The latest Case-Shiller data indicate that housing prices increased in December for the 7th straight month. Most news accounts regarded this as good news. But between 2000 and 2006, housing prices rose 80-90 percent, and they are still 35-40 percent … Continue reading
Monthly Archives: February 2010
Probing Photosynthesis
2D electronic spectroscopy reveals how plants use quantum mechanics to turn sunlight into energy. Chemists observed quantum mechanics at work in photosynthesis in marine algae, using femtosecond laser pulses to mimic the absorption of sunlight. They watched absorption and energy … Continue reading
Shrinking Always Increases Costs
One of this month's articles describes the explosion of computational requirements for achieving 22 nm geometries. By some industry estimates, fabs to produce tomorrow's parts will cost $12-15 billion (with a "b") dollars instead of the "mere" $3 billion of … Continue reading
Driven to Distraction?
My car has a video screen in the dashboard that provides information on gas consumption, outside temperature, battery charge, and what song is playing on the radio. It's a nice 'bell-and-whistle' for car sellers, but a potentially deadly distraction for … Continue reading
IPCC Climate Report Science is Solid
Spread this around, as it nicely refutes the erroneous claim that the IPCC climate change science is not valid. Of course, it is. It also somewhat describes the process by which the reports are written. Photo: Reuters A farmer shows … Continue reading
Podcast and Coal Ash Waste
There is a new Climate Files podcast, with news headlines, information on the recent EPA Townhall meeting, and the energy-related portion of Obama’s business speech. I asked a question at the EPA townhall but no one was willing to address … Continue reading
Palm’s webOS 1.4 Update Is Live With Video Recording and Flash [Software Update]
You know that webOS 1.4 update for Pre, Pixi, Pre Plus and Pixi Plus that we’ve been talking about since January? The one with video recording and Flash 10 beta and some other stuff? It’s live. [Palm]
Naysayers Begin to Poo-Poo On Bloom Box’s Lofty Claims [Bloom Box]
Well, that didn’t take long. Already analysts are crawling out of the woodwork to put the seemingly miraculous Bloom Box fuel cell in its place as yet another energy saving technology that won’t perform as advertised. This week it was … Continue reading
Michael Lee-Chin
The name Michael Lee-Chin may sound familiar to you, especially if have read the Forbes Billionaire list anytime between 2001 and today, where he has been featured every year. Yes, Mr. Lee-Chin is a billionaire. Coming from humble beginnings and … Continue reading
Apple Threatened Me With Legal Action For Selling a Broken Step From Their New York Store On eBay [Apple]
Last week we posted an eBay auction where the seller—an ex-employee of Apple—was selling a broken step from the Fifth Ave New York Apple store. Threatened with legal action, he was forced to remove it. Here’s his story. Hi. I?m … Continue reading
The World Cup Goes High-Tech [World Cup]
From the ball to special uniforms that make you jump higher, this year’s World Cup could very well be the most techie soccer tournament the world’s ever seen. The ball, for example (called the Jabulani, fyi), isn’t stitched together—it’s thermally … Continue reading
Two grassroot skeptic events coming up | Bad Astronomy
There are two skeptical events coming up you should know about: 1) The first Skepchicamp, a skepticamp thrown by the Skepchicks, will be held on Saturday, March 6 in Chicago. You can get more details here. Skepticamps are audience-participation events, … Continue reading
The Pentagon Wants You—Yes, You!—to Develop a Life-Saving Robot [Robots]
Hey you! Be all that you can be! Help the U.S. military design an autonomous robot capable of ferrying injured troops from the front lines to safety with little or no help from a human hand: It’s no joke—direct from … Continue reading
Introducing the Bonus Riddle
Tom and I have been posting a riddle every Saturday since early November, and it’s been a lot of fun for us. The “prize” has always been to pick a research topic for the following Monday’s post, and we’ve sure … Continue reading
End of the Euro?
With the financial problems in Greece, the entire Euro zone is facing a crisis that some say shows how painfully flawed the Euro project was from the very beginning. The crisis calls into question the concept of bringing together countries … Continue reading
Is Social Networking Slipping?
Tweeting, twittering, 'friending,' and other electronic social linking is soaring. Even Google's gotten into the game. But is it fun and productive enough to justify the risks? Some online businesses have sprung up to help people who aren't comfortable with … Continue reading
The Cancer Answer?
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy has been shown to distinguish between healthy and cancerous tissue, and researchers at Temple U. have shown that they can distinguish between different parts of plants, using electro-spray mass spectrometry. Could new spectrometry methods provide a faster, … Continue reading
Making It Work Instead of Making It Right
In designing new semiconductor devices, modeling the hardware logic in software can dramatically reduce time-to-market. Getting the model to mimic the hardware exactly, however, represents something of a challenge. But is such exactitude necessary? According to this piece from System … Continue reading
Free Ride on a Commercial Space Ship
Rollout of SpaceShipTwo stirred many to buy tickets for a first ride — even though price is as high as final destination, i.e. space. Say someone lost nerve and gave you their ticket. Would you blast off with the other … Continue reading
Vancouverites on Hosting the Olympics
I have enjoyed watching the Olympics (short track is my favorite), but I’m glad the U.S. taxpayer did not foot the bill. Apparently many Vancouverites are not persuaded the city got a good deal: While hundreds of thousands of people have … Continue reading