At least one-third of the species that inhabit the world's oceans may remain completely unknown to science. That's despite the fact that more species have been described in the last decade than in any previous one, according to a new report that details the first comprehensive register of marine species of the world -- a massive collaborative undertaking by hundreds of experts around the globe.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121115133148.htm
ANIMALS - Beekeeping Donkey is a Honey Farmer's Best Friend
It might seem strange to some, but honey farmer and inventor Manuel Juraci is unashamed to call a jackass both a colleague and a friend.
http://www.treehugger.com/culture/honey-farmer-creates-beekeeping-suit-his-donkey.html
ANIMALS -BIRDS Gene distinguishes early birds from night owls and helps predict time of death
Many of the body's processes follow a natural daily rhythm or so-called circadian clock. There are certain times of the day when a person is most alert, when blood pressure is highest, and when the heart is most efficient. Several rare gene mutations have been found that can adjust this clock in humans, responsible for entire families in which people wake up at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. and cannot stay up much after 8 at night. Now new research has, for the first time, identified a common gene variant that affects virtually the entire population, and which is responsible for up to an hour a day of your tendency to be an early riser or night owl.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-gene-distinguishes-early-birds-night.html
ANIMALS - Captive animals show signs of boredom, study finds
Wondering if your caged hamster gets bored? It's highly likely if the critter has nothing to do all day.
http://phys.org/news272130373.html
BOOKS - Is it time for the New York Times to embrace sponsored stories?
As news publishers confront a troubled online ad market, many of them are turning to "native advertising� which lets marketers create content that resembles a website's natural content. The New York Times is resisting the trend but sooner or later it may have to give in - perhaps one day allowing select marketers to pay to insert stories on the Times website.
There are obvious ethical issues here but, before jumping in, let's take a moment to explore just how the practice works. The idea of native advertising, which is gaining traction across the media landscape, is based on the idea that readers are more likely to engage with ad content that resembles other content on the site - rather than intrusive banner or pop-up ads.
The viral news site BuzzFeed is a loud proponent of the concept, even offering an in-house ad team to help brands create appealing content. For example, BuzzFeed recently published a "story� by a toy maker called �18 of your favorite toys from the '90's."
Native advertising is also being used by premium publishers like Forbes and the Atlantic, and by Twitter which sells "sponsored tweets� that look like other content in a user's feed. Investors, too, are hailing the practice. Respected VC Fred Wilson last week told a large audience that ads should come in the same "atomic unit� as the native content that appears on a site.
Well, what about the New York Times? Is it time for the Grey Lady to embrace sponsored stories too? It's worth noting that Boston.com, which is owned by the NYT Co, officially launched "Insights,� where marketers pay $299 for their stories to appear, clearly delineated. It looks like this, with the real news story on the left and the marketers' stories on the right:
So could the New York Times take up native advertising too? If it did, it would have to find partners who could write stories that Times readers would like to consume; such candidates might include the Clinton Foundation or green car maker Tesla. For now, however, this is unlikely to come to pass.
"It is critically important to us that advertising can be clearly distinguished from editorial and news content by our readers. For that reason, we tend not to accept native advertising, said New York Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy by email. While the site and the print paper have dabbled in "advertorial in the past, the company has never integrated ads to the degree of BuzzFeed.
Unfortunately, the Times may not always have this luxury of being so selective. The company's revenues are shrinking fast as digital subscriptions are not making up for lost advertising dollars. This situation will only get worse as more readers consume the Times on mobile devices where banner ads don't work at all (but native advertising does). Before long, economic reality may drive the Times to follow BuzzFeed's example.
As a fan of the New York Times, I would be glad if the paper needed no advertising at all. But, as a realist, I fear cost-cutting will soon pose a greater danger to the paper's greatness than native advertising.
(Image by Kobby Dagan via Shutterstock)
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OmMalik/~3/WL13Neeh7Zo/story01.htm
http://gigaom.feedsportal.com/c/34996/f/646446/s/259767ce/l/0Lpaidcontent0Borg0C20A120C110C140Cis0Eit0Etime0Efor0Ethe0Enew0Eyork0Etimes0Eto0Eembrace0Esponsored0Estories0C/story01.htm
CLIMATE - Himalayan glaciers will shrink by almost 10 percent, even if temperatures hold steady
If Bhutan's climate did not warm, glaciers in the monsoonal Himalayas would still shrink by almost 10 percent within the next few decades. What's more, the amount of melt water coming off these glaciers could drop by 30 percent.
http://phys.org/space-news/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121116124650.htm
CLIMATE - Al Gore Answers Reddit's Questions on the Climate, Nuclear Energy, and More
To promote 24 Hours of Reality: The Dirty Weather Report, which Brian wrote about yesterday, Al Gore stopped by Reddit to do an 'Ask Me Anything' Q&A session.
http://www.treehugger.com/climate-change/al-gore-answers-reddits-questions-climate-more.html
CLIMATE - Drought + Superstorm Sandy + Looming Fiscal Cliff; Revived Talk Of A Carbon Tax
Notable in their absence during the recently concluded presidential election, Superstorm Sandy and historic drought are among a string of extreme weather events that are nonetheless driving climate change and human greenhouse gas emissions back toward the forefront of politics and government. This, coupled with the looming so-called "fiscal cliff, also seems to be waking up Congress and the Obama administration, and getting them to reconsider instituting a carbon tax on the US' largest carbon and greenhouse gas emitters, such as power producers and oil refiners.
With the US economy burdened by a massive run-up in public Treasury debt accumulated as a result of the economic emergency rescue and bank bailout packages, as well as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, could be cut in half by a $20 per ton tax on carbon emissions, a recent report by the Congressional Research Service determined.
In addition, the US Treasury has commissioned the National Academies of Science (NAS) to carry out an analysis of the effects of a carbon tax, along with other means the government could use to change the nature of its revenue-raising activities so as to encourage reductions in fossil fuel use, carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Due to be completed in Spring 2013, funding for the NAS study, which is to be undertaken by a panel of economic specialists, is the latest initiative funded as a result of legislation enacted during the George W. Bush administration in 2008 but not funded until 2009, Reuters noted in a report on this matter.
A US Carbon Tax: Pro, Con and Bipartisan Support
Emphasizing the positive and beneficial economic (as opposed to environmental and social) effects, enacting a carbon tax would generate greater bipartisan political support, the Bipartisan Policy Center's Paul Bledsoe, who from 1998 to 2000 served as communications director of the White House Climate Change Task Force under President Clinton, told Reuters. Instituting a carbon tax on polluters would be "better for the economy than our current taxes on work,� he was quoted as saying.Opinions as to the likelihood of a carbon tax being instituted vary widely, though the majority view seems to consider it unlikely. Opposition from the Republican Party has been strident and staunch, and Republicans maintain control of the House of Representatives.
That said, "a number of moderate Republicans, including a few economists that advised Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, have declared their support for a carbon tax, leading some to believe there is a chance for bipartisan support in Congress according to Reuters, which noted that "Harvard professor Gregory Mankiw, economic adviser to Romney, wrote in a 2007 column that 'if we want to reduce global emissions of carbon, we need a global carbon tax.Former Republican Congressman Sherwood Boehlert and Wayne Gilchrest in February joined House Democrats Henry Waxman and Ed Markey in support of a carbon tax.One variation on the carbon tax theme calls for a portion of the revenue collected to be redistributed by passing it on to taxpayers. Longstanding Republican luminary and former Secretary of State in the Reagan administration George Shultz has been one of the few party thought leaders that for years has been advocating for a redistributive carbon tax.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Australia managed to institute a carbon tax on its 500 largest emitters late last year following years of fierce opposition that hasn't slackened much since being enacted. The bill also aims to cut taxes and increase government pension payments, as well as spur clean and renewable energy investment and provide relief to some affected industries, including steel.
As for a carbon tax's prospects here in the US, "I'm quite a skeptic regarding carbon taxes, and I doubt that President Obama could gain enough support in the House to enact one even as part of a broader tax-reform package Reuters quoted American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Kenneth Green. "But I could be wrongNonetheless, AEI has been criticized by the Republican Party for holding closed-door discussions about enactment of a carbon tax. Along with the Brookings Institution, Resources for the Future and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), AEI is going to come out in the open on the topic next month, hosting a carbon tax forum at its Washington, D.C. headquarters next month.
Photo Credit: Martin Johnson
CLIMATE - How To Reverse Global Warming With Heat
Most people know what anthropogenic global warming is. Even climate deniers have some idea of how it works, though they may pretend it's not happening. The technical details of anthropogenic global warming are as follows:
- Humans produce atmospheric carbon through burning things and making cement.
- This atmospheric carbon blocks the escape of black-body radiation coming from the earth which would otherwise cool it.
- Surface temperatures on earth increase.
A lot of people are operating under the mistaken assumption that moving the human production of CO2 to zero will fix the problem, but this is not necessarily true, for several reasons.
- The sun continues to push more energy to the earth year after year.
- CO2 stays in the atmosphere for many years and continues to block black-body radiation from the earth.
- There are climatic feedback loops primed to release more carbon as the temperature increases.
Pyrolysis is the exposure of organic material to heat in an anaerobic environment. Without oxygen, high-energy hydrogen compounds break off the organic material and leave relatively inert carbon behind. This resulting material is known as biochar, and is reputed to be wonderful fertiliser, as well as a sink for carbon that would otherwise escape back into the atmosphere.
More information on biochar here.
Another thing that heat can be used for is energy storage. Renewable sources of energy face a huge hurdle in replacing chemical fossil energy because they are not available on demand. One of the ways engineers have gotten around this is to store energy from the sun in the form of molten salt. These solar thermal designs have proven their ability to provide 100% renewable baseload power.
Check out the Gemasolar 24-hour solar plant.
If we were to combine thermal storage of renewable energy with pyrolysis of sewage, garbage, and agricultural waste, it would have the following effects:
- Reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
- Enabling the complete replacement of baseload coal and other dangerous fossil fuels.
- Creating 100% carbon-neutral chemical energy for applications which need it, like remote motorised transport and home heating.
- Reducing the need for oil and natural gas-based fertilizers.
- Reducing the amount of nutrients in rivers, which are causing algal blooms, and eliminating dangerous bacteria from sewage, bacteria which are poisoning wildlife.
- Eliminating the need for fossil fuels to create things like silicon, steel, concrete, and other heat-intensive industrial activities.
- Eliminating almost all garbage.
- Leveraging existing natural gas pipelines and traditional steam and natural gas turbines to make the transition as inexpensive as possible.
One might take the industrial heat from smelting or raw materials production and store it to create electricity later. One might produce biogas directly from electricity and export it or store it to generate power when needed. One might immediately oxidize the biogas created to generate a two-phase, ultra-efficient electrical generation system in the manner of combined cycle natural gas power plants.
If society were to do any of this, it would be a win-win-win-win-win-win-win-win scenario.
Images: Halotechnics Energy Storage, Terra Preta Wikipedia
EDUCATION - 2U teams with top schools to to show theres more to online ed than MOOCs
The New York Times might be calling it "the year of the MOOC, but the future of online learning isn't just massive online courses. In the past year, Coursera, Udacity, edX and other free platforms with mega-sized virtual classrooms have garnered mega-sized media attention (and not without good reason). But just outside that spotlight, Landover, Md.-based 2U (formerly 2tor) has been building a strong network of partners, investors and clients for its own model of online education that focuses on small classes, live instruction and teacher-student interaction.
Since launching in 2008, the company, which was co-founded by Princeton Review founder John Katzman, has partnered with seven universities, including Georgetown, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Washington University, to provide the online equivalent of top-quality masters degree programs (at equivalent prices). On Thursday, the company announced that it's launching a new program for undergraduate education, with a consortium of ten leading institutions that include Brandeis, Duke, Emory, Northwestern and the University of Rochester. 2U said they expect the program, which will start in the fall of 2013, to ultimately attract additional consortium partners.
"The goal here is to create an online experience that has the exact same student outcomes as the best schools in the world said Jeremy Johnson, 2U co-founder and president of undergraduate programs.
Calling 2U's approach "sort of the polar opposite of MOOCs, he said, the new program, called Semester Online, applies the technology and infrastructure already in place in its master's degree programs to give undergraduate students virtual classroom experiences that match the quality of their offline experiences.
Students get flexibility, expanded options
Through the new undergraduate program, students attending the partner universities, as well as those who do not, can apply to take online courses offered by any of the consortium partners - for full credit. Students would be subject to the same offline admission standards and the courses are priced the same as their offline equivalents, but Johnson said the new program gives students the flexibility to supplement their course of study with classes not offered by their own institution or travel anywhere in the world for an internship or other experience without putting their degree on hold. For example, he said, a student at UNC could remotely take an esoteric music class from the University of Rochester (which is known for its music program), or a student interested in an internship in Sub-Saharan Africa could continue taking classes while out of the country. 2U said they expect the program, which will start in the fall of 2013, to ultimately attract additional consortium partners.As opposed to a MOOC, in which students have little (or no) real-time interaction with professors and peers and learn mostly on their own time, 2U classes are all delivered in real-time, in an online environment that lets the professor and students see and interact with the entire class online. Professors can see if students aren't paying attention and call them back into the conversation or adapt a lesson if it seems like the class isn't following along. And students can interrupt a lecture to ask the professor to repeat a concept or explain it in more detail. And, unlike MOOCs, which can number in the hundreds of thousands or millions, 2U keeps the student-teacher ratio low with online class sections that never exceed 20 students.
Higher ed beginning to accept digital
While universities often honor credits from other institutions, Johnson said, this was the first time they have come together in such a collective fashion to offer credits. Given the rise of online learning platforms, like Coursera and Udacity, which provide cheaper and more convenient access to education (and are beginning to do so for credit), it makes sense that universities are willing to band together for 2U's program. Not only do they get to expand their presence to digital while maintaining many hallmarks of quality offline education and - importantly, price - they have a chance to learn from partner institutions.And it shows higher ed institutions are beginning to come to terms with the encroachment of online education. This summer, a study from Pew and Elon University reported that 60 percent of internet experts, researchers, observers and users polled said they agreed that by 2020, "there will be mass adoption of teleconferencing and distance learning and a "transition to 'hybrid' classes that combine online learning components with less-frequent on-campus, in-person class meetings.
Johnson emphasised that while 2U supports a different model of online education, it still appreciates MOOCS - indeed, a few of its partners, including Duke and Emory, also partner with Coursera.
"We think MOOC are fantastic for the world he said. "We just don't think they're a replacement for the type of education you'd get at a top institution
FASHION - Curro Claret Gets Former Homeless People to Design New Camper Shop From Recycled Materials (Photos)
Instead of designing it himself, Curro Claret gets people in risk of social exclusion to create and build Camper's shoe store in Barcelona, using reclaimed materials. The result is a fun store with a lot of personality.
http://www.treehugger.com/interior-design/curro-claret-gets-homeless-people-design-new-camper-shop-recycled-materials.html
FASHION -EcoChic Competition Brings Sustainable Practices to Shanghai Fashion Week
Competitors must use zero-waste, up-cycling and reconstruction techniques in their designs.
http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-fashion/ecochic-competition-brings-sustainable-fashion-shanghai-fashion-week.html
GARDENS - Fogponic Unit Stacks Vertically to Grow More Veggies in Less Space
This stylish, modular design stacks up to grow food with vaporized water and nutrients.
http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/vertical-fogponic-unit-fogger-vakant-design.html
MUSIC - Artiphon Musical Device Lets You Play Five Stringed Instruments with Your iPhone
The accessory, made from sustainable hardwood, lets musicians compose, perform, record and share music with their iPhone.
http://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/artiphon-musical-device.html
SCIENCE - Antenna-on-a-chip rips the light fantastic
A lab produces a micron-scale spatial light modulator like those used in sensing and imaging devices, but with the potential to run orders of magnitude faster.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121116161101.htm
SCIENCE - Newlight Turns Greenhouse Gases into High-Performance Biodegradable Plastic
Could it really be as simple as converting air and greenhouse gas into biodegradable plastics? According to Newlight, it is.
http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/turning-greenhouse-gases-high-performance-biodegradable-plastic.html
SCIENCE - Powering lasers through heat
In micro electronics heat often causes problems and engineers have to put a lot of technical effort into cooling, for example micro chips, to dissipate heat that is generated during operation. Austrian physicists have now suggested a concept for a laser that could be powered by heat. This idea may open a completely new way for cooling microchips.
http://phys.org/news272027773.html
SCIENCE - New metamaterial lens focuses radio waves: Device could improve satellite and molecular imaging
In many respects, metamaterials are supernatural. These manmade materials, with their intricately designed structures, bend electromagnetic waves in ways that are impossible for materials found in nature. Scientists are investigating metamaterials for their potential to engineer invisibility cloaks—materials that refract light to hide an object in plain sight—and "super lenses," which focus light beyond the range of optical microscopes to image objects at nanoscale detail.
http://phys.org/news272095624.html
SCIENCE - Clear view into glass: Researchers have analysed the atomic structure of amorphous silica
We can look through glass, but what glass itself looks like on the inside has so far remained a mystery - at least as far as the precise position of the atoms is concerned. Scientists at the Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin are now the first to have imaged the network of silicon and oxygen atoms - the main components of glass - in a silica film. They used two methods that image individual atoms in surfaces to analyse the glass film, which is a mere two atomic layers thick. Being able to see the atomic structure enabled the researchers to confirm that glass is structured as the Norwegian-American physicist William H. Zachariasen predicted back in 1932. Moreover, in further studies, the researchers observed the transition from a crystalline to a disordered - scientists call it amorphous - two-dimensional structure. Their findings could assist the semiconductor industry, for example, to produce amorphous silica in a more controlled way, and should also facilitate the search for new, more powerful catalysts.
http://phys.org/news272095679.html
SCIENCE - A 'Sisyphus' method for cooling trapped molecules
(Phys.org)—The investigation of ultracold molecules is of great interest for a number of problems. It could lead to a better understanding of chemical reactions in astrophysics. Ensembles of ultracold molecules could be used as quantum simulators, single molecules as quantum bits for storage of quantum information. Whereas efficient cooling methods have already been demonstrated for the cooling of atoms down to the nano-Kelvin regime, these methods fail for molecules due to their rich internal structure. A team of scientists in the Quantum Dynamics Division of Prof. Gerhard Rempe at the Max-Planck-Institute of Quantum Optics has now developed a cooling procedure – the so-called optoelectrical Sisyphus cooling – which for the first time offers the potential to reach these ultralow temperatures even for complex polyatomic molecules.
http://phys.org/news272132049.html
SCIENCE - Physicists create tractor beam for microscopic particles
(Phys.org)—New York University physicists have created a tractor beam capable of pulling particles micrometers in size. This so-called optical conveyor tractor beam, reported in the journal Physical Review Letters, has a range of potential applications, from microfluidics in the near term to far-out applications like collecting dust samples from comet tails.
http://phys.org/news272182664.html
SCIENCE - Mathematician makes breakthrough in understanding of turbulence
(Phys.org)—A mathematician at the University of Glasgow is helping to find an answer to one of the last unsolved problems in classical mechanics.
http://phys.org/news272187007.html
SCIENCE - Researchers entangle a single electron spin to a single photon in a quantum dot
(Phys.org)—Two teams working independently have succeeded in entangling a single electron spin with a single photon in a solid-state platform. Both teams describe their process and results in papers they've had published in the journal Nature. The two teams used laser pulses fired at quantum dots to entangle pairs of electrons and photons then used different techniques to remove either the shared color that resulted or their polarization.
http://phys.org/news272199676.html
SCIENCE - LLNL scientists assist in building detector to search for elusive dark matter material
(Phys.org)—Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers are making key contributions to a physics experiment that will look for one of nature's most elusive particles, "dark matter," using a tank nearly a mile underground beneath the Black Hills of South Dakota.
http://phys.org/news272210805.html
SCIENCE - Exploring middle ground of solids and liquids
(Phys.org)—In experiments at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser, researchers made snapshots of atomic-scale fluctuations in liquids and glasses. The results are a first step toward better understanding the mysterious middle-ground between solid and liquid.
http://phys.org/news272270309.html
SOLAR - UK's Largest Solar Farm (32MW) Gets Green Light
A 32MW solar plant just received planning permission for an old WWII airfield in England, but cuts to subsidies mean developers are racing to get it built.
http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/uks-largest-solar-farm-32mw-gets-green-light.html
SOLAR - Rolling Sunlight Brings Free Power To Sandy Survivors
Currently Rolling Sunlight is bringing much needed power to The Rockaways in Queens. The solar array is able to store 50 kilowatt-hours of energy, turn that energy into 120/240 AC, and bring much needed light to backed out areas or run light machinery. The batteries are housed within the truck. The entire Rolling Sunlight array can be up and generating clean power in fifteen minutes. Even more interesting, Greenpeace built Rolling Sunlight ten years ago. Rolling Sunlight is Greenpeace's only solar truck in the United States.
The sky is the limit for the potential of these types of trucks and they would not necessarily all have to be solar; think retractable wind turbines. As more super storms hit the United States, thanks to climate change, new ways of getting power to remote areas are going to have to be thought up. Ideas like the Rolling Sunlight array are a great first step.
Source: gizmodo.com
Andrew Meggison was born in the state of Maine and educated in Massachusetts. Andrew earned a Bachelor's Degree in Government and International Relations from Clark University and a Master's Degree in Political Science from Northeastern University. Being an Eagle Scout, Andrew has a passion for all things environmental. In his free time Andrew enjoys writing, exploring the great outdoors, a good film, and a creative cocktail. You can follow Andrew on Twitter @AndrewMeggison
The post Rolling Sunlight Brings Free Power To Sandy Survivors appeared first on Gas 2.
SOLAR - SolarCity Brings 21st Century Energy To 1850's Army Base
Solar industry powerhouse SolarCity has just announced that its largest ever military project will go to power 4,700 homes at Fort Bliss in Texas and the White Sands Missile Range just across the border in New Mexico. At a total of 13.2 megawatts, the installation is SolarCity's biggest military project to date. It's also a significant step forward for Fort Bliss. The base can date its history back to the 1850's, but it has been charging full bore into the new alternative energy territory of the 21st century, and the new solar installation demonstrates how rapidly the U.S. could transition out of fossil fuels.
The SolarCity Installation at Fort Bliss
The SolarCity project is the third in a series that will eventually cover 120,000 military homes for a total of $1 billion and 300 megawatts. Called SolarStrong, it dovetails with an ongoing Department of Defense initiative to put military housing under private management, which began in 1996. Basically, the housing initiative set up lease agreements that attracted private sector dollars onto military bases.If the lease agreement setup sounds familiar, it's the same basic arrangement that SolarCity and other solar companies have used to make solar power affordable (up front) and available to more property owners.
With this platform in hand, the DoD pays no money up front for the solar installations, and that provides a neat buffer between it and certain legislators who are opposed to federal investment in clean energy.
SolarCity, Green Jobs and Veterans
In his Veterans Day address, President Obama promised a renewed focus on services for returning veterans, including jobs. SolarCity is already on board. According to the company, it employs 79 veterans, including its Vice President and architect for SolarStrong.SolarCity also notes that "large numbers� of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are returning to the Fort Bliss area, where the company's solar project will create more than 100 new jobs.
Fort Bliss as a Green Leader
Fort Bliss is one of a handful of bases selected to lead the Army Net Zero initiative, which just like the name says envisions vast, sprawling complexes that use no more energy than they can generate on site (or at least locally), send no waste off site, and use only locally available water.That not only calls for projects on the bases themselves, it also calls for a new level of community interaction. As one standout example, Fort Bliss has initiated a project to help solve the waste disposal problem of nearby El Paso by using it as feedstock for a solar hybrid waste-to-energy facility at the base.
Aside from installing solar energy, Fort Bliss is also looking to tap its geothermal potential. According to one recent study, as a group, DoD lands have enough geothermal potential to power military facilities and provide energy to the civilian grid, too.
Image: Fort Bliss, Boston Public Library, Flickr
Follow me on Twitter:@TinaMCasey
SOLAR - Solar Energy Conversion And Storage Breakthrough, New Way To Split Water Molecules Into Hydrogen And Oxygen Created
A new way to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen by using just the sun and ultrathin films of iron oxide (rust) has been developed by researchers from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. This technological breakthrough will almost undoubtedly lead to more efficient, and less expensive, ways to store solar energy.
By using the sun to split water molecules and create hydrogen-based fuels, the energy of the sun can then be used at any time and in any place, rather than just those that are conducive to direct solar power. The researchers think that this could be a major factor in the replacing of fossil fuels.
"Our approach is the first of its kind,� says lead researcher Associate Prof. Avner Rothschild, of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. "We have found a way to trap light in ultrathin films of iron oxide that are 5,000 times thinner than typical office paper. This is the enabling key to achieving high efficiency and low cost.�
Iron oxide, also known as rust, has many clear benefits as a semiconductor material; it is very common, very inexpensive to produce, stable in water, and, in contrast to other semiconductors, it "can oxidize water without itself being oxidated, corroded, or decomposed,� a news release from American Technion Society notes. There are challenges to working with it, though, the largest of which is its poor electrical transport properties. "Researchers have struggled for years with the tradeoff between light absorption and the separation and collection of photogenerated charge carriers before they die out by recombination.�
"Our light-trapping scheme overcomes this tradeoff, enabling efficient absorption in ultrathin films wherein the photogenerated charge carriers are collected efficiently,� says Prof. Rothschild. "The light is trapped in quarter-wave or even deeper sub-wavelength films on mirror-like back reflector substrates. Interference between forward- and backward-propagating waves enhances the light absorption close to the surface, and the photogenerated charge carriers are collected before they die off.�
This creates the potential of making inexpensive solar cells that can combine both ultrathin iron oxide photoelectrodes and conventional photovoltaic cells. Simultaneously producing electricity and hydrogen, these solar cells would be able to efficiently store energy for use anytime, 24 hours per day, which is a significant advantage compared to conventional photovoltaic cells. One of the primary criticisms of solar power is its inability to produce electricity when it is very cloudy, but this new technology could remedy that.
And since the new technology uses only very common materials, it could go a long way towards reducing the use of expensive rare earth elements in solar panels, most of which is imported from geopolitical competitors, reducing the use of rare elements like Tellurium and Indium by up to 90%, with no loss of performance.
The new research was just published in the journal Nature Materials.
Source: American Technion SocietyImage Credits: Zonne
SOLAR - How Do We Lower Solar Installation Costs And Open The Market To Securitized Portfolios: Standardize And Harmonize
This article was originally published on the website of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Soft costs can be pretty tough. The cost of solar installations can be generally separated into "hard� costs - representing primary components such as modules, racking, inverters - and soft costs including legal, permitting, and financing. While the former group - particularly modules - have dropped dramatically over the last several years, the latter have not. According to a recent NREL analysis, these costs represent roughly 30% of both residential and utility installations (slightly less for commercial-host systems). See Figure 1.
Figure 1: Solar PV system installation costs
Doing so requires standardized contracts, interconnection agreements, and other relevant documentation so these projects can be easily aggregated with a consistent set of risk factors. Unfortunately, a myriad of unique state renewable portfolio standards (RPS), interconnection protocols, and/or permitting processes prevent the possibility of solar projects becoming routine.
Last year, SunRun issued a report that local permitting costs $0.50 / watt, or roughly $2,500 for every residential installation. Further, every state has unique rules by which RPS requirements are implemented and renewable energy credits (RECs) are bought and sold. According to Paul Kuehn of Deutsche-Eco, a developer with projects in New Jersey, Tennessee, and other eastern states, the array of rules and protocols surrounding the sale of RECs, and the financing of solar projects, is particularly complex. "For a solar project developer, it can be a difficult and expensive process to maintain the legal and analytic expertise and effort to play in each state market. States with policies that provide the market with consistent signals - such as New York, Connecticut, and Tennessee - improve the situation, but much more work needs to be done to streamline the requirements.� [1]
Importantly, unique state regulations not only increase costs, they limit the opportunity to package projects into one of several securitization mechanisms, such as asset-backed securities used for auto loans or covered bonds frequently used for municipal debt. Asset-backed securities (ABS), including securitized auto loans and mortgages, have an average size of $800 million. An initial solar ABS - under consideration by SolarCity - was expected to be much smaller, in the range of $75-$100 million, but is expected to get much larger. [2]
Assuming 75% of the installed cost of residential solar project are sold into the securitization pool and a 5 kW average system size, a $100 million fund can source roughly 4,700 systems. To put that in perspective, that's roughly the entire number of "pipeline� projects under development in New Jersey [3], the second most active state in the country (which likely includes some projects of much larger size). In effect, residential-only projects from less active states could benefit from standard contracts, evaluation practices, and other protocols to enable access to public capital markets. [4]
So, what can be done? NREL is initiating an effort to build consensus among industry players to standardize contracts, develop datasets to assess performance and payment risk, and harmonize public utility commission regulations to foster a common set of requirements across state jurisdictions. The effort, funded by DOE, is designed to bring the renewable development, finance, utility, and regulatory communities together, standardize the development and contracting efforts of solar facilities, and in turn, enable the market to access low-cost capital through easily tradable securities. Along those lines, NREL recently developed a "contracts library� to enable the industry to compare and contrast and build consensus on standard versions.
If you would like to participate in the standardization and harmonization effort, please let us know.
References:
[1]: Conversation with Paul Keuhn, August 29, 2012.[2]: "Solar ABS Deal on the Way�, Securitization Intelligence, May 27, 2011.
[3]: Solar Installation Projects as of July 31, 2012. http://www.njcleanenergy.com/renewable-energy/project-activity-reports/installation-summary-by-technology/solar-installation-projects, accessed September 4th, 2012.
[4]: Schwabe, P., Mendelsohn, M., Arent, D., Mormann, F. (2012) "Mobilizing Public Markets to Finance Renewable Energy Projects: Insight from Expert Stakeholders�, NREL, https://financere.nrel.gov/finance/publications
SOLAR - 2,000-MW Solar Power Plant To Be Built In Kazakhstan
We wrote yesterday that 2,000 megawatts (MW) of solar power have now been installed in Australia. If you thought that was striking, I think you'll find this especially striking. The organization Fonrocheenergie SAS has signed an agreement with Kazakh ZhambylGidroEnergo to construct a 2,000 MW (2 GW) solar power plant in Kazakhstan. 2 GW is big, really big! That's 2 billion watts.
The project is to be located in the southern region of the country, and the first €80 million phase of it will be 24 MW. This translates to a cost of €3.33 per watt of the first phase of the project.
The construction of this plant is slated to begin next year.
Source: PV Magazine
Image: Kazakhstan via Shutterstock
SPACE - Stunning Interactive Map Lets You Travel the Galaxy (Video)
100,000 Stars is an interactive environment that allows you to zoom, scroll and click among 100,000 known stars.
http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/stunning-interactive-map-galaxy-100000-stars.html
SPACE - Spacecraft capture solar eclipse's Earthly effect
A Japanese meteorology satellite captured the moving shadow from the total solar eclipse this week, and this animated series of images shows the shadow moving east-southeast across northeastern Australia and into the waters of the South Pacific Ocean. The images were taken by the MTSAT-1R in the 0.7 micrometer visible channel, as the Moon moved between the Sun and the Earth, blocking the Sun's light.
http://phys.org/news272273460.html
SPACE - NASA innovator hunts for extraterrestrial amino acids
The hunt for the organic molecules that create proteins and enzymes critical for life here on Earth has largely happened in sophisticated terrestrial laboratories equipped with high-tech gadgetry needed to tease out their presence in space rocks and other extraterrestrial samples.
http://phys.org/news272273484.html
SPACE - Hunting for high life: What lives in Earth's stratosphere?
What lives at the edge of space? Other than high-flying jet aircraft pilots (and the occasional daredevil skydiver) you wouldn't expect to find many living things over 10 kilometers up—yet this is exactly where one NASA researcher is hunting for evidence of life.
http://phys.org/news272273751.html
SPACE - Melt water on Mars could sustain life
Near surface water has shaped the landscape of Mars. Areas of the planet's northern and southern hemispheres have alternately thawed and frozen in recent geologic history and comprise striking similarities to the landscape of Svalbard. This suggests that water has played a more extensive role than previously envisioned, and that environments capable of sustaining life could exist, according to new research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
http://phys.org/news272283910.html
SUSTAINABILITY - New research could improve sustainability and cost effectiveness of wastewater treatment
University of Notre Dame researcher Robert Nerenberg can tell you many things you might not know about wastewater treatment plants, including their significant carbon footprint, energy demands and chemical costs. His past research has addressed ways to drastically improve the energy efficiency of wastewater treatment. He now is telling the wastewater treatment industry about his promising new line of research that has the capability of significantly decreasing chemical costs and carbon footprint.
http://phys.org/news272301420.html
TECH - World's Fastest Supercomputer is Also One of the Most Efficient
The Titan supercomputer was ranked as one of the most energy efficient supercomputers by the Green500 list.
http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/worlds-fastest-supercomputer-also-one-most-efficient.html
TECH - Samsung rowing harder and faster for flexible screen production
(Phys.org)-Is Samsung getting ready to release a line of flexible displays made of glass-replacing plastic? The right words in response may be "well, finally," or "well, maybe." The Wall Street Journal has talked to a source who said that Samsung, in the words of the WSJ subheading, "Plans to Mass Produce Flexible Mobile-Device Screens" in the first half of next year. The source was not named and was only described as "a person familiar with the situation." Samsung has tantalized techies and consumers with its futuristic videos showing a beautiful-life day using wearable wrist computers, auto dashboard display screens, location-finding smartphones, and wall mounted computer screens of plastic rather than glass.
http://phys.org/news272172384.html
TECH - New technology for semiconductor film production on highly liquid-repellent surfaces
Japanese researchers have developed a manufacturing technology for highly uniform thin films of organic polymer semiconductors without material losses by applying the semiconductor solution on a highly hydrophobic surface that strongly repels the solution. The technology allows remarkably simple production of high performance thin-film transistors (TFTs) that are indispensable building blocks for information terminal devices such as electronic papers.
http://phys.org/news272186198.html
TECH - Trend survey 2012: 'The Dutch are online any time, any place'
The internet has secured an increasingly prominent place in the everyday lives of the Dutch population, whether at home or at work. Nearly every section of the population is spending more time online and reaping more of the benefits. Having said this, the younger generation and highly qualified people seem to be benefiting the most and a new digital gap is looming on the horizon. The gap does not concern whether or not people are online, but whether they benefit from the internet or not.
http://phys.org/news272192607.html
TECH - Only nine nations own national Twitter handles, study finds
Only nine out of 193 UN member states own Twitter accounts bearing their country name, and only three of those accounts have been officially verified by the micro-blogging site, according to a report published Thursday.
http://phys.org/news272198491.html
TECH - Thermogenerator from the printer
Wireless sensor networks monitor machinery and equipment in factories, cars and power stations. They increasingly "harvest" the energy they need to transmit measurement data from the environment, thus making them self-sufficient. At the Electronica 2012 trade fair, Fraunhofer researchers will present a printed thermogenerator, which in the future will be able to generate energy supply for sensors through temperature differences.
http://phys.org/news272199854.html
TECH - These bots were made for walking: Cells power biological machines
They're soft, biocompatible, about 7 millimeters long - and, incredibly, able to walk by themselves. Miniature "bio-bots" developed at the University of Illinois are making tracks in synthetic biology.
http://phys.org/news272207722.html
TECH - Twitter unveils email sharing
Twitter introduced a new feature to the globally popular one-to-many text messaging service-the ability to email "Tweets" directly from the message stream.
http://phys.org/news272256769.html
TECH - Beating the dark side of quantum computing
A future quantum computer will be able to carry out calculations billions of times faster than even today's most powerful machines by exploit the fact that the tiniest particles, molecules, atoms and subatomic particles can exist in more than one state simultaneously. Scientists and engineers are looking forward to working with such high-power machines but so too are cyber-criminals who will be able to exploit this power in cracking passwords and decrypting secret messages much faster than they can now.
http://phys.org/news272277904.html
TECH - Google Fiber experiment draws would-be Web entrepreneurs
Mike Demarais, who is 20, arrived from Boston to the Kansas City area's first "fiberhood" with his MacBook, some clothes and an idea.
http://phys.org/news272276850.html
TECH - Microsoft and Skype are dreaming up new ad formats
One has faced challenges in its existing online ad business, while the other is just getting going. Now Microsoft and its recently-acquired Skype are setting out to prove they can profit where consumers aren't paying - by introducing an innovative line-up of advertising formats native to their new products.
At Monaco Media Forum, Microsoft's advertising and online VP Frank Holland said the firm was no longer just trying to sell advertisers to its web services like Bing and MSN - now the very system level of new-look Windows 8 is up for grabs as real estate.
"It's more useful to a consumer,? Holland said. "Where the consumer finds utility, marketers want to be.?
So far, Microsoft has sold a spot in the Accuweather app on Windows 8's start screen to Jeep, in which the vehicle reacts to weather forecasts.The beauty of building in ads at this OS level is more than just reaching users where they find utility, Holland said.
"We can measure when someone takes their index finger and scrolls to get to an ad, when it's presented and how deep they get in to it. You're getting a lot more detail in a contextually relevant sense than if you were clicking on a banner ad.
"So far, we're sold out. These sponsorships last for three months. The next sponsors come up in February and we're already seeing some pretty strong pipeline there.?
Skype introduced basic display banners in March 2011, two months before Microsoft announced it would buy the internet calling service. Now it, too, is moving on to new concepts.
In a later session, Skype president Tony Bates told Monaco Media Forum he would introduce "conversation ads? and "more sharing moments� that are part and parcel of Skype's regular usage.
"We think it can go a lot further, we're going to broaden the experience, Bate
s said. If I want to share something with you as a friend on Skype, you're more likely to find that very relevant and have a deeper affinity with that.
That could be "the ability to share a customer service moment, a buying moment and so on. "We think, in future, you could have a sponsored group or brand that would literally be a contact in Skype, and could have a meaningful connection. This is a big shift
So far, it's also somewhat vague. What's more, figuring out the pricing structure and return on investment for such a mechanism could also prove challenging.
But what both Bates and Holland were speaking to was an ambition to bake advertising so deep in to their products that it is indistinguishable from utility.
"We want to be careful not to interrupt the Skype experience, Holland said. "We don't want to let the golden egg of two people having a conversation to turn in to anything else.
Nevertheless, one example he is envisaging from Skype is: "Let's design a Nike shoe together online if we happen to be in the mood to do that.
That doesn't sound like the kind of organic conversation that two people would ordinarily have.
But new formats matter. Microsoft this summer wrote off most of the $6.3 billion it paid to acquire online ad outfit aQuantive, many folks are freaking out about an ongoing collapse in web ad rates and others are concerned about the conventional search ads model embodied by engines like Bing is giving way to social discovery.
Now Microsoft is trying out new techniques like Xbox ads engaged with via Kinect.
Skype also has its challenges. The app is widely used but little paid-for. In last year's S-1 filing, the outfit disclosed average monthly users currently stood at around 145 million, but only 8.8 million of them are paying users. That represents a big opportunity to monetise freeloaders, if Skype can make the right call.
In Monaco, sounding more like an ad space salesman than a VoIP operator, Skype's Bates said what are now 218 million users clock up an average two hours and 55 minutes engagement time. Bates' hope is to sell ad buyers on this "engagement - but what concepts we see in reality, who knows?
Regardless, Microsoft's Holland had a note of surprise for anyone who thought Microsoft's main line was in making operating systems. "We're a media company when it comes down to it,� he said.
TECH - Media companies better embrace Project Glass because it's going to change everything
As consumer hardware goes, few items have had such an instantly polarizing effect as Google's Project Glass, the concept smart glasses (or, to be more precise, augmented reality head-mounted display) that have become an omnipresent accessory for Sergey Brin. Granted, to call them glasses is a reductive understatement, though the company's description isn't much help either: "[a] technology that frees you to explore and share your world while keeping you in the moment. Clear as mud? To the uninitiated, think of them as a small computer with a mini screen on a springy headband that sits above your eye.
Watch this Google concept video for a better idea (or to be utterly terrified):
While they were deemed stylish enough by legendary designer Diane Von Farstenburg to put them on the catwalk, there's still a very big split between those who instantly shout in horror and crow about security risks and those who instead envision a new dawn in computing. Perhaps they both have a point: For some they will be the ultimate intrusion yet for others they could revolutionize business or the way we interact with the world. The truth is, we just don't know yet. One thing is for sure, however: Some have more to gain than others
Generally, I am pro Glass: After all, technology is rarely evil (technology doesn't harm people - people harm people!) But plainly speaking, this is the first piece of tech I have seen in a long time that has the potential to truly change everything. Forget tablets, forget smartphones, the technology behind Glass is not an extension of you, it literally becomes part of you. (Crucially, unlike other tech to-date, it also leaves your hands free - a facet you can see the porn barons already dreaming about.) What is most curious, though, is that I've yet to see the media jump on Glass and champion it during this embryonic period. Why are we not hearing about landmark partnerships being done between Google and media powerhouses? (Or is it that Google is not playing ball with them?) Why, as with tablets, mobile and so many developments before, is the media industry so timid that they wait to be involved before leading the discussion?
Let's take a look at a few reasons why Google Glass is poised to change everything:
Zero setup = perfection
The idea from the start is that you pop them on and truly just carry on being you - they'll take care of the rest. This is the ultimate device that can not only benefit from contextual information but also demonstrated behavior, such as time of reading, likes, dislikes and so on. The system will quickly pick up on those variables (among many others) and soon enough take care of it automatically: no need anymore for RSS feeds, no circling, no preferences. Just read as you normally would, and it will get smarter and more precise and better at predicting your needs and wants. This fixes my main issues with the way we get news today, which still requires too much input from the user; instead Glass just gets out of the way.Multivariate testing
Or, in other words, testing lots of variables to see which produce the best results then upweighting that combination. Adaptive marketing will be a heavily used term next year and in subsequent years as we react to the myriad devices giving agencies, planners and publishers oodles of delicious data to crunch. News should be making huge efforts to tailor their product to the individual based on their social and interest graphs (groups, likes, shares, purchases). Imagine a layout that could be tested and then updated because a different layout led to greater consumption. Currently this could really exist only on smartphones via apps, but has not been hugely raved about because of tracking issues.Think beyond the device
Imagine an army of reporters all using these devices. It makes true real-time, breaking news very possible - in fact, it will redefine the very notion of what news is: no longer organized but reactive. Are the days of phone footage, or images being sent via email as news breaks numbered? Imagine how ordinary people could become live reporters simply because they happen to be right by the action. When an incident occurs, a quick mobile ping and you'll know who is around to turn their head and broadcast live images and video. I'd certainly watch more of that than fuzzy, ultra-zoomed snapshots grabbed off Twitter.Advertising ROI
While Google has been less than clear when talking about built-in advertising opportunities, it's obvious that with the advances in augmented technologies like BlippAR, Aurasma and Obvious Engine image recognition is still sexy and - when used correctly - the results are good. The eye-tracking capabilities Google Glass poses should make not only media agencies and advertisers salivate but editorial departments as well. Shouldn't better measurement, placement, contextualization, optimization of editorial (not to mention ads) be what we're all fighting for? Now we might have something that can do it! What's the holdup?This is just a taste of what's going to possible from what my tiny noodle can dream up. The implications of these technologies are pretty staggering when you think about the big bad data wolf that's smiling sweetly at us in the distance. Whether we like or know it, we're going to be wearing more and more technology. When you consider the quickly expanding wearable tech trend - not just sensors in bracelets and shoes but actual things - the future looks clear. We've already got Nike wristbands, headphones in hats, T-shirts that tweet, bras that help with fitness (?!), sleeptrackers, watches with emergency communication systems and about 50 prototype products from Nokia. Suddenly Project Glass doesn't look like a crazy leap so much as a solid step in the right direction.
As with most new technologies, there are still old problems to address: namely privacy, connectivity and, of course, battery life. The last two are relatively easy to solve but the first is a deep concern for most people. Even at a surface level there are major issues here that could affect adoption (while Google has stated it has no plans to integrate facial recognition elements, it's clearly inevitable). But personally I suspect these will be overcome with the gadget-lust/cool factor and general usability the device will inevitably enable.
Then you have the other P-word, piracy. If you think cellphones were an issue for copyright and IP theft, imagine how quickly these bad boys could destroy an industry. Taking that idea further, how would you protect your important documents in a business? What about customer service? Or will they just force us all to be in better control of these things? Ultimately, though, the deciding factor for most issues will be a lot like the success of the Nike Band: the Glass-style technology that eventually takes off will be the one that doesn't need to be taken off by users.
Right now, this isn't likely Project Glass for the majority of folks out there, but it does leave me hopeful that future incarnations are close by (without surgery). Whatever way this technology goes, and I believe it will go far if the marketing continues to be as slick as it has been, it's clear the nerds - and more importantly the cultural influencers - love Project Glass.
So, media folk, I say this: Start making connections and beefing up your technology departments. Google I/O (Google's Developer Conference) attendees were able to sign up for a beta, and they'll start getting their units very soon. This technology or a version of it is coming, the only question is how soon.
Paul Armstrong is Head of Social for Mindshare; follow him on Twitter @TheMediaIsDying
http://gigaom.feedsportal.com/c/34996/f/646446/s/259ff645/l/0Lgigaom0N0C20A120C110C150Cmedia0Ecompanies0Ebetter0Eembrace0Eproject0Eglass0Ebecause0Eits0Egoing0Eto0Echange0Eeverything0C/story01.htm
TECH - 6 ways big data is helping reinvent enterprise security
The advent of big data hasn't changed the ideas behind most enterprise security practices, but it has made them better. While network security and endpoint security have always relied on the processing of files or traffic against threat databases of to determine whether they're dangerous, big data lets them gather, store and analyze much more data. The result, in theory, are products that are more intelligent than their predecessors and that make the guys tasked with keeping a company secure that much better at their jobs.
Here are seven big data-inspired approaches to security that have piqued my interest lately. I know I'm leaving out a lot of other approaches and companies, so please fill in the blanks in the comments section.
Prioritizing threats
Software-as-a-Service security startup Risk I/O announced $5.25 million in venture capital funding on Tuesday, based in large part on its ability to simplify security administrators' lives by telling them which vulnerabilities are best fixed now and which can wait a bit. Co-founder and CEO Ed Bellis first recognized the problem of information overload while serving as CISO at Orbitz, where he told me he was subsumed by the noise of dozens of products spitting out information on untold numbers of vulnerabilities, all in different formats and all without any guidance on what to do next.And the problem is only getting worse as companies grow and inevitably roll out or acquire new security products along the way. "Nothing ever dies, Bellis said, "it's just one more thing you end up having to support.
Risk IO tackles this complexity by taking in the data from all of a company's security applications and analyzing the context around the threats they've discovered. (And because it's a SaaS offering, Bellis said Risk IO can easily include crowdsource threat analysis to include intelligence gleaned from its 400-plus enterprise customers.) Once the data is analyzed, Risk I/O tells users which vulnerabilities they need to tackle immediately, basing its recommendations on many criteria, including how exposed a vulnerability is, whether there's an exploit published somewhere online and how often other companies are getting burned by it.Really, Bellis said, the goal is to let users sleep relatively easy knowing that of the 10 million vulnerabilities their system might have, perhaps only 50 or 60 are likely to result in a breach. "We're here to help organizations make much better security decisions, he said. "... They can't fix everything and not everything needs to be fixed
Letting admins play C.S.I.
Sourcefire's FireAMP product does detect malware, but it's real magic comes into play when it's time to do forensics. A cloud-based backend takes care of all that heavy lifting around processing, while security personnel can work their way through the data to determine everything from how a piece of malware moved through the system to whether the behavior or certain employees or departments is unduly exposing the company to attacks. This type of analysis lets a company identify the causes of attacks rather than just treating the symptoms, Sourcefire's Zulfikar Ramzan told me in January.Stopping crime in its tracks
For Silver Tail Systems, a four-year-old company that EMC purchased earlier this month, the focus is on building always-learning behavioral models for web visitors that let customers identify and thwart attacks as they're happening. When its software spots activity from an untrusted source or that's deviating too far from the norm for a given IP address, it can flag security personnel who can then respond as they see fit or it can just deny access outright. If there's a question about a visitor is real or a bot, Silver Tail can deploy a CAPTCHA or other test to try validate its humanity.Visualizing threats
PacketLoop is a security startup that was clearly born in the age of big data. The company touts its Hadoop- and NoSQL-based platform for its ability to store and process many terabytes of network packet data, and it's all about presenting the results via visualizations that tell a story. From a functionality perspective, the company claims its big data architecture allows it to analyze every single packet every time its intrusion detection systems are updated, meaning its always on the lookout for nefarious activity, even in historical data.Keeping BYOD in check
Tenable Network Security performs a lot of network security tasks for its customers, although one capability that recently caught sole investor Accel Partners' eye - to the tune of $50 million - is its ability to identify in great detail the mobile devices on the corporate network. Tenable's Nessus software can determine how many mobile devices are on their networks and just about everything about them - serial number, model, OS version, whether it's jailbroken, when it last connected to the network, you name it.
As Tenable Founder and CEO Ron Gula told me at the time of its funding in September, "People say BYOD, but it's really connect your own device to the network. And when they're doing that from any number of coffee shops and hotels across the country, it's important to know who's who and that they're not bringing any hangers-on with them. A jailbroken phone that hasn't had a software update in three years? Well, someone might want to address that.Opening the data - lots of it
CloudFlare is a pretty impressive company, if only because of the sheer amount of data it collects trying to improve performance and security for the more than 500,000 websites that use its service. According to Founder and CEO Matthew Prince, the company handles between 75 billion and 80 billion pageviews a month, and its database now includes about 650 million IP addresses. Cloudflare's system ingests 20GB of log data per minute, and the company is currently in the process of building a 20-petabyte cluster to store all that data (the fraction it retains) using its custom-built file system.
All that data means CloudFlare's behavioral models are very good at detecting malware and bot activity, and it will only get better as more data gets added to the system, Prince said. And thanks to the service's distributed architecture, the company claims it can fend off even large, persistent DDoS attacks without its users feeling a thing. But the company's biggest contribution to the security space might be yet to come.Prince said he's on a mission to open up the company's stockpiles of data on malicious traffic with the intent of letting even small companies get in on large-scale data sharing like large web companies already do among themselves. The bad guys share data like crazy, he said, and "only through coordinated efforts are the good guys going to be able to win. ... Any individual site can only be as secure as the lens through which it sees CloudFlare's data could help many companies open their apertures.
Of course, there are some complicating factors to Prince's plan, including the possibility that cybercriminals would be able to learn from the data to further their own efforts. Even some of Prince's colleagues don't think widely releasing the company's data is such a good idea without some serious thought into how to do so ethically and securely. So for now he's going to start small by publishing a blog post identifying the global networks most often involved in DDoS attacks, although, he noted, "I could do down to the machine level.
Playing petri dish
Although Bromium's technology isn't inherently data-centric (it's more about using a novel approach to virtualization to isolate untrusted processes), the company is starting to let users capture some very interesting data. Similar in theory, if not architecture, to the virtual sandboxes that companies such as Palo Alto Networks employ at the network level, Bromium's new Live Attack Visualization & Analysis (LAVA) feature lets malware run its course within an insulated micro-VM so security analysts can see how it plays out and what it's trying to accomplish.
During a recent call, Bromium's chief security architect, Rahul Kashyap, said LAVA could helps these analysts hone their definitions of what's actually malware and what's not. Whereas many network, web and endpoint security services gather lots of data about suspected malware activity from across their user bases (like, nearly everyone mentioned in this post), the log files and signatures they generally collect might not provide enough evidence to completely eliminate false positives. LAVA, he explained, gives analysts the ability to eliminate the doubt around whether something is malicious - even undocumented zero-day attacks - because they can watch it watch it run its course in the safety of the micro-VM like a biologist watches bacteria in a petri dish.
Feature image courtesy of Shutterstock user mkabakov.
TECH - YouTube comes to the Wii, thanks to Googles WebM video codec
Updated. YouTube launched its first-ever native Wii app Thursday, making it possible for users of the game console to watch videos without relying on the game console's Opera browser. The Wii app looks somewhat similar to YouTube's recently-launched PS3 app, with an interesting technical twist: Most videos consumed through it are streamed in Google's WebM open video format.
Google open sourced WebM more than two years ago, and YouTube has been working on converting all of its assets to the format for some time. However, on the web, most videos are still being streamed in H.264, and only users who opt into the site's HTML5 trial, and also use a supported browser, get to see some of the videos in WebM.
On the Wii, things are looking decidedly different: WebM is the primary video format used in the app, and codecs like H.263 are only used as a fall-back option. This makes the app "the largest deployment of WebM video in the world today,� according to a YouTube spokesperson.
YouTube has been aggressively working on rolling out native and content-centric app experiences on as many platforms as possible, with an app for the video site now being available on over 400 million devices. Part of this has to do with the fact that it's easier to monetize content in a native app experience. But going native also allows YouTube to add other functionality, like the AirPlay-like experience it rolled out on Google TV earlier this week, which the company intends to bring to other platforms and devices in the coming months.
Update: YouTube is explaining some of the technical background of its WebM implementation on the Wii in a post on its developer blog.
TECH - Make your own rat-cell robot with a 3D printer!
The uses for a 3D printer are truly astounding. Take for example researchers at the University of Illinois, who have made a "walking� robot comprised of a smattering of hydrogel and a few cardiac rat cells. Researchers built the robot using a 3D printer, creating a cyborg inchworm whose forward motion occurs with every beat of the rat's heart cells.
The goal here was to create bio-compatible designs that mimic and take advantage of nature to build machines and solve problems. While the bio-bot is only 7 mm long - about a quarter-inch - it could be used in drug testing or other chemical detection jobs. Integrated sensors that react to certain chemicals could be installed on the bio-bot and cause it to veer away from specific chemical compounds, indicating their presence. It could be a 7mm-self-propelled canary in the coal mine.
From a release on the topic:
"The idea is that, by being able to design with biological structures, we can harness the power of cells and nature to address challenges facing society, said Bashir, an Abel Bliss Professor of Engineering. "As engineers, we've always built things with hard materials, materials that are very predictable. Yet there are a lot of applications where nature solves a problem in such an elegant way. Can we replicate some of that if we can understand how to put things together with cells?The bio-bot moves because it's asymmetrical, with one long, thin leg resting on a shorter, wider support leg. The thin leg is covered in the rat heart cells and when those heart cells beat, the long, thin leg pulses and moves the bio-bot forward. Yes, this sounds utterly creepy, but it's undeniably cool to watch this thing spasm its way across the surface in the video:
As an aside, this is the second awesome research project I've read about being built by academics using a 3D printer. On Wednesday MIT detailed how students used a 3D printer to make a new type of radio antenna out of new meta-materials, which it compared to the planet-destroying Death Star from the Star Wars movie. The new antenna might be useful for deep-space imaging or perhaps microscopy at the nano level, but all I could think of was MIT students are using their 3D printers to recreate stuff from Star Wars movies.
Now I can add the folks at the University of Illinois to the list of institutions where researchers are taking 3D printers and building stuff out of science fiction novels.
TECH - Wow! Check out the battery life on this MiFi Liberate!
I've been a MiFi user for years, and only dumped my original hotspot in August when I upgraded to an LTE phone and decided I'd use the phone as a hotspot. It's been a passable solution, but when I was trying out the latest Novatel MiFi Liberate I realized how much I missed having a separate, reliable hot spot that has its own battery.
And the Liberate, which costs $50 with contract on AT&T's LTE network, has a hell of a battery. I tested it all day on Thursday and went to bed still trying to run down the battery life. It managed at least 8 hours of use with about three of those hours of streaming YouTube and Hulu at my home during that time. During the day, I tried it downtown in a coffee shop and in the lobby of a building, both of which had many Wi-Fi hotspots to compete with (and maybe even a few AT&T phone users to sap the signal and require bit more pull from the battery.) I also ran the GPS for some of that time. Yet, when I went to bed last night the MiFi Liberate still had a bit of charge left. The company says the Liberate delivers up to 11 hours of charge, and they may be right.
AT&T's MiFi Liberate (right) next to the original MiFi on Verizon's network.
Novatel engineers suggested I try using the charger that came with the device and the problem resolved itself. Even if the indication was glitchy, the battery life didn't seem affected. Battery life was awesome and the LTE speeds on the AT&T network were great, supporting streaming video while I was still and even doing a fair job while I was driving around for a while with the video playing in the car for testing purposes. Speeds were between 3 and 6 Mbps downstream and between 9-10 Mbps upstream, which is faster than my home network.
As far as the device itself, the extra battery capacity does make the device bulkier, but not so large or so heavy I wouldn't carry it around in my bag everyday just in case I needed a connection. It might not fit into my pocket at 4.06 inches by 2.88 inches, and it is bigger - weighing in at 4.26 ounces - but the battery life is worth it. However, Novatel put all of these other bells and whistles on this device that are at best gimmicky and at worst elevate the cost of the device unnecessarily.For example, the MiFi has a touchscreen. Not just a screen, but a full-on capacitive touch screen that when you tilt the device, just like a smartphone, it flips orientation. Thus, somewhere in there it has an accelerometer, and a GPS chip and a microSD card slot. All of these things baffle me. A MiFi is about connectivity, keeping you always within reach of the cloud and whatever stuff you might have there.
Notice the SD card slot? Why is it there?
The single useful feature I used again and again on the touchscreen part of the device was the data usage meter, which might justify the screen depending on cost. But in general I'd rather have a cheaper, dumb connection to the internet as opposed to some fancy, touchscreen gadget that seems overly complicated. But with the battery life and speed, I won't complain overmuch.
Some innovative ideas for providing good low-cost housing for the homeless.
http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/pop-housing-competition.html
URBAN - Revolution in Mexico City, one lettuce at a time
A green revolution is sweeping across the car and concrete jungle of Mexico City, an infamously smoggy capital that was once dubbed "Makesicko City" by novelist Carlos Fuentes.
http://phys.org/news272213510.html
URBAN - Majority of biggest U.S. cities now smoke-free
(HealthDay)—Thirty of the 50 largest cities in the United States are now smoke-free, a new report shows.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-majority-biggest-cities-smoke-free.html
URBAN - Chinese City To Go Car Free In 8 Years
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, an international architecture firm dedicated to high performance energy efficient structures, have already completed the plans and the goal is to get the city done in eight years and house 80,000 people. The city will be 1.3-square kilometers, allowing residents to walk from one end of the city to the other in about 15 minutes. This is good because there will be no cars allowed in the city.
China’s infrastructure is being heavily impacted by the high population and increased usage of automobiles – the Great City is a direct response to this. The architecture firm estimates the Great City will use 48% less energy, 58% less water, make 89% less landfill waste, and generate 60% less carbon dioxide than a conventional Chinese city with an equivalent population.
The Great City will be connected to the city of Chengdu, home to 14,047,625 inhabitants, and other surrounding areas by mass transit accessed at a regional hub.
Source: psfk.com
Andrew Meggison was born in the state of Maine and educated in Massachusetts. Andrew earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Government and International Relations from Clark University and a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Northeastern University. Being an Eagle Scout, Andrew has a passion for all things environmental. In his free time Andrew enjoys writing, exploring the great outdoors, a good film, and a creative cocktail. You can follow Andrew on Twitter @AndrewMeggison
The post Chinese City To Go Car Free In 8 Years appeared first on Gas 2.
WATER - Australia declares world's largest marine reserves
Australia Friday officially declared the creation of the world's largest network of marine reserves, protecting more than 2.3 million square kilometres (0.89 million square miles) of ocean environment.
http://phys.org/news272221678.html
WIND - Wind Could Supply 1/10th of the World's Power by 2020
The Global Wind Energy Council sees a few tough years ahead for the wind industry, but the long-term outlook is still incredibly strong.
http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/wind-could-supply-110th-worlds-power-2020.html
WIND - Google backs Iowa wind farm, has put close to $1B into clean power
Google is just $10 million dollars short of having invested $1 billion into clean power projects. On Thursday Google announced that it's put another $75 million into a wind farm in Iowa, bringing its total funds invested in clean energy projects to $990 million.
The Iowa wind farm - called the Rippey Wind Farm and located in Greene County - is owned by RPM Access and its 20 turbines are already online, with a capacity to produce 50 MW of wind power (enough to power 15,000 homes). The power will be bought by Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO).
Google has a data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and has already invested in other clean power projects in the region as well, including agreeing to buy power through a power purchase agreement from a 114 MW wind farm in Iowa owned by NextEra Energy Resources. Google is investing in clean power projects because it wants to use more clean power for its data centers - the search engine giant plans to have about a third of the power for its data centers come directly from clean power.Once Google invests in a clean power project, its a tricky move to actually get that power used directly for its data center. Google has often said that it's making these investments partly to get a return over time on the investment. But a couple months ago, for the first time, Google said it will buy clean energy from a utility in Oklahoma to directly power one of its data centers in Oklahoma.
Here's some of Google's clean power investments:
Here are most of Google's clean power investments to date:
- SolarCity rooftop solar fund. Google has created a $280 million fund with home solar installer SolarCity. This is Google's largest investment in clean power to date, and its first in home rooftop solar.
- Solar panel projects in Sacramento Calif: Google put $94 million into four solar panel projects, which are being built by Recurrent Energy close to Sacramento, Calif. This was Google's first investment in utility-scale grid-connected solar panel projects.
- Buying wind power from a utility directly to power a data center in Oklahoma: For the first time in September 2012, Google said it would buy clean energy from a utility to directly power one of its data centers in Oklahoma.
- Clean Power Finance. Google invested $75 million into a solar fund for startup Clean Power Finance. Clean Power Finance will use the money to support solar rooftop projects by third party installers.
- The world's largest wind farm - in Oregon. Google is investing $100 million in the world's largest wind farm, the 845 MW Shepherds Flat project under construction in Oregon.
- North Dakota wind farm. Google is investing $38.8 million into 169.5 MW worth of wind projects developed by NextEra Energy Resources in North Dakota.
- East Coast wind farm backbone. Google has invested part of the fund for an East Coast transmission line that is meant to link offshore wind farms, and which recently got an approved rate of return for the project at 12.59 percent.
- Wind power from Iowa wind farm. Google's first deal for its subsidiary Google Energy - which can buy and sell power on the wholesale electricity markets - plans to buy wind power from 114 MW of wind energy via a wind farm in Iowa owned by NextEra Energy Resources.
- Wind power from Oklahoma wind farm. Google's second deal via its subsidiary Google Energy is to buy 100 MW of power from a wind farm that's under construction in Oklahoma by NextEra Energy Resources.
- BrightSource's solar thermal project. Google invested $168 million into a solar thermal project being built by startup BrightSource Energy in California's Mojave Desert.
- German solar project. Google is investing €3.5 million ($5 million USD) into a solar photovoltaic farm in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany, which is near Berlin.
- Greentech startups (these are small investments). Google (through a combo of Google Ventures and Google.org) has invested in at least nine "greentech� startups, including battery maker ActaCell, electric vehicle maker Aptera, efficient car maker Next Autoworks, geothermal company Alta Rock, neighbor-to-neighbor car sharing company RelayRides, weather insurance company WeatherBill, smart grid company Silver Spring Networks, biofuel maker Cool Planet Biofuels, and efficient power gear conversion tech startup Transphorm.
Four wind farms in China have become operational, totaling 198 MW of capacity.
Currently, only about one percent of China's energy is generated by wind power, but that figure could easily increase to 17 percent. One estimate indicated China could have 1,000 GW of wind power by 2050.
China is the world's largest wind market, but there's indication that it may slow down until 2015.
Image Credit: taylorandayumi
WIND - 8,521 MW Of Wind Power Achieved In Texas (Record)
Texas, a state better known for oil production, just hit an all-time record of 8,521 MW from wind power (sent to its largest grid). 8,368 MW sent to the grid from wind power was the previous record. It was achieved twice this year, as well. The day when 8,521 was achieved was the last of a three-day run with an average of about 5,000 MW.
Critics of wind power point to government subsidies, but many forms of energy have received such support, including fossil fuels. But the State of Texas website explained: "As early as 1916, the federal government instituted income tax incentives to encourage individuals and corporations to drill for oil. During the 1930s, federally financed dams created hydroelectric power. From the 1950s onward, the federal government financed research into nuclear power. More recently, the federal government has provided research funding and other financing to expand the availability of renewable energy sources. 2 Virtually all U.S. energy resources have received or currently receive subsidies.�
A recent CleanTechnica post described how wind power in Texas is both sensible and efficient. The huge southwestern state has the best wind power potential in the U.S. and could have 1.9 million wind turbines installed, according to one estimate. This wind power trend isn't only good for Texas.
New transmission lines could be built to send power out of the state. "The next real frontier for the renewable industry is to try to fix the transmission grid so you can connect what are natural markets that want the stuff with natural areas of production like the Panhandle in Texas,� said CEO Mike Garland.
An intra-state transmission line might be able to send 18,500 MW from rural to metro areas.
Image Credit: Leaflet, Wiki Commons
WORK - Facebook app helps people in US find jobs
Facebook Inc. is launching a new application to help its users in the United States hunt for jobs.
http://phys.org/news272218259.html
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