Technology Review: A Better Solar Collector

Here’s another screamingly cool addition to the panoply of   new solar innovations happening these days. A small  company based in Cambridge, Ma, Covalent Solar, is introducing its concept for dramatically increasing the efficiency of polysilicon photovoltaic power cells.  Specifically, their innovation places a sheet of chemically dyed glass (or plastic conceivably) over an existing PV panel. The dyed glass actually shunts a specfic wavelength of sunlight sideways..that’s right…at a 90 degree angle to the direction of travel, forcing it out the edges of the glass panel and into a PV panel waiting there. It concentrates the light and allows a much smaller PV panel to capture roughly as much as a full-sized standard PV panel. If you put this literally on top of an existin PV panel you could nearly double the efficiency of the panel alone.  Founded by researchers at MIT, Covalent Solar is a new startup and the technology is still developing, but I love the simple elegance of the idea. I can definitely see how this could work either stand alone or in conjunction with traditional PV panels.  Way effin cool.

Fuel Economy Leaders: 2008 Model Year

Rank Manufacturer/Model MPG city/highway
1 Toyota Prius (hybrid-electric) 48/45
2 Honda Civic Hybrid 40/45
3 Nissan Altima Hybrid 35/33
4 Ford Escape Hybrid FWD
Mazda Tribute Hybrid 2WD
Mercury Mariner Hybrid FWD 34/30
5 Toyota Camry Hybrid 33/34
6 Toyota Yaris (manual) 29/36
7 Toyota Yaris (automatic) 29/35
8 Ford Escape Hybrid 4WD
Mercury Mariner Hybrid 4WD
Mazda Tribute Hybrid 4WD 29/27
9 Toyota Corolla (manual) 28/37
10 Honda Fit (manual) 28/34

Full story here: Fuel Economy Leaders: 2007 Model Year | Fuel Economy | US EPA

BBC NEWS | Americas | Gore challenges US to ditch oil
Gore challenges US to ditch oil in 10 years. A Mammoth Undertaking, but one worthy of the effort.

Here’s the full text of the speech:

Ladies and gentlemen:

There are times in the history of our nation when our very way of life depends upon dispelling illusions and awakening to the challenge of a present danger. In such moments, we are called upon to move quickly and boldly to shake off complacency, throw aside old habits and rise, clear-eyed and alert, to the necessity of big changes. Those who, for whatever reason, refuse to do their part must either be persuaded to join the effort or asked to step aside. This is such a moment. The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk. And even more – if more should be required – the future of human civilization is at stake.

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Here’s an old site I recently remembered, and Lo! It’s still online.
If you’ve ever thought about trying those obscure foreign candy treats you find at small, mom and pop convenience stores or gas stations, especially if you’re near the US/Mexico border…don’t. The boys at Bad Candy have done the taste-testing for you and lived to write about it.

Cajetas, Bomvaso, Chaca Chaca, Indy Dedos, Dubbel Zout! …some of the many questionable (to an American palate anyway) treats that have been sampled, rejected and described in agonizing detail. If nothing else, the descripitions will make you laugh.

Here’s a cool idea for generating energy: Harness the power of one of Nature’s baddest mammajammas and use it to do good. Tornados: They suck, a knowledge gained firsthand by many a hapless trailer park inhabitant across the American midwest. Well, a Canadian engineer has decided to try to capitalize on cyclonic power to spin turbine engines and generate electricity. He thinks he’s found a way to basically create a tornadic vortex in a controlled environment for just such a purpose. Better yet, he figures he can do it using waste heat from existing power plants.

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I’ve been looking into the events of 9/11 for over a year now and have become more horrified with every passing day. Much of the explanation provided by officials simply doesn’t make sense given the historical record of the events on that day. More and more eyewitnesses, scientists, engineers, firemen, pilots and academics are coming forward to talk about the events of 9/11, examine the remaining evidence from the day and ask questions. Simple things like:

• Why did the WTC twin towers collapse so quickly in such a short time (~12seconds)?
• Why didn’t the U.S Airforce intercept any of the hijacked planes, even 1-2 hours after the first attack?
• Why did WTC 7, the one NOT hit by planes or seriously on fire, collapse so quickly and so neatly (~6 seconds)?
• Why did firemen and bystanders on the scene hear and feel explosions in the basements of the WTC towers?
• Why wasn’t there ANY remaining plane debris at the Pentagon crash?
• Why is the Pentagon’s initial impact damage only 1 round hole, 16′ across with no visible damage from wings, engines or vertical stabilizer? Why is there a neat hole punched out of the 3rd interior ring?

Why was all the physical debris evidence from the WTC sites destroyed within the first months after the attacks? Shouldn’t it all have been stored and pored over in minute detail by every relevant government agency? Why was no official investigation into the events of 911 begun for over 400 days? The 911 commission was given minimal money and scant time and the resulting report would seem to indicate that they were also given a directive to ignore the facts and make the story fit a prescribed theory. The 911 Commission report is widely recognized as being incomplete, shoddy and negligent in its analysis. Why is it that the FBI still has not implicated Osama Bin Laden in the attacks of 911?

One of the best 911 documentaries out there on this subject is called Loose Change. It looks into many of the questions posed above, asks many more and systematically presents the evidence that remains to us…e.g video clips of the live news coverage of the events of that day, eyewitness testimony and official reports.

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