Despite this nation’s rise as a technology titan with some of the best engineering minds in the world, its full economic potential is stifled by potholed roads, collapsing bridges, rickety railroads and a power grid so unreliable that many modern office buildings run their own diesel generators to make sure the lights and computers stay on. It is not for want of money. The Indian government aims to spend $500 billion on infrastructure by 2012 and twice that amount in the following five years. The problem is a dearth of engineers — or at least of civil engineers with the skill and expertise to make sure those ambitious projects are done on time and to specification. Civil engineering was once an elite occupation in India, not only during the British colonial era of carving roads and laying train tracks, but long after independence as part of the civil service. These days, though, India’s best and brightest know there is more money and prestige in writing software for foreign customers than in building roads for their nation. Read more at www.nytimes.com

See more at www.economist.com

See more at www.economist.com

the OBJECTIVE Create a doodle that tells your story of a day with a bicycle.

the ASSIGNMENT The doodle can be as broad or as specific as you wish. Did you go somewhere unexpected? Did you feel lost? Did you save money? Did the experience bring up any interesting thoughts or observations? A day with a bike can certainly mean different things to different people. We’ll leave that to you.

the REQUIREMENTS Send us an e-mail at projects[at]goodinc[dot]com with your doodle and the subject line “September DOODLE.” It can be in any image format, but ideally it should be high enough resolution that it can be printed at 300 dpi. We prefer images that are taller versus wider (the above was a 6:8 ratio). There are numerous methods for creating visual notes whether through digital means (tablets, digital sketchpads, etc.) or tangible methods such as using a Moleskine. Regardless of your choice, please ensure the images are as clean as possible. Feel free to include a brief summary of your illustration. We’ll take submissions now through September 12th. Read more at www.good.is

The Road Popper is a bike-mounted bottle opener that we developed for our own use and decided afterward to share. We designed it to fasten discreetly to the rails on the underside of the saddle to help keep your bike looking crisp. So far, it’s worked on all the bottle caps we’ve tried it on. Material options are bronze infused stainless steel. Finish options are plain (on the right in the photograph), matte gold, glossy gold, matte antique bronze, and glossy antique bronze. The Road Popper is not intended for alcoholic beverages. Chromoly does not condone cycling while under the influence of alcohol. Read more at www.shapeways.com

BOSTON — Scientists are releasing gases and fluorescent particles into Boston’s subway tunnels on Friday to study how toxic chemicals and lethal biological agents could spread through the nation’s oldest subway system in a terrorist attack.

It’s part of a weeklong study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to figure out ways to quickly minimize the impact of an airborne assault on the nation’s 15 subway systems and protect the nation’s infrastructure. U.S. subway systems include 810 miles of track in tunnels and accounted for about 3.45 billion trips taken last year, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

The scientists are monitoring concentration of the gases — which are invisible to the naked eye and nontoxic — and particles as they move throughout the system and then up into the streets above, pushed by turbulence created by trains thundering through the tunnels. Researchers use electronic devices to take air samples at more than 20 Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority stations and in subway cars.

Test results will be used to craft ways to quickly detect an attack so authorities can shut down subways to limit the spread of contaminants.

Federal officials say similar tests were conducted in 2008 in the Washington, D.C., area, serving as an excellent contrast to the Boston study. The Massachusetts subway system, which opened its first tunnels in 1897, is poorly ventilated, while Washington’s is relatively modern and well-ventilated, DHS officials said. Read more at www.google.com

At 9.3 million barrels a day, US gasoline deliveries (a measure of demand) fell slightly (0.03%)in July 2010 compared with July 2009, continuing weak deliveries for the first half of the year, according to figures from the American Petroleum Institute (API). Except for 2008, it was the lowest July gasoline demand number since 2003.

Total petroleum demand, on the other hand, rose 3.8% in July over a year ago. This includes a strong 11.6% increase for deliveries of low sulfur distillates, which are primarily diesel fuels used in trucking, and a 6.9% increase in kerosine jet fuel deliveries. Read more at www.greencarcongress.com

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Most research on renewable energy has focused on replacing the electricity that now comes from burning coal and natural gas. But the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the reliance on Middle East imports and the threat of global warming are reminders that oil is also a pressing worry. A lot of problems could be solved with a renewable replacement for oil-based gasoline and diesel in the fuel tank — either a new liquid fuel or a much better battery.

Yet, success in this field is so hard to reliably predict that research has been limited, and even venture capitalists tread lightly. Now the federal government is plunging in, in what the energy secretary, Steven Chu, calls the hunt for miracles.

The work is part of the mission of the new Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy, which is intended to finance high-risk, high-reward projects. It can be compared to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, part of the Pentagon, which spread seed money for projects and incubated a variety of useful technologies, including the Internet.

The goal of this agency, whose budget is $400 million for two years, is to realize profound results — such as tens of millions of motor vehicles that would run 300 miles a day on electricity from clean sources or on liquid fuels from trees and garbage. Read more at www.nytimes.com

Do you recognize the symbol here? It lights up in your instrument panel and looks like a U-shaped pictograph with treads and an exclamation point in the middle.

If you guessed a low tire-pressure warning, you are right. If you didn’t recognize the symbol, that’s also understandable because one out of three drivers do not, according to Schrader, a company that makes tire pressure monitoring systems.

The warning for the TPMS lights up when one or more of your vehicle’s tires is 25% below the manufacturer’s recommended pressure. The system is now required on all vehicles starting with the 2008 model year.Read more at autos.yahoo.com

SEATTLE –  A former supervisor for the federal Transportation Security Administration has pleaded guilty to stealing $20,000 worth of jewelry and other items from checked luggage at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Pepper was fired in July 2009 after another TSA worker saw him removing items from checked luggage. Surveillance video confirmed it, and investigators discovered Pepper had pawned the items. Prosecutors say they included gold diamond rings and sterling silver necklaces and earrings. Read more at www.foxnews.com