New York Times: As Climate Change Accelerates, Floating Cities Look Like Less of a Pipe Dream
You might call it a Noah’s Ark for an era of melting polar ice sheets.
An audacious plan to respond to climate change by building a city of floating islands in the South Pacific is moving forward, with the government of French Polynesia agreeing to consider hosting the islands in a tropical lagoon.
The project is being put forward by a California nonprofit, the Seasteading Institute, which has raised about $2.5 million from more than 1,000 interested donors. Randolph Hencken, the group’s executive director, said work on the project could start in French Polynesia as early as next year, pending the results of some environmental and economic feasibility studies.
Bloomberg: Siemens Taps New Boss With Head in the Cloud as Profits Surge
Over the past 170 years, Siemens AG has forged a reputation as a manufacturer of trains, turbines and other huge things that weigh more than a house. So why is it asking a software guy to oversee the place?
Siemens on Wednesday introduced Jim Hagemann Snabe, a 51-year-old veteran of software house SAP, as its next chairman, scheduled to take effect next January, according to a statement. The move makes sense as Siemens seeks to adapt its 19th-century industrial heritage to the 21st century, says William Mackie, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux who rates the company a buy. The shares on Wednesday surged as much as 5 percent after the German manufacturer raised its outlook.
Forbes: $200 Million More Invested Into Right-Sized Advanced Nuclear Power
LeadCold and Essex Group ME have announced an agreement for a $200 million investment to build uranium-fueled power sources. Their systems, trademarked SEALER, are designed to compete with diesel generators to supply dependable power to communities and industries in remote areas of the world.
SEALER (Swedish Advanced Lead Reactor) is a fast spectrum nuclear reactor that uses low enriched uranium nitride fuel (19.5%) cooled by molten lead.
The companies involved describe their agreement as enabling "LeadCold to license and construct the first privately funded lead-cooled nuclear power plant."
Grist: Trump's Ban Will Hurt Climate Science and Cleantech
In the days since President Trump dropped the executive order, it has already disrupted science communities in the United States and around the globe, as students and researchers are trapped out of the country, field work plans scuttled, long-awaited visits canceled. For many scientists engaged in the work of understanding and addressing the world’s next great challenge -- a changing climate and the transition to cleaner sources of energy -- it’s clear that you can’t stifle immigration without stifling innovation, too.
“We live in an extremely competitive global environment,” says Andrew Rosenberg, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Just because we want to do this America First thing doesn’t mean the rest of the world is going to stop being entrepreneurial and get out of the way.”
Jalopnik: Faraday Future Plans Nevada Mini-Factory Where $1 Billion Mega Factory Is Supposed To Go
Mysterious car company Faraday Future announced last year that it will build a colossal $1 billion factory in North Las Vegas, but after a $21 million late bill a few months back and a company-wide focus on CES, the factory went on hold. Now, the company will apparently make a mini-factory first before expanding to full size.
Faraday Future promises that the mini-factory will be 650,000 square feet, as opposed to 3 million square feet of the full-scale version.