Tag: Technology

The Takeaway

Protons begin circling as Large Hadron Collider switches on

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

The Large Hadron Collider was built to explain the mysteries of the universe — what everything is made of and how the universe is held together. On its first day of operation, scientists circulated a beam of protons around the collider's 27 km tunnel. Eventually, scientists will introduce another beam traveling in the opposite direction, both traveling close to the speed of light. What happens when the two beams collide? The Takeaway talks with BBC science correspondent Tom Feilden.

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The Takeaway

The Big Bang, take two: Physicists gear up to flip the switch on the Large Hadron Collider

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Tomorrow, in an effort to recreate the conditions that followed the big bang, physicists will flip the switch on a gigantic particle accelerator--the Large Hadron Collider. Skeptics fear this will be the end of the earth, scientists say that planetary annihilation is unlikely. For a reality check we turn to the rock star of all things physics, Brian Greene.

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The Takeaway

Is wind the way to go?

Monday, September 08, 2008

As concerns over US oil consumption continues to rise – and heat up, on the campaign trail – Americans are looking to alternative energy sources to power our homes, our cars, and our lifestyles. Wind turbines have been heavily promoted in good-looking television ads, but the prospect of having turbines next door has made some people concerned about the noise and disruption. Today marks the last day for public comment on putting turbines far offshore, on the outer continental shelf.

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The Takeaway

Cheney courts Russia’s oil-rich neighbors

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Vice President Cheney is in oil-rich Azerbaijan today, the start of a tour that aims to show Washington's support of Russia's southern neighbors. He plans to head later to neighboring Georgia, where Washington is trying to bolster support for Mikhail Saakashvili's U.S.-allied government, battered by last month's short war with Russia.

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The Takeaway

Open-source textbooks help make education affordable

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

College kids heading to school are also heading for sticker-shock when they discover the costs of this semester's textbooks. But Rich Baraniuk believes he has a solution: free, collaborative textbooks.

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The Takeaway

Hero Reports

Monday, September 01, 2008

Hero Reports, a new Web site by MIT doctoral candidate Alyssa Wright, is tracking stories of everyday acts of courage, mapping goodwill in the same way others map home values and crime rates. It was inspired by the New York subway's "See Something, Say Something" campaign, but seeks not to uncover acts of terrorism, but to tap a zeitgeist of good, promote a civic culture and reflect the communities we live in.

Read Hero Reports from New York City here. Or, if you've witnessed an everyday act of courage anywhere in the country, share your Hero Report with us here.

Wednesday June 25, 2008
» The Takeaway talks with Alyssa Wright, creator of Hero Reports, and the stories of hero reporters.
» John, joining the ranks of the hero reporters, tells the subway bag story

Wednesday July 3, 2008
» Faith unites Jews, Muslims, Christians and Buddhists in Iowa flood aftermath
» Your Hero Reports

Wednesday July 23, 2008
» A Hero Report on YouTube: The Hugging Saint

Thursday September 4, 2008
» Famed psychologist Dr. Philip Zimbardo looks at how heroism can be "democratized"

Monday September 15, 2008
» Ushahidi hopes to save lives by "crowdsourcing" crisis information

The Takeaway

Can't make up your mind about the candidates? Chances are you already have!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Are you still ambivalent about the presidential candidates? A new study says that, subconsciously, you’re much less torn than you think you are. Test your ambivalence with the U.S. Election 2008 Implicit Association Test.

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The Takeaway

Smart grids: What it means to boost our electrical infrastructure’s IQ

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Five years ago today, a power outage blanketed states in the Northeast, Midwest and parts of Canada. Leaving 50 million in the dark, it was the largest blackout in North American history. The outage highlighted the fragility of our electricity system. And with energy demands rising, and economy in a slump and global warming fears taking center stage, "smart grid" technologies could provide solutions.

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The Takeaway

When the lights went out: the east coast blackout, five years later

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Guest: Vincent Barbaccia, co-owner of “The Lemon Ice King of Corona”

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The Takeaway

Real-life invisibility cloak shows the promise of "nanomanufacturing"

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

This week, the media reported on scientists developing materials they say could create a kind of invisibility cloak. The research was funded in part by the National Science Foundation. It’s just one example of “nanomanufacturing,” which the NSF sees as a way to give the United States an edge as industrial manufacturing wanes.

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The Takeaway

As records shatter in Beijing, does the suit make the swimmer?

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Swimmers are breaking world records at an astounding pace at the Beijing Olympics. What’s behind this incredible trend?

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The Takeaway

The digital frontlines in the Georgia conflict

Monday, August 11, 2008

Guest: Bill Woodcock, research director for Packet Clearing House, a non-profit group that advises Internet companies and governments about cyber attacks.

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The Takeaway

The key green energy job application question: How are you with heights?

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Wind turbines are the coolest thing around. The only problem is, with so many wind turbines, qualified recruits are hard to find. Vestas, and other wind power companies, are hiring anyone who can climb a tower.

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The Takeaway

Wordies compete in the National SCRABBLE Championship

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The best players in the country are at the National SCRABBLE Championship in Orlando, Florida, this week as the game celebrates its 60th birthday.

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The Takeaway

More people turn up in the ER with injuries after texting-while-walking

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Texting while driving is dangerous. That's clear. But it turns out that texting while walking comes with its own risks. More and more pedestrians are turning up in emergency rooms with injuries sustained while typing out missives on those mini keyboards.

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The Takeaway

Do Cuil and other new search engines threaten Google's search dominance?

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Yet another search engine, Cuil (Gaelic for "knowledge"), is taking aim at Google. In true Freudian fashion, the upstart is the brainchild of former Google engineers who claim that Cuil will offer broader, faster searches, without recording information about what you search and when.

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The Takeaway

Testing the consumer-grade jet pack

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Today, at the Oskhosh Air Show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, a very new tool for the mankind will be demonstrated: A consumer-grade jet pack. Yes, for just about $100,000 dollars, you can take off, fly away and land anywhere you please with this crafty invention from New Zealand.

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The Takeaway

Blogging While Brown is the first conference for bloggers of color

Friday, July 25, 2008

The Blogging While Brown conference is on until Sunday, where, for the first time, bloggers of color from around the world have united in Atlanta to discuss their influence on the media and elections.

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The Takeaway

David Wall Rice: iPhone iPhoria

Monday, July 14, 2008

By David Wall Rice : Takeaway Contributor

And why is there still a quarter-mile line zigzagging around the mall? A telephone? Right, right... GPS... music... really fast Internet. Sexy. But plans don't come with a great mortgage rate. They don’t come with free gas either. So maybe my homeboy Phil Gramm was on to something with his "mental recession" assessment.

The Takeaway

The pawn-shop index, recession-proof stuff and the iPhone 3G

Friday, July 11, 2008

Is there such a thing as recession-proof stuff? If we’re all being tight with our wallets, then why, in this time of economic turmoil, are certain industries thriving? The Takeaway turns to Columbia business professor Cheryl Einhorn then goes to Stockton, Calif., (dubbed “the foreclosure capital” by 60 Minutes), where sometimes a bad turn can mean good business — for pawn shops.

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