Two sides of how far the world has evolved, in one airport trip

Yesterday I had to fly from Charlotte to Chicago, then Chicago to Minneapolis (the way out had been direct). It was one of those situations where, as Plane No. 1 lands and taxis forever, you start to get nervous —… Continue Reading

Arturo Vittori, Andreas Vogler, and whether Warka Water could be the future in the developing world

The state of running water and sanitation in the world isn’t great, and while big names like Bill Gates and Matt Damon have donated time and money to the efforts, they can still be costly. The newest version of the Gates toilets… Continue Reading

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Could a Boston-based company called XL Hybrids help change the world (and the climate)?

XL Hybrids is a company out of Boston that, right there on their homepage, will promise a 20 percent reduction in urban fuel consumption. The business media is on board: Fast Company just had them as the third-most innovative energy company in… Continue Reading

Maybe something called Slack could revolutionize the workplace

So many people you meet will spend time pursuing/chasing “Inbox Zero,” denoting it as a badge of accomplishment. But then, er, IBM has done studies indicating that a clean, organized inbox holds no essential benefit. Maybe it’s better to not organize… Continue Reading

Can we generate electricity from the oceans? Well, for damn sure China is going to try.

Actually this does happen around the world, but very rarely is it ever successful. Here’s the essential challenge: Their quest has been to create a machine that’s tough enough to withstand the constant pressure of surging water, yet sensitive enough to harness that… Continue Reading

By 2015: 349.1 million tablets and 1.95 billion mobile phones shipped worldwide.

That’s the new analysis from Gartner; if you consider the “dawn of the tablet age” to be January 2010 (when iPad’s first generation hit), that’s fairly substantial growth. (There were tablets as far back as 1997 by some arguments, although… Continue Reading

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The tipping point for Twitter will come when its need to be a public company surpasses what made it successful. Hello, new interface.

Twitter turned eight last week, which prompted a rush of business/tech journalism on where it’s been and where it’s going. (This happened a few months back, when Facebook turned 10. Would third-grade human version of Twitter be friends with fifth-grade human… Continue Reading

Is the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System a danger to both pilots and birds?

The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System — also known as the world’s largest solar farm right now — is on the California-Nevada border, about 40 miles from McCarron Airport (Vegas) and near a slew of other regional airports. It was… Continue Reading