technology
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How climate change is making the internet faster
This new line will speed up the connection between Europe and Asia by 30 percent, and will reduce the cable distance between those two cities from 15,000 miles to 10,000.
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This lamp absorbs 150 times more CO2 than a tree
It's still in the "so crazy it just might work" stage, but microalgae-powered lamps could absorb a ton of carbon from the air every year.
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Pooping robots could run off organic waste
Okay, buckle up, because there’s a lot of poop in this story. The EcoBot, developed by Bristol Robotics Laboratory in the U.K., can collect its own material for its microbial fuel cells, then dump leftover waste at the end of the day. That means it can eat poop and also it can poop, and I […]
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‘Smart paint’ warns you when stuff’s about to break, so you can fix it
Someday we’ll fix infrastructure and the environment in the same way that Arizona suburbanites fix their lawns: By slapping on a coat of paint. Science has already made great strides on carbon-eating paint, and the kind of paint that can make windows into solar panels. And now researchers at at Glasgow’s University of Strathclyde have developed paint that […]
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Trick out your Kindle with solar panels
Screwdriver-and-soldering-iron types have probably already made their e-readers solar powered, but what if you didn’t have any Schottky diodes lying around? SolarFocus has the technologically inept among us covered, with a Kindle cover that charges your device with solar panels. An hour of full sunlight can charge your Kindle enough for three days of reading, […]
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A magical meter and friendly competition help one community dial back energy use
The Island Energy Dashboard gives residents a real-time look at how much electricity they’re sucking from the grid. When Puget Sound Energy announced plans to build a new substation to meet rising electricity demand on Bainbridge Island, Wash., in 2009, it apparently didn’t know who it was dealing with. Bainbridge is a well-to-do suburb of […]
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Climate change finally hits Apple geeks where it hurts: Mac shortages
As Bangkok dries out from epic floods that the IPCC says will only get worse as climate change accelerates, its leaders are contemplating moving the entire capitol city to higher ground. But I know what you're thinking: How does this affect me? Answer: It’ll hit you right in the hard drive. Now that supply chains […]
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Infographic: The metals that make our technology are running out
This infographic by Camden Asay (click to embiggen) shows that we're fast running out of the stuff that powers our vehicles and our weaponry. But we've got even less time left with our gadgets. Yttrium and indium, two of the rare-earth elements that enable us to have TVs, computer monitors, and touch screens — oh, […]
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Government invests in robots that prevent oil spills
As oil and gas companies wander ever further offshore in search of fossil fuels, the government's putting some money into technology that safeguards against oil spills. The amount they’re spending — $9.6 million — is a paltry sum as federal investments go. But the important thing here is the result, which is robots. And not […]
