Category Archives: Ideas!

Addressing our Greatest Engineering Challenges

Posted on by

From today’s WhatsNew@National-Academies.org:

Engineering Schools throughout the U.S. are committing to educate certain numbers of engineers with special interests and talents in helping to solve our greatest challenges.

“In a letter of commitment presented to President Obama today, more than 120 U.S. engineering schools announced plans to educate a new generation of engineers expressly equipped to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing society in the 21st century. Read More”

Princeton University’s Prof. Robert Socolow is a member of this Committee on Grand Challenges.

There is also a 6-min video at http://engineeringchallenges.org/

World Food Day

Posted on by

8 Great Scientific Solutions to Feeding the World

Released: 14-Oct-2014 11:00 AM EDT 
Source Newsroom: Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)

Newswise — CHICAGO—In honor of World Food Day on October 16, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is highlighting eight solutions for feeding the world from itsFutureFood 2050 website. They include articles featuring Kofi Annan, M.S. Swaminathan, Sylvia Earle and more. Feel free to re-publish or share these links as part of your World Food Day coverage.

1. Watch an interactive video infographic on food waste
2. Learn about food security in Africa 
3. Read this article on M.S. Swaminathan on sustainable agriculture
4. Listen to National Geographic Oceanographer Sylvia Earle share aquaculture solutions 
5. Learn how reinvestment in Africa creates a sustainable business model for the future 
6. Gain insights on the latest insights on meat alternatives 
7. Read an interview on creating greater abundance of crops to feed a booming population 
8. Learn about the important role of women in combating world hunger

Open Access week is here — October 21-27 (2013)

Posted on by

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5rVH1KGBCY

Open access explained – 8 min video (PhD cartoon)

“Quite good”, writes

Anne Langley
Head Librarian, Science and Technology Libraries

Director of Scholarly Communications 

Chemistry Liaison 
Princeton University

P.S. More information about OA can be found at http://www.openaccessweek.org/

“Change the Equation” new government mandated non-profit led by CEOs to improve STEM education

Posted on by
White House Announces Launch of New Nonprofit to Strengthen STEM Education
The President at MLK Charter School in New Orleans, White House Photo, Pete Souza, 11/15/09.
By Molly Galvin

September 16, 2010 – The Obama administration announced today the launch of “Change the Equation,” a new nonprofit corporation led by CEOs in an effort to improve education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). According to the White House, the initiative is a response to the president’s speech at the National Academy of Sciences in April 2009 in which he urged Americans to elevate STEM education as a national priority. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Research Council have a long history of efforts to improve STEM education, including the influential 2005 report Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future, which urged improvements in K-12 STEM education to keep the U.S. economically competitive.

MIT Labs have developed a “Sixth Sense”

Posted on by

From the TED (Technology, Entertainment , Design) site:

This demo — from Pattie Maes’ lab at MIT, spearheaded by Pranav Mistry — was the buzz of TED. It’s a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with our environment.

Pranav Mistry is the genius behind Sixth Sense, a wearable device that enables new interactions between the real world and the world of data.

Take a look at TED, too.  Efforts began in 1984 to share earth-shaking ideas at a conference in Long Beach, CA.  The best talks and performances are  freely available to view.  One can subscribe to the TED series.