submitted by D. Ofelia Mangen

ted.com - January 2012

After a crisis, how can we tell if water is safe to drink? Current tests are slow and complex, and the delay can be deadly, as in the cholera outbreak after Haiti's earthquake in 2010. TED Fellow Sonaar Luthra previews his design for a simple tool that quickly tests water for safety -- the Water Canary.



(WATCH VIDEO ON TED.COM)

Huffington Post - February 10, 2013 (Updated February 11, 2013) - Tariq Malik

A long-lasting solar flare erupted from the sun early Saturday (Feb. 9), triggering an intense sun eruption aimed squarely at Earth. The solar storm, however, should not endanger satellites or astronauts in space, but could amplify auroras on Earth, NASA says. The solar eruption —called a coronal mass ejection —occurred at 2:30 a.m. EST (0730 GMT) on Saturday during a minor, but long-duration, flare. It hurled a wave of charged particles at Earth at speeds of about 1.8 million miles per hour (nearly 2.9 million km/h).

Coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, are eruptions of charged solar material that fling solar particles out into space. When aimed at Earth, they can reach the planet between one and three days later, and cause geomagnetic storms when they interact with the planet's magnetic field. They can also amplify the northern and southern lights displays over the Earth's poles.

"In the past, CMEs at this strength have had little effect," NASA officials said in a statement. "They may cause auroras near the poles but are unlikely to disrupt electrical systems on Earth or interfere with GPS or satellite-based communications systems."

submitted by Samuel Bendett

homelandsecuritynewswire.com - November 16th, 2012

Geofeedia has created a group of algorithms that can search multiple social media sources by geography in real time.

“You just type in a place name, address and zip code (to find a Tweet, video or image),” CEO Phil Harris told the Chicago Sun Times.

Harris started and financed the company with chief operating officer Mike Mulroy and chief technology officer Scott Mitchell.

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