Remarkable!

Remarkable stories from the web in a new, easier format.

A one-meter-square gray box studded
with green lights sits in a hallway near the laboratory of materials scientist Eric ­Wachsman, director of the Energy Research Center at the University of Maryland. It is a mockup of a fuel-cell device that runs on natural gas, producing electricity at the same cost as a large gas plant.

A Power Plant on Every Street | MIT Technology Review

A study of Boyer and Liu in 2004 shows that regularly eating an apple apparently helps reduce the risk of cancer, regulates cholesterol, puts a damper on many diseases, and is a great source of antioxidants.

5 Remedies That Seem Like Urban Legends But Actually Work – Business Insider

The city of Philadelphia was founded 331 years ago yesterday, on October 27, 1682. To commemorate the momentous occasion, historical writer Michael Beschloss shared one of the earliest photos of Philadelphia with his more than 75,000 Twitter followers. We decided to follow Beschloss’ lead, and hunted down early photos from a handful of other big cities across the United States.

Earliest Photos Of Big Cities – Business Insider

It turns out that the Arab Spring has resulted in a lot of rich people in the region looking for a safe space to park their money, and however bubbly Dubai is, at least it’s safer then their home country.

Arab Spring Fueling Dubai Boom

The problem is that these proposals skirt over/contradict the core finding of a joint DRC-World Bank report last year. It said China would not succeed in jumping to the next stage of economic development and would languish in the the “middle income trap” unless it embraces the whole package of modern free thinking.

China’s impossible contradiction – Telegraph Blogs

China’s property market is on fire. Prices for new homes soared by as much as 20 percent in the country’s four biggest cities in September, over the same month a year earlier—the most since January 2011. In Beijing, they were up 16 percent, in Shanghai, 17 percent, and they were up 20 percent in both Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Of 70 major cities, only one, Wenzhou, saw a drop.

China’s Overheated Property Market: Clampdown Ahead? – Businessweek

Nokia shares rose 4 percent on Tuesday after the company released its first financial results since announcing it was selling its handset division to Microsoft.

Nokia shares surge as losses narrow in third quarter

To regulators, naysayers and haters, the hedge fund industry has had one trump card to play for years: hey, we didn’t cause the financial crisis. Cause the crisis? Maybe not. But a staff report lands from the New York Fed which suggests hedge funds did at least make it worse

So, about that Volcker rule you’ve spent years considering | FT Alphaville

In his popular writing, Kahneman, a psychologist by training, walks readers through the mental cues that help us make up our minds. When it comes to financial decisions, we can often be tricked (or trick ourselves) into believing that we are making the right choice with our money because we often base those decisions on rosy projections, past performance, linked events or even mushy things like emotion and sentiment. But that rarely leads to smart decisions or financial gains when it comes to investments.

BBC – Capital – Can psychology explain our dumb financial decisions?

Who’s more powerful: the omnipotent head of a corroding but still feisty superpower or the handcuffed head of the most dominant country in the world? This year, our votes for the World’s Most Powerful People — an annual look at the heads of state, financiers, philanthropists and entrepreneurs who truly rule the world — went with the former.

The World’s Most Powerful People 2013 – Yahoo Finance

Spain’s economy emerged from a two-year recession in the third quarter, according to preliminary data released on Wednesday.

Spain emerges from 2-year recession

Europe’s troubled single currency is dividing the continent into warring factions, all of which could end in a “democratic…or violent revolution” between the continent’s indebted economies and their European creditors, a U.K. lawmaker told CNBC Tuesday.

Euro Divides, ‘Violent Revolution’ May Loom: Critic

Man forgets he once bought $25 of Bitcoins — now worth $848K

Man forgets he once bought $25 of Bitcoins — now worth $848K | Technically Incorrect – CNET News

If Google Glass could do this, it would start a revolution. Taiwan’s ITRI has a floating augmented-reality touch-screen system that would improve upon “Minority Report” technology, and it’s ready to license it.

If Google Glass could do this, it would start a revolution | Crave – CNET

A new report by JP Morgan says the bank’s measure of excess global money supply has reached an all-time high.

JP Morgan sees ‘most extreme excess’ of global liquidity ever – Telegraph Blogs

20 Things 20-Year-Olds Don’t Get

20 Things 20-Year-Olds Don’t Get – Forbes

Researchers have taken the first step towards a radical new architecture for the internet, which they claim will transform the way in which information is shared online, and make it faster and safer to use.

RealClearTechnology – A Radical Vision for a New Internet

Panasonic Corp. (6752) won a contract to supply cells to Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA)’s electric vehicles in a deal that may generate $7 billion in revenue.

Panasonic May Add $7 Billion Sales From Tesla Cell Contract – Bloomberg

Japan’s salaries extended the longest slide since 2010, even as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urges companies to raise workers’ wages as part of his bid to reflate the world’s third-largest economy.

Japan Salaries Extend Fall as Abe Urges Companies to Raise Wages – Bloomberg

China’s top four banks posted their biggest increase in soured loans since at least 2010 as a five-year credit spree left companies with excess manufacturing capacity and slower profit growth amid a cooling economy.

Top Chinese Banks Post Biggest Bad-Loan Surge Since 2010 – Bloomberg