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Air Force base to gasify waste for energy

WALTHAM, Mass.--In the quest for renewable sources of energy, the military is giving garbage a go.

The Edwards Air Force base in Southern California will test out a shipping container-sized trash-to-energy unit from IST Energy. The Air Force will be the first customer for IST Energy's Green Energy Machine (GEM), which is designed to convert waste into electricity and heat, according to the company.

Two years ago, IST Energy showed off the prototype of the GEM and earlier this month began showing the unit to potential customers. About 20 companies, which either have a sustainability initiative or pay … Read more

Educators take Web 2.0 to school

I spent part of last week in Washington, D.C., at the annual National Educational Computing Conference. The event, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, is sponsored by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

As you'd expect, there were plenty of workshops on the nuts and bolts of using technology in the classroom. But as technology evolves, so does the way it's used by some creative educators.

There were several sessions, for example, on how to use cell phones within the classroom. Considering that some school districts still ban students from bringing cell phones to … Read more

Turn trash into energy in your office parking lot

When a school or office building thinks about distributed energy, it usually means solar panels propped up on a roof.

A small company called IST Energy has another vision: it's developed a shipping container-size contraption that turns your building's trash into electricity and heat. The company is expected to unveil the unit, called the Green Energy Machine (GEM), on Monday.

The idea behind the GEM is to offset a building's energy use while dramatically cutting trash disposal fees. The cost of trash removal can vary greatly, but a university or office park with a number of buildings … Read more

At the RSA Conference: Enigma

Here's something you don't see everyday. Winston Churchill could have said that too.

At the RSA Security Conference taking place this week in San Francisco, the National Security Administration is showing off one of the prizes from World War II: a captured Enigma machine. The Germans encoded messages on the machine by twirling the rotors. By capturing a couple of them, British code-breakers were able to unravel their once-secret messages.

One of the more interesting parts is the workmanship. The wood box is really nice and comes with brass inlay. And I loved the sheet of instructions on … Read more