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THE GEOENGINEERING GAMBIT MIT NEWS PRESIDENT p50 OBAMA’S VISIT pM12 IS THE IT HAD BETTER BE—WE ALL WORK THERE. p36 CLOUD SAFE? The Authority on the Future of Technology January/February 2010 www.technologyreview.com Published by MIT This PDF is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by copyright law. For non-personal use, or to order multiple copies please email [email protected]. Smarter technology for a Smarter Planet: How to manage thousands of things you can’t touch. As virtualization gains momentum, many companies are fi nding out the hard way that virtual image sprawl can be just as complex and overwhelming as the physical server sprawl it was meant to solve. Forty years ago, IBM pioneered virtualization. Today, IBM can help you manage, simplify and even automate your virtual environment with a broad range of solutions designed to give you visibility and control over all of your virtual resources—servers, storage, applications, etc. So you can provision and reconfi gure resources in seconds instead of days, driving up effi ciencies and setting the stage for new delivery models like cloud computing. Our open approach to virtualization has helped customers reduce capital and operating costs by up to 30% and is becoming an essential building block of a smarter, more dynamic infrastructure. A smarter business needs smarter software, systems and services. Let’s build a smarter planet. ibm.com/virtualize IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, Smarter Planet and the planet icon are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml. CONTENTS VOLUME 113, NUMBER 1 36 Security in the Ether Information technology’s next grand challenge will be to secure the cloud—and prove we can trust it. By DAVID TALBOT ■ www.technologyreview.com/cloudsecurity Watch experts discuss security issues raised by cloud computing. 44 Trading Shares in Milliseconds High-speed automated buying and selling of fi nancial shares dominates the market. Will it lead to the next fi nancial meltdown? COVER By BRYANT URSTADT Photograph by John Lawrence/ ■ www.technologyreview.com/highspeedtrading Watch an interview PHOTO ESSAY Travelpix Ltd/Getty Images with Manoj Narang, founder and head of Tradeworx. 26 The Lithium Rush In the Bolivian Andes lies a 50 The Geoengineering Gambit vast salt fl at that may shape the future of transportation. As climate policy stalls, scientists and policy experts By Antonio Regalado consider d esperate plans to cool the earth. ■ www.technologyreview.com/ By KEVIN BULLIS lithium See additional images ■ www.technologyreview.com/geoengineering See scientists explain from the Salar de Uyuni. the pros and cons of geoengineering methods. BRIEFING 59–69 8 Contributors meter display, wireless USB 10 Letters hard drive, solar-powered back- New Media 12 From the Editor pack, and more. We assess the technologies that are destroying old ways of doing ■ www.technologyreview.com/ business and look into what will pong Watch a Pong kit being put be left when the dust settles. NOTEBOOKS together. 14 Integrating ■ www.technologyreview.com/ briefi ng/media Explore the Clouds information and analysis on The next step in cloud comput- 20 new-media companies. ing is to link different systems. By Vinton Cerf REVIEWS 14 Why 70 Shoveling Water Geoengineering? Why does it take so long to com- We should study the costs and mercialize new technologies? consequences of solar radiation By David Rotman management. By M. Granger Morgan ■ www.technologyreview.com/ microfl uidics 15 The New News Explore IPVision’s patent map “Journalism” and “the media” are showing progress in microfl uidics. not synonymous. Q&A By Jay Rosen 73 True Match 24 Mike Lynch How does the algorithm behind The cofounder and CEO of the dating service Match.com TO MARKET Autonomy explains how to teach suggest potential mates? 17–22 computers that Nicole Kidman is By Emily Gould not a cosmic ball of gas. By Jason Technology Pontin 75 The Future of Commercialized Human Spacefl ight Intel reader, molecular- ■ www.technologyreview.com/ mikelynch Watch an interview Astronauts: close to extinction? gastronomy kit, make-your-own with Mike Lynch. By Jeff Foust DNA ink, Rock phone, smart- 44 TECHNOLOGY REVIEW JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010 Do you know a young innovator who is going to future change the technolog y of ? 26 HACK Each year, Technology Review honors 35 leading 78 How to Photograph the Earth young innovators from around the globe in our Photos from near space for less than magazine, online, and at the annual Emtech@MIT $150. By Erica Naone conference. If you know someone under the age of 35 ■ www.technologyreview.com/icarus See the photographic equipment take fl ight. whose work in IT, biotech, medicine, materials science, energy, or transportation is making a signiÞ cant impact, DEMO nominate them NOW for the 2010 TR35 awards! 80 Nervy Repair Job A new method stretches living nerves to grow resilient transplants. By Kristina Grifantini NOMINATE ■ www.technologyreview.com/demo See how nerves are stretched in the lab. TODAY! FROM THE LABS 84 Biomedicine 85 Materials www.technologyreview.com/tr35/nominate.aspx 86 Information Technology 35 YEARS AGO IN TR 88 A Change in the Weather Rainmaking efforts during the Vietnam Past honorees include: Wa r prompted an international ban. By Matt Mahoney Ric Fulop A123 Systems 2008 Kevin Rose Digg.com Nominations close 2007 March 31, 2010 Snap camera- readable Colin Hill codes in this issue with Gene Network Sciences your cell phone to 2004 Winners must be under access exclusive the age of 35 as of Technology Review Sergey Brin October 1, 2010. content online. For the Google required software, visit 2002 www.neoreader.com. 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YOU’LL FIND ONE Otherwise known as the Ontario workforce: the G7’s most educated. 61% are post-secondary graduates. But brainpower is not Ontario’s only advantage: Ontario’s economic hub, Toronto, is the third largest fi nancial center in North America. And Ontario’s low combined federal/provincial corporate income tax rate – lower then the U.S. federal/state average – helps create a cost-effective business environment. All of which make Ontario an ideal business location. That’s why the world works here. investinontario.com/talent Paid for by the Government of Ontario.