Report: Better Place to file for bankruptcy
If Better Place files for bankruptcy in a few days, as reported by Fortune, it would represent a sober end to a high-flying dream that raised hundreds of millions of dollars. Read more »
Where are they now (Fisker edition)? The story gets even weirder
The long disturbing tale of electric car maker Fisker Automotive keeps on going, and keeps getting more weird. Read more »
Meet the cloud that will keep you warm at night
AoTerra, a German company that’s shattering records for crowdfunding in that country, is a cloud provider with a difference. Its servers heat the air and water in buildings, saving everyone money and making the OpenStack-based AoCloud very green indeed. Read more »
{"varname":"wijax_fee9493c433679ba5300f97fc547e5e7"}
Dodgy data: the iceberg to science’s Titanic
photo: Ri han/Shutterstock
There’s an epidemic going on in science: experiments that no one can reproduce, studies that have to be retracted, and the emergence of a lurking data reliability iceberg. Read more »
BYOD is for amateurs. Try bring-your-own-laboratory
University of Illinois researchers have created an app and a sensor-filled cradle that turn an iPhone into a mobile spectrophotometer. The combination of that mobile lab data and metadata such as location might prove very valuable. Read more »
Tesla CEO: With loan repayment, U.S. taxpayers made $20M profit off us
Tesla has now paid off its loan to the U.S. government entirely, plus interest, meaning U.S. taxpayers actually made a $20 million profit. Read more »
Tippy top stars of Techstars Demo Day (Boston Edition)
Red Sox star David Ortiz stole the show at Techstars Boston Demo Day, but here are a few other highlights. Read more »
{"varname":"wijax_f65a2d8a46805de0379283d3a80fecfb"}
Must read
Big data at work: 12 stories about reinvention
photo: Thinkstock Images
Big data is cool and all, but is it really changing the way companies function? Yes. Here are 10 stories that show that transformation. Read more »
Europe wants to be big in chip manufacturing
A new industrial strategy for the continent aims to unlock €100 billion in private-sector funding through the use of targeted public-sector funding for R&D in the fields of nanoelectronics and microelectronics. Read more »
If Fisker goes for $20M, that’s an over 99 percent discount from its peak valuation
Is $20 million the final valuation of electric car maker Fisker Automotive? Yikes, that’s what a group is reportedly bidding on Fisker for, and which would be less than 1% of its original valuation. Read more »
{"varname":"wijax_7dadbba78b9e247b6b1f68228cf28f85"}
Google X is acquiring high altitude wind startup Makani Power
Google’s moonshot lab Google X is buying up Makani Power, a startup that makes a kite-like wind power device. It’s probably the best place for the long shot, big idea that is high altitude wind. Read more »
CoolEmAll project tests tools for energy-efficient data center design
photo: Microsoft
The European Commission-funded project wants data center designers and operators to test prototypes of tools that should, from 2014, make it easier to build data centers that are as energy-efficient as possible. Read more »
How robots can do more in data centers and lower the costs of operating the cloud
An article from Data Center Knowledge points to things robots can do to increase efficiency in data centers. But hurdles lie ahead, and data centers will still need administrators, the article suggests. Read more »
Instructions on how to transform a comment troll into a human being
photo: Flickr / Jeremy King
Comment trolls are often used as an example of why blog comments are a waste of time, but a recent series by the Climate Desk showed how they can quickly be turned into human beings. Read more at paidContent »
Tesla could pay off the rest of the DOE loan today, says CEO
Electric car maker Tesla Motors could make history again, if it pays off its loan from the Department of Energy many years before its due. According to a tweet from the CEO that could be as early as today. Read more »
{"varname":"wijax_93edfc8bc6c07e90c20fbffb7b1aadfa"}
The devil you know: entrepreneurs prefer current ventures to new ones
photo: Thinkstock
Entrepreneurs are subject to many of the same biases that cause people to persist with their investments, and don’t necessarily behave to always maximize outcomes when presented with lucrative new opportunities, a new study says. Read more »
Amprius has built a lithium ion battery that can last 25% longer than today’s batteries
Venture capital-backed lithium ion battery startup Amprius is finally moving into commercial production, with an announcement that it has OEM partners in place, and will start making its second-gen batteries later this year. Read more »
Brrr: The chilly conditions that quantum computers need to run
Quantum computers, which have recently been bought by Google and Lockheed Martin, aren’t just sophisticated computers, they need to operate at near absolute zero temperatures to deliver their quantum effects, and that’s a tricky problem. Read more »
Powermat marries PowerKiss, vows to use same wireless charging standard
By the wireless power invested in me, I now pronounce you a couple. Two wireless charging companies combine and agree on a single power standard. That’s great but there’s still much work to be done in this industry. Read more »
Eos Energy raises $15M from NRG, investors for zinc-air batteries
An air battery — long the holy grail of battery researchers — could see commercialization next year by startup Eos Energy Storage. Read more »
{"varname":"wijax_69d44987221c065ec342bdeb75fc8fbe"}
Using data and computer models to store wind energy underground
Power companies in areas with a growing amount of clean power are looking at new ways to store compressed air underground. The Pacific Northwest could get some of these next-gen air technologies in the coming years. Read more »
What Nikola Tesla vs. VCs video says about the state of Silicon Valley
Imagine if Nikola Tesla had to pitch venture capitalists to fund his idea. The reaction to his crazy ideas would be precisely what you see on this video. Sadly, the video also says a lot about the skewed risk and investment system in Silicon Valley these days. Read more »
Underwater batteries are making a splash for energy storage
Companies are looking to harness underwater pressure for energy generation and storage. Read more »
How data, cheap sensors and Android could be a game changer for rural farmers
Startup Re:char hopes to deliver a low cost Android gadget plug-in that can test the moisture content and fertility of soil. Kenyan farmers get ready to meet the latest in data analytics and cloud services. Read more »
The road less traveled: How Google does Streetview for the world’s oceans
Google and the Catlin Seaview Survey are working as fast as they can to map the world’s coral reefs in Google Streetview. But the project’s founder fears he may be too late. Read more »
{"varname":"wijax_a218b3689baf8a0726a9470365c75b13"}
Hydrogen energy the chloroplast way: solar-to-fuel with the artificial leaf
photo: Thinkstock
The first fully integrated nanosystem for artificial photosynthesis is developed for producing hydrogen with cheap components and biomimicry. Read more »
The spigot of money starting to open up for installing solar panels
As a boom of solar panels continues to be installed on buildings throughout the U.S., companies, groups and even every day people can make money off of funding this clean energy transition. Read more »
After loving to hate Tesla, many scramble to show their love
Tesla is now officially a success according to blind-sided investors and media. Tesla didn’t emerge last week with a win, it’s taken a decade to deliver and true game-changing innovation takes a very long time. Read more »
SunPower to sell energy storage, potentially lithium ion batteries
SunPower plans to sell lithium ion batteries — or other energy storage technology — bundled with solar panels. The move follows other solar companies into the energy storage space. Read more »
Tesla could raise $830M through new offering, including $100M from CEO
Tesla could raise another $830 million in a new offering in a combination of selling common stock, and issuing senior convertible notes. That means Tesla can pay back its DOE loan early, among other things. Read more »
{"varname":"wijax_2122d21f1d75f546243e2b7fbbd7022b"}
How RelayRides is making money from long-term car sharing
Peer-to-peer car sharing startup RelayRides tells us that long-term sharing — over days, weeks and months — makes up the bulk of their sales. Is this an emerging trend for this nascent service? Read more »
European RE.WORK summit aims to solve future problems through emerging tech
The first summit in London, which is produced in partnership with Google’s Solve For X initiative, will focus on emerging tech such as the internet of things, 3D printing, artificial intelligence and sensors. Read more »
What SolarCity’s earnings say about the challenges of building a solar retail business
SolarCity is one of the leaders when it comes to installing solar panels on home owner’s rooftops. But the company’s $31 million loss, in its latest quarter, shows the growing pains for the retail solar players. Read more »
Meet the 6 startups from the inaugural accelerator of French telco Orange
Orange, the French telco giant, unveiled the first 6 startups in its inaugural accelerator program, including startups building hardware and software for the developing world, and startups using data to make clouds and online identities secure. Read more »
Cisco survey: Consumers are getting comfortable with the idea of the driverless car
photo: Cisco Systems
Fifty-seven percent of drivers Cisco surveyed said they would let themselves be chauffeured around town by a driverless car. The number was even higher among Americans. Read more »
RelayRides buys up car sharing startup Wheelz for the tech
Peer-to-peer car sharing company RelayRides has bought up startup Wheelz, partly for its automated system that lets users easily unlock and drive away in a car without having to get a key from the owner. Read more »
The Hue lightbulb makes some connected friends and gets new skills
photo: Philips
Philips is giving its connected Hue light bulb an update that connects it to IFTTT so people can tie their light bulbs into existing web services. It’s also adding a location-aware feature and scheduling. Read more »
GreenTouch details roadmap for wiping out 90% of telecom’s energy demands
After three years of investigation, the GreenTouch consortium issued its first recommendations for energy efficient telecom networks. GreenTouch claims the roadmap, if implemented, would cut the communications industry’s power needs to a fraction of current levels. Read more »
Crowdsource your carbon: power plant mapping project seeks location, CO2 data
Ventus, a citizen science project based at Arizona State University wants eagle-eyed environmentalists to map power plants and hopes to use the crowdsourced data to improve global carbon cycle models. Read more »
Report: Bloom Energy raises another $130M
The Valley’s fuel cell startup Bloom Energy has now raised over $1.1 billion, according to a report. While Bloom has gotten strong traction, particularly with data center operators, fuel cell manufacturing is difficult and capital intensive business. Read more »
