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In August, the United States faces the very real possibility that it won’t be able to pay back its debts, and while both Republicans are claiming that out-of-control spending is ruining the economy they are conveniently ignoring that their own posturing has real, damaging effects on both the economy and the American people.
To explain: The United States has something called a “debt ceiling” or the maximum amount that it can borrow to pay back debts that it owes. We will hit that amount on August 2, and then we won’t be able to pay our debts
Continue reading Debt ceiling posturing: Just as damaging to the economy as actual defaults
One of the more exciting things about the shift to renewable energy is the innovation that it’s spurring: A total re-examination of how we collect and harness different power sources. The best kind of innovation is the kind that seems blindingly obvious once it’s implemented, like putting solar cells on the roofs of train tunnels.
This outdoor tunnel for a train that runs from Paris to Amsterdam was recently topped with 16,000 solar panels. Image from: Enfinity
Think about it:
Continue reading U.S. could learn efficiency, ingenuity from solar train in Belgium
Even though the military actions we’re taking in Libya have been illegal since May 21, members of the House of Representatives are only just now formally expressing their distaste with President Barack Obama’s actions.
In March, Obama ordered troops to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, after its leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi started massacring peaceful protesters, turning a demonstration against his harsh dictatorship into an all-out civil war. Since then, we’ve technically turned control of the situation over to NATO, but we’re still providing military intelligence, logistical support and armed predator drones.
Today, the House of
Continue reading Two weeks after deadline, House mildly disagrees with war in Libya
An artist's drawing of what the first probe to collect samples from an asteroid will look like. Image from NASA.
In 2016, NASA will launch the first mission to mine an asteroid and send samples back to earth.
The mission will be unmanned, and will rely on a space probe with a robotic arm to pluck samples from the asteroid 1999 RQ36 (exciting name, huh?). It’s about 1,900 feet in diameter, and hasn’t changed much since it was created, meaning it can give us
Continue reading Asteroid mining only a few years away
Okay, so it’s not every star – just the ones within 380 million light years of earth. This map was put together by scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and it took a whopping 10 years to complete. They used special infrared scanners to cut through dust and other debris that normally obscures readings, in order to pinpoint the precise locations of each star. If you’re looking for a cool new desktop, you can download a full high-resolution version of the map from here.
The best way to win the War on Drugs may be to not fight at all – at least according to a new report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy.
The report (full version here) concludes that the problem with drug use isn’t the buyers – it’s the sellers. And the best way to go after the violent criminal cartels that control much of the drug trade is through legalization, especially when it comes to weed. The report said that people who use drugs, but do no harm to others, should be left alone.
“Arresting
Continue reading End War on Drugs through legalization, new report recommends
Airports in the northeastern part of the United States are rolling out a new screening process – and its makers claim that it can tell if you’re planning an attack by measuring physical symptoms like your heart rate and the steadiness of your gaze.
The system, called Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) takes the underlying logic of a lie detector – that people’s bodies change when they lie – cranks it to the max. It’s no longer one person, hooked up to a machine, answering questions designed to determine their guilt or innocence. It’s now more like a
Continue reading Get nervous at the airport? Be prepared to get arrested!
In the search for renewable energies, many countries have turned to biofuels – like corn-based ethanol – as an alternative to oil. But there’s one major problem: Every pound of food used for fuel is a pound that’s not available to eat – and the developing world will suffer the most.
Biofuels are causing major shortages and could double the price of food over the next couple of decades. Rising prices were already a major backbone to the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, as more and more families couldn’t afford to buy food. A new study
Continue reading Food for fuel: Ethanol causes more problems than it solves
A new study revealed that about 50 percent of Americans don’t think they could come up with $2,000 in 30 days.
The researchers behind the study (published here) said they picked the $2,000 figure because that’s the average amount for common unexpected expenses, like a car breaking down, a home repair, or medical emergency. Meaning these are things that could easily happen to any of us. Only 24.9 percent of us said that we definitely could come up with the money, and 25.1 percent of us said we probably could.
Meanwhile, 27.9 percent said they
Continue reading $2,000 short: Half the country can’t handle unexpected expenses
Over in the great state of California, legislators recently decided that it was completely okay for lobbyists to continue giving them tickets to Disneyland, rock concerts and other gifts.
They cited the cost of enforcement ($204,000 a year – or just a little more than the salary of ONE state assemblyman or senator) as the reason for abandoning the proposal. Of course, the costs could easily have been paid for by fining both the lobbyists and politicians – one for offering the bribes and one for taking them. But we wouldn’t want anyone actually getting
Continue reading How can we police the powerful who refuse to police themselves?
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