Stacking the deck

Who says Europe cannot produce internet giants? In one area of online commerce, at least, its companies dominate the world.

Craig’s twist

When BP branded itself as ‘Beyond Petroleum’, and the fashionable colour among oil companies was green, Exxon Mobil stood aloof from the rush to embrace alternative sources of energy.

Over the moon?

IT wasn’t supposed to be like this. Five years ago, in a flurry of manifest destiny, George Bush outlined a plan to return Americans to the moon in 2020, with an option on going to Mars later.

Dropping the shopping

General electric has historically been a manufacturer, but in the long boom leading up to the financial crisis it became more like a bank.

Most people accept that death and taxes are inevitable. But that doesn’t mean you should not try to postpone them. A good accountant can help with the latter, but the usual prescription for the former is a way of life that avoids excess.

Floppy discs

It is the hottest topic in Hollywood: is the DVD dying? Ten years ago, the discs rejuvenated the film business. DVDs not only offered cleaner pictures and better sound than videotape; they also looked smarter on bookshelves.

Breaking Windows

The announcement came as a humble blog post on Google’s corporate website late on July 7, but it heralds what could be a dramatic shake-up for the information technology industry.

Keeping a grip

Few sensations of helplessness match that of driving a car that unexpectedly skids. In a modern, well-equipped car, electronic systems like stability and traction control, along with anti-lock braking, will kick in to help the driver avoid an accident.

All shook up

You never really get used to earthquakes. In 1994, your correspondent’s home in southern California was badly shaken by the Northridge earthquake, which delivered a wallop of magnitude 6.7 and some of the highest ground accelerations ever recorded.

The power of being made very small

Big improvements in the production of energy, especially from renewable sources, are expected over the coming years. Safer nuclear-power stations, highly efficient solar cells and the ability to extract more energy from the wind and the sea are among the things promised.

This is going to hurt

Diagnosing what is wrong with America’s healthcare system is the easy part. Even though one dollar in every six generated by the world’s richest economy is spent on health—almost twice the average for rich countries—infant mortality, life expectancy and survival-rates for heart attacks are all worse than the OECD average.

Planes, trains and automobiles

An old joke among pilots asks: what do you need to fly a modern aeroplane? The answer is a computer, a pilot and a dog. The computer’s job is to fly the plane. The pilot’s job is to feed the dog. The dog’s job is to bite the pilot if he tries to touch anything.

Joining the club

Francois Perol, the adviser whom Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, controversially appointed in February to head two merging mutual banks, is not known as a champion of transparency.

The long goodbye

Earlier this month, television in America underwent its biggest change in more than 60 years. The last of the big television stations still broadcasting in analogue turned off their transmitters and begin digital transmissions only.

Can the spam

On June 12, a judge in California referred a lawsuit against Sanford Wallace, who styles himself ‘the king of spam’, to the United States Attorney’s office for possible criminal proceedings.

Twitter 1, CNN 0

On saturday June 13, as protests began to flare on streets across Iran, 10.5 million American TV-viewers naturally turned to CNN, a cable news channel founded in 1980. It was a vote of confidence in the traditional news media.

Off the radar screen

Days after Air France’s ill-fated Airbus A330 plunged mysteriously into the southern Atlantic Ocean four hours after leaving Rio de Janeiro for Paris on May 31, rescuers were still searching for debris.

Fighting superbugs

Superbugs have become the scourge of hospitals worldwide. They have evolved because common bacterial infections developed a resistance to antibiotics. The best-known is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, known as MRSA.

Small but disruptive

It was like waiting for Godot: in the end, the great man did not come. The crowd at Apple’s jamboree in San Francisco was visibly disappointed when Steve Jobs, the computer-maker’s legendary chief executive, did not even put in a brief appearance after a six-month medical leave.

Third time lucky

For a long time the public has perceived biotechnology to mean dangerous meddling with the genes in food crops. But biotechnology is of course about much more than transgenic food: it also encompasses the use of microbes to make pharmaceuticals.

Mapping a better world

Convincing people about the evils of housing segregation can be tough, says Barbara Samuels, a campaigner for fair housing at the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland.

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