Who Will Be the Next Tech Prez?

January 29, 2008

With Super Tuesday right around the corner, you may want to double check that your favorite candidate is on the technological ball. To do that, check out the blog techPresident. The site covers how the 2008 presidential candidates as well as the voters are using the web and how that use affects the campaign.
TechPresident.com is tracking campaign websites, online advertising, email lists, YouTube, and social networking sites like MySpace. You'll read about, among other things, how a "video of Obama's SC speech beats out Britney in popularity"; how Latino telenovelas are helping to get the vote out; YouTube stats in easy-to-read charts that show the total number of views for individual candidate videos; how much web traffic each presidential campaign website is getting each week; and lots lots more.

A big thanks to InformationWeek for pointing to techPresident as one of its Top 60 Little-Known Technology Web Sites.

Robotic Plane Enlisted for Whale Patrol

January 28, 2008

Did you know that the Japanese government authorizes 1,000 whale kills per year in the name of science?

Now scientists are testing whether a remote-controlled drone could conduct some of the research and  convince Japan that a non-lethal approach could work.

The project, led by Michael Noad of the University of Queensland, will enlist the unmanned Aerocam "Shadow" drone to capture images of migrating whales off Australia's North Stradbroke Island. Researchers will be testing, among other things, if the images can be viewed in real time, and which camera heights and setups work best for different species.

Aerial surveys are not new, but employing a drone could save time, money, and even lives. In the last 20 years, eight people have died while performing aircraft surveys.

For more, read the Syndey Morning Herald piece here.

Light Has More Intuition Than Some People I Know

January 25, 2008

Have you ever been at a party or in a meeting with a "Me Monster?" This person talks nonstop about himself and shows no awareness of others.  ME ME ME ME ME ME ME

Now there's a lamp that is, literally and figuratively, brighter than him. Made with artificial intelligence, the AI Light made by London-based Complex Matters, a spin-off from University College London, changes shape and varies its intensity based on what's going on around it. How intuitive.

I saw an article in Cubed describing the light and then got in touch with Siavash Mahdavi, the managing director to ask him a couple of questions about the light, which was designed by Assa Ashuach.

The light has several sensors: two motion sensors, two light sensors, one short range and one long range, and eventually a sound sensor.

If someone enters the room, the long range motion sensor is triggered and the light performs a small dance to greet its visitor. The shorter range motion sensor could be directed to react to people  congregating around a breakfast table or sitting area, for example,where activity will cause the light to respond and move.

According to Mahdavi, every AI Light behaves in a different way. "If it continues to get the same inputs, it can get bored and stops reacting.  New behaviors within the room intrigue the AI Light and cause it to react in a more pronounced way."

I'd like invite this light to my next party. 

Electric Cars, Then and Now

January 22, 2008

On Jan. 15, I posted a blog about Toyota's and GM's announcement to offer electric hybrid cars for sale by 2010. Reader "AnneA" posted the comment/question below.

I wonder what the differences are between this "plug-in" and the electric car from the mid 1990's, the GM EV1.  After seeing the documentary "Who Killed The Electric Car", I must say that I'm skeptical about how this will play out, although I'd love to be wrong. [annea]

Good question. Reader "Mysterymeat" replied with a brief explanation, but I wanted to go deeper. So I called up Tony Markel, a senior engineer and hybrid electric car expert at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO. Here's the gist of what he said:

The first generation EV1 had a lead-acid battery. But it was heavy, not very efficient, and could only hold enough charge to take the car about 80 miles or so.

The second generation EV1 (above) had a nickel-metal-hydride battery. It was lighter and more efficient than the lead acid, but could only hold enough charge to take a car about 100 to 120 miles. (For a copy of the specs, down this PDF.)

Now, even though the average American doesn't drive more than 100 miles per day, he or she still gets "range anxiety," said Markel, which is why the hybrid electric cars being developed today are more attractive to consumers.

Unlike the EV1, which was all electric, hybrid electric cars use a combination of electricity and gas to make the engine run efficiently, use less gas, and offer long range driving when needed.

As Mysterymeat pointed out, some hybrid electric cars can be plugged in to recharge the battery (they're called PHEVs). Other hybrid electric cars do not have to be plugged in (they're called HEVs).

The battery on a HEV (also made from nickel-metal-hydride) gets charged while the car is being driven. This means that, ultimately, you need gas in the tank in order to get the battery charged.

I like the idea of PHEVs best. They also need gas in the tank, but you can recharge the battery (also nickel-metal-hydride) much more cheaply by plugging it in. You generate fewer emissions this way, too.

What's more, cars that plug into an electrical socket could lead to a vehicle-to-grid system that's attractive to consumers and utility companies. With this system, batteries from electric cars would be used collectively to store and release excess power from utility companies that normally fluctuates throughout the day. "One interesting statistic," said Markel, "is that a typical vehicle is used only 5 percent of the day for driving. The rest of the time it’s parked."

Parking lots full of cars-as-electricity-sponges would also help utility companies incorporate renewable yet ofttimes fickle energy sources, such as solar and wind, into their power generation models.

You can read more here about a vehicle-to-grid plan. And just yesterday, the NY Times published an article about a project in Israel to sell electric car transportation similar to the way cell phones are sold. (See my blog about this here.)

Innovate or Die

January 18, 2008

Last fall, Google teamed up with with Specialized and Goodby, Silverstein, & Partners to sponsor the Innovate or Die contest, which challenged people to build a machine that transformed pedal power into a new and useful purpose. The winners were announced this week, with the grand prize going to team Aquaduct—five California-based design students.Their invention addresses the needs of the more than  1.1 billion people in the world who don't have access to clean drinking water. The pedal-powered machine allows a person to transport water from a well to another location, and along the way, filter it. The Aquaduct Mobile Filtration Vehicle team received $5,000 and five new Specialized Globe bikes. See the YouTube video.

Smell Ya Later

January 16, 2008

Thanks to the Economist for the cool piece about ScientificMatch.com, a Boston-based Internet-dating site that matches people based on...sort of...the way someone smells.

The science behind the site relies on part of the genome known as the major histocompatability complex. MHC genes (in vertebrate animals) make molecules that enable the immune system to recognize invaders. If you want to perpetuate your species, then passing along a strong healthy immune system to your offspring is key. And the way to do that is to hook up with someone that has a completely different set of MHC gene than your own.

If you're a mouse, you might find that special someone by sniffing the urine of pretty prospects. Chances are, the scent you'll prefer will be from a potential mate with the MHC genes most different from your own.

Several studies say people prefer the scent of potential partners that, after later analysis, are shown to have MHC genes most different from their own, too.

So if you're a modern day Homo Sapiens Sapiens living in the networked world, you can find those people by paying $1,995 for an annual membership to a dating service that samples your DNA and matches you to folks with different MHC genes than your own.

The site also offers a way to match personality and values, too. And that could help ensure that you won't end up with a rat.

Toyota, GM Promise Plug-Ins By 2010

January 15, 2008

When it comes to the future of cars, I'm all about the plug-in. Biofuels, unless they are made from  existing organic waste, require too much land, jack up agricultural prices, and in the end dump just as many pollutants into the atmosphere as fossil fuels. So electrically powered vehicles are the way to go, especially if that energy can be generated by some renewable source, such as solar or wind.

That's why I'm excited to hear the news this week from both Toyota and GM announcing their plans to have plug-ins by 2010!

This past Sunday, Katsuake Watanabe, president of Toyota, said that the company is accelerating its global plug-in hybrid research and development program. By 2010, they want to be selling a million cars a year (left). As part of that plan, Toyota will partner with Panasonic in a joint venture and expand a battery factory the car company already operates.

On Monday, Saturn announced that it may begin production as soon as 2010 on a plug-in hybrid electric version of the Saturn Vue Green Line (below). The vehicle will use a modified version of GM's hybrid system and plug-in technology and a lithium-ion battery pack.

Both companies are claiming that they will be first. Should we lay down some bets on who it will be (for entertainment purposes only)?  

More Than One Way to Recycle a Cell Phone

January 11, 2008

The other day, I finally got around to unpacking boxes that had been taking up space in my hall closet since last March. Among the useless fragments of my previous lives, I found three old cell phones. I know I should recycle them, but how and where?

Well, how fortunate for me that this week, the EPA teamed up with cell phone makers, service providers, and retailers to launch a mobile phone recycling campaign. Called, "Recycle Your Cell Phone. It's An Easy Call," the project highlights the convenience and environmental and social benefits of recycling a cell phone.

According to the EPA, 100 to 130 million cell phones are no longer being used, yet only 20 percent of those get recycled. Since mobile phones contain toxic materials such as lead and mercury, throwing them into the trash is not a good idea.

Luckily, cell phones also contain valuable materials. According to Recellular, an organization that coordinates cell phone donations, an estimated $630,000 of precious metals from circuit boards and enough copper from phone chargers to recover the Statue of Liberty, twice, could be recovered from discarded cell phones each year.

If you want to recycle, check out the list of companies that have partnered with the EPA. Or go to the website for Recellular, where you can enter a zip code and see the closest drop box. You can also pick up pre-paid donation envelope from most wireless retailers.

Some places will take batteries, chargers and any other personal electronic accessories, as well.

Before you recycle, don't forget to:

• Terminate your service.
• Clear the phone's memory of contacts and other personal info. See here, for information about how to do this.
• Remove your phone's SIM card, if it has one.

We Could be All-Solar by 2050

January 09, 2008

Did you know that more energy from the sun hits the earth in an hour than all the energy consumed by human beings on Earth in an entire year?

In light of this, it makes sense to think about better ways of harnessing that energy. Thanks to my friends over at PowrTalk for pointing out the great feature article in the January issue of Scientific American that provides a comprehensive plan to end U.S. dependence on foreign oil by going solar by 2050.

The key concepts, bulleted right up front are thusly:

• A massive switch from coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear power plants to solar power plants could supply 69 percent of the U.S.’s electricity and 35 percent of its total energy by 2050.
• A vast area of photovoltaic cells would have to be erected in the Southwest. Excess daytime energy would be stored as compressed air in underground caverns to be tapped during nighttime hours.
• Large solar concentrator power plants would be built as well.
• A new direct-current power transmission backbone would deliver solar electricity across the country.
• But $420 billion in subsidies from 2011 to 2050 would be required to fund the infrastructure and make it cost-competitive.

Greener Buildings for a Better Future

January 08, 2008

It's Boston. It's January 8. And it's 66 degrees F. No wonder my global warming alarm (I didn't even know I had one) was going off inside my head as I headed down Memorial Drive with the car window rolled halfway down. What the hell is going on? And what are we doing about it? As I watch the shorts-clad joggers breezing along the river, I think "a big fat nothing!"

But then to my relief, I opened an email from a friend of mine pointing to a geekabout article that lists 15 of the greenest buildings in the world under construction.

All around the world, from the USA to the UAE, from the Abu Dhabi to Siberia, people are erecting sustainable skyscrapers and even whole environmental communities.

In Antilia, Mumbai, for example, a 70-story tower (left) will have an exterior made partly of organic material. Different floors will be devoted entirely to natural features such as waterfalls and gardens.

In Moscow, a project known as Crystal Island (below),will loom like a giant volcano-city inside the Russia city. It will use solar arrays and wind turbines to regulate air temperatures.

These big projects will themselves not only help reduce carbon emissions but also set a trend for sustainable construction. If you know of other similar projects going on, write me about them.