Big Data Visualization

New database technology speeds up visualizations by as much as 70 times on ordinary computers.
Short Video at:
http://www.technologyreview.com/video/520481/visualizing-big-data-in-milliseconds-on-cheap-computers/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20131022

10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2013

1)   Deep Learning: With massive amounts of computational power, machines can now recognize objects and translate speech in real time. Artificial intelligence is finally getting smart.
2)  Ultra-Efficient Solar Power: Doubling the efficiency of solar devices would completely change the economics of renewable energy. Here is a design that just might make it possible.
3)   Big Data from Cheap Phones: Collecting and analyzing information from simple cell phones can provide surprising insights into how people move about and behave—and even help us understand the spread of diseases.
4)   Temporary Social Media: Messages that quickly self-destruct could enhance the privacy of online communication and make people feel freer to be spontaneous.
5)   Smart Watches:   The designers of the Pebble watch realized that a mobile phone is more useful if you don’t have to take it out of your pocket.
6)   Memory Implants: A maverick neuroscientist believes he has deciphered the code by which the brain forms long-term memories.
7)   Baxter: the Blue-Collar Robot: Rethink Robotics’ new creation is easy to interact with, but the innovations behind the robot show just how hard it is to get along with people.
8)   Additive Manufacturing: GE, the world's largest manufacturer, is on the verge of using 3-D printing to make jet parts.
9)   Prenatal DNA Sequencing: Reading the DNA of fetuses is the next frontier of the genome revolution. Do you really want to know the genetic destiny of your unborn child? 
10)   Supergrids: A high-power circuit breaker could finally make DC power grids practical.
More:

http://www.technologyreview.com/content/10-breakthrough-technologies-2013/

An interesting idea

David Keith's idea:

A cheap and easy plan to stop global warming

Customize several Gulfstream business jets with military engines and with equipment to produce and disperse fine droplets of sulfuric acid. Fly the jets up around 20 kilometers—significantly higher than the cruising altitude for a commercial jetliner but still well within their range. At that altitude in the tropics, the aircraft are in the lower stratosphere. The planes spray the sulfuric acid, carefully controlling the rate of its release. The sulfur combines with water vapor to form sulfate aerosols, fine particles less than a micrometer in diameter. These get swept upward by natural wind patterns and are dispersed over the globe, including the poles. Once spread across the stratosphere, the aerosols will reflect about 1 percent of the sunlight hitting Earth back into space. Increasing what scientists call the planet’s albedo, or reflective power, will partially offset the warming effects caused by rising levels of greenhouse gases.

For more: 
http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/511016/a-cheap-and-easy-plan-to-stop-global-warming/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20130208