Science & Technology
Science & Technology
The Burgeoning Micro-Production Revolution
Ari Armstrong February 5, 2013
Fans of Star Trek will recall Captain Picard placing an order for “tea, Earl Grey, hot”—and seeing a replicator instantly produce the tea, cup and all, on demand. Although such sophisticated means of replication remain beyond our reach (for now), today’s innovators are moving in that direction with 3D “printers.”…
Science & Technology
EBI Scientists Amazingly Develop DNA Data Storage
Ross England January 26, 2013
Nick Goldman, Ewan Birney, and their colleagues at the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute have, incredibly, developed a way to store data in synthetic DNA, the biochemical material that carries cellular genetic information. Most data storage mediums require a consistent electricity supply, and those that don’t often rapidly degrade. Goldman and his…
Science & Technology
FrackNation Documentary Airs on AXS.tv January 22
Earl Parson January 21, 2013
FrackNation—the new feature-length documentary that sets the record straight on the process of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas—will debut on television tomorrow, Tuesday, January 22, on AXS TV. (See my recent post about the film here.) FrackNation presents real-life fracking success stories and shows that the process is…
Science & Technology
E-book Revolution Continues to Improve Our Lives
Ari Armstrong January 16, 2013
The raw figures are extraordinary: From May, 2010, to November, 2012, the percent of Americans from teens to adults who owned an e-book reader grew five-fold, from 4 to 19. Meanwhile, the percent of Americans owning either a dedicated e-book reader or a tablet computer (popular for reading e-books) grew…
Science & Technology
FrackNation Defends Revolutionary Energy Technology
Earl Parson January 13, 2013
A new feature-length documentary on the hotly debated subject of hydraulic fracturing—a technology for extracting oil and natural gas—debuted last week in New York and Los Angeles. FrackNation, a production of Ann and Phelim Media LLC, presents the facts surrounding this controversial technology and counters many of the misconceptions surrounding…
Politics & Rights, Science & Technology
Kudos to the 800 Companies Demanding a Repeal of the Medical-Device Tax
Joshua Lipana January 6, 2013
Fox Business reports that executives from more than 800 companies and medical-groups are demanding a repeal to the medical-device tax. Here are some excerpts from their letter to the senate demanding its repeal and elucidating why the tax will “adversely impact patient care and innovation, and will substantially increase the…
Arts & Culture, Science & Technology
William Shatner’s Tweet and the Power of Art
Ari Armstrong January 5, 2013
Earth date: January 3, 2013. William Shatner—most famously known as “Captain Kirk” from Star Trek—sent a Tweet to Chris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut currently commanding the International Space Station. Shatner Tweeted, simply, “@Cmdr_Hadfield Are you tweeting from space?” Hadfield replied, “Yes, Standard Orbit, Captain. And we're detecting signs of life…
Politics & Rights, Science & Technology
Time to Privatize the Weather Satellite Program
Michael A. LaFerrara January 3, 2013
Although weather forecasters brilliantly predicted Superstorm Sandy's impact days in advance—thereby saving many lives—in the near future forecasters could see their science take "a significant step back." The New Jersey Star-Ledger’s Stephen Stirling reports: Satellites critical to the ability of meteorologists to build accurate long-term forecasts are expected to fail…
Science & Technology
Paul Hsieh: “Speak out Against the Government Narrative” on ObamaCare
Joshua Lipana December 30, 2012
In his latest Forbes.com article, Dr. Paul Hsieh elucidates the need for liberty-loving Americans to speak out against ObamaCare, saying, “[do] not let the government escape responsibility for problems they’ve created”: As the problems of ObamaCare inevitably emerge, the big question will be whether they will be blamed on the…
Science & Technology
New Technology Promises Electrical Power from Friction
Ari Armstrong December 29, 2012
It isn’t Galt’s Motor from Atlas Shrugged, the fictional generator that pulls unlimited amounts of static electricity from the air. Still, an innovative new use of available materials shows promise in converting static electricity into power for small devices. Katherine Bourzac, writing for the MIT Technology Review, explains the work…