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Feed SubscriptionA unique ‘micro-loop mirror’ design may enhance the performance of integrated laser on silicon
Active optical fibers with silicon photonic chips can carry a lot more information for data interconnect than copper cables. Silicon photonics can also be the material of choice for wiring 'lab-on-a-chip' devices however, the construction of such devices is not without its challenges.
Read More »LinkedIn Co-founder Wants You to Invest His Money
The LinkedIn co-founder is lending $1 million to struggling entrepreneurs around the world and you can help decide who gets it. Want to lend money to a struggling entrepreneur in a developing nation without using any of your money? I did, and for a little while longer, you can too.
Read More »How to Make More Impact With Fewer People
Growth means different things to different people. And it doesn't necessarily mean more headcount.
Read More »Tony Hsieh’s Excellent Las Vegas Adventure
In which our hero, flush with $400 million from the sale of his company, attempts to reinvent his city, Zappos-style. "You can't tell anybody about this." Tony Hsieh takes a shot of vodka, and then he tells me a secret, eyes wide, voice rising. He wears, as he almost always does, a navy T-shirt that bears the logo of Zappos.com, the online shoe retailer he helped start in 1999, that he has run as CEO since 2000, and that he sold to Amazon.com for $1.2 billion in 2009.
Read More »No Vacancy at the Hotel Brodsky
By the time Norm's new hotel opens, it will have been booked for the next three years, and therein lies an important lesson for any entrepreneur. The news from Tioga, North Dakota, is that Black Gold Suites—the new hotel I'm building there (see "Black Gold for You and Me," September 2011)—will open on March 1. But don't bother trying to get a reservation: By then, we'll have been booked up for the next three years
Read More »The world’s smallest steam engine measures a few micrometers
What would be a case for the repair shop for a car engine is completely normal for a micro engine. If it sputters, this is caused by the thermal motions of the smallest particles, which interfere with its running
Read More »This Week In Bots: I Compute, Therefore I Am
Floppy Starfish Bot Soft-shelled robots have popped up from time to time, but none perhaps have been as amazing as this new innovation from Harvard . It's a super-floppy starfish-esque robot that can crawl, maneuver, and wiggle its way along the ground...and can also squirm its way into tight spaces and even through tiny holes. Just like the worms of your squirmiest nightmares! Enjoy! [youtube QpnLj-rzjIo] The robot is just five inches long, pneumatically powered and was designed to replicate the motions of a real sea creature
Read More »New Unmanned Drone Fits In The Palm Of A Hand
One of the smallest unmanned drones in the world has the diameter of a Frisbee, fits in the palm of a hand, and looks like a miniature Star Wars X-wing. The SQ-4 UAV isn't just a tiny surveillance vehicle; it's also on the cutting edge of the new wave of nanodrones
Read More »Forget Gender Roles
Daytner Construction founder Theresa Daytner grew up spelunking with her geologist mother, and visiting her hairdresser father at a beauty salon. Today her husband works for her fast-growing contracting firm
Read More »This Week In Bots: Animaltastic Innovation
AlphaDog If Boston Dynamics' BigDog quadruped robot gives you the willies with its amazingly animal-like skills at tromping across difficult land at speed, then don't watch the video of BD's newest iteration of its military assistant robot, AlphaDog. [youtube SSbZrQp-HOk] BigDog was really the development prototype for AlphaDog, suffering from an enormously noisy engine and fairly limited operating range and payload powers. AlphaDog, on the other hand, is closer to a production dog droid that could actually accompany troops on the battlefield: It's quieter, can carry 400 pounds and run 20 miles without needing more gas, versus BigDog's 340 pounds and 12-mile range.
Read More »What 9/11 Taught Us About Designing Skyscrapers
A new, safer model of skyscraper rises from the site of the attack. Photo by Ofer Wolberger The offices here at Fast Company enjoy a most remarkable view. From our aerie on the 29th floor of 7 World Trade Center, we look out over the New York harbor, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and the occasional jetliner floating down the Hudson.
Read More »LEED 2012: The USGBC Adds Teeth, Real-Time Reporting To Its Green Building Ratings
Responding to criticisms that its ratings can be meaningless and easily gamed, the USGBC is introducing new rules so buildings must continually recertify and measure their energy use against their neighbors.
Read More »How A Pharmaceutical Giant Is Battling Malnutrition On The Ground In Haiti
Abbot could have just given money to Partners In Health and called it a day. Instead, they've been on the ground helping to build a factory to make hunger-destroying peanut paste. All too often, corporate philanthropy involves dropping a wad of money on some organizations doing work on an issue that the corporation "cares" about, and then saying goodbye.
Read More »A Celebration of Inc. 500 Workers
A business is only as good as its people"and thats especially true for lean, fast-growing companies. Here's a look at seven dedicated workers from this year's Inc.
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