Tag Archives: new york city

Researchers Find Asian Needle Ants Displacing Other Aggressive Invaders

By Guest PostFebruary 12, 2013Natureaggressive, alabama, argentine ant, asian needle ant, changing ecosystems, ecosystem processes, eleanor spicer rice, invasive ant species, jonathan shik, jules silverman, linepithema humile, new york city, north Carolina, oregon, pachycondyla chinensis, population boom, queens, state university, supercolonies, toxic baits, united states, urban environments, venomous sting, workers

Researchers from North Carolina State University have found that one of the most aggressive invasive ant species in the United States – the Argentine ant – appears to have met its match in the Asian needle ant. Specifically, the researchers have found that the Asian needle ant is successfully displacing Argentine ants in an urban environment, indicating that the Asian needle ant – with its venomous sting – may be the next invasive species to see a population boom.

In the world of invasive species, the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) is a success story. Its aggressive, territorial behavior and ability to create huge “supercolonies” – consisting of thousands of queens and millions of workers – have enabled the Argentine ant to spread across the United States, displacing native species and changing ecosystems to suit its needs. No other ant species had been seen successfully pushing back – until now. (more…)

Sail Far and Wide from New York City

By Guest PostFebruary 9, 2013Holidays 'n Travelsamerican, ancestor routes, beautiful autumn colors, bermuda, boston, canada, cape town, city, cruise to caribbean, cruise travel, cruise web team, eastern coast, Europe, far and wide, focal point, full of sunshine, halifax, new england, new york, new york city, North America, norwegian breakaway, norwegian cruise line, panama canal, passengers, quebec city, sail, South Africa, that never sleeps, transatlantic cruise, tropical breezes

New York is a hub. This city has served as a focal point for so many things American, from fashion to publishing to bagels and so much more. Now the “city that never sleeps” is becoming a hub for cruise travel. You can now cruise around the world, right from New York.

Here are four major destinations that you can discover on a cruise from New York.

Europe – Set sail for a European adventure on a transatlantic cruise. This sailing has old world charm, as you cross the ocean like many immigrants did generations ago, to experience the new world and embark upon a new life. You can trace back your ancestor’s routes and see the precious places they came from. (more…)

New Book Explores Fears About Muslims in The West

By Guest PostAugust 4, 2012Culture, General, Media911 era, anti catholicism, anti semitism, burqas, crusades, Europe, ground zero, irrational suspicion, jehovah witnesses, jews, liquor store, martha nussbaum, mormons, mosque, muslim headscarves, muslim terrorism, muslims, native americans, nazism, new york city, religious prejudice, religious tolerance, roman catholics, strip clubs, switzerland, terrorism, united states, wars of religion, western societies

Fears of terrorism in Europe and the United States have deteriorated into an irrational suspicion of Muslims, which will continue until the West turns its critical eye inward, argues University of Chicago professor Martha Nussbaum in her new book, The New Religious Intolerance: Overcoming the Politics of Fear in an Anxious Age.

While fear is an important natural emotion, its self-centered nature makes it susceptible to irrational distortions that are harmful to others, writes Nussbaum, the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics in the Law School and Philosophy. (more…)

IBM THINK Exhibit App for iPad and Android Tablets Traces Ancient Roots of Modern Innovation

By Guest PostJuly 26, 2012Technology2011 think, ancient roots, android tablet, breath sensor, charles, China, computer watson, diabetes detector, epcot center, exhibit app, ibm think, India, indonesia, ipad, jeopardy, lee green, lincoln center, mathematica, microscope, modern art, modern innovation, museum, new york city, orlando, plane prototype, ray eames, rfid chips, russia, Thailand, turkey, walt disney, wright brothers

ARMONK, NY – 26 Jul 2012: To celebrate centuries of science and technology innovations, IBM has reinvented its award-winning 2011 THINK exhibit at New York City’s Lincoln Center as a free interactive app for iPad and Android tablets. Geared to tech fans and educators, the IBM THINK exhibit app is an “innovation time machine” that shows how early tools have evolved into modern advances that create healthier populations, greener energy and safer, less congested cities.

Through interactive content and thousands of images and historical anecdotes, the IBM THINK Exhibit app is filled with stories of progress, from space exploration to weather prediction and medical advances. It documents the roots of Big Data, from early charts, clocks and scales to microscopes and telescopes, from RFID chips and biomedical sensors in clothing to breath-sensor diabetes detectors. (more…)

NASA’s Spitzer Finds First Objects Burned Furiously

By Guest PostJune 9, 2012Sciencealexander sasha kashlinsky, ancient era, big bang, cosmic fuel, cosmic infrared background, expansion, faint objects, first objects, giovanni fazio, glenn wahlgren, harvey moseley, infrared wavelengths, james webb, john mather, los angeles, massive stars, matt ashby, mysterious sources, NASA, nearby universe, new york city, pattern of light, richard arendt, sky, space telescope, spitzer space telescope, ultraviolet wavelengths, universe, voracious black holes

PASADENA, Calif. — The faint, lumpy glow given off by the very first objects in the universe may have been detected with the best precision yet, using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. These faint objects might be wildly massive stars or voracious black holes. They are too far away to be seen individually, but Spitzer has captured new, convincing evidence of what appears to be the collective pattern of their infrared light.

The observations help confirm the first objects were numerous in quantity and furiously burned cosmic fuel.

“These objects would have been tremendously bright,” said Alexander “Sasha” Kashlinsky of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., lead author of a new paper appearing in The Astrophysical Journal. “We can’t yet directly rule out mysterious sources for this light that could be coming from our nearby universe, but it is now becoming increasingly likely that we are catching a glimpse of an ancient epoch. Spitzer is laying down a roadmap for NASA’s upcoming James Webb Telescope, which will tell us exactly what and where these first objects were.” (more…)

IBM Smarter Cities Technology Helps NYC Envision Solar Energy Leadership through CUNY Ventures

By Guest PostJune 7, 2012Environment, Technologycraig hayman, cuny ventures, data system, department of energy, doe, global leader, ibm, intelligent operations center, ioc, ioc software, key indicators, matthew goldstein, new york city, nyc, nyc solar map, procemx, roadmapping, rooftop solar challenge, smart ny, smarter cities, solar, solar america, solar capacity, solar energy market, solar market analytics, solar panel installation, solar power potential, tracking ny, urban

Innovative Model Aims to Export Solar Market Analysis Tools to the World

New York – 07 Jun 2012: IBM is helping New York City (NYC) become a global leader in urban solar energy market analysis and sustainability through an innovative agreement with CUNY Ventures, a City University of New York (CUNY) Economic Development Corporation entity.

The goal of this effort is to nourish solar adoption by developing the capability to analyze and understand key solar market indicators that can make solar system development more cost competitive. Using IBM’s Intelligent Operations Center (IOC) for Smarter Cities as the backbone, this analytics-based approach will help New York City monitor and analyze solar production and capacity through a virtual control room that will provide a dashboard view of key indicators.

The collaboration is part of ‘Solar Market Analytics, Roadmapping, and Tracking NY’ (SMART NY), a groundbreaking project supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) ‘Rooftop Solar Challenge’, part of the DOE SunShot Initiative which is striving to make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of energy by the end of the decade. (more…)

The ‘New’ Bing: Transforming Search from Finding to Doing

By Guest PostMay 10, 2012Technologybing, derrick connell, Facebook, gartner analyst, Google, hawaii, la bernardin restaurant, Microsoft, new bing, new feature, new york city, online, online services division, qi lu, ray valdes, relevancy, robert dietz, sally salas, search, stefan weitz, Technology, Twitter, web, web page, web search

Bing’s new user experience surfaces the best from the Web, friends and experts to help people do more.

REDMOND, Wash. – May 10, 2012 – Microsoft today unveiled a major update to its Bing search engine that fundamentally transforms the way users search the Web. The update, the most significant since Microsoft launched Bing three years ago, is designed to help users act quickly by taking advantage of the Web’s evolving fabric.

With the new version of Bing, rolling out over the coming weeks and broadly available in the U.S. in early June, people can easily get advice and recommendations from friends and experts with the new social sidebar. They can also view useful, action-oriented information via the new snapshot feature. And they can find what they’re looking for faster, with more relevant results and a refreshed user interface. All of this is presented in a new, three-column design that focuses on helping users take the leap from finding information to making quick, informed decisions. (more…)

Microsoft Research Opens a Lab in New York City

By Guest PostMay 3, 2012Technologybing, christian borgs, cornell technion campus, cryptography, dan goldstein, david pennock, david rothschild, duncan watts, eric horvitz, jake hofman, jennifer chayes, john langford, manhattan, mayor, michael bloomberg, Microsoft, microsoft partner, new england, new york city, research lab, rick rashid, sharad goel, siddharth suri, sociology, tech hub, vowpal wabbit, xbox

New research lab will focus on computational and experimental social science, algorithmic economics, and machine learning, along with information retrieval.

NEW YORK CITY – In the two decades since the formation of Microsoft Research, the organization has grown from its beginnings on Microsoft’s corporate headquarters in Redmond, Wash., into a global research force with 12 labs across four continents — all devoted to advancing the state of the art in computing research and contributing cutting-edge advancements to Microsoft products.

Beginning May 3, that lab count increases to 13 with the creation of Microsoft Research New York City. (more…)