A Senior VP of UPS tells CNN that left turns on commercial roads are less safe, take longer and cost the company more (to the tune of $20 million). It sounds like he also assumes low or no pedestrian traffic (on the right).

Some very compelling arguments on CNN for ending the Ethanol tax subsidy

“The news that this tax credit is subsidizing exports undermines the argument that ethanol is needed to help end our oil dependency,” said Sasha Lyutse, a policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council, responding in a blog post to a story first published this weekend in the Financial Times.

The ethanol exports also aren’t sitting well with food industry associations, which say that increasing ethanol use is driving up the price of corn.

“At the end of the day, we’re all trying to get the same bushel of corn,” said Kristina Butts, legislative director for the National Cattleman’s Beef Association. “This is a mature industry. It should stand on its own.”

Hey, that rhymes.

IBM has exciting news on the BBC. They predict future supercomputers will focus on maximum efficiency..

The BBC also wants you to know they ‘will fit in a sugar cube’ but, even though I drink tea, here is the quote that really grabbed my attention:

“In the past, the Top 500 list (of fastest supercomputers worldwide) was the important one; computers were listed according to their performance.

“In the future, the ‘Green 500’ will be the important list, where computers are listed according to their efficiency.”

The need for efficiency is clear. The lower cost of output has brought into focus the cost of input. Can the same or better output be generated with same or less input?

The challenge is related to problems of thermal dissipation — removing heat while using higher processor density. IBM is talking about ways to use miniaturized water channels to flow around the shrinking processors because a volume of water can remove far more heat than air.

A country concerned about national security would see the huge importance of this innovation path, especially for inefficient industries like transportation. Progress comes from smaller, more powerful engines that run more efficiently (less input needed for same output) and that generate less waste. More with less is success.

We often talk about cyber attacks and critical infrastructure so here is another non-cybersecurity disaster for comparison.

The Ohio Edison Company, Mad River Plant was an architectural landmark built in 1927 — a “Giant” coal-burning plant closed since 1981. This year it was tagged by FirstEnergy to be demolished. The last step of the process was to bring down the 275-foot tower. Controlled explosives unfortunately pushed it “the wrong way”, taking out several live 12,500-volt power lines.

Note the area just above the camera.

About 4,000 customers on the west side of the city were without power for part of the early afternoon, including at Klosterman’s Bakery and a Speedway gas station. Traffic lights in at least four intersections went down. Springfield Police Division officers were directing traffic at Bechtle Avenue and U.S. 40. However, power has been restored to all residents, according to Ohio Edison officials.