Project 10 to the 100th is a call from Google for ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible. On February 27, Google will choose the best 200 ideas, donating $10 million to help with their implementation. Deadline for submissions is October 20th.
Categories:
Community: How can we help connect people, build communities and protect unique cultures?
Opportunity: How can we help people better provide for themselves and their families?
Energy: How can we help move the world toward safe, clean, inexpensive energy?
Environment: How can we help promote a cleaner and more sustainable global ecosystem?
Health: How can we help individuals lead longer, healthier lives?
Education: How can we help more people get more access to better education?
Shelter: How can we help ensure that everyone has a safe place to live?
Everything else: Sometimes the best ideas don't fit into any category at all.
Criteria:
Reach: How many people would this idea affect?
Depth: How deeply are people impacted? How urgent is the need?
Attainability: Can this idea be implemented within a year or two?
Efficiency: How simple and cost-effective is your idea?
Longevity: How long will the idea's impact last?
Showing posts with label Global. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Global. Show all posts
Monday, October 13, 2008
Google gives your ideas an allowance...
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Gary Fisher hits nail on head...
“Cars are the new smoking.”
-Gary Fisher
via Bike Portland, via via Matt Haughey on Twitter.
If cars are the new smoking, then SUV drivers are the new meth addicts.
Like Matt Haughey, I love love love this Gary Fisher quote. Can't wait to use it in a bar.
-Gary Fisher
via Bike Portland, via via Matt Haughey on Twitter.
If cars are the new smoking, then SUV drivers are the new meth addicts.
Like Matt Haughey, I love love love this Gary Fisher quote. Can't wait to use it in a bar.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Nobody *&$% with the Jesus....
US scientist heralds 'artificial life' breakthrough
Sat Oct 6, 4:03 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Controversial celebrity US scientist Craig Venter has announced he is on the verge of creating the first ever artificial life form which he hails as a potential remedy to illness and global warming.
Venter told Britain's The Guardian newspaper Saturday that he has built a synthetic chromosome using chemicals made in a laboratory, and is set to announce the discovery within weeks, possibly as early as Monday.
The breakthrough, which Venter hopes could help develop new energy sources to combat the negative effects of climate change, would be "a very important philosophical step in the history of our species," he told the newspaper.
However the prospect of engineering artificial life forms is highly controversial and likely to arouse heated debate over the ethics and potential ramifications of such an advance.
Pat Mooney, director of the Canadian bioethics organization ETC Group, told the paper that Venter was creating "a chassis on which you could build almost anything.
"It could be a contribution to humanity such as new drugs or a huge threat to humanity such as bio-weapons."
The chromosome which Venter and his team has created is known as Mycoplasma laboratorium and, in the final step of the process, will be transplanted into a living cell where it should "take control," effectively becoming a new life form. [Is anybody else thinking of the guy at the diner in Spaceballs? I can't help but picture a little alien popping out of a guy's stomach with a top hat and cane]
The single cell organism, which ETC has coined "Synthia," is piloted by a chromosome with just 381 genes, the limit necessary to sustain the life of the bacteria so it can feed and reproduce.
The new bacteria will therefore be largely artificial, though not entirely, because it is composed of building blocks from already existing organisms. The idea is to make it into a universal tool for biologists by according it the genes necessary to accomplish certain tasks.
The project, which Venter has been working on for five years along with a team of researchers, has been partially financed by the US Department of Energy in the hopes that it could lead to the creation of a new environmentally friendly fuel.
"We are going from reading our genetic code to the ability to write it. That gives us the hypothetical ability to do things never contemplated before," Venter said.
A Venter spokeswoman however declined to confirm any breakthrough.
"The Guardian is ahead of themselves on this," Venter spokeswoman Heather Kowalski told AFP.
"We have not achieved what some have speculated we have in synthetic life," Kowalski said. "When we do so there will be a scientific publication and we are likely months away from that."
Venter's laboratory, the J. Craig Venter Institute, filed in 2006 for a US patent on the organism, claiming exclusive ownership of a set of essential genes and a synthetic "free-living organism that can grow and replicate."
The ETC group publicized the patent application, which would apply in the United states and 100 or so other countries, in June.
"Venter and his colleagues have breached a societal boundary, and the public hasn't even had a chance to debate the far-reaching social, ethical and environmental implications of synthetic life," Mooney said in a statement at the time.
The group also added that "patent experts consulted by the ETC Group indicate that, based on the language used in the application, the Venter Institute researchers had probably not achieved a fully-functioning organism at the time of the filing."
Nevertheless, "many people think that Venter's company has the scientific expertise to do the job," Mooney added.
Sat Oct 6, 4:03 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Controversial celebrity US scientist Craig Venter has announced he is on the verge of creating the first ever artificial life form which he hails as a potential remedy to illness and global warming.
Venter told Britain's The Guardian newspaper Saturday that he has built a synthetic chromosome using chemicals made in a laboratory, and is set to announce the discovery within weeks, possibly as early as Monday.
The breakthrough, which Venter hopes could help develop new energy sources to combat the negative effects of climate change, would be "a very important philosophical step in the history of our species," he told the newspaper.
However the prospect of engineering artificial life forms is highly controversial and likely to arouse heated debate over the ethics and potential ramifications of such an advance.
Pat Mooney, director of the Canadian bioethics organization ETC Group, told the paper that Venter was creating "a chassis on which you could build almost anything.
"It could be a contribution to humanity such as new drugs or a huge threat to humanity such as bio-weapons."The chromosome which Venter and his team has created is known as Mycoplasma laboratorium and, in the final step of the process, will be transplanted into a living cell where it should "take control," effectively becoming a new life form. [Is anybody else thinking of the guy at the diner in Spaceballs? I can't help but picture a little alien popping out of a guy's stomach with a top hat and cane]
The single cell organism, which ETC has coined "Synthia," is piloted by a chromosome with just 381 genes, the limit necessary to sustain the life of the bacteria so it can feed and reproduce.
The new bacteria will therefore be largely artificial, though not entirely, because it is composed of building blocks from already existing organisms. The idea is to make it into a universal tool for biologists by according it the genes necessary to accomplish certain tasks.
The project, which Venter has been working on for five years along with a team of researchers, has been partially financed by the US Department of Energy in the hopes that it could lead to the creation of a new environmentally friendly fuel.
"We are going from reading our genetic code to the ability to write it. That gives us the hypothetical ability to do things never contemplated before," Venter said.
A Venter spokeswoman however declined to confirm any breakthrough.
"The Guardian is ahead of themselves on this," Venter spokeswoman Heather Kowalski told AFP.
"We have not achieved what some have speculated we have in synthetic life," Kowalski said. "When we do so there will be a scientific publication and we are likely months away from that."
Venter's laboratory, the J. Craig Venter Institute, filed in 2006 for a US patent on the organism, claiming exclusive ownership of a set of essential genes and a synthetic "free-living organism that can grow and replicate."
The ETC group publicized the patent application, which would apply in the United states and 100 or so other countries, in June.
"Venter and his colleagues have breached a societal boundary, and the public hasn't even had a chance to debate the far-reaching social, ethical and environmental implications of synthetic life," Mooney said in a statement at the time.
The group also added that "patent experts consulted by the ETC Group indicate that, based on the language used in the application, the Venter Institute researchers had probably not achieved a fully-functioning organism at the time of the filing."
Nevertheless, "many people think that Venter's company has the scientific expertise to do the job," Mooney added.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Up the Pacific without a paddle...
The country I was stationed in, Kiribati, is in the news again. You don't hear much from this coral atoll until concerns about global warming are publicly addressed. Considering the highest point in Kiribati is only six feet above sea level, you can imagine what a little bit of melted iceberg might do to their shores (Kiribati doubles in land mass at low tide).
Once again, extreme weather patterns are swooping across the Pacific and as a result, Kiribati is suffering economically.
Once again, extreme weather patterns are swooping across the Pacific and as a result, Kiribati is suffering economically.
Southern Kiribati Suffering Through Extended Drought
By By Batiri Bataua in Tarawa
Sunday: October 07, 2007
The southern atolls of Kiribati have been hit by drought. Many fruit bearing trees are affected and in particular coconut, the main economic and social backbone of people living on the outer islands.
Officer in charge of copra trading within the country, Awaki Baare, from the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Cooperative says the trading has dropped tremendously from the southern islands.
“We used to send money twice in a month for purchasing, but now its only happens once,” he said. “Copra trading with the Central Kiribati and the Linnix (Line and Phoenix Islands) is still strong and ongoing. But Northern Kiribati is gradually reducing.”
Reports from the Meteorological Station confirmed that the southern islands are in a drought season. Rain has not fallen, and if the drought continues, the situation will be critical.
According to Dr. Iete Rouatu, Director of Statistics, this drought period could cause economic and social problems.
“Copra cutters will lose their source of income,” he said. “Islands and church development projects would be affected. Not only that, companies relying on copra would also be affected. The Kiribati Copra Society, which exports copra abroad, the Kiribati Copra Mill, which manufactures coconut by-products, the shipping companies, which provide transport and a lot more.”
Rouatu said it’s an advantage to government because it will spend less money and subsidies, but the worst hit are the people on the outer islands, who rely on copra revenue as their main income.
By By Batiri Bataua in Tarawa
Sunday: October 07, 2007
The southern atolls of Kiribati have been hit by drought. Many fruit bearing trees are affected and in particular coconut, the main economic and social backbone of people living on the outer islands.
Officer in charge of copra trading within the country, Awaki Baare, from the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Cooperative says the trading has dropped tremendously from the southern islands.
“We used to send money twice in a month for purchasing, but now its only happens once,” he said. “Copra trading with the Central Kiribati and the Linnix (Line and Phoenix Islands) is still strong and ongoing. But Northern Kiribati is gradually reducing.”Reports from the Meteorological Station confirmed that the southern islands are in a drought season. Rain has not fallen, and if the drought continues, the situation will be critical.
According to Dr. Iete Rouatu, Director of Statistics, this drought period could cause economic and social problems.“Copra cutters will lose their source of income,” he said. “Islands and church development projects would be affected. Not only that, companies relying on copra would also be affected. The Kiribati Copra Society, which exports copra abroad, the Kiribati Copra Mill, which manufactures coconut by-products, the shipping companies, which provide transport and a lot more.”
Rouatu said it’s an advantage to government because it will spend less money and subsidies, but the worst hit are the people on the outer islands, who rely on copra revenue as their main income.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
An introduction to the coconut wireless...
For those of you unfamiliar with the "coral atoll" I mentioned in the previous post, here's a great video exclaiming the crisis of global warming and its effect on Kiribati.
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