1. Damaged newspapers, damaged civic life: How the gutting of local newsrooms has led to a less-informed public (media, Nieman Lab) 2. Stop the Ethanol Madness (energy, The Atlantic) 3.There’s only one way to take on big tech: by reining in big money and big state by Evgeny Morozov (society, The Guardian) 4. Dead Whale, 220 Pounds of Debris Inside, Is a ‘Grim Reminder’ of Ocean Trash (environment, NYT) 5. The “labour illusion”: Why progress […]
#hashbased is a blockchain innovation newsletter provided by HashBased.com, an OKA innovation brand Bitcoin energy consumption is comparable to a medium-sized developed country (~50-75 TWh) and there are doubts that it can be made more sustainable. Another issues related to bitcoin mining are CO2 emissions and generation of electronic waste. The waste is mainly from discarded ASICS, which can be used only for mining Bitcoin – most ASICS end up being incinerated when new models […]
1. Kale is not giving up: Actually, Kale Is Good and Lots of People Still Like It (food, Slate)I don’t know anyone who likes kale. 2. Cell-Bacteria Mergers Offer Clues to How Organelles Evolved (science, Quanta Magazine) 3. In the Sea, Not All Plastic Lasts Forever (environment, NYT) 4. Integrating the Science of How We Learn into Education Technology by Stephen M. Kosslyn (education, Harvard Business Review)
1. Snow from the Far North can contain thousands of particles of microplastic (environment) 2. How a ‘NULL’ license plate landed one hacker in ticket hell (technology) 3. Surgical Robots are Surging in Popularity. So Will Their Data. (innovation) 4. One Size Doesn’t Have to Fit All (interventions) 5. This Danish Bank Is Offering ‘Negative’ Mortgage Rates—Here’s What That Means by Erik Sherman (finance)
Original publication is here [1]. A commentary in Nature here. Dockless shared e-scooters are touted as a solution to the last-mile problem, a means to reduce traffic congestion, and an environmentally preferable mode of transportation. While these e-scooters have no tailpipe emissions, full consideration of the life cycle impacts is required to properly understand their environmental impacts. (…)Our study differs from previous research by conducting a full LCA to address the environmental impacts associated with the […]
Alt meat isn’t going to stay alt for long, and cattle are looking more and more like stranded assets Outside While corn is hitting a six-year price highs there is an intense debate around plant based meat. Currently Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods and Nestlé are the main players but the alt-meat space is getting crowded fast. After a short trial in the St Louis area, the Impossible Whopper will be available at Burger Kings in US […]
The Existence of Airborne Mercury Nanoparticles, Avik. J. Ghoshdastidar & Parisa A. Ariya, Scientific Reports, 9, 10733 (2019) “In this work, we show that previously unknown mercury-containing nanoparticles exist in the air (…). Deploying an urban-air field campaign near a mercury point source, we provide further evidence for mercury nanoparticles and determine the extent to which these particles contain two long suspected forms of oxidized mercury (mercuric bromide and mercuric chloride) (…). (…) we estimate airborne mercury aerosols may […]
Oragious 