Category: Business & Technology

green economy, alternative energy companies, fracking, sustainable business, triple bottom line, fuel efficiency, agribusiness

What’s So Great About Bitcoin?

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There’s lot’s to like about Bitcoin, the Internet currency that’s been in the spotlight of late. It’s a completely digital, secure, anonymous and decentralized way to transfer currency for goods and services. Sure, you can’t buy groceries at the store with bitcoin – yet. But the number of transactions goes up daily, from 1000 to 50,000 per day over the past two years.

Bitcoin is currently experiencing a bubble. A single bitcoin that may have been worth a dollar or two a few years ago cashes in today for around $140. Lots of people getting interested real fast! You can buy and sell bitcoins, but you can also “mine” them, by having your computer solve mathematical puzzles buried in “blocks” of code. You solve the problem, you earn 25 bitcoin. A new block of code is generated every ten minutes. There’s an ultimate limit to bitcoin of 21 million by the year 2140. It’s a fascinating system.

Because bitcoin doesn’t use central banks, banks are starting to take notice too. Imagine a world without banks that are “too big to fail.”

Here’s an intro to bitcoin:

Clean Up Continues after Oil Pipeline Rupture in Mayflower, Arkansas

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Clean up continues after the rupture earlier this week of a 60 year old Exxon pipeline in Mayflower, Arkansas. Independent news accounts have been difficult to come by as Exxon has been controlling the area, and press have not been able to document the full extent of the damage. The spill occurred March 29th, but…

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Robots Closer to Humanoid Movements

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Is this a human or a ‘droid? Boston Dynamics PETMAN robot is used to test hazardous materials gear. The robot has sensors on its ‘skin’ to detect chemical leaks. It’s skin sweats to regulate temperature.

Solar Impulse To Fly Across US Fueled By Sun

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The challenge is to circle the world in an airplane that doesn’t use fossil fuels and emits no greenhouse gas, but the Solar Impulse is taking it one feat at a time. This summer, the Solar Impulse solar airplane will cross America, flying from San Francisco to New York City, spreading its environmental message as…

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PA DEP Secretary Krancer Hedges On Climate Change

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Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer presented his budget to the State House Appropriations committee this past week, and was pointedly asked about the impact to the state from climate change. He couldn’t answer the question, and indeed was reluctant to state any opinion about climate change. According to StateImpactPA, when asked by…

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Fracktivists Protest Act 13 and Send PA Gov Corbett a Valentine

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Anti-Fracking activists gathered on Wednesday in Philadelphia’s Love Park to protest Act 13, signed by Pennsylvania Governor Corbett last February 14th and largely seen as a big valentine by the Republican controlled General Assembly to the natural gas industry in the state. The fractivists wanted to send their own valentine to Corbett this year. Act…

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Senator Marco Rubio Skeptical About Climate Change

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Senator Marco Rubio says that he believes that there is a credible argument to be made that climate change is not man-made, and more importantly, he said, there may be nothing government can or should do about it. He also said that the US shouldn’t pass any laws unless other big polluter countries, like China,…

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Modern Wheat, A Poison for Many, the Cause of “Wheat Belly”

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Cardiologist Dr. William Davis, author of “Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health,” told CBS News that modern wheat was genetically modified back in the 1960’s and ’70’s to improve yield per acre but that it is now a “perfect, chronic poison.” He took issue with guidelines backed by medical experts that recommend substituting whole grains for processed white flour, saying that most of the wheat grown in the US today contain a protein called gliadin, which stimulates appetite and can lead to obesity, diabetes, joint aches, depression, and other maladies, including “wheat belly,” extra weight that is concentrated in the belly. The proof, he says, is the better quality of life that comes to those who eliminate wheat from their diet.