1. Germany’s plan to transform its energy system to one reliant on renewable power as it phases out nuclear energy could cost up to €1 trillion, German energy and environment minister Peter Altmaier has publicly admitted. Feed-in tariffs supporting renewable energy could account for over two-thirds of the cost. In an in-depth interview with Frankfurter …
Linda Avey is interviewed about Personal Genomics. She was a founder of 23andme. Linda has now co-founded wearecurio.us The rise of personal analytics is going to bring us much greater clarity on our health decisions. Linda Avey’s new company, Curious, Inc., hopes to help quantify that data and tell us how to lead healthier lives. …
University of Cambridge – Carbon Nanotube hologram pixels could lead to super high resolution 3d holograms with a wide field of view. A breakthrough in the use of carbon nanotubes as optical projectors has enabled scientists to generate holograms using the smallest ever pixels. Scientists have generated holograms from carbon nanotubes for the first time, …
Standard Chartered economic projection to 2030 I do not think India will do quite as well as the Standard Chartered projection. In 2030, I think Canada with a population of about 44 million and South Korea with about 53 million could be in the bottom of the top ten economies or very close. South Korea …
China will be trying to make 200-700 story Sky City factory mass produced skyscrapers. These buildings will use less material (steel and concrete), be lower cost per square foot and will have other environmental and economic benefits. From the Judge Dredd Comics there are the Stratoscrapers in Mega City One. They are described as often …
1. Until now, Earth was the only planet known to have vast reservoirs of water in its interior. Scientists analyzed the water content of two Martian meteorites originating from inside the Red Planet. They found that the amount of water in places of the Martian mantle is vastly larger than previous estimates and is similar …
The Carnival of Space 254 is up at Starry Critters. Centauri Dreams, inspired by thoughts of Ray Bradbury, looks at how science fiction has treated the solar sail, and SF’s relationship with the scientific studies that followed. Vintage Space – During his second walk on the lunar surface, Apollo 12 lunar module pilot Al Bean …
The Carnival of Nuclear Energy 107 is up at Idaho Samizdat Atomic Insights – Exaggerated myths about nuclear accidents CAUSE negative health effects. A video was produced by the World Nuclear Association (WNA). It shows that the predicted health consequences of nuclear accidents are often orders of magnitude greater than the actual, measured health consequences …
1. In a major boost to India’s quest for energy security, a new uranium processing plant has recently been commissioned in Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, which may have one of the largest reserves of uranium in the world. For a country that has been importing uranium to fuel its nuclear power plants from across the world, …
Michael Pettis has two major assumptions about China’s economy 1) The fundamental imbalance in China is the very low GDP share of consumption. This low GDP share of consumption, I have always argued, reflects a growth model that systematically forces up the savings rate largely by repressing consumption, which it does by effectively transferring wealth …
Business Week – Things are unraveling in Europe at a startling pace. The country in the greatest danger is Spain, which could become the fourth member of the euro zone to require a bailout, following Greece, Ireland, and Portugal. Spain’s 709 billion euros of sovereign debt is roughly twice the debt of those three nations …