Quick and Fun Science Project

Homopolar Motor - Funny video clips are a click away

What Happens When Bees Invade? Fireballs!

Pretty cool photo montage of a guy who took matters into his own hands when his swingset was overrun by bees....
The picture set is HERE...

1/2 Price Solar Energy by 2009.. Thank You

A new mechanism for focusing light on small areas of photovoltaic material could make solar power in residential and commercial applications cheaper than electricity from the grid in most markets in the next few years. Initial systems, which can be made at half the cost of conventional solar panels, are set to start shipping later this year, says Brad Hines, CTO and founder of Soliant Energy, a startup based in Pasadena, CA, that has developed the new modules.

Concentrating sunlight with mirrors or lenses on a small area cuts the costs of solar power in part by reducing the amount of expensive photovoltaic material needed. But while concentrated solar photovoltaic systems are attractive for large-scale, ground-based solar farms for utilities, conventional designs are difficult to mount on rooftops, where most residential and commercial customers have space for solar panels. The systems are typically large and heavy, and they're mounted on posts so that they can move to track the sun, which makes them more vulnerable to gusts of wind than ordinary flat solar panels are.

Soliant has designed a solar concentrator that tracks the sun throughout the day but is lighter and not pole-mounted. The system fits in a rectangular frame and is mounted to the roof with the same hardware that's used for conventional flat solar panels. Yet the devices will likely cost half as much as a conventional solar panel, says Hines. A second-generation design, which concentrates light more and uses better photovoltaics, could cost a quarter as much. He says that a more advanced design should be ready by 2010.

The Soliant design combines both lenses and mirrors to create a more compact system. Each module is made of rows of aluminum troughs, each about the width and depth of a gutter. These troughs are mounted inside a rectangular frame and can tilt in unison from side to side to follow the sun. Each trough is enclosed on top with a clear acrylic lid. Inside each trough, a strip of silicon photovoltaic material runs along the bottom. As light enters, some of it reflects off the inside surface of the trough and reaches the strip of silicon. The rest of the incoming light is focused on the strip by a lens incorporated into the acrylic lid.

Ever Driven Behind a 747?

Check out this clip...

Help Fight Alzheimers with your PC

If you leave your PC running for hours at a time unattended, either intentionally or forgetfully, ease your conscience a little by downloading FOLDING AT HOME,
a software app that waits till it sees no activity on your PC for a few minutes, then says, "Hey? Mind if I borrow your brain to run scientific calculations on enzymes and other scientific stuff, so you can avoid having your brain turn to swiss cheese in ten years?"

Metaphysics and Miniature Golf

If you are feeling like you need to explore more mysteries of the universe, you might spend a moment or two over at
WIRED's 42 Things We Don't Know


Congratulations to Steven for Quarterbacking his team of little underachievers to their first league win, 18-12. He received a medallion for MVP by the team mom. The look of joy on his face when he ran for his first touchdown of the season was worth way more than the sign-up fees and equipment costs..

In other sports news, I'll be rooting for the Bears... just Bearly ... (get it?) only because I have friends and relatives who worship them... But I have NO SYMPATHY for Michael Vick, QB of the Falcons... Neither does Saturday Night Live.


I was sent this amusing, short time-waster by my bro-in law Jan. It is a Javascript Miniature Golf Game.. I shot a 53... Can you beat me? Probably... the 18th is a beeyotch...