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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
A Musician May Have Solved The U.S. Energy Crisis
June 14, 2011 8:06 am | VideosOne Pennsylvania-based musician thinks he has the (right) solution to the country's energy crisis. Soon after Brandon Hollinger managed to turn his old Saab into an electric vehicle, he developed a business to transform other gas-guzzling vehicles into eco-friendly transportation options. If you’re having trouble watching this video, try downloading the latest version of Flash Player or contacting your IT department.
Fareed Takes On America's Jobs Crisis
June 13, 2011 6:38 am | VideosCNN ’s Fareed Zakaria has recently been talking up jobs in just about every media format available, whether it’s TV or in print. He says that the absolute key to restoring America's economy—and thereby reducing its debt—is reducing unemployment. This time, he breaks down a proposal for an infrastructure bank, which would push the creation of America’s infrastructure to the private market and ideally create jobs in the process.
Is Solar Becoming The Cheapest Energy?
June 10, 2011 9:49 am | VideosThomas Dinwoodie, the founder and CTO of Sunpower, claims that new solar power construction will end up being a cheaper alternative to new coal or nuclear power. He cites the enormous construction costs that go along with a nuclear plant, compared to the plummeting costs of solar arrays. He also takes issue with the government’s assessment that solar is in fact not the cheaper alternative.
This Is What 'The Cloud' Looks Like
June 9, 2011 5:49 am | VideosCNN's Emily Reuben gets a rare and almost unprecedented glimpse inside the data center of a cloud facility at an undisclosed location in London. The level of security around that data center is somewhat unbelievable, as it hosts the servers of almost 1,200 companies. Check it out... If you’re having trouble watching this video, try downloading the latest version of Flash Player or contacting your IT department.
Sunglasses That Blot Out The Sun
June 8, 2011 10:55 am | VideosThe Dynamic Eye is a new sunglass technology that uses liquid crystal displays — the same innovation that powers your computer or cell phone's screen — to block out the sun in a smarter fashion. Its inventor, Chris Mullin, says that his company needs another 12-18 months to fully develop the LCD technology, which needs to be made of very lightweight plastic.
Is The 'Cloud' Safe?
June 8, 2011 6:48 am | VideosWith more technology companies pushing their products onto the “cloud” — the distributed network that is powered by thousands of high-performance servers in dark data centers around the country — many are getting more concerned about security. When sensitive information takes flight on the cloud, it can more easily be hacked and taken.
Tearing Down A Hard Drive
June 8, 2011 6:24 am | VideosBill Hammack, also known as the “Engineer Guy,” is back, and this time, he opens up a computer to see how a hard drive is engineered. As with many things he tears down, the level of sophistication is incredible, like the small tolerances between the head, which reads and writes data, and the platter of the hard drive itself.
Blowtorch Your Hand Without A Wince
June 8, 2011 6:24 am | VideosGelTech Solutions, based in Jupiter, Fla., has been marketing FireIce for years now, and seems to be on the precipice of a breakthrough. Their product is a fire suppressant gel that can protect skin from a 2,000 degree blowtorch, or say, a house from an approaching wildfire. In addition, it washes away quickly, and has no impact on the environment.
Flaming Faucets: When Fracking Goes Wrong
June 8, 2011 6:23 am | VideosBy now, it’s a pretty common story. A natural gas drilling company offers a great deal to rural landowners to build a drill and pump out the gas from shale, deep beneath the ground. But some those who accepted the offer, like Sherry Vargson, are now experiencing numerous issues, like “flammable” water and increased concentrations of radioactive materials in their drinking water.
Bringing 3D Printing To The Masses
June 7, 2011 5:55 am | Videos3D printing has been around for a while, but it's largely been far too expensive for the ordinary consumer, or even the smaller manufacturer. Multiple comanies, such as 3D Systems and Makerbot, are coming to the market with cheaper 3D printers, not to mention technology giant HP. With so many companies throwing their hat into the ring, there's no question 3D printing will become a major market in the next few years.
On Last Week's Disappointing Jobs Numbers
June 6, 2011 7:10 am | VideosCNN Money reports on last week’s disappointing news that jobs aren’t being created as quickly as economists would hope, and sits down with Secretary Hilda Solis of the Department of Labor to ask if we’re falling into a double-dip recession. The truth is that while many businesses are doing better than a year ago, and want to hire, the economy isn’t as supportive as it could be.
Chrysler CEO On Paying Back The Bailout
June 3, 2011 7:29 am | VideosChrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne sat down with CNN Money to talk about the automaker’s exit from dealings with the U.S. government, now that Fiat bought the last stake from the U.S. Treasury on Friday. As it stands, the government lost some $1.2 billion on the $12 billion loan, but Marchionne says it was a “phenomonal” deal for U.
'Jetson' Takes A Spill In His Jetpack
June 2, 2011 9:29 am | VideosThe Martin Aircraft Company is hoping to be one of the first comanies to develop a jetpack that could be used in a variety of markets, like civil defense and recreation. While the jetpack does fly, they're currently testing the system for safety in emergency situations, hence the video below. I know I can’t be the only one who was hoping for a more dramatic fall-out, considering that only the company’s dummy, Jetson, was on the line.
Alcoa CEO On Lessons Learned From The Recession
June 1, 2011 10:06 am | VideosThe world's largest producer of aluminum, Pittsburgh, Penn.-based Alcoa is nothing short of an industrial titan. In this video, Alcoa CEO and former Siemens executive Klaus Kleinfeld discusses his approach to corporate leadership and lessons learned from the all-too-recent “Great Recession.” If you’re having trouble watching this video, try downloading the latest version of Flash Player or contacting your IT department.
Robotic Trucks To Take Over Army
June 1, 2011 7:07 am | VideosLockheed Martin is hard at work on trucks for the U.S. military that aren’t held back by their human drivers. A number of technologies, such as LADAR — or laser radar — allow the vehicles to see obstacles, and each other, in zero-visibility conditions. Lockheed’s solution is the best of both worlds as well, allowing soldiers to take over the wheel when needed, while remaining a passenger the rest of the time.
