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Results from MIT's Trash Tracking Experiment

Back in July, researchers at MIT's SENSEable City lab launched an experiment: They'd tag thousands of pieces of trash in New York and Seattle...

 Andrew Price
09.19.09

Back in July, researchers at MIT's SENSEable City lab launched an experiment: They'd tag thousands of pieces of trash in New York and Seattle with wireless transmitters and map their migrations so you could watch the peregrinations of that used paper cup through the city's waste removal system.

Their idea was that this kind of tracking was the first step in exposing people to a product's "removal chain" and maybe even making 100 percent recycling a reality in the future.They're wrapping up the experiment now. The TrashTrack site has been updated with a few screen shots of the vizualizations they created.They've also announced some dates for upcoming live exhibitions in New York and Seattle that are likely to be pretty eye-opening. This is part of a product's life cycle that is otherwise all but invisible to us.
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Articles

The World Health Organization declares war on the out of control price of insulin

via Alan Levine / Flickr

The World Health Organization is hoping to drive down the cost of insulin by encouraging more generic drug makers to enter the market.

The organization hopes that by increasing competition for insulin, drug manufacturers will be forced to lower their prices.

Currently, only three companies dominate the world insulin market, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi. Over the past three decades they've worked to drastically increase the price of the drug, leading to an insulin availability crisis in some places.

In the United States, the price of insulin has increased from $35 a vial to $275 over the past two decades.

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Health

Italian council chamber floods—just after council rejected climate change measures

Andrea Zanoni/Facebook

Oh, irony. You are having quite a day.

The Italian region of Veneto, which includes the city of Venice, is currently experiencing historic flooding. Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro has stated that the flooding is a direct result of climate change, with the tide measuring the highest level in 50 years. The city (which is actually a collection of 100 islands in a lagoon—hence its famous canal streets), is no stranger to regular flooding, but is currently on the brink of declaring a state of emergency as waters refuse to recede.

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The Planet

All the whales have finally been released from the 'whale jail' in Russia

Since the International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling in 1986, whale populations have been steadily recovering. However, whales in the wild still face other dangers. In the summer of 2018, four Russian companies that supply aquariums with marine animals captured almost 100 beluga whales and killer whales (aka orcas). After a public outcry, those whales are swimming free as the last of the captive whales have been released, the first time this many captured whales have been released back into the wild.

In late 2018 and early 2019, a drone captured footage of 11 orcas and 87 beluga whales crammed into holding pens in the Srednyaya Bay. The so-called "whale jail" made headlines, and authorities began to investigate their potentially illegal capture.

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The Planet

Supreme Court says Sandy Hook parents can sue company that made killer's gun

via Twitter / Bye,Bye Harley Davidson

The NRA likes to diminish the role that guns play in fatal shootings by saying, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people."

Which is the same logic as, "Hammers don't build roofs, people build roofs." No duh. But it'd be nearly impossible to build a roof without a hammer.

So, shouldn't the people who manufacture guns share some responsibility when they are used for the purpose they're made: killing people? Especially when the manufacturers market the weapon for that exact purpose?

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Business

Fox News political editor says Biden will beat Trump and it won't even be close

via Gage Skidmore / Flickr

The 2020 election is a year away, but Donald Trump has some serious ground to cover if he doesn't want it to be a historical blowout.

A Washington Post- ABC News poll released Tuesday shows that Trump loses by double digits to the top Democratic contenders.

Vice President Joe Biden (56%-39%); Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts (54%-39%); Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont (56%-39%); South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (52%-41%); and Sen. Kamala Harris of California (52%-41%) all have big leads over the president.

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Politics