10
POPS Invisibility cloaks could take sting out of tsunamis "I think that this is a great idea with much potential," says Ulf Leonhardt at the University of St Andrews, UK. "One could really imagine protecting coastlines by arrays of cleverly designed concrete poles." Such structures act like metamaterials, materials whose properties result from their structure not composition, and can be used to make invisibility cloaks for light, he says. But Guenneau cautions that large structures like islands and coastlines are unlikely to become invisible anytime soon, because building the many small islands needed to protect one is such a big job. "It's crazy – maybe only people in Dubai could do this," he adds, referring to the spectacular artificial islands built there. Smaller structures such as offshore oil platforms would be easier to protect, he says.
2
POPSNaomi Klein The homepage of Naomi Klein, author No Logo and The Shock Doctrine. The Shock Doctrine is a must read.
4
POPSChina Attacks US Dollar, Wants "New Currency Order" China wants a "new world order" for currency and has tremendous financial leverage over America now. As the dollar gets dumped as the basis for global trade the US dollar's value is now bound to fall which will increase consumer prices very quickly. "Fiat money" printed by the Fed has now met its achilles heel when other countries regard it as worthless and unsafe as a basis for trade.
10
POPSI support Obama on Issues, not because of the Cult of Personality I don't worship Barak Obama. I don't think he's a savior, or even an angel. Although the novelty of him being a "black" president is entertaining, I don't really care about that either. (Honestly, it seems a little strange that we are so self-congratulatory over 'voting for a black man,' as if that should be really impressive somehow.) Why do I support Barak Obama? Because of all the people running for President, I believe he has the best ideas on what direction our country needs to take. I would like to see much of his platform made into reality, and because of that, I will vote for him. I don't want to waste all our time arguing of personal slights and vauge rumors. Let's get to the issues. Here is why I support Barak Obama:
4
POPSFBI Illegally Obtained Reporters Phone Records by playing the "terrorism" card. The question now is, what was going on in Indonesia (where the reporters were) that made them desperate to violate the law in order to do some surveillance? (What did they fear the reporters might be on to?) Reporters should now do some research to answer the question and they would have an important story. Indonesia is a highly Islamic area targetted for change on the "Pentagon's New Map", and where the Tsunami took place.
4
POPSJust Walk Away... It is impossible to know for sure how many of the people who are now walking away from their homes could have gone on paying their mortgages. But Professor Nouriel Roubini of New York University, one of the first economists to warn of the dangers of the American house price boom, believes the number of people positively choosing to walk away is growing rapidly. "This is becoming a tsunami of voluntary defaults," Professor Roubini says. "The losses for the financial system from people walking away could be of the order of one trillion dollars when the entire capital of the US banking system is only $1.3 trillion. "You could have most of the US banking system wiped out, so this is a total disaster."
3
POPSNaomi Klein: Bush Sees Crises in Fuel, Food, Housing and Banking as Chance to Exploit Us More
... Food, fuel, housing, climate change -- talk about these crises. First, start with oil. Klein: There really is a kind of a tsunami of shocks facing not just the economy but people's lives, people's real lives. They're all intersecting. They're making each other worse. And I think we really are seeing some very live examples of what a write about in the book, which is how there is a strategy. And this is what I mean by "the shock doctrine." There is a clear political strategy, and has been for several decades, to exploit these moments when people are desperate for quick-fix solutions and more inclined to believe in a kind of a magical cure, to push through very, very unpopular policies that don't actually solve the crisis at hand, that don't actually help people, but are incredibly profitable for multinational corporations. And I think we are seeing a very vivid example of this with this speech from George Bush yesterday, where he is taking a very real crisis, which is demandi
6
POPSWorld Bank Leak: Biofuels cause 75% of Food Increase The report claims that biofuels have driven up global food prices by 75%, according to the Guardian report, accounting for more than half of the 140% jump in price since 2002 of the food examined by the study. The paper claims that the report, completed in April, was not made public in order to avoid embarrassing Bush.
9
POPSRise of the Inflatable Car Just when you thought the boasting from XP couldn’t get any more far-fetched, the cars also have the added advantage of being able to be driven off a cliff without serious injury and the capability to float in the event of flood or tsunami. But surely they’ll just burst? Well, actually no they won’t. Not only are they constructed out of the same polymer materials used to cushion NASA's rovers when they landed on Mars; multiple chambers will protect the vehicle from just popping like a balloon. Ludicrous as they might sound, these cars may well be the future of driving as we know it. At around $10,000, these vehicles should be in production by 2010 so don’t be surprised if a miniature bouncy castle on wheels overtakes you on the motorway in a few years time.
1
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update