Information Flows

The movies always inspire our imagination; most recently's Marvel's Ironman film made many of wish for a suit that could do almost anything. Well, researchers are currently working on an artificial intelligence suit that could hold some of those fantastic elements. These specific components are being designed to be integrated into NASA's space suits so as to allow astronauts the ability to identify alternative lifeforms on other planets, specifically Mars.

DARPA, the government agency credited with inventing the internet, is looking to bring the technology to space. More precisely, it is looking to develop a dependable and fast wireless network using satellites.  Broadband satellite technology has existed for many years, but the quality of service is inferior compared to that delivered by terrestrial providers.

With the advent of smartphones and other technological advancements, we've begun to enjoy a plethora of tools that enable us to find nearby restaurants, communicate with people around the world and even keep track of our friends and family members. These are ingenious applications but for the most part are used mostly for convenience.

What do unemployment rates, the national debt, the number of rushing yards Ladainian Tomlinson put up last season, and the estimated number of people twittering about Kanye West's recent outbursts all have in common? The answer is more obvious than you may think: they are all statistically-based facts. Indeed, numbers seem to be an omnipresent part of any discussion, whether it be sports and pop culture or finance and foreign affairs.

Imagine: it's right before the 21st amendment is ratified in 1933, so prohibition is still the law of the land. We're in New Hartford, Iowa and a newborn Chuck Grassley is a few thousand cornfields away from a three year old Arlen Specter who is in Kansas. Fast forward to 2009 and these two seventy-somethings had a public altercation: on Twitter.