in #TodaysReads, Business, Hologram, Students

#TodaysReads: Sci-Fi Campaign, Feminist Pornographers, Superconductors & more (9.5.14)

Increasing CO2 may threaten human nutrition If you needed even more reason to do something about global warming. This is something I’ve always been passionate about especially since watchinh the movie “The Day After Tomorrow” – if you haven’t watched do so this weekend and then come back and thank me.

According to the UN, wheat, rice, and maize—a mere three out of the Earth’s 50,000+ edible plants—provide 60 percent of the world’s plant-derived food energy. In the developing world, they provide up to 70-80 percent of the energy in a person’s daily diet. These crops are key providers of micronutrients like zinc and iron, which they draw up from the soil.
As we continue to spew carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, however, we may be less able to rely on these crops. A meta-analysis indicates that grains and legumes grown at elevated CO2 levels have lower concentrations of zinc and iron, and some crops also have reduced protein levels.

Indian politician morphs into hologram to reach millions of voters Anything to get the voter you need huh?

So to reach as many voters as possible, India prime minister candidate Narendra Modi went the sci-fi route. He turned himself into a hologram.
The unique use of hologram technology has allowed Modi to make “appearances” at hundreds of campaign rallies (often simultaneously) in a way that feels more personal than your typical “via satellite” feed.

Where the world’s feminist pornographers gather Anything that brings women to the same level as men is fine with me.

“Making any kind of pornography that genuinely arouses women and gets them off is important to women’s liberation. That’s part of why these films are feminist – it’s a feminist enterprise to show women’s pleasure.” 

Are high taxes to blame for lethal brews? With the recent deaths of 70 people perhaps it’s time we reconsider the taxes on the nation’s alcohol to prevent needless deaths.

When you impose excessively high taxes on a consumable good, you must expect a thriving parallel market to come up.

Varsity students ‘lack interest’ in business I’m planning to start my own company one day, most likely before I hit 28. Most of my friends plan to do the same, we have big ideas and big dreams. I’m sure it’ll be hard but it also seems like it’ll be all kinds of fun. Watch this space.

Scientists May Have Decoded One of the Secrets to Superconductors Superconductors may be the next big thing in electricity, if we could figure out how to make them work at room temperature. This link talks about the physics behind it and how understanding it may get us to room temp superconductors faster. A lot of what they talk about in it went over my head but it’s still cool.

This goal, if realized, could make an array of fantastical-sounding technologies commercially viable, from power grids that never lose energy and cheap water purification systems to magnetically levitating vehicles. Scientists believe room-temperature superconductivity would have an impact on a par with that of the laser, a 1960 invention that now plays an important role in an estimated $7.5 trillion in economic activity.