Category: News and Views

NASA Says It Will Start Licensing Technology to Startups | Small Biz Trends

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Could NASA be looking for funding to gear up for a trip to Mars?

Public interest in manned missions to Mars has been a fantasy for decades and is slowly becoming a reality.

Riding the wave of enthusiasm, NASA has tentative plans for missions to Mars and the asteroid belt. But with the government’s $18 trillion pile-up of debt, how will it be paid for? Perhaps by licensing the right to use technology developed by NASA to energetic new companies.

David Miller, NASA’s chief technologist, says:

“The Startup NASA initiative leverages the results of our cutting-edge research and development so entrepreneurs can take that research — and some risks — to create new products and new services.”

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The Newest Lexus Is An Origami-Inspired Car Made From Cardboard | Co.Exist

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Using the digital files for an actual Lexus IS sedan, designers sliced up the drawing into tiny pieces and then cut that pattern out of cardboard with lasers.

It took three months to put together, as modelers dealt with problems like the fact that no sheet of cardboard is perfectly straight. “We had to glue one sheet at a time,” says Daniel Ryan from Lasercut Works, one of the companies that helped build the car for Lexus.

The car is an homage to “master craftsmen” at a Lexus factory, who have to prove their skill by folding a tiny origami cat with one hand. (While some work is done by robots, humans still take care of details like stitching on upholstery, and they need to be nimble).

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Nevada Says It Will Treat Daily Fantasy Sports Sites as Gambling | The New York Times

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Nevada regulators ruled on Thursday that playing daily fantasy sports should be considered gambling, not a game of skill, and ordered websites like DraftKings and FanDuel to stop operating immediately in the state until the companies and their employees receive state gambling licenses.

It is perhaps the most significant setback yet for a booming, unregulated industry that has spent the past two weeks in the midst of allegations that have prompted federal and state investigations into whether its employees, armed with inside information, exploited paying customers.

2015 DraftKings and FanDuel, each valued at more than $1 billion, have operated under an exemption to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, which outlawed online poker and sports betting. Five states have prohibited them from operating, but none are as powerful and influential as Nevada, which has long been a bastion of legal gambling, operates under strict regulation, and has the nation’s only active sports betting.

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US Factory Output Drops in Latest Sign of Weak Growth | ABC News

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downloadU.S. manufacturing production fell for the second straight month in September as factories cranked out fewer appliances, computers, and electronics.

Factory output declined 0.1 percent, the Federal Reserve said Friday, following a drop of 0.4 percent in August. Manufacturers also cut back on production of steel and other metals.

The decline suggests that a strong dollar, weak overseas economies, and cautious U.S. consumers are holding back factory output. Many companies are also focused on reducing stockpiles that were built up in the spring by cutting back on orders for new goods.

Overall industrial production, which includes mining and utilities, fell 0.2 percent, also its second straight decline. Mining output plunged 2 percent as energy companies sharply reduced oil and gas drilling. Utility output rose 1.3 percent.

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VW to recall 8.5m diesel cars across Europe | The Guardian

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Volkswagen is to recall 8.5m diesel cars across the European Union in the wake of the emissions scandal.

The full extent of the work required by the manufacturer to deal with the defeat devices in its diesel vehicles became apparent on Thursday after German authorities rejected its proposals for a voluntary scheme.

Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority ordered a compulsory recall of all the affected 2.4m Volkswagen cars in the country, triggering the EU-wide move by VW across 28 member states.

It means that all 1.2m vehicles affected by the scandal in the UK will also be formally recalled.

Volkswagen said it welcomed the German decision, which would “give customers clarity with regard to the continued unrestricted use of the vehicles”.

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From Teens to Adults, Everyone’s Now Watching Online Video as Much as TV | Adweek

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Globally, people are spending as much time watching online video as they spend watching TV, according to a new report from Millward Brown. That should bode well for brands trying to target cord-cutters or “cord-nevers,” but digital promos annoy many viewers.

For Millward Brown’s study, “AdReaction: Video Creative in a Digital World,” the research firm polled more than 13,500 multiscreen viewers—i.e., people who own a TV and either a smartphone or tablet—in 42 countries on what they think about video advertising.

The average consumer between the ages of 16 and 45 watches 204 minutes of video a day, split equally between TV and online. Forty-five minutes of the average online viewing time is done on a smartphone, while desktop accounts for 37 minutes and tablet for 20 minutes

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The Biggest Beer Deal Ever Could Threaten Real Craft Brews | WIRED

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IT’S BEEN A busy year for beer and things are coming to (ahem) a head this week.

After months of dickering, the world’s largest beer maker, Anheuser-Busch InBev, is buying the world’s second-largest beer maker, SABMiller for about $104 billion. That’s greater than the GDP of Ecuador and the single biggest deal in the history of beer. Assuming the deal clears all the regulatory hurdles, the new company would own about one of every three beers in the world, not to mention fat stacks of capital and unprecedented access to supply and distribution chains.

And that’s making a lot of small-time brewers and craft beer purists very nervous.

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Airlines told to advise passengers against packing extra batteries | Mashable

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Lithium batteries and airplanes don’t get along very well.

The U.S. government is strongly urging airlines to tell passengers not to pack spare lithium batteries in checked luggage because they can ignite and fuel fires in baggage compartments.

Batteries have been the culprit in an increasing number of incidents. Most recently, an Alaska Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing Buffalo when a credit card reader began smoking.

Aircraft manufacturers have warned about large shipments of batteries in a plane’s cargo, but the Federal Aviation Administration’s warning takes it further.

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Apple Could Pay Up To $862 Million After Losing Patent Lawsuit | Forbes

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Apple AAPL latest hurdle in the world of patent disputes could blow a small hole in its $200 billion cash mountain.

A U.S. federal jury has ruled that Apple used technology owned by the licensing arm of the University of Wisconsin on some of the chips that found their way into recent iPads and iPhones.

The jury has yet to decide on damages but the University has been seeking as much as $862 million for patent infringement.

The University filed the patent in 1998, for technology that could enhance the efficiency of computer processors.

It sued Intel INTC for infringing on the same patent in 2008, and settled out of court with the company before it could go trial. Intel ended up paying the University a $110 million lump sum to license the patent, court documents show.

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