Archive for the ‘Science & Tech’ Category
Why we need to talk about innovation now: the Big Potatoes manifesto
A new manifesto “thinks big” with the aim of kick-starting a debate over innovation. In these times of financial crisis and severe economic downturn, we are constantly told by the powers that be that now is not the time for long-term investments. Our energies need to focused on putting out the fires: stop the banks from falling […]
In defense of the dot-com bubble, ten years on
It has been ten years since the dot-com bubble burst. On March 10, 2000 the tech-dominated Nasdaq index peaked at 5048.62. Today it closed at less than half that level, at 2358.95. Many now see the end of the tech boom as the beginning of the most recent financial crisis. On the Opinion page of the Wall Street Journal today, author and […]
Who says China isn’t innovative?
Writing in Fortune, Michael Elliott questions China’s record of innovation to date: “Sure, China can grow, but can its companies innovate? Can they build products that will compete in the global marketplace?” Elliott seems to suggest that, if growth does not come from private companies, it doesn’t count as innovation: Venture capitalists talk about the sheer thrill […]
Obama to NASA: don’t boldly go
At the end of January, President Obama announced a major change to NASA’s space program when he put forward his budget request to congress. This week congressmen from both parties criticized the White House plans, and took it out on NASA chief Charles Bolden, who appeared before House and Senate committee hearings to try to […]