Archive for January, 2015
Senior Abbott MP Concedes Australians Ready to Leave the Grid
January 31st, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in NZ. Via: RenewEconomy: A senior member of Australia’s ruling Coalition has conceded that Australian consumers are ready to leave the grid, and rely instead on solar and storage, and suggested that state-owned assets such as electricity networks need to be sold quickly before they lose too much value. […]
China’s Pearl River Delta Overtakes Tokyo as World’s Largest Megacity
January 31st, 2015Via: Guardian: China’s Pearl River Delta has overtaken Tokyo to become the world’s largest urban area in both size and population, according to a report from the World Bank. The megacity – which covers a significant part of China’s manufacturing heartland and includes the cities of Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Foshan and Dongguan – is now home […]
Oil Surges 8 Percent as U.S. Rig Count Plunges, Shorts Scramble
January 30th, 2015Disclosure: I’m long oil and multiple companies involved with oil exploration and production. Via: Reuters: Oil prices roared back from six-year lows on Friday, rocketing more than 8 percent as a record weekly decline in U.S. oil drilling fueled a frenzy of short-covering. In a rally that may spur speculation that a seven-month price collapse […]
Office Puts Chips Under Staff’s Skin
January 30th, 2015Via: BBC: Want to gain entry to your office, get on a bus, or perhaps buy a sandwich? We’re all getting used to swiping a card to do all these things. But at Epicenter, a new hi-tech office block in Sweden, they are trying a different approach – a chip under the skin. Felicio de […]
Hipster Churches in Silicon Valley
January 30th, 2015This one made me laugh, but it also reminded me of an old piece on io9: Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid of These Science Fictional Cults. Via: Guardian: When raising the issue of how to reach younger Bay Areans, one ministry in particular came up several times: Reality SF, which makes its Sunday home in a […]
Intervention in Civil Wars Far More Likely in Oil-Rich Nations
January 29th, 2015Via: Independent: Conspiracy theorists have long insisted that modern wars revolve around oil. Now research suggests hydrocarbons play an even bigger role in conflicts than they had suspected. According to academics from the Universities of Portsmouth, Warwick and Essex, foreign intervention in a civil war is 100 times more likely when the afflicted country has […]
Probiotic Helps People with Peanut Allergy
January 29th, 2015Via: Guardian: Australian researchers have found a possible key to a cure for people with potentially fatal peanut allergies. A Melbourne-based study has already transformed the lives of many of the children who took part in the clinical trial. Researchers from the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute gave about 30 allergic children a daily dose of […]
Beijing Smog Makes City Unliveable, Says Mayor
January 29th, 2015Via: Guardian: Beijing’s mayor, Wang Anshun, has called the city “unliveable” because of its noxious smog, according to state media. “To establish a first-tier, international, liveable and harmonious city, it is very important to establish a system of standards, and Beijing is currently doing this,” he said last Friday, according to the China Youth Daily […]
AI Will Not Kill Us, Says Microsoft Research Chief
January 28th, 2015Via: BBC: Microsoft Research’s chief has said he thinks artificial intelligence systems could achieve consciousness, but has played down the threat to human life. Eric Horvitz’s position contrasts with that of several other leading thinkers. Last December, Prof Stephen Hawking told the BBC that such machines could “spell the end of the human race”. Mr […]
Litvinenko Post-Mortem: “The Most Dangerous Ever Undertaken in the Western World”
January 28th, 2015Via: BBC: The post-mortem examination of poisoned Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko was probably “the most dangerous ever undertaken in the Western world”, a pathologist has said. Dr Nathaniel Cary told the inquiry into Mr Litvinenko’s death that his body was “very hazardous” and had to be transferred to a secure site for tests. Mr Litvinenko […]
