The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
Air-powered Car Coming to India
Analysis by Jesse Emspak
Discovery, Wed May 9, 2012 09:09 AM ET
This car runs on the ultimate emissions-free fuel: air.
In 2007, Mumbai, India-based Tata Motors signed a licensing deal with Motor Development International, a French design firm. The idea was to build a car that could run on compressed air. Now Tata says it has tested two cars with the engines. The next step is setting up the manufacturing plants to actually build them.
Scientists: Viruses Could Power Electronics
Tuesday, 15 May 2012, 7:12 PM EDT
(NewsCore) – Scientists have developed a technique to generate power with harmless viruses that convert mechanical energy into electricity.
The breakthrough could mean that one day, we might be able to charge our cell phones with paper-thin generators that harvest electricity from the vibrations of everyday tasks such as shutting a door or climbing stairs, the scientists said.
“More research is needed, but our work is a promising first step toward the development of personal power generators, actuators for use in nano-devices, and other devices based on viral electronics,” said Seung-Wuk Lee, a scientist at the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
The device works by harnessing the piezoelectric properties of the M13 bacteriophage, a virus that only attacks bacteria and is benign to people.
Piezoelectricity is electricity resulting from accumulation of a charge in a solid in response to pressure and is the basis for items like electric cigarette lighters and push-start propane barbecues.
“We're now working on ways to improve on this proof-of-principle demonstration,” Lee added. “Because the tools of biotechnology enable large-scale production of genetically modified viruses, piezoelectric materials based on viruses could offer a simple route to novel microelectronics in the future.”
Read more: Berkeley Lab
Joining the Qatar Foundation to Advance Humanitarian Technology
Big news! I'll be taking a senior level position at the Qatar Foundation to work on the next generation of humanitarian technology solutions. I'll be based at the Foundation's Computing Research Institute (QCRI) and be working alongside some truly amazing minds defining the cutting edge of social and scientific computing, computational linguistics, big data, etc. My role at QCRI will be to leverage the expertise within the Institute, the region and beyond to drive technology solutions for humanitarian and social impact globally—think of it as Computing for Good backed by some serious resources. I'll spend just part of the time in Doha. The rest of my time will be based wherever necessary to have the greatest impact. Needless to say, I'm excited!
My mission over the past five years has been to catalyze strategic linkages between the technology and humanitarian space to promote both innovation and change, so this new adventure feels like the perfect next chapter in this exciting adventure. I've had the good fortune and distinct honor of working with some truly inspiring and knowledgeable colleagues who have helped me define and pursue my passions over the years. Needless to say, I've learned a great deal from these colleagues; knowledge, contacts and partnerships that I plan to fully leverage at the Qatar Foundation.
It really has been an amazing five years. I joined the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) in 2007 to co-found and co-direct the Program on Crisis Mapping and Early Warning. The purpose of the program was to assess how new technologies were changing the humanitarian space and how these could be deliberately leveraged to yield more significant impact. As part of my time at HHI, I consulted on a number of cutting-edge projects including the UNDP's Crisis and Risk Mapping Analysis (CRMA) Program in the Sudan. I also leveraged this iRevolution blog extensively to share my findings and learnings with both the humanitarian and technology communities. In addition, I co-authored the UN Foundation & Vodafone Foundation Report on “New Technologies in Emergen-cies and Conflicts” (PDF).
NUCLEAR FAMINE: A BILLION PEOPLE AT RISK
Global Impacts of Limited Nuclear War on Agriculture, Food Supplies, and Human Nutrition
Ira Helfand, MD
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Credits and Acknowledgements
The publication of this briefing paper was made possible
thanks to the generous financial support of the Swiss Federal
Department of Foreign Affairs.
Executive Summary
Over the last several years, a number of studies have shown that a limited, regional nuclear war between India and Pakistan would cause significant climate disruption worldwide.
Two studies published this year examine the impact on agricultural output that would result from this climate disruption. In the US, corn production would decline by an average of 10% for an entire decade, with the most severe decline, about 20% in year 5. There would be a similar decline in soybean production, with, again, the most severe loss, about 20%, in year 5.
A second study found a significant decline in Chinese middle season rice production. During the first 4 years, rice production would decline by an average of 21%; over the next 6 years the decline would average 10%.
Dear friends,
Ernest Callenbach's ECOTOPIA and its prequel ECOTOPIA EMERGING were major books in my developing thinking about how a sustainable society might evolve. ECOTOPIA, the more famous of the two, provides Callenbach's overall vision of what might be possible. ECOTOPIA EMERGING – with far better characterization and more compelling plot – tells the story of how we – in all our diversity – bring that vision about.
Callenbach wrote a number of other books, including A CITIZEN LEGISLATURE (with Michael Phillips), which argues for a randomly selected legislature as an official part of government. Inspired by Callenbach and other such writers, I explore this idea in one chapter of my forthcoming book EMPOWERING PUBLIC WISDOM (North Atlantic Books, Aug 2012).
Ernest Callenbach has had a significant influence in my life. So I was greatly saddened to hear he died a month ago. Then I learned that he had left us a message, found in his computer after his death. I found his “epistle” quite moving, wide-ranging and potent. So I'm sharing it with you below.
Of course I don't agree with everything Callenbach says. For example, I find his partisan framing interferes with the realization of his larger vision, and his dismissal of brainstorming fails to appreciate its proper role – to stimulate creative thinking – which can enrich the work of “groups in which ideas are proposed, critiqued, improved, debated.” But these are minor objections compared to his deeply concerned but hopeful articulation of our “end of empire” times and his inspiring belief in the capacities of ordinary people to meet the challenges of those times.
His epistle was published as part of an appreciation of Callenbach written by Tom Engelhardt, who worked with Callenbach on a book about friendship.
Echoes of his care will last forever.
Coheartedly,
Tom
============
Excerpted from
Ernest Callenbach, Last Words to an America in Decline
by Tom Engelhardt
Epistle to the Ecotopians
By Ernest Callenbach
[This document was found on the computer of ECOTOPIA author Ernest Callenbach (1929-2012) after his death.]
WASHINGTON, April 10, 2012 – The World Bank today announced that it will implement a new Open Access policy for its research outputs and knowledge products, effective July 1, 2012. The new policy builds on recent efforts to increase access to information at the World Bank and to make its research as widely available as possible. As the first phase of this policy, the Bank launched today a new Open Knowledge Repository and adopted a set of Creative Commons copyright licenses.
The new Open Access policy, which will be rolled out in phases in the coming year, formalizes the Bank’s practice of making research and knowledge freely available online. Now anybody is free to use, re-use and redistribute most of the Bank's knowledge products and research outputs for commercial or non-commercial purposes.
“Knowledge is power,” World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick said. “Making our knowledge widely and readily available will empower others to come up with solutions to the world’s toughest problems. Our new Open Access policy is the natural evolution for a World Bank that is opening up more and more.”
The policy will also apply to Bank research published with third party publishers including the institution’s two journals—World Bank Research Observer (WBRO) and World Bank Economic Review (WBER)—which are published by Oxford University Press, but in accordance with the terms of third party publisher agreements. The Bank will respect publishing embargoes, but expects the amount of time it takes for externally published Bank content to be included in its institutional repository to diminish over time.
Event 21 May 2012 1230-1400 Washington DC
Join us for an Open Discussion: What the Bank's Open Access Policy Means for Development
Monday, May 21, 2012 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET/16:30 – 18:00 GMT
The World Bank will be adopting an Open Access Policy as of July 1. In addition, the Bank recently launched the World Bank Open Knowledge Repository (OKR) and became the first major international organization to adopt a set of copyright licenses from Creative Commons. As a result, a wealth of Bank research and knowledge products are now freely available to anyone in the world for use, re-use, and sharing.
Join us in person at the World Bank or online for a lively conversation about these and other aspects of open access to research, and its potential for development progress.
| FEATURED GUESTS: | |
| Peter Suber Director of the Harvard Open Access Project and a leading voice in the open access movement |
Cyril Muller Vice President for External Affairs at the World Bank |
| Michael Carroll American University law professor and founding board member of Creative Commons |
Adam Wagstaff Research Manager of the World Bank's Development Research Group |
| HOST: | |
| Carlos Rossel World Bank Publisher |
|
See Also:
The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations
THE OPEN SOURCE EVERYTHING MANIFESTO: Transparency, Truth & Trust
INTELLIGENCE FOR EARTH: Clarity, Diversity, Integrity, & Sustainability
COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace
New Study Predicts Frack Fluids Can Migrate to Aquifers Within Years
A new study has raised fresh concerns about the safety of gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, concluding that fracking chemicals injected into the ground could migrate toward drinking water supplies far more quickly than experts have previously predicted.
More than 5,000 wells were drilled in the Marcellus between mid-2009 and mid-2010, according to the study, which was published in the journal Ground Water two weeks ago. Operators inject up to 4 million gallons of fluid, under more than 10,000 pounds of pressure, to drill and frack each well.
Scientists have theorized that impermeable layers of rock would keep the fluid, which contains benzene and other dangerous chemicals, safely locked nearly a mile below water supplies. This view of the earth's underground geology is a cornerstone of the industry's argument that fracking poses minimal threats to the environment.
But the study, using computer modeling, concluded that natural faults and fractures in the Marcellus, exacerbated by the effects of fracking itself, could allow chemicals to reach the surface in as little as “just a few years.”
“Simply put, [the rock layers] are not impermeable,” said the study's author, Tom Myers, an independent hydrogeologist whose clients include the federal government and environmental groups.
“The Marcellus shale is being fracked into a very high permeability,” he said. “Fluids could move from most any injection process.”
See Also:
