Future tech

'Rushing fireball' could turn carbon dioxide into biofuel

Scientists cite as a major driver of climate change the large amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere that's created by the burning of fossil fuels. They spend day after day trying to figure out a way to generate power for the world's populations, but at the same time leave a smaller carbon footprint.

Now, researchers at the University of Georgia say they've hit upon a way to take the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and turn it into useable industrial products. The impact of such a discovery is potentially huge.

The goal is to remove the CO2 directly from the air and turn it into biofuel -- not only helping power the world, but hopefully taking down global temperatures at the same time.

The researchers essentially have created a microorganism that acts like a plant that removes the carbon dioxide from the air and turns it into something we can use. During photosynthesis, plants utilize sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide from the air to create their food source. This would behave in a similar fashion. … Read more

The 404 1,237: Where Robert Greene 'Masters' The 404 (podcast)

- Robert's Web site, PowerSeductionandWar.

- A Reddit AMA with Robert Greene.

- Follow Robert Greene on Twitter.

Episode 1,237

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Riding shotgun with the man behind an Andean Silicon Valley

Editor's note: This is the third part of Crave's four-part series on Ecuador's attempt to become Latin America's hub for science, technology, and innovation. Read part 1, "Plotting the next Silicon Valley -- you'll never guess where," and part 2, "New Silicon Valley in the Andes: Promise and paradox."

QUITO, Ecuador--Right now, I'm one of the final things standing between Ramiro Moncayo and a vacation he's been waiting to take for years. It's just a few days before Christmas, and needless to say, he is very excited about the couple of days he is about to spend with his family on a holiday getaway.

Moncayo is the project manager for Yachay, the ambitious planned city that the equally ambitious government of Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa has been trying to shove into existence for a few years now.

Since taking office just a half decade ago and with the help of a fountain of oil revenues, Correa and company have modernized the nation's highways, created the third-fastest growing economy in Latin America, and more than tripled the number of Ecuadorian citizens connected to the Internet, according to the president's office.

Next up on the industrialization to-do list: Ecuador plans to create the first top-tier research university in Latin America and surround it with all the facilities and human capital needed to make this developing nation, which is roughly the size of the state of Colorado, a global player in science, technology, and innovation. (There is, however, some reason for skepticism, as I mention in part 2 of the series.) … Read more

The 404 1,236: Where we're hidden in plain sight (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Cell phone towers disguised as trees are a puzzling attempt at aesthetics.

- You know you're rich when you have the luxury of turning down an iPad.

Bathroom break video: ASMR keyboard raindrops… Read more

New Silicon Valley in the Andes: Promise and paradox

Editor's note: This is part 2 of an exclusive four-part Crave series on Ecuador's plans to transform itself into a new hub of science, technology, and innovation. Read part 1, "Plotting the next Silicon Valley -- you'll never guess where."

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, Ecuador--There's a small group of solar panels set up next to a giant tortoise hatchery that's currently under renovation here. It wasn't many decades ago that these remarkable gentle giants -- which never stop growing and can live to be 150 and the size of a kitchen table -- didn't need help from humans to survive in their native habitat.

Ironically, it is the other species humans brought with them to this remote volcanic Pacific archipelago that have endangered these tortoises. Dogs, pigs, goats, rats, and even ants all prey on young tortoises here, making it virtually impossible for them to survive their first few years in the wild. Instead, they're raised in facilities like this one near the Charles Darwin Research Station.

There's plenty more paradox to be found on the Ecuadorian mainland. … Read more

Amsterdam architects join race to build 3D-printed house

With 3D printing growing ever more powerful, it's really only a matter of time before a 3D-printed house arrives. So far, we've seen Dutch firm Universe Architecture announce its 3D-printed Landscape House, modeled after a Mobius strip. London firm Softkill pooh-poohed Universe's design, since it will use poured concrete in 3D-printed molds, and presented its own spiderweb-Skeletor ProtoHouse.

Not to mention the European Space Agency's plans to 3D-print a moon base, a sort of extraterrestrial abode for astronauts.

Now another Dutch firm has stepped up to the plate. DUS Architects has announced that it will make … Read more

A breath test for... obesity?

Researchers have been exploring breath tests for all sorts of uses -- from sniffing out everything from lung cancer to heart disease to diabetes. But testing for obesity? Could that really be possible?

According to a new study in the April issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, the bacterial overgrowth that can be caught by a standard breath test may also reveal one's body fat percentage.

Apparently when one's microbiome (the complex infrastructure of good and bad bacteria that live in and on us) gets out of balance, with the bad bacteria outperforming the good, … Read more

The 404 1,235: Where we charge you just for browsing (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Jeff's review: Using Appetize at a concert.

- The end of "just browsing:" Australian store charges $5 browsing fee.

- How the P2P era of SEO-baiting, intentionally mislabeled MP3s changed our taste in music.

- Hollywood embraces the Tweaser on Vine.

- T-Mobile finally gets the iPhone.

- T-Mobile launches 4G LTE network.… Read more

Plotting the next Silicon Valley -- you'll never guess where

QUITO, Ecuador--Imagine it's 2023. Things have shifted in the world of technology, and I'm not just talking about the elimination of the standard-transmission vehicle in favor of autonomous transport. Companies in Asia, the United States, and Europe still produce many of the world's major innovations in everything from energy efficiency and biotechnology to IT and consumer electronics, and many of those products are still made in China.

But there's also a new player on the scene that wasn't registering on anyone's radar in the tech world just a decade ago.

In this particular vision of the future, a small but rapidly growing number of innovations are born, nurtured, produced, and sent to market from a tiny but vivacious country sandwiched between the Pacific and the Amazon -- Ecuador. … Read more