Adiuvo

Well-sited wind power is cheaper than coal, but the good sites aren't evenly distributed throughout the US.

NREL/DOE

Although there are some reasonable questions about the value of making long-term projections about energy use, doing so is one of the duties of the US' Energy Information Agency. On Monday, the EIA released an overview of a report in which it attempts to track the trends in the energy economy of the US out to 2040. The report contains some eye-popping predictions, including a huge (but brief) boom in domestic oil production, a near balance between energy imports and exports, and a peak in carbon emissions that's already in our past.

Energy predictions are fraught with uncertainty, but this report contains more than most, since it's predicated on having the entire period out to 2040 covered by legislation and rules that are already on the books. At the moment, that would include the expiration of a tax credit that promotes the installation of renewable power facilities, something that Congress has already renewed several times. Perhaps more significantly, the EPA's rules governing greenhouse gas emissions from existing facilities are still being formulated but are likely to be in effect for most of the period under consideration.

This probably explains why the EIA predicts that the slice of domestic energy production that comes from renewables only increases from 11 to 12 percent over the next 30 years.

flickr user: The COM library

In a stunning decision, a DC-based federal judge has ruled that the National Security Agency spying revealed this summer violates the constitution.

The opinion (PDF) published today by US District Judge Richard Leon is in response to a lawsuit filed by Larry Klayman, a longtime conservative activist. Klayman was fast on the draw, filing his lawsuit on June 6, one day after widespread NSA surveillance was revealed in June.

Leon's order grants an injunction that will shut down the NSA's Bulk Telephony Metadata Program, and it requires the government to destroy the metadata collected on the plaintiffs' accounts. The shutdown will only happen if an appeals court agrees with Leon, who has stayed the injunction pending appeal, "in light of the significant national security issues at stake in this case and the novelty of the constitutional issues."

Boston Dynamics

A few days ago, word got out that Google was building a robotics division. Now, it's already making huge waves in the industry: the New York Times reports that Google has acquired Boston Dynamics, one of the most advanced robotics companies to date. The company will join the new Robotics Division, headed by former Android chief Andy Rubin.

Boston Dynamics has typically done work for DARPA and the Pentagon. The company is mostly known for their noisey, 4-legged robots, with names like BigDog and AlphaDog. The robots can traverse difficult terrain like snow, muddy mountainside, and ice, and they can even stay upright after a surprise kick from a human. BigDog can carry up to 340 lbs and was originally developed for DARPA as a military pack mule. They've since affixed an arm to BigDog which can throw a cinder block up to 17 ft. The company has also worked on faster 4 legged robots, like the Cheetah, which can hit 28.3 mph—a little faster than the fastest human.

Boston Dynamics has also worked on humanoid robots. Their coolest humanoid is probably Petman, a robot designed to test clothing for the military. While testing clothing may not seem particularly exciting, Petman is interesting because of its walking motion. While many robots, like ASIMO tend to have a timid, awkward walking motion, Petman walks with style, yet still manages to be stable even when pushed. Atlas is particularly impressive: a 2 legged bot that can cross uneven, rocky terrain.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

Late Saturday night in Beijing, China's Chang'e 3 moon lander touched down on the lunar surface at the Bay of Rainbows in the Moon's northern hemisphere. China is now the third nation to have landed on the moon.

Chang'e 3 is carrying the six-wheeled, solar-powered Yutu rover, which will spend three months touring the lunar body's surface equipped with cameras, a robotic arm, scientific equipment, and a radar system.

The landing went smoothly, with Chang'e 3 taking about 12 minutes to get from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon on autopilot. The Moon lander had launched from Earth on December 2, and it spent about 6 days in lunar orbit preparing for landing. The soft landing was the first on the Moon's surface in 37 years.

The email was sent to a Valve Software distribution list, called "HLCoders," that has been in existence since 2001. It serves as the backchannel for Source engine coding expertise. If you're serious about screwing around with the tools that made Half-Life 2 and Left 4 Dead you're already on it.

In addition to tinkerers of every flavor, every once in a while someone from deep inside Valve sends out a weird call for help, usually about some software quirk they've never seen...

House of Representatives, US Capitol.

Jonathan Colman / flickr

The Innovation Act, a bill with measures aimed to stop "patent troll" lawsuits, passed the US House of Representatives this morning on a 325-91 vote. Several amendments that would have stripped out key parts of the bill were defeated.

Passage of the bill is a big step for patent reformers, which would have been hard to imagine even one year ago. However, patent trolls going after "Main Street" businesses like grocery stores and coffee shops have made headlines and enraged politicians from Vermont to California.

Majorities of representatives in both parties supported the bill. On the Republican side, 195 representatives voted in favor of the bill and 27 voted against, while 130 Democrats supported the bill and 64 opposed it.