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EDF takes on Warren Buffett for Constellation Energy's nuclear assets

Electricite De France has found a formidable competitor. The French energy giant is offering $4.5 billion for 50.0% of Constellation Energy's nuclear energy assets, even though billionaire Warren Buffett has already bid for the unit. Sadly for EDF, it's probably going to lose that battle. Full Story Forbes_ 12/3/08

In California, solar thermal projects gather steam--and opposition

At least 80 large solar projects are on the drawing board in California, more than in any other place in the country. The scale of some is unrivaled on the planet. Palo Alto-based Ausra Inc.

owns the first so-called solar thermal facility to open in California in nearly two decades. "The expectation is that renewables will transform California's electricity system," said Terry O'Brien, who helps vet sites for new facilities for the California Energy Commission. It's a daunting challenge for the world's eighth-largest economy. Despite the nation's toughest mandates for boosting green energy and reducing greenhouse gases, California remains addicted to burning fossil fuels to keep the lights on. Excluding large hydroelectric operations, less than 12% of the state's electricity came from renewable sources in 2007, according to the energy commission. Solar ranked last, supplying just 0.2% of California's needs. Full Story Los Angeles Times_ 12/3/08

Hurricanes Gustav and Ike destroyed 60 oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico

This summer's back-to-back punches from hurricanes Gustav and Ike destroyed 60 oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, but the structures represented only a minute percentage of the region's overall production, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said Wednesday. Before the storms, the Gulf of Mexico had about 3,800 production platforms accounting for roughly 25 percent of domestic oil output and 15 percent of natural gas. In its final damage assessment, MMS said the platforms destroyed by Gustav and Ike accounted for about 1 percent of the Gulf's oil and natural gas production. Full Story AP/Forbes_ 11/26/08

MI Technologies expands wireless test systems capabilities with Bluetest partnership

MI Technologies has signed a distribution agreement with Bluetest AB of Gothenburg, Sweden, to distribute and support Bluetest’s products in North America, Italy, United Kingdom and India. This agreement broadens MI Technologies’ test and measurement capabilities for the Wireless marketplace and strengthens Bluetest’s sales and support channels for its innovative line of reverberation technology-based products for characterizing communication devices with small antennas.The Bluetest reverberation chamber technology is used to measure the total RF performance of cell phones and other wireless devices. The capabilities offered by this technology include extremely fast measurement of Total Radiated Power (TRP) and Total Isotropic Sensitivity (TIS). Additionally, the Bluetest chambers are the only commercially available test chambers that allow direct testing of antenna diversity gain and MIMO capacity, both of which are key technologies for new (e.g. HSPA, 802.11n) and future (WiMAX, LTE) wireless broadband systems. Full Story News Release__11/25/08

In an age of robots, one to clean the house? Still but a dream

That today’s experimental robots bear little physical resemblance to our fantasy androids reflects a larger truth in the field of robotics, the attempt to build thinking machines that can perceive the world around them and then act on that awareness. Researchers are far, far from being able to design a Rosie Jetson or a Data, or even a Diaper Data. You can ask a human toddler to bring you the red ball from behind the sofa, and the toddler will comply. Ask a machine to perform the same seemingly ho-hum task? “We’re not even close,” said Seth Teller of M.I.T. The word comes from the Czech “robota,” meaning slave, and, yes, we have our robot slaves. Factory robots encapsulate our drugs, sequence our genes, fabricate our chips, monitor our radiation, spot weld and spray paint our cars, load bricks, rivet bolts, run nuts, make glass, die cast, sand blast. Remotely operated vehicles rove the surface of Mars and plumb the maritime depths. Full Story New York Times_ 11/24/08

Hubble, Keck, Gemini take first photos of planets orbiting stars

Reaching a milestone in the search for Earth-like planets in the universe, two teams of astronomers say they have parted the curtains of space to take the first pictures of planets beyond our solar system. The first team, led by UC Berkeley researchers, used the Hubble Space Telescope to take a picture of a giant planet orbiting the star Fomalhaut, 25 light-years away. The other effort relied on the giant Keck and Gemini telescopes in Hawaii to take images of three planets surrounding the young star HR8799, 130 light-years -- about 800 trillion miles -- away. Both discoveries were released Thursday by the journal Science and presented at a news conference at NASA headquarters in Washington. Full Story Los Angeles Times_ 11/14/08

USDataNow Headlines November 4, 2008-December 4, 2008

ANTENNAS:

MI Technologies installs state-of-the-art planar near-field antenna measurement system at the Navy Surface Warfare Center Crane

Full Story News Release_ 8/26/08

BROADBAND:

IBM plans broadband over power lines for rural America

Full Story Information Week_ 11/12/08

Cyber attacks on McCain and Obama teams 'came from China'

Full Story Financial Times_ 11/7/08

ENERGY:

Bangladesh sends more troops to Myanmar border in natural gas drilling boundary dispute

Full Story AFP/China News Asia_ 11/9/08