Latest From Science, Technology And Medicine [11.14.14]

Defense Technologies

• Lockheed Tests the Waters in Energy (Wall Street Journal)

"Military Equipment Giant Tackles Far-Flung Projects

What do a truck-sized nuclear reactor, remote-controlled fish farms, and an ultra-thin membrane used for desalinating water have in common?
They’re all projects that Lockheed Martin Corp."

• DARPA wants to turn existing planes into drone motherships (Arstechnica)

Microsoft

• Microsoft leapfrogs Exxon to become second largest firm (BBC) 

"Energy giant Exxon has ceded its position as the world's second-largest public company to tech firm Microsoft, after concerns about the falling price of oil drove its shares down.

Exxon's shares traded at $94.90 midday on Friday, reducing the total value of all its shares, or market capitalisation, to $401.9bn (£256.7bn).
Shares in Microsoft - which have been rising after a strong October earnings report - hit $49.81.
That gives it a value of $410.5bn.
The price of the tech giant's shares are up over 30% over the year - the highest it has been for a decade."

This is what you expect after gaining Marketshare and increasing "Brand Appeal" - confidence among shareholders and the lure of Microsoft shares! 

Microsoft is cool again!

• Microsoft: Xbox One nearing ten million shipments worldwide (Arstechnica)

"Recent drop to $349 has tripled weekly sales in the US, console maker says"

 

Low Cost Medical Devices

• The Brilliant Ten: Manu Prakash Brings Science To The Masses (PopSci) 
• Manu Prakash : Imaginative inventions liberate science from the ivory tower (Technology Review) 

• Revolutionizing Medical Tech With Dollar-Store Devices (Discover) 

"Maverick MIT inventor Jose Gomez-Marquez has seen the future of medical tech in the developing world: It's made of Lego bricks, cheap cell phones and dollar-store finds."

• Hacking Medical Technology With Legos and Sequins (Discover Magazine)

Artificial Intelligence /

Machine Translation / 

Technology Of Business

•  Translation tech helps firms talk business round the world (BBC)