Photo reblogged from Emergent Futures Tumblelog with 18 notes
Solar cells must emit light to attain perfection, research suggests
Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley claim to have hit upon a counterintuitive means of boosting the efficiency of flatplate solar cells by making them emit light. “What we demonstrated is that the better a solar cell is at emitting photons, the higher its voltage and the greater the efficiency it can produce,” said principal researcher, UC Berkeley Professor of Electrical Engineering Eli Yablonovitch.
Full Story: Ars Technica
Quote reblogged from kateoplis with 37,184 notes
When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps.
John Lennon (via david)
I really needed this today.
Source: winterveins
Photo reblogged from Emergent Futures Tumblelog with 79 notes
![smarterplanet:
Universal Real-Time Translator
AT&T is bringing the universal translator to an app store near you. Well, Granted, it isn’t quite universal yet. For now, the AT&T Translator is capable of seven languages. So far the app supports English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. It seems reasonable to assume that if the app catches on that more languages will eventually be added.
via futurescope:
The app was developed at AT&T Research Labs, using both AT&T Watson and AT&T Natural Voices speech technologies. Usage is simple. Speak a phrase into your device and the Translator converts what you’ve said into the language of your choice before broadcasting it to listeners. […]
Video:
[via] [AT&T Labs]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m339vuIwDb1r08k60o1_500.png)
Universal Real-Time Translator
AT&T is bringing the universal translator to an app store near you. Well, Granted, it isn’t quite universal yet. For now, the AT&T Translator is capable of seven languages. So far the app supports English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. It seems reasonable to assume that if the app catches on that more languages will eventually be added.
via futurescope:
The app was developed at AT&T Research Labs, using both AT&T Watson and AT&T Natural Voices speech technologies. Usage is simple. Speak a phrase into your device and the Translator converts what you’ve said into the language of your choice before broadcasting it to listeners. […]Video:
Source: 33rdsquare.com
Photo reblogged from Emergent Futures Tumblelog with 119 notes
TED-Ed’s New Video Tool Allows Anyone To Create Video Lessons Online
TED-Ed’s new free platform allows anyone to “flip” any video on YouTube by adding custom content to play alongside it, making it possible to turn any piece of video content into a teachable moment.
Source: fastcoexist.com
Photo reblogged from PopTech with 306 notes
How your eye works, part of a gorgeous vintage illustrated guide to the human body.
Source: explore-blog
Video reblogged from Soup with 30 notes
Al-Jazeera’s The Stream takes a closer look at the drone program currently being run by the United States
Video reblogged from Emergent Futures Tumblelog with 56 notes
MIT Engineers Design Fog-Free, Water-Repellent, Anti-Glare Glass
A new type of nano-structured glass can bounce water and dirt off its surface, cleaning itself and preventing fogging, according to MIT researchers. It eliminates glare, too, allowing light to penetrate with pure clarity. It could be used for anything from solar panels to future car windshields to new gadget screens. […]
Source: popsci.com
Quote reblogged from life is not a foreign language with 48 notes
They say the world is a crowded place, it doesn’t feel like it when you’re alone.
Link reblogged from Emergent Futures Tumblelog with 6 notes
Who Can Solve London's Great Challenges? | Planetizen →
Against the backdrop of a made-for-tv mayoral election, Richard Florida looks at the litany of issues afflicting London as the city struggles with the deepest challenges it has faced since the Great Depression and post-war years.
As Ken Livingstone, the former mayor and “fiery socialist with a penchant for dropping explosive sound bites”, faces off against Boris Johnson, “the tousled-haired, bike-riding conservative incumbent”, in an election run-up resembling “a reality TV show,” the reality of the pressing challenges facing the city could make for some rather dramatic television themselves.
“The city has been buffeted by the financial crisis, suffering more severe blows than most cities, from which it is still suffering.” With the city’s economic, media, and entertainment power weakening, and forecasted to decline further, “the next mayor will have to spearhead a plan to stave off growing competition from a host of global cities.”
Florida describes a laundry list of additional challenges that the city’s next mayor will have to address: from bolstering its high-tech economy to better connecting its educational institutions to the private sector and bridging the growing class divide.
“Whether Boris or Ken, London’s next mayor is going to have to thread this needle — to make the city even more attractive to global talent and business while at the same time improving its livability and affordability for ordinary people. It’s a daunting challenge — one that the city’s future prosperity turns on.”
Full Story: London’s Next Top Mayor
Source: smartercities
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