Looking for something to engage the brain? Here's what's caught our team's attention this week while we were noodling round the Web.
These links aren't here necessarily because we agree with them. They are here because we found them interesting (and you might too). Take 'em or leave 'em:
How the e-book will change the way we read and write
(Wall Street Journal) Sidestepping the usual death-of-paper/utility-of-Kindle tediousness, this looks at the e-book as an emerging medium of its own, the possible rules of this medium and therefore how books may change.
Shai Agassi's bold plan for mass adoption of electric cars
(TED) He makes a good and timely case that the problem - economic, practical, technological - of electric cars is the battery and once you focus on that, the solution is straightforward. Some of the detail feels a little glossed over, but he's on to something.
(Technology Review) We won't keep the lights on (or electric cars charged) with windmills alone, no matter how much we cross our fingers and click our heels together, so anything that promises safer/cleaner/cheaper nuclear power has to be taken seriously.
(BBC iPlayer) Fascinating BBC programme about the massive effect the rain has had on our technology. Sounds dull but this was a surprisingly interesting and revealing documentary, that holds the attention.
Bolivia: The Saudi Arabia of lithium?
(Seattle Times) Electric cars need batteries, and batteries need lithium. And the Saudi Arabia of lithium is Bolivia. Revealing glimpse into how the technologies of the future could cause geopolitical change.
Information Theory, Who's Your Daddy?
(Wired) April 30th was the 93rd anniversary of the birth of Claude Shannon, the genius who gave us information theory (and the word 'bit'), and whose theories underpin much of the modern world. A short non-technical reminder of his life and work.
Got any interesting links of your own? Email them to us before lunchtime on Thursday and if they engage our brains, we'll stick them in.
