Elon Musk says he can get to Mars for less than $20 billion within 20 years. The key is to develop reusable rockets. [...]
On to Mars says Elon Musk
Self-Healing Electronics Use Liquid Metal to Fix Broken Circuits
Broken circuits could fix themselves using an emergency capsule of liquid metal, invented by researchers at the University of Illinois. [...]
Costs and benefits of education
The lessons of complexity are instructive when it comes to the challenges of education. Any system with single points of failure or success will adapt very slowly. When they are administered by bureaucracy, they will adapt and succeed and evolve even slower, to the point of stagnation. While industries decentralize and empower smaller groups to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world, our governments are centralizing further. This method constrains innovation and ignores cost, regardless of the purity of our experts' hearts. We are doing a great deal of research, but little trial. The prejudice between thought and action should be reversed. [...]
The case of USA and internet censorship
The US legislature entertains an Internet piracy bill that threatens current freedoms even as it preaches Internet freedom to the world. Such structural upheavals of technology are better discussed without the pressure of special interest groups and unaware politicians. But at the heart of these conflicts lie current copyright laws. They must be reviewed and arguably revised. [...]
Android and Blackberry owners prefer iPad tablets
US market watcher Maritz Research asked 2500 North American smartphone owners which tablet they would like to get. Many said they'd like an iPad. That does not bode well for RIM or Google. [...]