We use polyurethane to make just about everything — garden hoses, furniture, the entirety of my local 99-cent store. It’s easy to produce, durable, and dirt cheap. What it isn’t is recyclable — there isn’t a single natural process that breaks it down. That is until a newly-discovered Amazonian fungus takes a bite. More »
All sorts of rare and unusual artefacts in Yale’s collection are being photographed/digitised for the web, so everyone around the world can check out a handwritten Mozart sonata or William Blake watercolour, even if they don’t actually attend Yale. More »
Yale researchers just made the first, albeit simple, quantum processor. The processor is made of two artificial atoms (each made of a billion aluminium atoms) that act like single atoms that can occupy two distinct states. More »
With mountains of cash on hand, Apple is broadening its horizons a little bit. The company is planning to start a creatively designated “Apple University,” following in the corporate educational footsteps of the likes of McDonald’s and Pixar. Though this will likely just be a training campus for Apple employees, they’ve already poached the dean of Yale’s management school to serve as VP of the operation. Why would someone like that leave such a prestigious position for a post as a corporate zombifier? Is it Steve Jobs’ revolutionary, all-in-one, totally-not-modular curriculum? Maybe. Ridiculous amounts of money? Definitely. [WSJ]
