Polymath's Guide to News and Ideas
New wind turbine could dramatically increase generation efficiency
AUTOBLOGGREEN :One of the primary reasons that current wind turbines have to be so large is that most of the energy is lost as the air flows off the end of the blades. That size increases the cost and reduces the density of turbines that can be installed... READ MORE
Can the Physical Examination Save Us From the Technology-Induced Dehumanization of Medicine?
WACHTER'S WORLD :In last week’s NEJM, physician-author Abraham Verghese paints a disturbing picture of a medical world in which technology has morphed from tool to object... READ MORE
Snark Attack
NEW YORK MAGAZINE :You have to give David Denby credit for bravery: Writing a book titled Snark: It’s Mean, It’s Personal, and It’s Ruining Our Conversation is like writing a book titled Keying My Car... READ MORE
10 Ways Twitter Will Change Blog Design in 2009
MASHABLE.COM :Rachel Cunliffe runs blog design company cre8d design and is co-founder of TV community network Throng... READ MORE
Gaza 2008: Micro-Wars and Macro-Wars
INFORMED COMMENT :With regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict, we have entered the age of micro-wars. The first wars that Israel fought with its Arab neighbors were conventional struggles in which infantry, artillery, armor and air forces played central roles. ... READ MORE
Diamonds show comet struck North America, scientists say
LOS ANGELES TIMES :A discovery of microscopic diamonds a few feet beneath the surface of North America reveals that a comet caused a cataclysm of fire... READ MORE
Scientists discover true love
TIMESONLINE :SCIENTISTS have discovered true love. Brain scans have proved that a small number of couples can respond with as much passion after 20 years as most people exhibit only in the first flush of love... READ MORE
Does this perihelion make my Sun look fat?
BAD ASTRONOMY : If you’ve been staring at the Sun lately, then you may have noticed it looks a wee bit bigger today than it did a few days ago... READ MORE
Energy of the Stars, With No Emissions
SPIEGEL ONLINE :A consortium of governments will build a groundbreaking fusion power plant in France for a price in excess of €5 billion. After decades of discouraging setbacks... READ MORE
Police set to step up hacking of home PCs
TIMES ONLINE :THE Home Office has quietly adopted a new plan to allow police across Britain routinely to hack into people’s personal computers without a warrant... READ MORE
Gaza and the Law of Armed Conflict
COMMENTARY CONTENTIONS :While much of the world engages in hand-wringing, placard-waving, teeth-gnashing, and rocket-launching over Israel’s “disproportionate” response to Hamas attacks from Gaza... READ MORE
The Forbidden City of Terry Gou
WALL STREET JOURNAL :Past a guarded gate on the outskirts of this city sits one of the world's largest factories. In dozens of squat buildings, it churns out gadgets bearing technology's household names -- Apple Inc.'s iPods and iPhones... READ MORE
Once Booming Dubai Goes Bust
CBS NEWS :(CBS) Over the years, booming oil prices helped turn Dubai into a land of opportunity and playground for the ultra rich... READ MORE
How Hamas is altering Israeli politics
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR :While war between Israel and Hamas reverberates from Gaza City to southern Israel and to Arab capitals, the fallout will also be felt within the Israeli Knesset... READ MORE
Orwell, blinding tribalism, selective Terrorism, and Israel/Gaza
SALON :Former McCain-Palin campaign spokesman and current Weekly Standard editor Michael Goldfarb notes that Israel... READ MORE
Taliban bomber in bloody revenge on defiant village
TIMES ONLINE :FOUR months after a local militia stood up to the Taliban and threw them out of their village, killing six of them in the process... READ MORE
'What happens in war happens'
GUARDIAN :In 2004, photographs of abuses at Abu Ghraib shocked the world. Seven people were charged, but the face of the scandal will always be Lynndie England... READ MORE
The Coming Venture Capital Boom
EARLYSTAGEVC :No, I am not a Pollyanna. I see the today’s carnage as much as everyone else. This year is going to be tough. The destructive firestorm of leveraged, momentum investing has destroyed much of the forest. But the forest will begin its renewal because Life Goes On... READ MORE
Biofuel Powers Air New Zealand Test Flight
GREENTECH MEDIA | NEWS FEED :Air New Zealand becomes the second airline to successfully use biofuel in a test flight. Virgin Atlantic Airways and Continental Airlines are also testing biofuel blends as a way to cut fuel costs and reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions... READ MORE
The oil shock and recession of 2008: Part 2
ECONBROWSER :In my previous post, I presented evidence that the oil price increase over 2007:H2-2008:H1 made a significant contribution to the slowdown in consumption spending in general and decline in spending on domestic automobiles in particular... READ MORE