News for the Week (12/28/2018)

Congress Passes OPEN Government Data Act

Congress passed a bill on 21 December that makes data more accessible to the public and codifies two important principles:

1. “public information should be open by default to the public in a machine-readable format, where such publication doesn’t harm privacy or security
2. federal agencies should use evidence when they make public policy” (Link)

Image Credit: Martin Falbisoner

Researchers Develop a New Hydrogen Fuel Catalyst

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a cheaper catalyst to split water to form hydrogen fuel. This new catalyst is made of microscopic sheets of metal carbide and is assembled with gelatin, a component of Jell-O. It splits water just as efficiently as platinum – the current, best catalyst for splitting water. (Link)

Image Credit: Wiley/Xining Zang

US Passes National Quantum Initiative Act

The United States recently passed legislature which authorizes $1.2 billion for researching quantum computing. The bill establishes the National Quantum Coordination Office and an advisory committee to the White House. (Link)

Image Credit: IBM

Elon Musk on What Motivates Him

To read a CNBC article on what motivates entrepreneur, Elon Musk, click here. When asked about why alternative methods of transportation are important, he replied: “Yes. It’s very important for the future of the world. It’s very important for all life on Earth. This supersedes political parties, race, creed, religion, it doesn’t matter. If we do not solve the environment, we’re all damned,” said Elon Musk.

News for the Week is posted every Friday. Click here to read last week’s news.