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New Way Of Storing Solar Energy Discovered
Posted by Matt Hickey at 12:00 PM on August 1, 2008
Solar power has a lot of promise, but until recently there hasn't been an adequate way to store the energy the sun produces. Scientists at MIT have come up with a new fuel cell process that mimics the way plants store the sun's rays that is both efficient and inexpensive, not to mention environmentally sound. Without getting too technical, the system uses sunlight to separate water's hydrogen and oxygen atoms and then puts them back together in a fuel cell, providing energy. This means an almost limitless supply of clean energy might be just a few years away, though it's still too early to say when you'll have what you want: a solar powered laptop. [PhysOrg]
If getting a natural tan is on your summer to-do list despite all of the health warnings about sun exposure, a French company called NéoSun aims to make the process easier with their NéoSunMore lounge. Besides its futuristic look, the chair can be rotated 360-degrees with simple movements of the armrests. That means you can get a nice even tan without having to constantly move your chair to follow around the sun as it moves across the sky. There is no word on pricing or a release date for the NéoSunMore—or whether a much needed "flip" feature will be implemented in the future. [
There's nothing particularly technologically innovative about the Beam Bed, but it uses a sunburst-shaped lighting and support system to emit a glorious glow that's perfect for wooing the ladies/thwarting the monsters. As we've long been scared of both said species, we're pleased to see that the furniture market is finally catering to our insecurities with no shortage of style. Now just to find some plastic "rainburst" sheets and all of our sleeping abnormalities will be cured at last. [
If you're like me, your skin boils in the presence of anything brighter than a 40W bulb. While my self-prescribed cave dwelling generally keeps me safe from the harsh glow of the sun, this UV monitor deals with those times we're forced to go outside by tracking solar radiation levels in real time. Enter the SPF on your sunblock, and the device will calculate your safe window of remaining time in the sun. Plus, you can set a counter to alert you for when it's time to call a beach bunny over to reapply. Pro tip: set the alarm for one-minute intervals. [
Believe it or not, humanity has never fired a probe directly into the Sun. By 2015, NASA hopes to check that interstellar bucket list item with Solar Probe+ (pronounced Solar Probe plus), a heat-resistant spacecraft "designed to plunge deep into the sun's atmosphere where it can sample solar wind and magnetism first hand." At first the mission sounds like a tough break for the little probe, especially as its older cousins 
A group of super-rich Silicon Valley nerds are sick of the man keeping them down. That's why they're planning to create their own sea-based country made up of floating structures that will be similar to oil rigs, but with houses and offices rather than, you know, oil rig stuff on board. And this isn't some conceptual plan; they're looking to have their first prototype in the San Francisco Bay within two years.
STEREO, NASA's twin spacecraft mission getting a nice tan and taking tridimensional images of the Sun, has recorded a solar tsunami for the first time. The tsunami, a circular shockwave which traveled a million kilometers (621,371 miles) in just 30 minutes, is caused by a huge explosion on the star's surface. STEREO took the images thanks to its new cameras which, unlike the previous solar mission SOHO, are fast enough to capture the wave in detail, confirming the previously theoretical ultra-speedy nature of the titanic waves that travel through our home star from time to time. Wait— did I say Home Star?
Yo! You may not know it but I'm a caring kinda guy. I worry about the environment: my fist's gonna see you later if you don't too. So you guys should check out the Sola Unagi generator, made by Fuji Technologies. Weighs just 10 kilos, and even you weaklings could carry that. It's got two solar cells, and the rechargeable battery will run your laptop for up to six hours, and a mini fridge for four. Hell, you can even charge 20 mobile phones at the same time if you like. It's designed to help people in developing countries, but using it here will cut down on your power use. US$1,360 each. [
If our computers are ever going to hit speeds that'll allow us to do things like simulate the big bang, create artificial intelligence or create giant, building-sized robots to fight for our amusement, we need to move beyond wires. After all, their physical makeup is going to hit a wall at some point, so rather than just continuing to work at making 
Apple gave Sun kind of the cold shoulder, not giving them the opportunity to put Java on the iPhone for Java apps. Now that the SDK is out, Sun's decided to just take matters into their own hands and prep a Java Virtual Machine for the device that'll allow Java applets to run on it. The JVM for iPhone will be based on Java Micro Edition, allowing apps like games and enterprise applications. You know, uh, all the stuff we've been clamoring for. I guess. Well, I'm sure at least a couple of interesting programs will come out of this, right? We'll see how Apple handles Sun sneaking Java onto the iPhone this way. [
