Genetically modified mosquitoes will be raised on a commercial scale for the first time, in a bid to stem outbreaks of dengue fever in Brazil. But it is unclear how well it will work. Next week biotech company Oxitec of Abingdon, UK, will open a factory in Campinas, Brazil, to raise millions of modified mosquitoes. …
Russia plans to start construction of three BN-1200 sodium-cooled fast neutron reactors before 2030. OKBM Afrikantov has said it envisages about 11 GWe (9 of the 1200 MW plants) of such plants by 2030, possibly including South Urals plant. The BN-1200 reactor for Beloyarsk will generate 1220 MWe and have a 60-year life. The core …
Following last week’s successful launch of six ORBCOMM satellites, the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage reentered Earth’s atmosphere and soft landed in the Atlantic Ocean. This test confirms that the Falcon 9 booster is able consistently to reenter from space at hypersonic velocity, restart main engines twice, deploy landing legs and touch down at near …
The Carnival of Nuclear Energy 218 is up at Yes Vermont Yankee NEI Nuclear Notes – Higher and Higher: EEI Uncovers The Cost of Electricity in Germany Ever since Germany decided to phase out nuclear energy in the wake of Fukushima, local activists have been touting the results of the shift, known in German as …
When Santa Barbara startup FindTheBest was sued by a patent troll called Lumen View last year, it vowed to fight back rather than pay up the $50,000 licensing fee Lumen was asking for. Company CEO Kevin O’Connor made it personal, pledging $1 million of his own money to fight the legal battle. Once FindTheBest pursued …
Dubai has a project to develop the world’s largest mall (8 million square feet or 183 acres), largest indoor park, cultural theatres and wellness resorts with a capacity to host over 180 million visitors annually. Dubai Holding plans to build the world’s largest domed city: Mall of the World, in Dubai. The temperature-controlled city (also …
Detailed high resolution brain imaging has been made one hundred times faster. Stanford University researchers who developed the new method CLARITY to see the brain in greater detail said that it could mark a new era of rapid brain imaging, allowing researchers to see in much greater detail not only how parts of the brain …
A previous DARPA program yielded some remarkable insight into the potential for better soldier performance through focused brain states. Amy Kraus, a former DARPA program manager, on Monday told a group at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, the work that she presided over succeeded in finding the secret mental secret that preceded good marksmanship. …
India has 15000 tons of plastic waste every day. This amount should double in 5 years. 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) of plastic roads have been laid in India in at least 11 states. Solving India’s garbage problem requires more than a technological solution. In a country where throwing garbage onto the roads and littering in …
JIBO, The World’s First Family Robot, has raised $864,000 on Indiegogo and still has 26 days left to go on its crowdfunding campaign. It is scheduled to be available by December 2015, Jibo will be capable of interacting with its owners; for now, it is just a prototype, but that could soon change. Social robotics …
Feeding a growing human population without increasing stresses on Earth’s strained land and water resources may seem like an impossible challenge. But according to a new report by researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment, focusing efforts to improve food systems on a few specific regions, crops and actions could make it …