Clipmarks | deb2012's 'future' clips

Giant rubber snake could be the future of wave power

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:05:21 GMT

clipped by: Mohir

Clip Source: environment.newscientist.com

[Video]

A giant rubber snake could be the future of renewable energy. The rippling "Anaconda" produces electricity as it is squeezed by passing waves. Its developers say it would produce more energy than existing wave-energy devices and be cheaper to maintain.

Retired physicist Francis Farley and Rod Rainey of Atkins Global dreamed up a flexible tube filled with seawater and sealed at both ends like a giant sausage. The structure streams out in the waves like a windsock pushed by the wind.

The passage of each wave squeezes the rubber and produces a bulging pressure wave that travels down its length. When the bulge reaches the end it sets turbines spinning to generate electricity.

Eventually, full-scale versions should be 7 metres across, 200 m long and be anchored at one end in water between 40 m and 100 m deep.

Tags: energy, green

Awareness march against nuclear

Sun, 11 May 2008 15:46:41 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: at stake-the future of the world

Clip Source: www.thaindian.com

A group of followers of Mahatma Gandhi from various parts of India are on a march

to plead against nuclear energy and nuclear weapons.

“Just take a look at the developed nations - none of them want to have a reactor in their own backyard. They all want to dump it in the third world. We have become a dumping ground for hoarding the hazardous radioactive material and waste,” Vidrohi told IANS by telephone from Varanasi.

He also made it clear that they differ from political parties like the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and others whose opposition towards the India-US civil nuclear deal is primarily not against nuclear energy, but against Washington.

What happens after 30 or 40 years? Where will the radioactive waste go? No, their attack is purely circumscribed to the US and nothing more.

We are trying to spread awareness that several forms of energy like solar power and wind power and even conventional forms can be used without jeopardizing the future of the world.”

Tags: geopolitics, energy

Robots to the rescue

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:10:13 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: aging boomers could get robots as caretakers---the future is near

Clip Source: www.gizmag.com

The uBOT-5 is the result of project ASSIST, undertaken by a group of postgraduate researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in response to the fact that 77 million baby boomers will be retiring in the next 30 years, placing unprecedented levels of strain on the community services and medical systems.

“For the first time, robots are safe enough and inexpensive enough to do meaningful work in a residential environment,” says computer scientist Rod Grupen, director of UMass Amherst’s Laboratory for Perceptual Robotics, who developed project ASSIST with computer scientists Allen Hanson and Edward Riseman.

The uBOT-5 could assist the elderly in living independently, providing relief for caregivers, doctors and community services workers. The robot is designed both to make life easy for its owner and to act as eyes, ears and communications portal for loved ones and caregivers in remote locations.

Tags: science, future

Comptroller General quits

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:45:48 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: will Congress listen to his message?

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Walker last year issued an unusually downbeat assessment of his country's future in a report that drew parallels with the end of the Roman empire.

He had warned that the US government was on a "burning platform" of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action was not taken soon.

There were "striking similarities" between America's current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, he had said.

These included "declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government."

Tags: u.s. economy

The Little Steps that Matter

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:00:19 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: a few issues about peak oil , our economic future, and composting!

Clip Source: thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com

Over the last few months, the uncomfortable phrase “peak oil” has started to appear more and more frequently in the mainstream media

For anger, you can hardly do better than watching the current US administration, brandishing its gargantuan war machine and bellowing its rage at Arabs, Venezuelans, and anybody else arrogant enough to think that they have some sort of right to the oil underneath their own territories.

The rush to ethanol and biodiesel has already played a significant role in sending grain prices to record levels

will quite probably cause mass starvation in the Third World within a decade or so if it continues at its present pace.

Attempting to revive the nuclear industry

meant to allow us to continue living our lives in something like their present form

That fantasy, it seems to me, is the single largest obstacle in the path of a reasoned response to the predicament of peak oil.

Tags: society

I.O.U.S.A

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 12:48:48 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: don't miss the movie

Clip Source: investorshub.advfn.com

Sundance veteran Patrick Creadon

helps demystify the nation’s financial practices and policies

The film follows U.S. Comptroller General David Walker as he crisscrosses the country explaining America’s unsustainable fiscal policies to its citizens.

With surgical precision, Creadon interweaves archival footage and economic data to paint a vivid and alarming profile of America’s current economic situation. The ultimate power of I.O.U.S.A. is that the film moves beyond doomsday rhetoric to proffer potential financial scenarios and propose solutions about how we can recreate a fiscally sound nation for future generations.

Tags: economics

from the CEO of Shell Oil

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 17:31:22 GMT

clipped by: deb2012

Clip Source: www.theoildrum.com

In the Scramble scenario, nations rush to secure energy resources for themselves, fearing that energy security is a zero-sum game, with clear winners and losers. The use of local coal and homegrown biofuels increases fast.

The other route to the future is less painful, even if the start is more disorderly. This Blueprints scenario sees numerous coalitions emerging to take on the challenges of economic development, energy security and environmental pollution through cross-border cooperation.

Tags: energy