Miscellaneous
The City of Lights intends to become the 'World Capital of Cycling'
In the days following the second particle-pollution alert for the second consecutive year, Paris announced its Plan Vélo 2015-2020. The city is to invest 150 million euros to double bike lanes from 700 to 1,400 km, providing parking spaces for an extra 10,000 bikes, and even subsidizing the Read More...
Web platform Dynamo helps freelance workers organize
With 53 million Americans working as freelancers, it was only a matter of time before social-media style platforms would emerge to help organize this fluid and nimble workforce seemingly devoid of bargaining power with employers. A team of Stanford researchers took the first shot at creating one. Read More...
African entrepreneurship is on the rise, attracting foreign investors
It’s time Africa be widely known for more than poverty, corruption and violence. Nigeria and Kenya are leading innovation hubs in the region, with a roster of startups and investments to match. This emerging market is ripe with opportunities for discerning investors—read more for some Read More...
US military vets to receive free training to join the solar industry
The Obama Administration is determined to support the growth of the solar industry, while helping veterans land on their feet. Days after declaring its goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions nationwide by up to 28% below 2005 levels within a decade, it announced it would train 75,000 workers by Read More...
How to fight climate change with drones? It’s the trees, stupid!
Planting 36,000 trees in a day for about 15% of the cost of traditional methods: that’s the promise of BioCarbon Engineering, an Oxford-based company that aims to fight climate change through effective reforestation. Drones can survey land for restoration potential, and plant up to 10 Read More...
Homegrown low-emission and electric car projects sprout in Africa
Is the eco-friendly car the future of transportation in Africa? Engineering students and innovators in Nigeria, Ghana, Lagos and Uganda have recently come up with prototypes of zero-emission or low-emission vehicles. The Abucar II, a highly fuel-efficient vehicle which was built over five months in Read More...
ADM to fight deforestation in South America through its suppliers
After a marked deforestation slowdown over the past decade or so, tropical forests are under threat again, with the Amazon a primary target. In this context, agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland is emerging as a powerful force to counter the trend throughout the whole South American continent. Read More...
Portland bans insecticides containing compounds harmful to bees
Over seventy out of the top 100 human food crops, which supply about 90 percent of the world's nutrition, are pollinated by bees. The steep decline in honey bees population has been fueling fear regarding food security, and spurring a flurry of research activity into the cause of their demise. Read More...
MIT develops an algorithm to solve traffic jams, saving time and carbon
Traffic congestion wastes time, gas and money. According to the most recent Urban Mobility Report by the Texas Transportation Institute, it cost US commuters 5.5 billion hours and 2.9 billion gallons of fuel in 2011 (all $121 billion worth), as well as an additional 56 billion pounds of carbon Read More...
First peaceful democratic transition brings Nigeria a "peace dividend"
This week’s presidential elections in Nigeria were historic. This was the first peaceful transition of power since the country declared its independence from British rule in 1960. Observers generally praised the election as being fair. And the incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat Read More...