// Thx to Liza Sperling, Stephen Wildish
Venture capitalists invested $5.8 billion in the first quarter of 2012
Venture capitalists invested $5.8 billion in 758 deals in the first quarter of 2012.
The report shows that after a strong fourth quarter 2011, VC investment activity for the quarter fell 19 percent in terms of dollars and 15 percent in the number of deals compared to the fourth quarter of 2011 when $7.1 billion was invested in 889 deals.
- Life Sciences and Clean Technology sectors saw decreases
- Double-digit percentage increases in the Consumer Products and Services, and Telecommunications industries.
- The Software industry received the highest level of funding for all industries
Read the full report – Leena Rao, TechCrunch
The ultimate round-up of Earth Day events for this Sunday
Earth Day is this Sunday, April 22, 2012, and here is the ultimate round-up of events:
National Park Week – Free entrance to all U.S. National Parks
Looking for something fun, free, and fantastic to do with family and friends?
Head out to America’s national parks where millions of stars light up the dark night sky, deer and antelope (and a few other critters!) play on the wide open range, and history is an unbelievable experience, not an exam.
And the best news? During National Park Week, April 21-29, All 397 of your national parks offer free admission, all week long!
The Nature Conservancy – Picnic for the Planet
Feel like breaking a world record? Join the Nature Conservancy in their giant Picnic for the Planet sandwich-munching extravaganza. The goal is to set a record for the largest picnic celebration ever. The picnic sites are dotted across the country.
Wyland Foundation – Pledge to Conserve Water
To mark the Clean Water Act’s 40th anniversary, the Wyland Foundation has invited cities across the nation — broken into groups by population — to compete at collecting pledges by individuals to cut down on water and energy use in the month of April.
World Wildlife Federation – Create a webpage about an Endangered Species
The World Wildlife Fund is inviting people to create their own Web pages to spotlight a favorite endangered species or cause by using W.W.F.’s easy-to-navigate software.
Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E)
A slideshow showcasing potentially transformative energy technologies from the 3rd annual ARPA-E summit.
Scientific American – 10 Surprising Recycling Efforts (from bras to crayons)
A slideshow, in observance of Earth Day 2012, that helps consumers move well beyond the throw-it-out mentality.
2 free iPhone apps about our National Parks
Two apps that feature national parks have arrived just in time for Earth Day. And they’re free, which goes nicely with the Saturday start of fee-free National Park Week. So download the app, pick a park to visit and go.
- Fotopedia National Parks
- National Parks by National Geographic
April 22 will mark Earth Day worldwide, an event now in its 42nd year and observed in 175 countries. The original grass-roots environmental action helped spur the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act in the United States. Gathered here are images of our planet’s environment, efforts to utilize renewable alternative sources of energy, and the effects of different forms of pollution.
NY Times – Earth Day Round-up
The holiday is Earth Day — the 43rd to be held since Gaylord Nelson, then a Democratic senator from Wisconsin, proposed that a “national teach-in” on the environment be held on April 22, 1970.
So, how best to celebrate, honor, reflect on or brood about the planet? Here are a few ideas:
Duct tape your sister to a wall (and other family portraits)
Watch 15+ meteors/hour this Saturday during the Lyrid meteor shower
The peak of the Lyrid meteor shower will be viewable all over the world this Saturday night. With the best rates seen just before dawn. The Lyrids can offer a shower of activity, with peak meteor rates between 10-100 per hour. This year Dr. Cooke estimates that the rate will be around 15 per hour, though he is hoping for a surprise increase above this!
The Lyrids are pieces of debris from the periodic Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher and have been observed for more than 2,600 years. In mid-April of each year, Earth runs into the stream of debris from the comet, which causes the Lyrid meteor shower.
Also, NASA plans to have an expert chat during the event, where you can ask questions to meteor experts and view live feeds:
If you’re looking for a fun way to spend an early spring weekend, make plans to stay “up all night” with NASA experts to watch the Lyrids brighten the skies. On Saturday, April 21, from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. EDT, meteor experts Dr. Bill Cooke, Danielle Moser and Rhiannon Blaauw from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center will answer your questions about the Lyrids via a live Web chat.
Joining the chat is easy. Simply visit this page a few minutes before 11 p.m. EDT on Saturday, April 21. The chat module will appear at the bottom of this page. After you log in, wait for the chat module to be activated, then ask your questions!
A live video feed of the Lyrid meteor shower will be embedded on the page on the night of the Web chat, and there will be alternate allsky views being streamed from the allsky camera network.
learn more – NASA
// Thx to Chris Kim A
Lego Super Star Destroyer vs. Lego Death Star
BRICKED FINALE: LEGO SUPER STAR DESTROYER VS. LEGO DEATH STAR
After more than 20 episodes, Will and Norm compare their completed Lego builds. Norm pits his Super Star Destroyer against will’s Death Star.
Photos of both below and, Norm is right, they are expensive. Here are links for the $400 Super Star Destroyer with 3,152 pieces, and the $400 Death Star with 3,803 pieces.
Congress orders FAA to integrate drones into the U.S. aviation system
As the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration prepares to let civilian unmanned aircraft operate in domestic airspace, universities including Embry-Riddle have created majors in flying and building drones. Enrollment is accelerating as students look for new opportunities in an aviation job market pummeled by airline bankruptcies.
The drone industry, estimated worldwide at $5.9 billion annually, will expand to $11.3 billion by 2021.
During the past 10 years, drones have become a vital military tool in Iraq and Afghanistan, creating a platform to attack terrorists without risking pilots’ lives and giving ground troops a chance to see their opponents from the air.
Congress passed bills in December and February that ordered the FAA to create six test sites for flying unmanned aircraft alongside regular planes. The agency must also complete a plan for integrating unmanned flights into the aviation system by Sept. 30, 2015.
Unmanned aircraft could be used for photography, police surveillance and monitoring pipelines and power lines. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has special permission to use drones.
more at – Bloomberg
Here are a selection of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), used by the military. I suspect the first to be employed privately will be the helicopters for police surveillance.
// Photos – An Honorable German, Rennett Stowe, Cliff1066, Marion Doss, US Army Africa, & Marion Doss
// Thx to Kosso K
Do galaxies form like snowflakes? Winner of Space Lab competition to find out
The Space Lab competition from YouTube invited young scientists to submit an experiment for the chance to have it performed by NASA aboard the International Space Station.
From among thousands of entrants, six regional winners have been chosen. In North America, Emerald Bresnahan of Plainville, Massachusetts, was chosen for her Snowflakes in Space experiment.
Emerald suggests that galaxies might form in a similar way to snowflakes. She wants to test how snowflakes form in the absence of gravity to better understand the link between them and other complex shapes like galaxies. Will these tiny structures give us the answers to some of our biggest questions about the Universe?
You can also view her entry video on YouTube.
LA Times Festival of Books – largest in the country, includes Stan Lee, John Cusack, Betty White, Anne Rice
If you’re free this weekend, April 21-22, 2012, you might want to attend the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. The largest book festival in the country with more than 140,000 attendees, 400 authors, 300 exhibitors, 100 panels, cooking demonstrations, and poetry readings.
The festival is a free public event held on the campus of University of Southern California (USC).
One note is that the panels require $1 reservations, not sold the day-of. These will be some of the most interesting events, including movie screenings, celebrity authors, and special releases, so it is worth it to get them now before they sell out.
Out of the 120+ panels, here are the ones that tickled our fancy:
- DIY Revolution
- Future Books: Media in the Digital Age
- Disposable Nation: Trash & Consequences
- Anne Rice in Conversation with Scott Timberg
- The Nerds Shall Inherit the Earth
We will be there all-day Sunday and hope to see you!
To learn more about the festival, here is an article from the LA Times:
What do Sugar Ray Leonard, Judy Blume, Betty White, T.C. Boyle, Rodney King, Joseph Wambaugh and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have in common? They’re just a few of the high-profile personalities appearing this weekend at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.
This year’s festival blends familiar features with newer events reflecting what’s hot today in the literary marketplace. While festival goers can…listen to novelist Anne Rice discuss her latest supernatural fiction (Sunday) and Ben Fong-Torres’ memories of his Rolling Stone days (Saturday), actor John Cusack will discuss not a book but his latest book-related project, the film “The Raven,” in which he portrays Edgar Allan Poe, on Saturday.”
The U.S. Postal Service will conduct its opening ceremony for the stamp series “Twentieth-Century poets” Saturday at the Poetry stage; though graphic novels receive their fair share of panel attention, thanks to USC’s School for Cinematic Arts there will also be screenings of a director’s cut of the movie”Watchmen”and the documentary “With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story.”
HBO posts first episode of new show, Girls, on YouTube until May 14
In a new twist for HBO, they have posted episode 1 of their new series, Girls, on YouTube. The show, which will only be available until May 14, is about four college graduates struggling to get by in New York City.
A sort-of Sex in the City, the early years. The bio from HBO:
Created by and starring Lena Dunham (“Tiny Furniture”), the show is a comic look at the assorted humiliations and rare triumphs of a group of girls in their early 20s. Dunham wrote and directed the pilot of the series, which she executive produces along with Judd Apatow and Jenni Konner. The cast also includes Jemima Kirke, Allison Williams, Adam Driver and Zosia Mamet. Episodes were shot in New York. The ten-episode season debuts in 2012.
Watch the full pilot episode – Girls