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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: innovation

innovation stories: 27 news summaries

1 - 20 of 27 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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 US Innovation 
 Stagnates: Survey  

Americans think China is winning—and China thinks we're on top

Nov 16, 09 2:08 PM CST
(Newser) - Most Americans are anxious about a future they believe will be fueled by innovation—innovation they are doubtful will come easily in this country without major changes to the education system. Nearly two-thirds of Americans say the recession has hobbled the country’s ability to innovate, and just 41% see... More »

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China • innovation • US economy • science education • survey • opinion polls • math • energy sector

 Now Driving 
 Innovation 
 in India: 
 the Poor 

As developed economies slump, it markets directly to the lower class

Oct 20, 09 1:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - Indian engineers once did little but cater to Western companies, while consumers at home made do with hand-me-down products from the developed world. That is changing in a big way as foreign economies crater and the 1.1 billion consumers of the subcontinent reveal a taste for, well, consuming. And... More »

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India • consumer • outsourcing • innovation • market • poor • engineers • developing countries • rural area • product

obituary

 Music Legend  
 Les Paul Dead at 94 

Inventor, guitarist 'changed the course of 20th-century popular music'

Aug 13, 09 1:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - Musical innovator and guitar legend Les Paul died today in White Plains, NY. He was 94. A “virtuoso guitarist” himself, in the early 1940s Paul pioneered the “log” guitar, “probably the first solid-body electric guitar," writes Jon Pareles of the New York Times. His popular Gibson... More »

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music • music industry • obituary • innovation • guitarist • guitar • Jay-ZTV • Les Paul • Mary Ford • Gibson guitar

 Top American Inventions 


Aug 4, 09 5:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama has called on Americans to innovate their way to a speedy economic recovery. In that spirit, Live Science rounds up the top 10 US innovations:
  1. Flight. The Wright Brothers’ 12-second flight in 1903 ushered the world into the age of aviation.
  2. Atomic bomb. The Manhattan project
... More »

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Internet • light bulb • innovation • aviation • Apollo missions • laser • Thomas Edison • Henry Ford

(Newser) - Apple has rejected Google’s application to distribute its Voice application through the App Store, and that shows that Apple is dead-set against innovation, Adam Pash writes on Lifehacker. The official line is that Google Voice “duplicates features already on the iPhone—namely the Phone and Messages app,”... More »

MORE ABOUT:
wireless • VoIP • iPhone • Apple • innovation • smartphones • AT&T • iPhone applications • App Store • Google Voice

 How to Free Creative You 


Tips for innovation in troubled times

May 10, 09 7:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Tough times tend to foster innovation. If your wallet is feeling a pinch, capitalizing on your creativity may be a way to help, says ABC News. Here are some tips on how to get your brain moving:
  • Let your thoughts wander. Allowing your ideas to roam freely can
... More »

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music • recession • innovation • blue • creativity

ANALYSIS

R&D Dollars Flow Even as Revenues Slump

Firms see innovation as key to post- recession success

Apr 6, 09 11:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - Revenues may be plummeting, but US companies spent as much on research and development in 2008’s fourth quarter as they did in 2007's, the Wall Street Journal reports. Analysts point to products like the iPod, introduced during the last recession, as proof that continued R&D outlay can lead... More »

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China • Microsoft • India • Apple • iPod • innovation • Motorola • research and development • financial crisis

(Newser) - NASA is abuzz over a satirical video posted on YouTube that takes on the space agency’s innovation-stifling bureaucracy, reports NPR. Written, shot, and edited by astronaut Andrew Thomas and starring NASA employees and contractors, the video tells the fictional story of a young engineer’s frustrating attempts to propose... More »

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NASA • YouTube • video • bureaucracy • innovation

OPINION

 Time to Give Netflix 
 Its Dot-Com Due 

Disciplined growth has helped it through many setbacks

Jan 28, 09 4:47 PM CST
(Newser) - Despite plenty of naysayers, Netflix boasts success like few other dot-coms, Chris O’Brien writes in the San Jose Mercury News. The movie-rental service reported record earnings despite the recession, “a neat trick that eBay and Yahoo could only dream of emulating.” Netflix’s innovative distribution system, inventory... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Silicon Valley • Apple • Blockbuster • online videos • video • innovation • Netflix • Xbox • TiVo • movie rentals • movies

OPINION

 Bailout? Detroit 
 Needs a Brain 

US auto industry needs to re-learn how to innovate; Mich. lawmakers not immune, either

Nov 12, 08 10:28 AM CST
(Newser) - The appalling prospect of a $25 billion bailout for Detroit automakers—“ an industry that became brain dead”—has Thomas Friedman, writing in the New York Times, outraged. He blasts “a very un-innovative business culture, visionless management, and overly generous labor contracts” for the mess, and heaps blame... More »

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Detroit • innovation • auto industry • Thomas Friedman • Big Three • bailout • financial crisis

analysis

 Gray Smog Conceals 
 a Greening China 

Green innovator gets unfair rap as environmental offender

Nov 11, 08 4:26 PM CST
(Newser) - The world's attitude toward China's environmentalism is "hypocritical and decidedly unfair," writes Fred Pearce in Yale Environment 360—this coming from someone who has "literally held my nose at the foul air." Yes, China's "development zeal" has it doing "the bad things that most... More »

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China • environment • recycling • environmentalism • Beijing • green energy • innovation • green technology

Scientists, Artists Dominate MacArthur 'Genius' Grants

25 innovators receive this year's $500 prizes

Sep 23, 08 2:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Of the 25 recipients of this year's MacArthur Foundation "genius award," 13 are scientists and eight are artists, the New York Times reports. This year, they are “people working on the very edge of discovery and people at the edge of a new synthesis,” says the... More »

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New Yorker magazine • innovation • MacArthur genius • artist • MacArthur Foundation • scientist

OPINION

 Our Economic Cure? Innovation 

Innovation, and making it more efficient, can turn gray skies blue

Sep 14, 08 1:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Democrats and Republicans do have something in common: Both parties are wrong on how to resuscitate the flat-lining US economy, Michael Mandel argues in BusinessWeek. Tax cuts or increased government spending aren’t the cure. “Innovation is the best—and maybe the only—way the US can get out... More »

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China • Democrats • Republican • India • trade • biotechnology • innovation • economist • nanotechnology • US productivity • tax cuts • research and development • information technology • foreign oil

OPINION

 Goodbye, Autos; Hello, Podcar

Driverless taxis could transform public transit

Sep 8, 08 12:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - Forget alternative fuels and dump rusting gas guzzlers altogether for the driverless podcar, which offers "the convenience of an auto without the negatives," Catherine G. Burke writes in the Los Angeles Times. The sleek, electric-powered compartments seat four and use monorail-esque "guideways" to reach select destinations. It... More »

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innovation • public transportation • cars • automobile • podcar • personal rapid transit • public transit

OPINION

 Candidates Should 
 Be Talking 
 Innovation, 
 Not Abortion 

Innovative new products, services will keep nation vigorous, Friedman writes

Sep 7, 08 5:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - If America hopes to keep its economy strong, our next leaders need to prioritize support for innovation, writes Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times. “The ability to create the new products and services that people want” is key to “growth, prosperity, environmental sustainability and national security,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
technology • innovation • economy

OPINION

 Algae: Lean, Green Biofuel? 

Firm says it can produce algae oil at $60 a barrel; US dare not miss its chance, writer says

Jul 2, 08 2:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - The steam engine wasn’t invented in the eighteenth century—it was invented in AD 60. But Romans instead stuck to their old standby technology: slaves. Now, we’re in danger of repeating that mistake with biofuels, writes David Ewing Duncan for Portfolio. While Congress is pumping subsidies into corn-based... More »

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ethanol • biofuel • biodiesel • innovation • algae biofuel

 Prize Philanthropy:
 A Winning Concept 

Donors make innovators compete for cash

Jun 12, 08 12:53 PM CDT
(Newser) - When the X-Prize foundation offered $10 million to anyone who could develop a viable commercial spacecraft, it didn’t just send innovators scurrying, and it didn’t just grab headlines. It also began the next big trend in philanthropy. Donors are in love with prize philanthropy, Portfolio reports, and causes... More »

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philanthropy • contest • innovation • space flight • prize • invention

 GM Gambles All on the Volt 

Electric car a massive gamble

Jun 11, 08 12:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Chevy Volt will either revolutionize cars forever and rocket GM back to the top of the automotive world, or it’ll be an embarrassing disaster that will further cripple the giant. And right now, lots of industry types are betting on the latter. GM is so desperate to get... More »

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energy • General Motors • innovation • electric cars • hybrid car • Chevrolet Volt

 Wine Whiz
 Mondavi Dead at 94 

Dapper vintner proved California grapes could rival Europe's

May 16, 08 7:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - California wine master Robert Mondavi died peacefully today in his Napa Valley home at age 94, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Disciples and critics alike have praised the vintner for elevating West Coast wine from jug juice to world-class vino. "His legacy and his vision for what California could... More »

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California • wine • obituary • innovation • Napa Valley • wine industry • Robert Mondavi • vineyard • public figure

Silicon Valley Startup Craves
Chocolate

Tcho founders predict a coffee-like revolution for the sweet stuff

Apr 23, 08 11:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - San Francisco startup Tcho has all the sweet Silicon Valley trimmings, the Economist reports; high-profile tech alums, online beta testing and stock options for all. But its product is even sweeter: top-quality chocolate. The company has developed a means to grade cocoa beans' complex nuances on a "flavor wheel,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
food • Silicon Valley • innovation • chocolate • agricultural economy

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