Humpback whales are impressively agile swimmers—thanks in no small part to the rows of bumps, called tubercles, on the leading edges of their flippers. Tubercles generate swirling water formations, called vortices, which help the massive mammals maintain lift and delay stall, an aerodynamic phenomenon in which the flow of fluid over the top of the flipper becomes separated from the flow underneath, causing increased drag.

Previous research has shown that adding tubercle-like bumps to wind turbine blades could make the blades better able to harvest energy, especially at low speeds. Engineers have already applied the principle to industrial fans and continue to develop whale-inspired wind turbine technology. Now, researchers at the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) have shown that adding bumps to underwater tidal turbines also improves their performance, too. In a laboratory experiment, the results of which they presented November 22 at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics, bumpy turbines produced significantly more energy at low speeds, when compared to a standard turbine with smooth-edged blades.

Raising a first-time venture capital fund is no easy feat, especially at a time when the number of firms is shrinking and limited partners are growing skeptical of the asset class.

But Roger Ehrenberg managed to do just that, holding a $50 million final close for the debut fund of his New York-based firm, IA Ventures. That total doubles the original target after a strong response from investors, which include Cendana Capital, the Investment Fund for Foundations, Horsley Bridge Partners, and individuals from the financial-services industry and venture capitalists. Fortune earlier reported news of IA Ventures’ close.

IA Ventures is among the few firms that have raised first-time funds in the past couple of years. Check out our previous list here and here.

Realistic Robotic Arm Within Reach
Lightning-fast connections between robotic limbs and the human brain may be within reach for injured soldiers and other amputees with the establishment of a multimillion-dollar research center led by Southern Methodist University (SMU) engineers. Funded by a Department of Defense initiative dedicated to audacious challenges and intense time schedules, the Neurophotonics Research Center will develop two-way fiber optic communication between prosthetic limbs and peripheral nerves.

NASA Opens Space Station for Biological Research from NIH Grants
NASA is enabling biomedical research with National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants that take advantage of the unique microgravity environment aboard the International Space Station to explore fundamental questions about important health issues.

NIH Teams with Pay.gov to Speed Tech Transfer Payments
A new payment site within Pay.gov will make it easier for companies that license inventions owned by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make their royalty payments. Royalties are typically paid upfront for biological materials and over the term of a commercial patent license. The project is led by the Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) and the Office of Financial Management at NIH.

As an angel investor who has considered hundreds of startup opportunities, the concept of a value proposition may be the most misunderstood and taken for granted element that I see in newly formed startups. While entrepreneurs freely throw around the term “value proposition,” they rarely offer a thoughtful explanation for the “value” their business is providing and, more importantly, an understanding of who their real customer is and what valuable benefit their customer perceives they are receiving.

To address this gap, I’d like to discuss a basic value proposition definition below.

The value proposition is a short statement that clearly communicates the target customer, the customer’s problem and the pain that it causes, the unique solution that addresses this problem, and the net benefit of this solution from the customer's perspective.

Let’s consider each of the four elements of the value proposition definition above:

1. The target customer. Many entrepreneurs quote a large market size and impressive dollars spent in the market, but not many entrepreneurs can name specifically who will buy the proposed product or service, and how many of these customers exist. To identify a target customer, it helps to document a customer profile statement, identifying all of the traits known about the customer and what makes them different and unique from the larger market population. Out of this exercise comes a clearer understanding of what makes them a “target” customer. It’s not uncommon that a company serves more than one target customer, leading to a customer profile for each type.

This past October I was invited by Steve Blank to speak at Stanford for their Enterprise Thought Leader (ETL) series.  The topic I chose to speak about was “lessons on starting a company” but I created the sub-title in class “a Silicon Valley heresy” since my goal was to slay many of the myths I believe exist right in the heart of Silicon Valley!

Innovation is one of the hottest topics in business these days. More and more, companies are coming out with new products and services designed to amaze their customers and get them to dig deeper into their pocketbooks. Only problem is, most of what passes for innovation these days doesn’t stand out as very new, different or compelling. As a result, most innovation efforts are lucky to pay for themselves, much less actually turn a profit.

In the US, entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers eagerly await projected growth in the energy, waste and water markets. Green startups are America's triple play: high-quality jobs, energy independence, and a cleaner environment. Politicians cite these startups as the panacea for a stalled American economy.

In the rest of the world, entrepreneurs meet the hype with a small, but collective, yawn.

For years, entrepreneurs in Israel, China, and India have dealt with scarce resources, rapidly growing cities, and hostile ecosystems. Their experiences in emerging markets hold lessons for their counterparts in the US to learn.

The New York Times ran a page one story today about how Silicon Valley appears to be in the midst of a new bubble, driven by the enthusiasm that venture capitalists and angels have for social networking and mobile apps businesses.

It cited the recent reports about how Twitter’s value has been pegged at $4 billion in its rumored round of investment. The story also pointed to the more than $5 billion valuation of Zynga, the creator of social games such as FarmVille on Facebook. And it pointed to Google’s willingness to pay $6 billion for Groupon, which was valued at $1.35 billion only eight months ago. Groupon evidently rejected the offer on Friday because it believes it is worth more.

Creativity is what we have born with; it is true, though some of us may have some trouble to stay creative (fuel it) and so to stay smart in the longer run.

When early settlers first laid eyes on the Tall Grass Prairies of Iowa they saw an agricultural potential not found anywhere else in the world. Early entrepreneurs only needed new technologies to unleash the vast potential of our rich soils and favorable weather. Blessed by abundant natural resources, our original innovators bootstrapped their technological way to prosperity.

Ironically, today's entrepreneurs find the business environment far more limiting than their abilities to invent and innovate. Non-monetary factors often are more limiting than the access to capital and the gravitational reality is that money will flow to geographies and sectors that culture innovation.

In an era where the majority of jobs are provided by small businesses, it is surely the role of government to provide enabling environments for entrepreneurs to run their dream to a conclusion. Surely it is sensible for government to replace bureaucratic barriers to progress with partnerships with the private sector to enable startups to survive the "valley of death." Surely it is in the best interest of all citizens to give new ideas a chance to become as iconic as John Deere and Pioneer.

In early 2008, following enactment of the federal Green Jobs Act of 2007, the California Employment Development Department’s Labor Market Information Division (LMID) began a study of California’s green economy, in partnership with state, local and national policy makers and researchers. There was strong interest in understanding the nature of the green economy, the number of green jobs, and the effects of environmental policy initiatives on the growth of industries in the state.

In response, LMID staff initially compiled and studied available research summarizing the assumptions and findings from more than 100 documents produced worldwide. Based on this research, LMID staff found little reliable data on the extent to which the green economy was affecting employment in California. After consulting with stakeholders, LMID decided to conduct a survey covering all segments of California’s economy in order to estimate the number of green jobs and green business practices.1    This report presents major findings from the California Green Economy Survey, focusing on green employment and green business practices.

Download the PDF

Asia soon is becoming the new driver for global economic driving engines, while USA and Europe may be challenged by their domestic economy. To fuel the economic sustainability Asia needs to fine tune its strategy capitalized on unique comparative advantages: or the other familiar terminology “National Core Competency”. Asia’s Charm, with its unique historic and heritage values are the core Asia’s intangible capitals for new economy landscape.

Thailand’s Creative Economy

While the conventional driving model will rest on physical factors like abundant & cheap labor cost, natural endowments and imported expensive state of the art technology from outsides. This typical growth model is just leading country to red ocean competition. Because every country for decade is producing and enjoying the economy of scale advantages based on the physical (or the other word tangible) economic drivers, Creative & Cultural economy becomes emerging viable factors for new Asia growth model. National Heritage & Wisdom values: religion & belief, way of life of folk, traditional healing arts, local architecture & folklore art, become the unique raw material for new value creation mode

Traditionally, business school gave young businesspeople the “chops” to get ahead in corporate America. But even though the tech startup has become an almost everyday part of modern business, B-schools are still highly focused on issues that large corporations face. And while many do now offer entrepreneurship classes, today’s smaller, more nimble, and highly iterative businesses need a place that’s specifically dedicated to their unique needs. Where’s a person with an idea to learn how to make their own job or company? Enter incubators.

Think of them as e-schools — entrepreneurship schools, to use a term from entrepreneur Steve Blank — of varying lengths and formats that help businesses launch by providing hands-on startup skills, space and mentorship (and often taking equity in return).

The next step in the evolution of mobile communications may be aimed at people who are stuck in the office, not on the move.

Mini cell-phone towers, dubbed "femtocells," can be positioned inside a building and hooked up to an Internet connection. The technology could displace wired phone systems, support mobile business devices like tablets, and enable "smart" offices that can recognize when someone shows up to work in the morning.

Some cell-phone carriers already offer femtocells to consumers with poor coverage at home. But implementing them in office buildings has been slower, because the systems need to be extremely reliable and serve larger spaces.

I recently spoke at Caltech at the Caltech / MIT Enterprise Forum on “the future of social networking,” the 30-minute video is here and the PowerPoint presentation is here on DocStoc).

What I want to answer with this post (long though it may be) is:

• Why did Web 2.0 emerge and are there any lessons to be gained about the future? [cheap accessible digital hardware]
• Why did Twitter emerge despite Facebook’s dominance? [asymmetry, real-time, curated RSS / link-sharing]
• Why did MySpace lose to Facebook & what can Twitter learn from this? [encouraging an open platform where 3rd parties can make lots of money]

Smart people only visit and buy from credible and memorable websites. In the past, if your startup had a website presence, the company was credible by definition. In today’s world, a website is necessary but not sufficient for credibility. Dreamers and gamblers have found out that if the website isn’t validated as credible, it’s probably a scam, and everyone loses.

Yet most startups I know experience the same shock of disappointment when they first open up their website to offer their “million dollar idea” product, and nobody comes. What validates credibility and makes your site memorable in the minds of consumers, and how much does it cost?

1. Put yourself on the site. People buy from people. Until the company name is a famous brand, you are the brand. No name, picture, address, or business history only convinces customers that you are hiding, located in an untrustable country, or don’t have a clue. They will exit quickly.

2. Show evidence of your expertise. Publish a daily blog, contribute to relevant social networks, and write a “white paper” on your technology. People respect people with relevant experience, so highlight your accomplishments, and the credentials you have.