Oakland: Zero-Emission Public Transit [Fast Cities 2010] Buses and trains may trump cars on the carbon front, but for true sustainability, why not power public transit with alternative fuels? AC Transit has three hybrid-electric, hydrogen fuel-cell buses up and running in Oakland and surrounding areas, with plans to add 12 next-gen models to its fleet by the end of this year. Each diesel bus that is replaced saves 130 tons of carbon-dioxide emissions annually.
Updated Mon May 16, 2011
Austin: Car Sharing [Fast Cities 2010] Encouraging people to use public transportation by giving them free access to cars may seem counterintuitive, but Austin is doing just that. Last fall, the city partnered with Daimler to launch Car2go, the nation's largest car-sharing initiative. The program lets city workers tap a free network of 200 smart cars and designated parking spaces for work errands -- and pay by the minute to check a car out for personal use. In the first four months, demand was triple original estimates, and more than 1,000 employees climbed into the (shared) driver's seat.
Updated Mon May 16, 2011
Freeze: The Antarctic Treaty Turns 50 On the first of December 1959, 12 nations signed a pact freezing territorial claims and banning military activity in Antarctica. It isn't human-free (29 nations have research stations there, and 11 people have been born on the continent), but it remains remarkably untouched. Here's a tour.
Updated Fri Apr 8, 2011
Boulder: Smart Energy [Fast Cities 2010] Cisco, Microsoft, IBM, Google -- it seems everyone is in the smart-grid fray, trying to transform our electromechanical power grid into a digital network that saves energy, taps alternative sources, lowers costs, and boosts reliability. But Boulder is the first U.S. city to pilot a large-scale smart-grid system, allowing residents to monitor use and control appliances remotely. Xcel Energy has installed 21,000 meters since the $100 million program started in 2008. Early adopters cut energy use by as much as 45%.
Sat May 1, 2010
Luxury Goes Digital: Fashion House Richemont Embraces E-Commerce Luxury brands have been historically slow to embrace e-commerce. But in recent years, high-end retail sites like Net-a-Porter and Yoox and discount luxury flash sales like those on Gilt Groupe and Rue La La are forcing execs to rethink the benefits of online sales.
Thu Apr 1, 2010
Eco-Friendly Fashions Let You Wear and Care Sustainable fashion has come a long way from the hemp sack. We check out what's on offer from eco-minded, worker-friendly designers and outfitters.
Thu Apr 1, 2010
10th Anniversary of the Nasdaq Peaking at 5,048.62 As we try to put the remains of one burst bubble behind us, it can be easy to forget the beginning of the end of another just 10 years ago. Here's a look at how things have changed -- or not -- in the decade since tech stocks rose to all-time highs.
Mon Mar 1, 2010
Eat-onomics With Melanie Cheng, Founder of FarmsReach San Francisco-based FarmsReach pairs farmers up with buyers for sustainable local food systems, helping buyers source produce locally and support healthy farms.
Tue Feb 16, 2010
Most Innovative Companies - China From Alibaba to Baidu, our picks for the top companies in China.
Thu Feb 11, 2010
Most Innovative Companies - Design From Ideo to Rockwell Group, our picks for the top companies in design.
Thu Feb 11, 2010
Six Cutting-Edge Totes We'd Be Proud to Carry to Work Don't shoot the messenger! That look may be a tad passé, but here are six new bags we'd be proud to carry to work.
Mon Feb 1, 2010
Junkitecture
Most people get the three "R"s of green living: Reduce, reuse, recycle. Here's a fourth: Repurpose--As in turning a wine barrel into a hotel room or using glass bottles to decorate a temple. Repurposed buildings save material by reusing existing structures--it's also called adaptive reuse--or recycling otherwise landfill-bound objects as building materials. Here's what repurposing looks like around the world:
Wed Jan 20, 2010
Residential Real Estate by the Numbers It may be a buyer's market out there, but it isn't a broker's. Which makes this year's theme at the 2009 Realtors' Conference in San Diego (November 13 -- 16) -- "Chart a Winning Course" (keynoter: Condi Rice) -- seem both hopeful and sad. Here's a look at the business of homes.
Posted Tue Dec 1, 2009
Vitamin Water and 50 Cent Launch iPhone App
Four months after Soulja Boy got his iPhone app--which let
users remix his songs--50 Cent gets his, dubbed "50's Sound Lab."
Posted Tue Nov 17, 2009
Ad Industry Fights Back at Bill That Expands FTC's Power The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is calling out the
Federal Trade Commission on a new bill that would expand its power to making it
easier for them to bring civil lawsuits and create new rules. The Consumer
Financial Protection Agency Act passed in the House Energy and Commerce
Committee last Thursday, and is expected to pass in the House as well.
Posted Mon Nov 2, 2009
Hospital Wait Times Delivered Via RSS Feeds
The Hospital Corporation of America's East Florida Division is using tech to "lure" patients into their emergency rooms--and are supposedly seeing success.
Posted Tue Oct 13, 2009
Redden: China's 60th Anniversary Don't get all worked up by the headline, Sinophiles. We're talking about the 60th birthday of the founding of the People's Republic, which Mao Zedong declared on October 1, 1949. Here's a look at China then and now.
Posted Thu Oct 1, 2009
A New Breed of Eco-Designers Reimagines the Detritus of Our Daily Lives Eco-designers are crafting clever solutions that will divert tons of waste from landfills.
Posted Tue Sep 1, 2009
