MIT researchers have created a new synthetic biology sensor that can detect four different molecules and could be used to program cells to precisely monitor their environments. Using genes as interchangeable parts, synthetic biologists design cellular circuits that can perform new functions, such as sensing environmental conditions. However, the complexity that can be achieved in …
CNBC – Google’s Venture fund is planning to invest $1 billion in a wide-range of start-ups over the next five years. While Google Ventures, which is currently invested in over 100 companies, is invested in some social media companies, William Maris, Google Ventures managing partner, said the fund seeks entrepreneurs that “have a healthy disregard …
North Dakota hits another oil production record with 674,000 bpd in July If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News …
Traditional cookstoves are to blame for much of the pollution that leads to millions of deaths in the developing world. Safer stoves are available, but few people buy them. Stanford researchers say that’s because the newer models aren’t designed to give people what they really want. Preparing a meal in some of the world’s poorest …
Recombineering (recombination-mediated genetic engineering) is a genetic and molecular biology technique based on homologous recombination systems, as opposed to the older/more common method of using restriction enzymes and ligases to cut and glue DNA sequences. It has been developed in E. coli and now is expanding to other bacteria species and is used to modify …
What if a lunar base could produce and deliver waste silicon cheaper than coal on Earth? The economics of massive lunar exports A guest article by Joseph Friedlander There was a lot of talk stirred up lately by Newt Gingrich’s lunar base speech, which Brian referred to in a post here. Many people have been …
Xconomy discusses why your next TV is a tablet. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is going to come between the content owners and the $32 billion they earn every year in affiliate fees—that is, their cut of cable and satellite subscription revenues. The prospect that these fees might be cut off or reduced is exactly what caused …
Networked Society City Index – Triple-bottom-line effects of accelerated ICT maturity in cities worldwide (16 pages) The past 25 years have brought a digital age, massive computing power, highspeed data access and mobile communication. More recently, we have seen the emergence of the cloud, bringing communication and information technologies together in a new, emerging ICT …
1. American Interest – Roelof van Ark, the chief executive, and Thomas Umberg, the chairman of the High Speed Rail Authority, announced they will step down from their posts as the odds against the project grow longer. The highly indebted, cash strapped state has commitments of $3.3 billion of federal money in hand against the …
The Army’s Advanced Hypersonic Weapon went 2,400 miles from Hawaii to its target by the Kwajalein Atoll in the south Pacific. Darpa recently crashed a hypersonic glider had a radical, wedge-like shape: a Mach 20 slice of deep dish pizza, basically. The Army’s vehicle relies on a decades-old, conventionally conical design. It’s designed to fly …
Nanocomp Technologies, Inc., a developer of performance materials and component products from carbon nanotubes (CNTs), today announced it has been selected by the United States Government to supply CNT yarn and sheet material for the program needs of the Department of Defense, as well as to create a path toward commercialization for civilian industrial use. …