In The News

Internet Alone Cannot Free the Middle East

Evgeny Morozov March 30, 2011
Like pen and paper, the internet is another tool that’s used for good or evil. Scholar Evgeny Morozov argues that the internet may have been less influential over recent uprisings in the Middle East. Savvy, repressive governments use the internet too, lifting bans on social media sites while jailing the most outspoken critics or baiting protesters with fake events followed by prosecution. “The...

Turning Old Oil Into New Mileage

David L. Chandler March 18, 2011
Interest in hunting garbage piles for any reusables – a common job in the developing world – has spread to wealthier nations, attracting attention and innovation awards from the world’s most elite universities. Students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology have taken the notion one step further. Working with catadores cooperatives in Brazil, a MIT biodiesel team started a project called...

How Japan's Quake Disaster May Damage Tech Business

Kit Eaton March 16, 2011
First and foremost, the Japanese earthquake, tsunami and then breakdown of nuclear reactors are horrific tragedies. Most of the globe focuses on the loss of human life, numbering in the tens of thousands, with many more displaced. Every day, reports emerge about how the tragedy will affect the rest of the globe in numerous ways. Global businesses and consumers will soon realize just how much they...

Last Defense at Troubled Reactors: 50 Japanese Workers

Keith Bradsher, Hiroko Tabuchi March 16, 2011
In a disaster, society often depends on a few courageous individuals who risk their lives to stabilize equipment and minimize damage. The earthquake and tsunami in Japan battered the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, adding new dangers to operations that had already carried ample risks. Most staff was evacuated, but a small crew volunteered to stay behind, working with flashlights and last...

A Wing and a Prayer: Outsourcing at Boeing

Kyle Peterson March 11, 2011
In making its new 787 Dreamliner, Boeing outsourced work to a global network of more than 50 partners, a marked contrast to the traditional practice of manufacturing planes at its base near Seattle, Washington. The plane is nearly three years behind schedule, beset by technical and supply problems and billions of dollars in cost over-runs. Boeing workers complain that the failures derive in part...

Solasta, Chapter One

David Reich March 10, 2011
Tech startups often involve suspenseful tales about the race against time. Inventors must produce fast results or risk losing funding. Such was the case with Solasta, a startup photovoltaics company started by three Boston College professors, including two US immigrants who grew up in Poland and China. The product aimed to transform solar cells: nano-scale antennas, coatings and conductors,...

America Should Not Prosecute Julian Assange

Joseph Nye March 9, 2011
US efforts to prosecute the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, for espionage and exposing confidential US State Department cables are not in line with democratic values or support for a free and open internet, argues Joseph Nye, author and a former US assistant secretary of defense. Around the globe, news organizations, both big and small, review and disseminate the leaked cables. US...