This week, as part of our tech news segment, HPR’s Kayla Rosenfeld tells us about the test run of NASA’s Lunar probe on Mauna Kea. Later, we’ll talk to Patrick Henry from Univ. of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy about Dark Matter.
News stories for the week…
- Located approximately one mile off the coast of Kaneohe Bay in 100 feet of water, New Jersey company Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. installed one of its wave power generation units. The ocean buoys called PowerBuoy, harness the energy of ocean waves to generate electricity that is then sent back to shore via underwater cable.
- As the prevalence of broadband internet access grows, its reliance on dial-up connections is dropping rapidly. According to the latest “State of the Internet” study from Akamai — the internet powerhouse with the Hawaiian name — dial-up, or “narrowband” connections, fell nearly 30 percent in the last quarter nationwide.
- Last week Thursday, Hawaii County Council voted to uphold a ban on growing genetically modified taro and coffee on the island. The council voted 7-0 to override Mayor Harry Kim’s veto of the measure. Anyone caught violating it could face a $1,000 fine.
- Observatories in Hawaii were able to use advanced optical technology to produce the first “visible light” photographs of a multi-planet solar system outside our own. Scientists were able to see, 130 light years away in the constellation Pegasus, three “gas giants” larger than Saturn and Jupiter orbiting the star called HR8799.