David Lidsky's Blog, page 4803

Former CEOs Launch eRecyclingCorps, a Massive Cellphone Recycling Project

Ron LeMay, formerly of Sprint, and David Edmonson, of Radioshack, are the two founders of eRecyclingCorps, which was announced today at CTIA. It's essentially a project that will partner with wireless carriers to enable the exchange and recycling of cellphones--and as cellphones (especially their Li-ion batteries) are highly toxic when thrown away, it's a hell of a green effort as well.

Sprint, unsurprisingly, has been named as the first official partner, and their deal shows how this...

The Impossible Project, Made Possible: Polaroid Instant Film Is Back on Sale

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Polaroid instant film, the funnest of all film, was mourned across the globe by people of all ages when it was announced that production had stopped. The Impossible Project, which has no connection to Polaroid, decided to "re-invent" the technology through backwards engineering and then produce and sell their own version of the film, which would be compatible with old-school Polaroid cameras. It looked like vaporware for awhile, but, as reports the AP, this week they announced they've done...

World Water Day 2010: Three Projects That Are Changing the Future

In the developing world, a billion people go without clean water. Across the developed world, storms and failing infrastructure threaten to contaminate water supplies. Is there any hope to be found?

March 22 is World Water Day, so let's talk water.

The United Nations has been observing World Water Day since 1994, and it's hard to exaggerate just how critical this subject is to global sustainability. Everything we think about regarding sustainability--from energy to agriculture to...

World Water Day 2010: Three Projects That are Changing the Future

In the developing world, a billion people go without clean water. Across the developed world, storms and failing infrastructure threaten to contaminate water supplies. Is there any hope to be found?

March 22 is World Water Day, so let's talk water.

The United Nations has been observing World Water Day since 1994, and it's hard to exaggerate just how critical this subject is to global sustainability. Everything we think about regarding sustainability -- from energy to agriculture to...

Quantum Dots Could Transform Your Drunken Party Smartphone Photos

Usually the digital camera in your smartphone can snap reasonable pics in good lighting, but the image quality is too sucky for photo enthusiasts. Enter InVisage Technologies to right this wrong--their funky new camera tech uses quantum physics.

It's getting harder to find a cell phone without a camera nowadays, and some high-enders are competing with compact digicams in terms of power. But usually the tech comes with serious limitations, rendering the whole megapixel race somewhat...

U.S. Air Force Sets Up High-Tech System for "Virtual Autopsies"

A system that allows a cadaver to be scanned in high-resolution, so that autopsies can be performed virtually.

Scientists at the University of Bern, in Switzerland, have announced a striking innovation in autopsy science: Their so-called Virtopsy creates highly-detailed 3-D images of a cadaver--thus allowing the images to be sent around the world for immediate evaluation, or saved for a future date, when more evidence and better science might be available.

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Tim Berners-Lee to Head Up Institute of Web Science in U.K. as Britain Goes for Broke on the Web

The U.K. is to get a new Institute of Web Science--and it's to be headed by Tim Berners-Lee, the man who invented the World Wide Web. Announced this morning in London by Gordon Brown, as part of the Government's Internet strategy (although, given that we're just six weeks away from a General Election in Britain, take that as part of Labour's official manifesto) it will be hosted jointly by Oxford and Southampton Universities.

At $45 million, the Institute, which will serve as an academic base...

More Fun With Indices! Health Care Reform Edition

Well, that's done. And now that health car reform is well on its way to being signed into law, we can finally focus on what Americans do best--determining who will benefit financially from the legislation.

The early line, perhaps not surprisingly, has health-related businesses and industries getting a boost. In particular the companies that will see the greatest surge in action once reform takes hold--outfits such as the hospital organization Community Health Systems and the insurance agency...

Is Washington, D.C., Ready for an Onslaught of Contemporary Design?

A sneak peek at a new show up at Industry Gallery--a new venture which hopes to cultivate contemporary-design in a city better known for policy wonks and pinstripe suits.

Google China's Hong Kong Work-Around [Update]

Google decided, after a protracted struggle with China over censorship and that all-too-suspicious hacking of email accounts belonging to Chinese human rights activists, to stop censoring their services in China, including Google Search, Image Search, and News. As this is contrary to China's stance that censorship is a "non-negotiable legal requirement," Google is providing an alternative for Chinese users--but it's not exactly the "complete pull-out" we'd heard rumored to be scheduled for...