oil

Oil giant British Petroleum is well-known for the Deepwater Oil Horizon disaster and its much-criticized handling of the cleanup's aftermath. But you might want to think twice before you read about the event, or the company's environmental record, on Wikipedia.

Angry Wikipedia editors estimate that BP has rewritten 44 percent of the page about itself, including information about its environmental performance.

This comes to light just as a federal judge has scheduled a hearing for April 5 on BP's request to prevent payments of what the oil company calls "fictitious or inflated claims" in a … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Heart Attack Grill spokesman dies of heart attack.

- Two Atlanta women left with third-degree burns after Instagram feud fuels hot oil attack.

- Apple reportedly testing curved glass for 'iWatch.'

- CBS stations stop Tweeting about Dorner.

Bathroom break video: Beatboxing and studying the SATs… Read more

What is art? This is a question that has vexed and perplexed artists, philosophers, and viewers for quite some time. There's a new wrinkle in the debate, created by a collection of iPhone oil paintings.

No, these aren't works on canvas generated with a brush and oil paints. These are abstract designs rendered from the layer of accumulated grease on an iPhone's screen.

The artist behind these images, J.K. Keller, has curated a collection of animated GIFs to really show off the fine lines and smudges of his masterpieces. Some take the form of hypnotic vortexes. Some play with reflected light to make them look waterlike. … Read more

Canvas 14 from ACD Systems is an enterprise-class technical illustration program. With it, you can create, refine, and publish sophisticated illustrations, animations, and documents.

It combines the drawing and illustrating features of a premium graphics app, the 3D modeling and drafting capabilities of CAD, and the collaborative capabilities of a productivity suite in one surprisingly intuitive package. A quick-start guide, copious documentation, and a helpful sidebar called the Canvas Assistant made getting to know this capable but complex software easier than we expected.

To try Canvas 14 for free, you must select that option during installation and complete the process … Read more

We Americans aren't the only ones who have gained weight. Over the past 25 years, our cars have gotten heavier too, says Amory Lovins.

Lovins, chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, says he believes that ultralight materials like carbon fiber composites can make cars simpler and cheaper to build. At the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco this week, Lovins talked about strategies to make oil-free automobiles.

This video originally appeared on SmartPlanet with the headline "Amory Lovins: Carbon fiber cars would cut oil dependency."

More SmartPlanet links

Apple earnings reach record highs, Xbox rumors ramp up, and Obama tackles energy and tech industry concerns in his State of the Union address.

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Scientists at the U.K.'s University of Bristol have created what they say is the world's first magnetic soap, and it's gaining attention as a potential method for cleaning up oil spills.

As first reported in the Angewandte Chemie chemistry journal, the team of researchers created the magnetic soap by dissolving iron atoms, which give the soap particles a metallic center, into a chlorine and bromine solution similar to what's found in mouthwash and fabric softener.

To test its magnetic properties, the group inserted a magnet into a test tube containing the soap solution, water, and oil and found that the soap was able to rise through the water and oil to reach the magnet. … Read more

Rather than recycling plastic, startup Agilyx can bring plastic back to its original source: oil.

The Beaverton, Ore., company yesterday raised $25 million in a series C round of funding, which was led by Keating Capital and joined by existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Waste Management, an affiliate of oil company Total, and Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital.

The company, which raised $22 million in March this year, will use the money to develop four plastic-to-oil plants expected to go online in the first half of next year, according to CEO Chris Ulum. Agilyx is now operating its first … Read more

The best GPS you can load on your phone, how often you should change your oil in the real world, don't trust that self-braking car with your life (or someone else's) and adding remote start and seat heaters the right way.

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