Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

LIQUID GLASS NANOTECHNOLOGY

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

LIQUID GLASS NANOTECHNOLOGY (a comment on nanotechnology)

GIOIETTA KUO

senior fellow, American center for international policy studies. amcips.org

kuo@amcips.org

2-3-10

We have all heard of nanotechnology, but so far few of us can point to a particular field where its application has radically changed our lives. Finally something wonderful has to come onto the market which is about to revolutionize the way we live. It sounds too good to be true: a nontoxic spray invisible to the human eye that protects almost any surface against dirt and bacteria, whether it is hospital equipment or ancient monuments and expensive fabrics. The spray is in the form of ‘liquid glass’ – a fluid that flows over surfaces as if it were flexible thin glass covering everything. The secret of this spray is (more…)

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VERTICAL FARMING

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

By Gioietta Kuo

Senior fellow, American Center for International Policy Studies amcips.org

Nov 1 2009

Recently, UN Convention to Combat Decertification meeting in Argentina has issued a warning that drought could parch close to 70% of the planet’s soil by 2025. Currently drought is already affecting at least 41% of the planet and environmental degradation has caused it to spike by 15 to 25% just since 1990.

As we know, there is a global crisis in food and water. Our civilization is being squeezed (more…)

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Gasoline From Grass

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

Biofuel Grassoline – Gasoline From Grass
Gioietta Kuo
Augusr 8 2009
Senior Fellow, American Center for International Policy Studies  amcips.org

It present 25% of world energy is  consumed by transport  using mostly oil.  As oil is on the wane, new echnologies are appearing both in the kind of motor car we drive and the fuel we use.

It is true to say that most technologies  are  market driven, which in turn is determined by demand.  However, there are pitfalls in rushing headlong into  production with a  certain technology without some cool headed  long term analysis of the viability and  basic contradictions that might exist in the route  taken by the market.    For example the market may change or new technology may become available,  so that the production just initiated  becomes short lived  with the result that the capital put into production  cannot be recovered.

A good example of just this phenomenon is (more…)

Posted in Consumer Issues, Energy, Environment, Technology | Comments Off

Agriculture with sea water

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

Agriculture with sea water
Gioietta Kuo  May 11 2009
Senior Fellow,  American Center for International Policy Studies amcips.org

It is commonly believed that salt is bad for agriculture.  But people living on the shores of India have had a saline based agricultural  system for hundreds of years    Intensive research is under way by scientists at NASA in the USA  on algae and bacteria, the two most important biofuel technologies of the twenty first century.    As a replacement for oil, algae is (more…)

Posted in Energy, Environment, Globalization, Technology | Comments Off

$200 Oil – reprint of article in China Daily

Tuesday, June 17th, 2008

By Gioietta Kuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-10 08:08

 

As the price of oil exceeds $135 a barrel, Goldman Sachs, the New York investment bank, predicts that the oil price will reach $200 a barrel in the next year.

Mamdouh Salameh, advisor to the World Bank and UN Industrial Development Organization, said that if not for the Iraq War, the oil price would be $40 a barrel today. It is the United States’ and Britain’s invasion that led to the current oil crisis.

Iraq apart, although speculation must play a part, there are two fundamental reasons why the world is in a severe oil crisis.

First, there are many signs that oil is (more…)

Posted in Consumer Issues, Energy, Financial, Globalization, Technology | No Comments »

Big Brother is On the Move…..again!

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Today, March 18, 2008, the “Personal Journal” section of The Wall Street Journal carried an article titled “Why Hospitals Want Your Credit Report.” There are many companies that specialize in data mining; accumulating a mass of personal information ranging from your buying habits and political inclinations, to your credit rating. The list includes health care specialization companies such as SearchAmerica, Inc., Fair Isacc Corp, and Healthcare Analytics. It seems that hospitals want credit information in order to concentrate on patients that have the ability to pay. The next step of this slippery slope (more…)

Posted in Medical/health, Technology | No Comments »

I’m From The Government and I’m Here To Help You…Trust Me!

Friday, February 22nd, 2008

Having scheduled my annual physical examination, I was at the point of checking in with the receptionist when she asked me to fill out a new form. Another of the many reasons why I hate going to a doctor’s office, but I just mentally checked it off as just another form necessary for today’s bureaucratically managed health care system. When I looked at the form I was a bit taken aback, not because it asked me to confirm much of my medical history they already had, but because (more…)

Posted in General, Governance, Medical/health, Technology | No Comments »