Month: August 2015

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of pumping water, sand, and other chemicals under high pressure into the ground to break apart rock and release the natural gas contained. By 2013, there were over two million oil and gas wells that had been hydraulically fractured in the U.S., according to the Department of Energy (DOE). It's estimated that about 95% of all new wells are drilled under these conditions. According to British technology website The Register, new research from the University of Virginia led by Andres Clarens is looking at the possibility of replacing water with CO2 at fracking sites. The idea is that CO2 would act as a carbon sequestration, making fracking that much more efficient and sustainable. "We are working to develop a fundamental understanding of how...

In the past, buying a first house has often been a step that married couples take together. But a recent Zillow analysis has concluded that now, more than half of first-time homebuyers are single. According to data collected between 2010 and 2013, only 40% of homeowners were married when purchasing their first homes. That’s compared to 52% in the late ’80s. “The characteristics of typical first-time buyers have changed dramatically,” report author Cody Fuller, an economic analyst at Zillow, observed in his analysis, released Aug. 17. His conclusions dovetail with another recent study finding that single women, in particular, are increasingly getting into the real estate market; in fact, they’re buying homes at twice the rate of single men. First-time buyers are renting for longer befor...

As of Tuesday, August 11, Google has a new owner. According to Wired, Alphabet, the newly-introduced parent company of Google, is much more than a rebranding effort. Alphabet, run by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, will essentially act as the mothership for all of Google's various ventures. This includes Calico, the company's longevity program; Google X, its lab division; and Google itself, the search engine giant that controls 65 to 70% of the global search market. Alphabet and Google are two entities with entirely different corporate structures and entirely different purposes. By allowing an outside entity to control Google's various tech ventures, from self-driving cars to Google Glass, Google executives can focus their attention on the products and services that make the...

Chain-link fences are usually considered more of a security measure than an aesthetic choice. If you've ever had an intrusive fence or a window glare in your photographs, a recent report from the Massachusetts Institute for Technology will be welcome news. Researchers at MIT and Google are developing a new algorithm, one that can separate the foreground and background of your image and remove unwanted obstructions. The method works with a specific sequence of photos taken, similar to the panoramic feature on many smartphone cameras. The different angles provided by the multiple photos help to distinguish the foreground elements from the background elements, granting you the freedom to tweak them as needed. Motion parallax is a phenomenon in which closer objects appear to move faster than...

A new tech company is being called "an Uber for advertisers." Wrapify, which rolled out its product less than one month ago in San Diego and San Francisco, connects companies with drivers, wrapping their cars with branded, vinyl graphics and marketing messages. In other words, it acts as a vehicle advertising middleman. So far, Wrapify has nearly 10 brands on board and almost 2,000 drivers interested. Some of the brands already using Wrapify include Petco, Coldcock, Whisky, HomeHero, Captiv8.io, and Unreel.io. Thanks to its early successes, Wrapify is speeding up its plans to launch in Los Angeles, Orange County, and Atlanta by this Fall. The way it works is pretty simple. Wrapify's drivers download its mobile app, which only engages with their personal vehicles. GPS tracks the vehicle's...