Monthly Archives: March 2011

Special report: Rescuing nuclear power – New Scientist

Posted on March 31, 2011 by

New Scientist has an excellent special report on nuclear power.   Topics covered include how well more recently built reactors would have fared in the tsunami (many of them would have done just fine), the prospects for safe Thorium based … Continue reading →

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More Efficient Aircraft Designs

Posted on March 30, 2011 by

The Economist has an article on aircraft designs that could cut fuel use by 50-70%, while still working with today’s airports (a challenge for flying wing designs).  From the article: Two groups working on the future of aircraft have come … Continue reading →

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Key Trends of the Next 25 Years

Posted on March 21, 2011 by

Michell Zappa has a fascinating infographic attempting to lay out timelines for future technologies over the next 25 years. It’s an impressive job of collecting data and laying it out in a way that someone can explore. It’s worth playing … Continue reading →

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Persuading Climate Skeptics – Why We Need Republican Experts

Posted on March 18, 2011 by

New Scientist has an interesting article on research into what persuades people on scientific issues.  The key finding is that there’s a major impact of hearing the evidence from someone who has similar political and social outlooks.  Experts who are … Continue reading →

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Is Moore’s Law really a fair comparison for Solar?

Posted on March 17, 2011 by

A reader at Scientific American raises some healthy skepticism about whether or not the exponential trend in solar watts / dollar can continue. This is a fine thing to be skeptical about.  As I mentioned in the original post, we … Continue reading →

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The Exponential Gains in Solar Power per Dollar

Posted on March 17, 2011 by

My post on the Moore’s Law-like exponential gains in solar power per dollar went up at Scientific American yesterday.  Reprinting here with permission. The sun strikes every square meter of our planet with more than 1,360 watts of power.  Half … Continue reading →

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Organic Crops have Lower Yields than Conventional Crops

Posted on March 14, 2011 by

Plant pathologist Steve Savage has analyzed the data from the USDA’s Organic Production Survey (the largest ever survey of organic farming in the United States) and finds that organic yields per acre are substantially lower than the yields of conventional … Continue reading →

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