Voyager: 8 Billion Miles and Counting
This has nothing to do with billions of dollars, but with something that makes even trillions of dollars utterly trivial.
Thirty years ago, the Voyager space probes set off to visit distant planets. As they finally leave the Solar System, Steve Connor @ The Independent, UK looks back at what we've learned. I liked the opening sentences: "Of all the spectacular images sent back to Earth from the two Voyager spacecraft – which celebrate their 30th anniversaries this month – perhaps the most poignant was taken on 14 February 1990, when Voyager 1 turned its camera around to where it had come from and captured a picture of our home planet from a distance of more than four billion miles. The image became known as The Pale Blue Dot – the Earth floating as a single point in the enormity of space."
Well, that's what we are in the big picture - a small, floating inconsequential dot that would have already disappeared from the Voyager's radar by now.
The article on the current status of the Voyager (it is still traveling, now out of the solar system) is quite interesting...full article here
Just one last bit of factoid from the report: "It will take 40,000 years before the two space probes skim past the nearest interplanetary system..." Utterly overwhelming and mind boggling
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Over $100 Million Required to Tame Sri Lankan Elephants
Rs. 10 billion needed to manage wild elephants of Sri Lanka
August 31, 2007, ColomboPage News Desk
A Sri Lanka Minister says that the Ministry needs Rs. 10 billion per year (about us$ 200 million US$) for the management of wild elephants in the country. However, the Ministry receives only Rs. 3 billion for all its work, according to him.
The Minister also pointed out that the shortage of tamed elephants would be a problem in future since - there are only 137 tamed elephants while there are 72 famous cultural pageants per year countrywide.
Extra-ordinary! Who would have thought that taming of elephants would be such a sizable industry!
Oringinal news source: Colombo Page
August 31, 2007, ColomboPage News Desk
A Sri Lanka Minister says that the Ministry needs Rs. 10 billion per year (about us$ 200 million US$) for the management of wild elephants in the country. However, the Ministry receives only Rs. 3 billion for all its work, according to him.
The Minister also pointed out that the shortage of tamed elephants would be a problem in future since - there are only 137 tamed elephants while there are 72 famous cultural pageants per year countrywide.
Extra-ordinary! Who would have thought that taming of elephants would be such a sizable industry!
Oringinal news source: Colombo Page
Custom Installers' Business to Bring in $20 Billion by 2012
Custom Installers' Business to Bring in $20 Billion by 2012
U.S. revenues generated through the custom integration and installation industry are projected to grow between eight and nine percent between 2007 and 2008, with total industry revenues hitting growing to surpass $11 billion in 2008, as technology advancements permit more retrofit projects and sales by existing dealers grow.
It is highly likely that new owners of homes will upgrade their entertainment, security, and other home systems. On average, 1.5 to 2 million new homes are built annually in the U.S., with six to seven million existing homes changing ownership each year.
Many new owners of pre-existing homes acquire their new residence with the intent to renovate or retrofit it. The power line retrofit method uses the existing power wiring in one's home for new networking.
Increasingly, home technology systems are being networked with Wireless LAN (WiFi) - a WiFi-enabled device can be wirelessly connected to the home's main network by way of a receiver that just plugs right into the nearest mains socket.
Full report from here @ Associated Content
U.S. revenues generated through the custom integration and installation industry are projected to grow between eight and nine percent between 2007 and 2008, with total industry revenues hitting growing to surpass $11 billion in 2008, as technology advancements permit more retrofit projects and sales by existing dealers grow.
It is highly likely that new owners of homes will upgrade their entertainment, security, and other home systems. On average, 1.5 to 2 million new homes are built annually in the U.S., with six to seven million existing homes changing ownership each year.
Many new owners of pre-existing homes acquire their new residence with the intent to renovate or retrofit it. The power line retrofit method uses the existing power wiring in one's home for new networking.
Increasingly, home technology systems are being networked with Wireless LAN (WiFi) - a WiFi-enabled device can be wirelessly connected to the home's main network by way of a receiver that just plugs right into the nearest mains socket.
Full report from here @ Associated Content
London Finance Bonuses Soar 30% to £14 Billion High
City Bonuses Soar 30pc to £14 Billion High
By Sophie Borland, 31 Aug 2007
Bonuses taken home by London's financial sector workers have gone up by 30 per cent in the last year, fuelling a mass demand for luxuries such as yachts, Rolls-Royces and country homes - specifically in the luxury car and superyacht market.
The total pocketed by those working in the financial sector now stands at £14.1 billion, the highest on record. This figure has increased by twice as much as it did during the previous financial year when it stood at £10.9 billion.
Read the full report from here @ The Telegraph, UK
By Sophie Borland, 31 Aug 2007
Bonuses taken home by London's financial sector workers have gone up by 30 per cent in the last year, fuelling a mass demand for luxuries such as yachts, Rolls-Royces and country homes - specifically in the luxury car and superyacht market.
The total pocketed by those working in the financial sector now stands at £14.1 billion, the highest on record. This figure has increased by twice as much as it did during the previous financial year when it stood at £10.9 billion.
Read the full report from here @ The Telegraph, UK
$50 billion worth natural gas wasted through flaring
$50 billion worth natural gas wasted through flaring
The world's oil producers are wasting more than $50 billion a year of natural gas by burning it off in flares — and adding significantly to the world's greenhouse gas emissions in the process.
A study commissioned by the World Bank estimates that, based on satellite photos, 170 billion cubic metres of natural gas went up in oil producers' flares last year.
The bank said the amount was equivalent to 27 per cent of the entire US consumption of natural gas, and 5.5 per cent of global gas output, and has called upon the various countries and producers to take steps to reduce the wastage.
I'm wondering whether the oil & gas industry equipment manufacturers have given this opportunity enough thought...
Read the full news report from here @ The Age, Australia
The world's oil producers are wasting more than $50 billion a year of natural gas by burning it off in flares — and adding significantly to the world's greenhouse gas emissions in the process.
A study commissioned by the World Bank estimates that, based on satellite photos, 170 billion cubic metres of natural gas went up in oil producers' flares last year.
The bank said the amount was equivalent to 27 per cent of the entire US consumption of natural gas, and 5.5 per cent of global gas output, and has called upon the various countries and producers to take steps to reduce the wastage.
I'm wondering whether the oil & gas industry equipment manufacturers have given this opportunity enough thought...
Read the full news report from here @ The Age, Australia
Auto Preventive Maintenance is a $62 Billion Market
Preventive maintenance: A $62 billion market
Modern Tire Dealer, Aug 31, 2007
It is a huge, untapped market, according to the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, which estimates the market at $62 billion..
Read the full report from here @ Modern Tire Dealer
Modern Tire Dealer, Aug 31, 2007
It is a huge, untapped market, according to the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, which estimates the market at $62 billion..
Read the full report from here @ Modern Tire Dealer
Mid Life Crisis for Men a 50 Billion $ Biz Opportunity
£24 billion: The shock cost of the male midlife crisis
1st September 2007, Daily Mail, UK
A study has found the cost of the male mid-life crisis is £24 billion a year.
The favourite means of overcoming the crisis is a foreign holiday, costing British men in their 30s and 40s £1,340 each a year. Next come cool gadgets at £295 and beauty products at £285.
Meanwhile, the bill for cars and motorbikes amounts to a total of £1.5billion.
Read the full report from Daily Mail, UK
It's surprising no business has attempted to exploit this large business opportunity, or perhaps they have, in their own subtle ways!
1st September 2007, Daily Mail, UK
A study has found the cost of the male mid-life crisis is £24 billion a year.
The favourite means of overcoming the crisis is a foreign holiday, costing British men in their 30s and 40s £1,340 each a year. Next come cool gadgets at £295 and beauty products at £285.
Meanwhile, the bill for cars and motorbikes amounts to a total of £1.5billion.
Read the full report from Daily Mail, UK
It's surprising no business has attempted to exploit this large business opportunity, or perhaps they have, in their own subtle ways!
2 Billion Mice Take Over Chinese Town
2 Billion Mice Take Over Chinese Town
Detroit Free Press, United States - Sep 1, 2007
About 2 billion mice nesting on the shores of China's second-largest freshwater lake gnawed their way through 1.3 million acres of cropland when rising waters forced them to move inshore. Read more from this Detroit Free Press report
Detroit Free Press, United States - Sep 1, 2007
About 2 billion mice nesting on the shores of China's second-largest freshwater lake gnawed their way through 1.3 million acres of cropland when rising waters forced them to move inshore. Read more from this Detroit Free Press report
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)