Technology
EPA Issues 'State of the Environment' Photo Challenge
The Environmental Protection Agency is crowdsourcing a massive photo project to update a 40-year old agency project known as 'Documerica', which includes images of American environmental problems and everyday life.
More Meter Revenue But Fewer Parking Tickets Issued
SF Park is an outstanding success when measured by 'ticket anxiety'; i.e. the new program allows motorists to reduce the likelihood of being ticketed by making payment easier and allowing for longer parking stays, thus avoiding a $55-65 citation.
The Challenges of Building A House on Mars
Because of the relative motions of Earth and Mars, the pioneering astronauts who touch down on the Red Planet will remain there for a year and a half. For this reason, NASA has already started experimenting with a habitat fit for life on Mars.
Shopping Center Tracking System Raises Privacy Concerns
A new technology enables pedestrian behavior and flow to be monitored continuously using mobile phone technology. Its use in US and UK shopping centers has consumer rights activists worried.
The Best Paper Map of the United States
Mapmaker David Imus spent 2 years creating the best 3x4-foot paper wall map you'll ever see.
Want Your City to Thrive? Get More Bandwidth
Jobs of the future will be located in areas with some of the fastest bandwidth in the world -- and American is in sorry shape, writes columnist Thomas Friedman in The New York Times.
European Study: Cycling, Not Electric Cars Are Key To Emissions Reduction
Emissions would be reduced 25% if Europeans adopted the Danish cycling habit, a new study reports. The ECF warns politicians it would be a mistake to invest heavily in technological solutions like electric cars.
Can the 'Wikipedia of Maps' Challenge Google?
Google starts charging for its maps, and an open source alternative -- with support from Microsoft -- begins to challenge Google's dominance.
NewsHour Interview With 'Quest' Author Daniel Yergin
Noted energy expert Daniel Yergin has written "The Quest" as an update to his landmark 1991 book, "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power" to capture changes in the oil industry. Full transcript and video of NewsHour interview available.
Urban Eye Candy: Best City Time Lapse Videos
Eric Jaffe at Atlantic Cities assembles his collection of the best time lapse videos of cities.
Follow the Music... In Central Park
Brothers Hays and Ryan Holladay team up with Brooklyn-based developer, Bradley Feldman, to create a "location-aware album" app for Central Park.
First Look at Cornell's Winning $2 Billion Tech Campus
New details and a visualization from Cornell University's winning proposal to create a "game-changing" applied sciences and technology campus on New York's Roosevelt Island.
CA HSR: A Speed Too Fast?
LA to SF in 2 hrs, 40 mins? That promise in the proposition that voters approved in 2008 could be the train's undoing, as to keep that schedule it will require more expensive design, including viaducts and tunnels, than would otherwise necessitate.
Not An Inexpensive Bike Lane
Adding a pedestrian/bike lane to the 'west span' of the Bay Bridge won't come on the cheap: $550 million is the current estimate. The east span lane, from Yerba Buena Island to Oakland, will be included in the new bridge due to open in late 2013.
Environmental Devastation From Russia's Oil Drilling Considered Routine
It's on the scale of a Deepwater Horizon spill every 2 months - except that it's considered the cost of doing business. Aging pipes, lax oversight and inclement weather all combine to make an estimated 5 million tons of annual spillage.
Robot Roadbuilders of the Future
In 1958, it seemed all but inevitable that giant tree-chomping, asphalt-pouring machines would roam across the countryside leaving gleaming interstate highways in their wake.
Good News/Bad News For GM's Volt
October saw the first time the plug-in hybrid Volt outsell the all-electric Leaf; Consumer Reports rates Volt owners the most satisfied, but the car's potential to catch on fire is being investigated, and the $7,500 EV tax credit is under attack.
High-Speed Rail Project Faces Opposition
In California, a recent poll, according to Charles Chieppo, brought bad news stating that 53% of the states voters approved a $9.9 billion bond three years ago, but of those polled, 64% support a re-vote, and 59% would vote no if they had the chance.
Tiger III Grant Funds Awarded to Streetcar Project
In Cincinnati, Ohio, the "shovel-ready" Streetcar project has been awarded 10.9 million dollars in grant funding, according to Jenny Kessler, to "restore the project to its original aim of connecting the Uptown and Downtown employment centers."
Banning Cell Phone Use by Drivers Nationwide
The National Transportation Safety Board's recommendation is voluntary - it is up to the states to enact them into law. The CA state senator responsible for the ban on talking on hand-held cell phones and texting called it a 'political nonstarter'.
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