In the News

Viewing Philadelphia's industrial past from the rails

The New York Times Magazine Thursday, November 15, 2012

The New York Times Magazine takes a ride on Amtrak along the northeast corridor and surveys the ghosts of our industrial past.

As anyone who rides Amtrak between New York and Washington knows, the trip can be a dissonant experience. Inside the train, it’s all tidy and digital, everybody absorbed in laptops and iPhones, while outside the windows an entirely different world glides by. Traveling south is like moving through a curated exhibit of urban and industrial decay. There’s Newark and Trenton and the heroic wreckage in parts of Philadelphia, block after block of hulking edifices covered in graffiti, the boarded-up ghost neighborhoods of Baltimore made familiar by “The Wire” — all on the line that connects America’s financial center and its booming capital city.

Original source: The New York Times Magazine
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Pittsburgh high schooler gets life-saving liver transplant

Huffington Post Thursday, November 15, 2012

Fourteen year-old Adam Snow received a life-saving liver transplant at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh on Saturday only hours after desperate public pleas from his family, reports Huffington Post.

Just weeks ago, 14-year-old Adam Snow went to the doctor with flu-like symptoms, which turned out to be the result of acute liver failure. According to his family, Adam's liver was attacked by an airborne virus and for an unknown reason, his immune system wasn’t able to fight it, reports CBS News.

Original source: Huffington Post

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Pulitzer-winning Patriot-News reporter going national

Washington Post Thursday, November 15, 2012

Harrisburg Patriot-News reporter Sara Ganim, whose coverage of the Jerry Sandusky scandal won a Pulitzer Prize, has been hired by CNN as a correspondent based in Atlanta.

Ganim, who joins CNN from the Patriot News in Harrisburg, Pa., broke the story of the grand jury investigation into Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State University football defensive coordinator who was found guilty of child sex abuse.

The Sandusky case enveloped the university, including its late football coach Joe Paterno, and Sandusky’s Second Mile Charity in scandal.

Original source: Washington Post

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A tattoo to benefit Alex's Lemonade Stand

TechCrunch Thursday, November 15, 2012

TechCrunch writer Drew Olanoff, a cancer survivor himself, is trying to raise funds for childhood cancer charity Alex's Lemonade Stand in suburban Philadelphia.

I turned 33 yesterday, an age that I wasn’t sure I’d hit when I was diagnosed with cancer. I’ve been in remission for three years and I feel great, except that others have to struggle way worse than I did. Before I was diagnosed, I raised money for childhood cancer by “auctioning off” space on my body for a tattoo. Not any tattoo, though, it was a Twitter handle for whomever donated the most. The high bid and donation was $2,112 and it was a success, and of course I got the tattoo. You can read all about it here if you like.

For Alex, and for children everywhere battling cancer, I’m doing it again. This time, the money goes right to Alex’s Lemonade Stand. Even if you don’t want to hop into a battle for real-estate on my body in tattoo form, every little bit counts.

Original source: TechCrunch

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Seegrid partners with Giant Eagle to create supermarket robot

Robotics Business Review Thursday, November 08, 2012

Pittsburgh robotics company Seegrid and Giant Eagle supermarkets have developed an unmanned pallet truck that transports products using vision-guided technology, reports Robotics Business Review.

“We now have seven robots deployed at Giant Eagle. It is an out-of-the-box robot that is very easy to program,” said Michael Hasco, chief growth officer for Seegrid.

Hasco explained that it is very easy to “train” the robot by simply first walking it through the route it is to take, load an item it is designed to transport and then push the “go to work” button. “It really is simple, flexible automation,” he said.

Original source: Robotics Business Review

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A chocolatey, celebrity collaboration in West Chester

Thursday, November 08, 2012

West Chester master chocolatier Christopher Curtin is collaborating with chefs Eric Ripert and Anthony Bourdain on a "sleek" new Peruvian chocolate bar, reports the New York Times

The bar, embedded with crushed nibs, is a collaboration with the chefs Eric Ripert and Anthony Bourdain. In all his chocolates, Mr. Curtin starts with single-origin beans or a chocolate base, mostly around 70 percent dark, and adds flavorings and fillings like Aleppo pepper, shiraz wine, coffee and toasted corn. He just introduced bonbons filled with pumpkin and with gingerbread. You need a bib for his silky caramels.

Original source: The New York Times

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Pennsylvania among a few states with some voting issues

L.A. Times Thursday, November 08, 2012

Pennsylvania had its share of problems at the polls on Tuesday, including confusion over the new voter ID law, reports the L.A. Times.

Perhaps the most widely observed problem occurred in central Pennsylvania, where a voter posted a YouTube video that showed him attempting to vote for Obama on an electronic voting machine that kept switching the vote to Romney.

"As far as we know, it was an isolated incident," said Ron Ruman, a spokesman for Pennsylvania's Department of State.

Original source: L.A. Times

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Young Visionaries: United By Blue's organic apparel and accessories

Entrepreneur Thursday, November 08, 2012

Entrepeneur's Young Visionaries series pays a visit to Philadelphia's United By Blue, an organic apparel and accessories company with a heavy social mission.

His vision provides for the removal of one pound of garbage from the nation's waterways through the sale of each item on the site. Each cleanup involves thousands of volunteers and has resulted in the removal of many thousands of pounds of garbage.

Original source: Entrepreneur

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Philadelphia's ScrubDaddy walks away with Shark Tank deal

Nerdles Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Aaron Krause, who owns ScrubDaddy, maker of what is described as "high-end cleaning sponges," walked away from ABC TV show Shark Tank with a deal, reports Nerdles.

He needs $100,000 in exchange for 10% equity in his enterprise. He’s currently selling the product online and in 5 Philadelphia stores. His sales have already reached $100,000 in the past 4 months alone. Since Aaron owns a patent for Scrub Daddy, he is now venturing into manufacturing the product on a large scale. As such, he needs the funds to set up his own manufacturing facility as he anticipates an in increase in demand from other supermarkets

Original source: Nerdles

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How Penn State students are exploring the Sandusky scandal in class

The New York Times Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The New York Times reports on the ways students at Penn State University are using classroom discussions and lessons to come to terms with the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal.

For months, the subject — the sexual abuse scandal involving Jerry Sandusky, and Paterno’s role in it — had been a constant for the students, among friends, at home and in class. It had indelibly marked their college careers. After the July release of the report done by the former F.B.I. director Louis J. Freeh, Susan Welch, the dean of Penn State’s college of the liberal arts, encouraged professors to address the matter in class.

Original source: The New York Times

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Considering fracking and nuclear side by side in Pennsylvania

Russia Today (RT) Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Russia Today (RT) takes a look at the growth of fracking in the U.S. and Pennsylvania and potential impacts on its nuclear facilities, in particular the planned gas well near the Shippingport, Beaver County nuclear plant.

Environmental authorities approved plans to construct a shale gas well near the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station in Shippingport earlier this month. State rules require any such well to be more than 500 feet from the edge of plant territory, though data indicates that there are no fracking wells that close to nuclear power stations anywhere in the US.

Original source: Russia Today

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Nao the programmable humanoid among those inducted into Robot Hall of Fame in Pittsburgh

Engadget Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Engadget reports on last week's Robot Hall of Fame induction at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh

The first 'bot to secure its spot in the class of 2012, was the programmable humaoid Nao, from Aldebaran Robotics, which beat out the iRobot Create and Vex Robotics Design System in the Educational category. The PackBot military robot from iRobot took the Industrial and Service category, beating out the Kiva Mobile Robotic Fulfillment System and Woods Hole Oceanographic's Jason. Boston Dynamic's Big Dog ran over some stiff competition in the form of Willow Garage's PR2 and NASA's Robonaut to win the Research title. And WALL-E triumphed over doppelganger Johnny Five and the Jetsons' Rosie in the Entertainment category.

Original source: Engadget

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Pittsburgh near the top of American creative class

The Atlantic Cities Thursday, October 25, 2012

The Atlantic Cities rates Pittsburgh No. 5 nationally among the cities that contribute most to the creative class.

A new report [PDF] from my colleagues at the Martin Prosperity Institute provides a fresh take on this issue. It looks at how regions contribute to four key categories of regional economic development — population, innovation, creativity, and economic output. Basically, the study calculated a metro's share of the U.S. total for each of the four categories. The table below, from the study, charts the metros that top the list in each of the four categories. It lists the category that each metro does best in.

Original source: The Atlantic Cities

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Sniffing success: Yardley firm's technology delivers nasal meds more effectively

Medgadget Thursday, October 25, 2012

Medgadget writes about Yardley-bsed OptiNose and its bi-directional delivery technology that uses a patient's breath to dispense nasal medications.

As a matter of fact, a new study comparing the OptiNose powder delivery device against traditional liquid nasal sprays has shown that the Bi-Directional system deposits medication more effectively to the middle and upper posterior regions in the back of the nose. The study involved seven participants that inhaled radiolabeled medication using the two delivery methods, the deposition of which was then assessed using a gamma camera sensitive to the emitted radiation.

Original source: Medgadget

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Study: Counseling yielded more fruit consumption among African-American adults

L.A. Times Thursday, October 25, 2012

Philadelphia-based American Association for Cancer Research released a study of more than 200 Philadelphia African-Americans who were being counseled on increasing produce consumption and exercise to reduce their risk of cancer or heart disease, reports the L.A. Times.

The fact that the participants were mostly poor, with incomes under $20,000, might mean they could not afford to join a gym or pay for exercise classes and might not feel safe walking or biking in their neighborhoods. She also said the researchers might ask about the fact that many fruits can be eaten as is while many vegetables are normally cooked – making it easier to eat fruit. And, Jefferson said, it’s hard to make more than one change at a time.

Original source: L.A. Times

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