Brian Gongol
May 5, 2009 update to the EconDirectory
Hundreds of sites, many commenting daily or even more often, on economics and business. Some of the sites get more visitors in a day than the number of copies of Poor Richard's Almanack sold by Ben Franklin in an average year. It's obviously an apples-to-oranges comparison, but there's something interesting about the ease of access we have now to anything we wish to publish or read.
What steps can we take to have a meaningful impact on energy use?
A BBC radio program dives into the question of whether individuals can really do anything meaningful to change their energy use (and production). The show features an interview with someone who suggests that the numbers don't matter -- it's whether people feel connected to their energy use that counts. The problem with that argument is that energy use and production are quite easy to quantify, and if we're spending lots of money to take steps that aren't very effective, then we're diverting useful resources away from other worthwhile goals. If the government were to mandate that everyone install solar panels on their rooftops, for instance, that might very well make people "feel connected" to their energy use. But if it's not going to do anything meaningful to change the big-picture balance of energy use and consumption, then the money spent on those solar panels should be viewed in terms of the other useful things the money could have bought instead, like better schools for children, or research into better cancer treatments, or even vacations on the beach. Good "feelings" about energy don't make up for starving out other worthwhile pursuits.
Chicago TV stations will try pooling their cameras
All but one of the local stations will be involved. Meanwhile, heritage AM station WGN is cancelling several shows.
Chemicals from burger wrappers are showing up in human blood
Reason for panic? No. But how we learn to deal with chemicals in our environment as they enter and leave our bodies will give us some early groundwork upon which to build the future of medical nanorobots, which could potentially do us huge amounts of good.
Podcast: Thrills for children of the 80's living in the Internet Age
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Podcast: Nuking away our earthquakes
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Global water shortages could happen within 50 years
