technology

The United States has traditionally led the world in the manufacture of advanced technological products, but in recent decades global patterns have shifted. The country recorded a trade surplus in terms of such products as recently as 2001, but by 2010 that trade balance was a deficit of $81 billion. Overall, from 1998 to 2010 the U.S. lost some 6 million general manufacturing jobs and now has only 11.6 million such jobs, representing just 11% of the labor market.

Recent studies have shown that wind power has tremendous potential to meet growing electrical needs. Because wind patterns do not always correspond with electrical use, this potential can only be realized if a way is found to balance supply and demand.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the disparity in per capita income between the richest and poorest nations has increased many times over, and the economic leaders of the prior agricultural era did not necessarily become powerhouses in the next chapter in global development. What caused this great transformation of the world income distribution?

As Internet search engines have become increasingly integrated into the way people locate, use and define information, concerns have been voiced over the impact this digital “crutch” may have on the lucidity and richness of human thought. Meanwhile, techno-enthusiasts claim that the mind is enhanced by such technology. Up to the present, however, little research has been done on the actual effects of such tools on human cognition.

While distance education has a long history, the development of computers and the Internet has provoked a boom in online classes, as students have sought to learn more as well as cut costs, and institutions have worked to extend their reach.

Press coverage of energy, whether from fossil fuels, nuclear, or renewables, tends to be dominated by talk of production. Production is only half the story, though: Every energy equation is a balance between generation and consumption, and both count equally.