Month August 2007

130 mph biodiesel motorcycle

They plan to tweak this experimental biodiesel motorcycle, powered by a BMW car engine, even more, so it’ll do 160 mph. “The bike emits 78 percent less net CO2 compared with a standard diesel engine.” And smells like french fries…

The coming urban terror

John Robb on how small terrorist attacks can disrupt an entire system. The networks of our global superinfrastructure are tightly “coupled”—so tightly interconnected, that is, that any change in one has a nearly instantaneous effect on the others. Attacking one…

Subprime and escrowed accounts

For many mortgages, property tax and insurance is escrowed and is part of the monthly payment. This protects the lender and insures everything gets paid on time. It also helps the homeowner judge what the monthly payments will be. Guess…

Black swans and the credit crisis

From the book A Black Swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: it is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random and more predictable…