library Association is launching a campaign to promote information privacy. Ars Technica reports that the ALA is raising more than a million dollars to fund its campaign. The group worries that law enforcement agencies are using concerns about terrorism and child safety to strip away privacy protections.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

New Homes Getting Greener

July 28, 2008 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The market for "green" housing that's more environmentally friendly than traditional homes is growing, even during the housing slump, CNN reports. According to McGraw-Hill Construction Research and Analytics, about 6 percent of new homes will be built to green standards in 2008. That's up from 2 percent in 2005.

Web picks posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Hospitals Turn to Architects to Fight Disease

July 28, 2008 1:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Using evidence-based design, in which architectural decisions are based on scientific studies, hospitals are beginning to build new facilities with an eye toward preventing hospital-acquired infections. The Los Angeles Times reports that hospitals across the country are looking to better ventilation systems with air filters, non-porous surfaces that won't hold germs, and plenty of sinks to encourage handwashing as elements of safer facilities.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

New 'Fuel Battery' - Better Than Gasoline?

July 27, 2008 9:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A new electrical storage device that is part battery and part chemical fuel cell could pack more energy than the same volume of gasoline, says New Scientist. The device was designed by researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. They say it could overcome the main limitation of batteries planned for electric vehicles - that they can't pack enough power to give the car the same traveling range as gasoline does.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

New Material Could Turn Waste Heat into Power

July 26, 2008 1:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Researchers at Ohio State University have created a new alloy with double the ability of previous materials to turn waste heat from power plants or car engines into electricity. Technology Review reports that the researchers added trace amounts of thallium to lead telluride, changing the material's electrical properties. The material could potentially convert 10 percent of the energy in heat into electricity.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Military Seeks Inspiration From High-Tech Companies

July 25, 2008 9:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In an effort to streamline adoption of useful software applications, the Defense Information Systems Agency is visiting tech companies large and small to find inspiration. The Wall Street Journal reports that traditional big projects working their way through the military bureaucracy would take five years to produce software on four-and-a-half-year-old technology. Chief Information Officer John Garing has been impressed by concepts like social networking at LinkedIn and mashups, and would like to see them adapted for military use.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Republicans Tap Web for "Micro" Donations

July 25, 2008 4:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Republican National Committee has come up with a new way to raise funds on the Internet. Working with the Boston-based company FreeCause, they've developed a toolbar for the Yahoo browser that lets users donate two or three cents to the committee each time they do an Internet search. The New York Times reports that the money actually comes from advertisers, and will be tracked to make sure no one donor exceeds federal donation limits.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Google Enters the Green Car Business

July 25, 2008 7:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aptera's three-wheeled electric vehicle, Typ-1, which reportedly gets 231 miles per gallon. It is actually classified as a motorcycle.

Google has begun investing in green-car startups, announcing $2.75 million in funding split between green-car maker Aptera Motors and ActaCell, which develops rechargeable batteries for the cars. Earth2Tech calls the move "significant" as it starts to position Google as an incubator for the next generation of electric vehicles.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy. com

There's Gold in That Thar Cow Plop

July 25, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Converting cow manure into methane and burning that instead of coal could cut greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. by about 4 percent, according to scientists at the University of Texas at Austin. The researchers tell Discovery News that the plan is a two-for-one win. Switching from coal to cow patties not only cuts the use of fossil fuel, it also keeps methane and nitrous oxide -- two very powerful greenhouse gases produced by the decay of manure -- from entering the atmosphere. Get out the shovels.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Could Expiring Subsidies Push Solar Investment?

July 24, 2008 7:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The renewable energy industry wants the U.S. government to make tax credits for clean energy more permanent, saying it's hard to build an industry on two-year subsidies. But a writer at the Wall Street Journal argues that short-term subsidies may actually boost the industry, as consumers rush to install solar panels before the tax credit expires.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Garbage-to-Fuel Making Gains

July 24, 2008 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Scientists have long considered converting garbage and crop waste into biofuels, but until gasoline hit record high prices it didn't make economic sense. Now, the New York Times reports, several companies are building plants to convert waste into fuel, and their products could be on the market within months. Big-name companies such as Honeywell, DuPont, and General Motors are starting to invest.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

You Put De Lime in De Ocean and It Eats Up All De Carbon

July 24, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shell is exploring an idea from the 1990s that would dump quicklime into the ocean, where it would absorb carbon dioxide and store it on the ocean floor. Wired says that Shell is providing seed funding to a British start-up, Cquestrate, to explore the idea. Proponents say the plan would also combat acidification of the ocean, which could destroy coral reefs. But it could take 300 billion cubic feet of limestone to capture one year's worth of carbon emissions.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

India Can Teach the U.S. about Competitiveness

July 23, 2008 7:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Businesses are worried that the U.S. will lose its competitive edge to China and India if it doesn't produce significantly more engineering and science graduates. But a writer at Business Week argues that companies have a role to play, too. He suggests that they can learn from the way Indian companies have dealt with their own shortage of high-tech workers: through more extensive employee training and development.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Poll: Support for California Renewable Energy Proposal

July 23, 2008 3:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A new poll finds that a majority of California voters support a proposal on the state's November ballot to require the state to move toward renewable energy, when they hear about it. Reuters reports on a Field poll that found 63 percent support for Proposition 7, although 82 percent of people interviewed said they were not aware of the measure. If passed, the proposition would require that half of California's electricity come from renewable sources by 2025.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

UN Soil Map Tracks Food and Carbon

July 23, 2008 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A new database of soils around the world, created by the United Nations, can help track both agricultural output and carbon storage, the UN claims. The UN Food and Agricultural Organization is also producing a Global Carbon Gap Map, according to Reuters. The map will show degraded soils where billions of tons of carbon dioxide could be stored.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Wind Power May be Too Much for Northwest

July 22, 2008 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Utilities are getting ready to more than quadruple the amount of power they produce from wind in the Northwest part of the country, according to the Oregonian. The paper warns that the power transmission network in the area isn't ready for that much input. Right now, it says, the grid can handle only about a third of the 4,716 megawatts expected to be produced by wind turbines.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Obama Outperforms McCain in Cyberspace, Survey Says

July 22, 2008 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The number of visitors to Republican presidential candidate John McCain's web site surged by more than 90 percent in June, but didn't come close to what his Democratic rival got, according to the online tracking service Compete. Wired reports that McCain got 807,518 unique visitors in June, but Barack Obama got 2.5 million in the same month. What's more, the survey found, visitors spent nine minutes on Obama's pages for every minute they spent on McCain's.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Scientists Want Place in U.S. Foreign Policy

July 22, 2008 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Prominent scientists believe there should be an emphasis on science when the United States makes foreign policy, whether the discussion is about energy and global warming or fighting diseases such as AIDS and malaria. Nobel laureates Harold Varmus and David Baltimore, and Nina Fedoroff, science advisor to Condoleezza Rice, voiced their opinions at the World Science Summit in New York City in May. It's a long time in coming, but Science News offers excerpts of their comments in the current issue.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Little Known Program Takes Big Chunk of U.S. Budget

July 21, 2008 5:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Comprehensive National Security Initiative is President Bush's single largest funding request in the fiscal 2009 intelligence budget. The program is designed to develop a plan to protect government computers against both foreign and domestic threats. But the Washington Post reports that the highly classified, multi-year, multimillion dollar program is described only vaguely, leaving questions as to what it will actually entail.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Texas Harnessing Wind Power

July 21, 2008 2:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The wind-power industry in Texas received a big boost when state regulators approved a $4.93 billion wind-power transmission project. The head of the West Texas Wind Energy Consortium told the New York Times that the project will put Texas close to Germany in the amount of installed wind power. The project entails installing transmission lines to carry electricity from turbines in West Texas to large cities such as Dallas and Houston.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Government Considers X Prizes for Nanotech

July 21, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Big prizes for technological innovation are becoming all the rage in Washington. Ars Technica tells us that Republican Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine and Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon have introduced a bill to fund prizes for advancements in nanotechnology. They're hoping the fund will attract money from private investors as well.

Nanotechnology is a bit of a catch-all phrase for the study of materials that can be manufactured in bulk on the extremely tiny nanometer scale. The field as such didn't exist until recent years, when the technology for creating materials at this fine scale became more widespread.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Study Predicts Few Hydrogen Cars Before 2023

July 18, 2008 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It will be at least 15 years until hydrogen becomes a competitive fuel, and then only with substantial government and private investment, says a study from the National Research Council. According to Science News, the study found that cars driven by hydrogen fuel cells could be commercially available in a decade, but will be very expensive. At that point, the government would have to step in with subsidies to help build an infrastructure for distributing hydrogen.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

California Requiring Greener Buildings

July 18, 2008 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

California issued new building standards this week that would reduce the energy used in buildings by 15 percent and cut the water used for landscaping by half. The Los Angeles Times reports that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised the new standards. But environmentalists complained that the standards were heavily influenced by the construction industry and not as stringent as they could be.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy, com

Obama Pushes Cyber Security

July 17, 2008 7:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Bush administration hasn't done enough to combat cyber-espionage and other online crime, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says. In a speech at Purdue University, Obama said he'll make network security a top priority, and appoint a National Cyber Advisor, according to Wired.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

In Shaky Economy, Bartering on the Web Grows

July 17, 2008 2:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With credit markets tight and consumers having less cash to spend, a number of companies are turning to the Internet for a different way to do business--bartering goods and services. The New York Times reports that about 450,000 companies are involved in barter networks, and companies are popping up to handle the transactions. One barter company executive tells the paper that bartering is a good way to conserve cash.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Huge Physics Project Leads to Super-Speed Network

July 17, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today's Internet capacity will seem incredibly limited in a decade or two, but some of the steps needed to increase bandwidth are being previewed in a large-scale physics project in Switzerland. As CNET News reports, CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, has built an ultra-high-speed network so scientists can share massive amounts of data collected from the world's largest particle accelerator, scheduled to go online next month. The people who built the network are learning how to handle data moving at speeds about 1000 times as fast as the average home broadband connection.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

EPA Considering Rules for Storing Carbon

July 16, 2008 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One proposal for limiting greenhouse gas emissions is to capture carbon as it is produced at power plants and store it underground, perhaps in exhausted oil wells. The Environmental Protection Agency is taking a step toward making that possible by publishing a draft of a rule governing such underground storage. The New York Times quotes a carbon storage expert as saying the rule is an important step, but not the only one needed to make carbon storage a reality.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

NASA Helps Fight California Wildfires

July 16, 2008 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(NASA photo)

Aerial sensing drones designed by NASA for research on global warming and general Earth science turn out to be great volunteer firefighters. As the San Jose Mercury News reports, the drones, equipped with infrared sensors, are able to identify trouble spots that firefighters don't know about, allowing them to successfully adjust their strategy in combating the blazes.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Scientists Propose Burial at Sea for Carbon

July 15, 2008 7:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One way to counter global warming may be to inject carbon dioxide into porous volcanic rock on the ocean floor, thus keeping it out of the atmosphere permanently. Science Now reports that scientists at Columbia University have surveyed deep-sea basalt formations for their potential to store carbon. The researchers say there's an area off the Oregon coast that could hold more than 120 years' worth of U.S. carbon emissions.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Traffic Cameras Link to Cell Phones

July 15, 2008 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One way to cut down on energy use and pollution is to reduce the hours commuters spend stuck in traffic jams. The Washington Post's Post I.T. section reports that a new service is coming to the D.C. area to let drivers receive live video and photos of traffic on their cell phones. The service, which relies on cameras owned by various highway departments, is also available in New York, Houston, Detroit, and Los Angeles, among other cities. No word on what this says about the danger of driving while watching your cell phone. Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Saltwater Crops For Food, Fuel?

July 15, 2008 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One concern with the increased use of biofuels (such as corn-based ethanol) is that they use up arable land and drive up the price of food crops. The Los Angeles Times brings us the story of a researcher who's looking for ways to grow crops for both food and fuel in areas with poor soil and a lack of fresh water. The scientist, Carl Hodges, grows a crop called salicornia, which he nourishes with seawater from a manmade canal. The paper says Salicornia seeds can be squeezed into cooking oil, ground into high-protein meal or even converted into biofuel.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Internet Security Problem Secretly Fixed

July 14, 2008 4:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week several companies, such as Microsoft and Cisco Systems, simultaneously released a set of "patches" designed to correct a security flaw in the Domain Name Server system, which controls Internet addresses. CNET News talks with Dan Kaminsky, the security researcher who found the flaw and kept it secret from the public while steps were taken to correct it. CNET Columnist Robert Vamosi believes the decisions Kaminsky made are a model for dealing with such potentially high-risk security problems.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

New Technologies Raise Medical Costs

July 14, 2008 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

High-tech health care devices, such as the da Vinci robot that allows surgeons to operate in tight spaces with minimal incisions, can add a lot to hospital costs. But, as Business Week reports, healthcare experts are beginning to question whether the benefits of such devices are worth the added costs.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Use Your Cell Phone to Find Parking

July 14, 2008 1:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The City of San Francisco plans a test this fall of a system that monitors parking spaces and allows drivers with smart phones to find empty spots, and even use their phone to pay the meter. The New York Times reports that the system will be tested in a quarter of the city's 24,000 metered spaces. The hope is that the system will cut down on traffic congestion and air pollution while making it easier for people to get to local businesses.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

High-Tech Home Health Help

July 13, 2008 4:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microprocessor-maker Intel is getting into the high-tech health business: its Health Guide has won approval from the Food and Drug Administration. The device records vital signs and allows for videoconferencing with doctors or nurses in remote locations. Daily Tech says Intel is marketing the device to nursing homes and care centers, and also expects that chronically ill people who live in their own homes might purchase the Guide.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Using Unused TV Airwaves

July 11, 2008 1:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

High-tech companies would love to use portions of the electromagnetic spectrum that are set aside for television broadcasts (but not being used) for various mobile communication devices. The Federal Communications Commission has yet to issue regulations for this so-called "white space." But according to CNN, the FCC says it will begin testing prototype devices from Microsoft, Motorola, and Philips next week.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

NASA Maps Offshore Wind Energy

July 11, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Red and white colors indicate high wind energy is available while blue color reflects lower energy (credit: NASA Jet Propulsion Lab).
CNET News reports that 10 years of satellite data led to a map showing the sites where wind is steady and strong for most of the year.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Recycling Carbon From Mining Operations

July 10, 2008 2:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Carbon Sciences, a startup in Santa Barbara, CA, says it has developed a relatively simple method to take the carbon dioxide emitted during mining operations and turn it into precipitated calcium carbonate, or PCC. The Environmental News Network reports that the company hopes to keep the carbon out of the atmosphere by turning it into useful products, at the same time earning money from what used to be waste. PCC is a component of many everyday products, including paper, wallboard, and fertilizer.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Telecoms Sue Cities Over High-Speed Links

July 10, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Telecommunications companies are suing cities to stop them from building publicly owned fiber-optic systems, Law.com reports. The companies say that, because cities can borrow money cheaply through municipal bonds, they're gaining an unfair advantage over private companies. The cities say the telecommunications suits are veiled attempts to stop construction of competing public systems providing an essential utility in the digital age.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Beer Popsicles Run Into the Law

July 9, 2008 6:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

posted by Zach Patton, Governing.com

Thanks to a couple of Virginia state legislators, residents of the Old Dominion state can once again enjoy a fantastical summer treat -- frozen beer on a stick.

See, this restaurant in Arlington had an amazing idea last summer: Brew Pops -- frozen beersicles.

But then it turned out that it's illegal to serve frozen beer in Virginia for some reason, because freezing beer turns it into a food. And it becomes illegal. Or something.

Anyway, now the state has changed its liquor laws to make room for Brew Pops.

Viva Summer!

New York City to Spend Billions Fighting Greenhouse Effect

July 9, 2008 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced his intention to spend $2.3 billion to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the city by 30 percent over the next 30 years. Reuters reports that the city wants to make its buildings and operations more efficient. Bloomberg predicts that by using less energy, the city should break even on its spending by 2013.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

A Wind Corridor?

July 9, 2008 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oil mogul T. Boone Pickens is proposing a plan to produce 20 percent of the country's electricity by building wind turbines in a corridor from the Canadian border to West Texas. The Business Journal reports that Pickens' plan calls for taking the natural gas now used to fuel electrical plants and using it instead for transportation fuel, reducing dependence on the Middle East for oil. Pickens believes his goals could be accomplished within a decade.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Cancer Nanotech a "Good Example" of Government Spending

July 9, 2008 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The development of nanotechnology as a tool to fight cancer is leading to promising treatments, showing that government spending in a focused area of research can be good for business and for the public, argues a writer at Wired. Looking at the field of nanotechnology developed to treat cancer, the author says funding from the National Cancer Institute has led to promising developments in the field. So far, there are at least 48 clinical trials going on, many of them in Phase II, the intermediate phase in testing new medicines.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Scientists Promote Six Degrees of Vaccination

July 8, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A popular cocktail party game may be the key to stopping flu pandemics, according to Science News. The magazine reports that targeting vaccinations to the right people could be a quick and inexpensive way of stopping a disease's spread in its tracks.

The idea is based on the notion of social networks - popularly known as six degrees of separation, the phenomenon that allows you to connect any actor to Kevin Bacon in only a few steps - and relies on vaccinating people who act as "nodes," who connect one circle of people to another.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Fuel Costs Too High? Try a Zeppelin

July 7, 2008 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As airlines struggle to find ways to cover the soaring cost of jet fuel, several companies and governments are looking into creating a new generation of airships. The New York Times reports that a number of companies, mostly in Europe, are working on new designs for dirigibles. In the U.S., the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency has funded research into airships, mainly for military communications.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Biotech Startups Scramble for Tax Credits

July 7, 2008 1:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Maryland has been trying to encourage the development of new medical devices and treatments by offering $6 million in tax credits to biotech startups. Now in its third year, the program - for the first time - saw company officials camping out on the sidewalk, hoping to get their share of a limited pot, The Washington Post reports. Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley says he hopes to raise the tax credits to $24 million by 2013.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Japan vs Detroit on Green Cars

July 4, 2008 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

General Motors is working hard at putting its electric car, the Volt, on the streets by 2010. But Business Week wonders if Detroit will be able to catch up to Japan's lead on green cars. Toyota, for instance, is planning to more than double its sale of hybrids by the early part of the next decade.

Business Week says that, to meet its targets, "Next year, Toyota is expected to add two new cars that it will sell only as hybrids, one badged as a Toyota, the other a Lexus."

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Will Hydrogen Push Aside Gasoline?

July 4, 2008 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hydrogen is being touted as the transportation fuel of the future, powering cars without polluting the atmosphere or relying on foreign sources of energy.

But Scientific American, reviewing the issues surrounding hydrogen, says the jury is still out on whether hydrogen can actually replace gasoline. The big questions: Can hydrogen be generated and stored on a practical scale? How can the high cost of manufacturing hydrogen vehicles be reined in? How can a hydrogen refueling network be built?

Web pick by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Solar Moratorium Reversed

July 3, 2008 2:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After an outcry from the solar power industry, the federal Bureau of Land Management has lifted its recently announced ban on new solar energy projects on public lands. The BLM had placed a two-year moratorium on such projects so it could study their impact. CNET News says the bureau reversed course on Wednesday.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

The Information Superhighway Comes to a Highway Near You

July 3, 2008 7:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A recent announcement by Chrysler that it will begin installing wireless connections in all Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge models signals that the Web is truly going worldwide, argues the Christian Science Monitor. The cost? About $600 to start and then a $29 monthly fee.

Meahwhile, several airlines hope to make money by providing wireless access on flights(from satellite signals, air-to-ground connections or cellphone towers). And, at least one Boston-to-New York bus service lets riders log on.

Web picks posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Comparing McCain to Obama on Climate Change

July 3, 2008 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a change from previous elections, both the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates agree that global warming is a real problem. This time, the Environmental News Network points out, the debate is over what to do about it. The site offers a comparison between John McCain's and Barack Obama's stances on issues including cap and trade, nuclear power, and renewable energy.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Company Aims to Sum Up the Web

July 2, 2008 6:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A startup company is trying to cut through the vast fields of information on the Internet by producing easy-to-use summaries. Pluribo has developed an add-on for the Firefox browser that summarizes user reviews on Amazon.com. It looks for similar words in different reviews and picks out bits it thinks are important, Webware reports. The company hopes to expand its technology to other areas soon.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

MIT Students Build Solar Concentrator

July 2, 2008 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This parabolic mirror designed by students at MIT focuses the sun's light to a single point, potentially generating temperatures upwards of 1,300 degrees Celsius. (MIT photo)

One relatively cheap method for harnessing solar power is to focus a wide swath of sunlight down to a small area, thus concentrating its heat. Students at MIT have made a 12 x 12 foot mirror that can focus sunlight onto a small point, boiling water to create steam energy. The Discovery Channel says that the students, who aimed to make the mirror as inexpensively as possible, are forming a company to market their technology.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com.

Internet Bandwidth Market Proposed

July 1, 2008 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An exchange market, on which companies could buy and sell unused bandwidth, could improve the efficiency of Web use and lower prices, a United Nations proposal says. Hamadoun Toure, the Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union, the UN body responsible for communications standards, tells the New York Times that such an exchange is his dream. He hopes the exchange could help bridge the digital divide in developing countries.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Unsafe Browsers Widespread on Internet

July 1, 2008 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A full 40 percent of people surfing the Internet are doing so with outdated versions of Web browsers that are vulnerable to attack, a study shows. The study, conducted by Google, IBM, and the Communications Systems Group in Switzerland, found 576 million people using unsafe browsers, the Washington Post reports. More than half of all Internet Explorer users had outdated versions, the report found.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

More Productive Cows Means Less Gas?

July 1, 2008 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The worldwide dairy industry is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than vehicle traffic, thanks to the land, water, and feed that go into milk production, as well as the methane produced by cows' digestive systems. Agence France Presse reports that a researcher at Cornell University found that giving one million cows a controversial growth hormone would allow dairies to produce the same amount of milk with far fewer cows. Researcher Judith Capper says the result would be the same as removing 400,000 cars from the roads.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Hawaii Requires Solar Water Heaters

July 1, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All new single family homes in Hawaii will soon have to have solar water heaters to get a building permit. The law, signed by Republican Governor Linda Lingle, goes into effect in 2010. The website Metaefficient.com says the law is meant to address the fact that the island relies on foreign countries for 90 percent of its energy. The new law stems from a proposal made five years ago, when oil was $40/barrel. It has since more than tripled.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xcomony.com