More new technologies:

Stefan Lovgren
for National Geographic News

January 14, 2005

Scientists have invented a plastic solar cell that can turn the sun's power into electrical energy, even on a cloudy day.

The plastic material uses nanotechnology and contains the first solar cells able to harness the sun's invisible, infrared rays. The breakthrough has led theorists to predict that plastic solar cells could one day become five times more efficient than current solar cell technology.

There's more here.
I neglected to put the link to this article up so here it is now. This article concerns solar films:

Green Tech Nanosolar Powersheet The New Dawn of Solar

Imagine a solar panel without the panel. Just a coating, thin as a layer of paint, that takes light and converts it to electricity. From there, you can picture roof shingles with solar cells built inside and window coatings that seem to suck power from the air. Consider solar-powered buildings stretching not just across sunny Southern California, but through China and India and Kenya as well, because even in those countries, going solar will be cheaper than burning coal. That’s the promise of thin-film solar cells: solar power that’s ubiquitous because it’s cheap. The basic technology has been around for decades, but this year, Silicon Valley–based Nanosolar created the manufacturing technology that could make that promise a reality.


The rest is here. There's an animation here.

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More great technology! A nuclear battery ten times more efficient than old designs.

Nuclear Battery Efficiency Raised

Advanced Battery Technology, Jul 2005

Scientists in the U.S. claim to have increased efficiency on batteries based on nuclear sources tenfold. University of Rochester researchers raised the efficiency by increasing the surface area of the silicon detector.

See the rest here.

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I just saw Amazon's new Kindle. I'm really impressed. I want one! Of course at nearly $400 I'm not getting one any time soon. Click on the picture for an informational video. This thing will hold over 200 books! It connects to Amazon wirelessly not with WiFi, but with the cell network. Books are about $10 each.


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