Solar installation prices dropping

http://www.vox.com/2014/10/16/6987915/solar-power-cheaper-balance-of-systems-costs

Electric 1000+ hp motor goes 0 to 60 in under 3 seconds

http://wrightspeed.com/products/the-circuit/

Of course, my Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle goes 0-60 in about 2.6 seconds and does the quarter mile in 9.7 seconds (and can be found brand new for as little as $11,000), but it also can't carry more than two passengers....

Making electric vehicle motors lighter

http://phys.org/news/2014-10-electric-vehicle-technology-smaller-package.html

Giant Battery Unit Aims at Wind Storage Holy Grail

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-13/giant-battery-unit-aims-at-wind-storage-holy-grail-commodities.html

"Electric-car battery prices already have fallen by 50 percent since 2010 to about $500 per kilowatt hour, and “by drawing on auto-battery technology, battery makers may also be able to supply storage batteries at a lower price,” Citigroup said in a Sept. 25 report. Tesla Chairman Elon Musk said in July that battery packs for electric cars will drop to $100 in the next 10 years."

New Li-Ion Batteries Charge 70 Percent in 2 Minutes, Last for 20 Years

This one actually has strong promise of coming to fruition:

http://gizmodo.com/new-li-ion-batteries-charge-70-percent-in-2-minutes-la-1645721894

Scientists Might Have Accidentally Solved The Hardest Part Of Building Space Elevators

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/scientists-might-accidentally-solved-hardest-155000475.html

Breakthrough Replicates Human Brain Cells for Use in Alzheimer’s Research

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/13/science/researchers-replicate-alzheimers-brain-cells-in-a-petri-dish.html?_r=0

Elon Musk Just Made It Way Cheaper To Live Off Solar Power

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-just-made-way-200019467.html

Cold fusion reactor seems to have 1 million times the energy density of gasoline

We've been here before...but the third-party testing is the first step to verification that this time it's legit:

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/191754-cold-fusion-reactor-verified-by-third-party-researchers-seems-to-have-1-million-times-the-energy-density-of-gasoline

Green Energy Falters in Ohio

http://www.livescience.com/48189-green-energy-standards-frozen-in-ohio.html?cmpid=558407

Oxygen absorbing material may allow us to breathe underwater

http://www.gizmag.com/crystalline-material-absorb-oxygen-denmark/34064/

Partially driverless cars due by end of decade

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/business/technology-takes-the-wheel.html?_r=0

Germany's Solar revolution threatens fossil fuel based generation

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/10/05/1334333/-Upcoming-solar-storage-parity-in-Germany-represent-threat-to-fossil-fuel-industry?detail=email

A 12.3% efficient solar to hydrogen conversion with low-cost, earth-abundant materials

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkGAqk-TXw8

People Will Vacation to the Moon by 2024, Report Says

Probably overly ambitious, but...

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/future-travel-report-says-people-will-fly-to-moon-in-98815692472.html

Perovskite Offers Shot at Cheaper Solar Energy

http://online.wsj.com/articles/perovskite-offers-shot-at-cheaper-solar-energy-1411937799?ru=yahoo?mod=yahoo_itp

Scientists come closer to the industrial synthesis of a material harder than diamond

http://mipt.ru/en/news/harder_than_diamond_201409

Ultra-thin diamond nanothreads are strongest, stiffest materials

The best material to use in making a space elevator:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/smallest-possible-diamonds-form-ultra-thin-nanothreads?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=46b6db3250-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-46b6db3250-281903081

Ultra-fast ‘phase-change materials’ could lead to 1,000-times-faster computers

http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/quick-change-materials-break-the-silicon-speed-limit-for-computers

Japanese company plans space elevator by 2050

http://www.cnet.com/news/japanese-company-plans-space-elevator-by-2050/#ftag=YHF65cbda0

Researchers Create a Scaleable Nanosized Hydrogen Generator

http://newswise.com/articles/a-nanosized-hydrogen-generator

Scientists Discover an On/Off Switch for Aging Cells

http://newswise.com/articles/scientists-discover-an-on-off-switch-for-aging-cells

First Water-Based Nuclear Battery Developed Can Be Used to Generate Electrical Energy

Another potentially game-changing storage system:

http://munews.missouri.edu/news-releases/2014/0916-first-water-based-nuclear-battery-developed-by-mu-researcher-can-be-used-to-generate-electrical-energy/

A new impermeable form of graphene oxide could be the ultimate protective coating

http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-new-impermeable-form-of-graphene-oxide-could-be-the-ultimate-protective-coating?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=e1450f72b7-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-e1450f72b7-281903081

http://phys.org/news/2014-09-graphene-corrosion-free-future.html#nRlv

Grid Parity Here or Coming in More Than Half of U.S. States

http://blog.ucsusa.org/how-much-does-rooftop-solar-power-cost-grid-parity-633

New algorithm enables MIT cheetah robot to run and jump, untethered, across grass

http://www.kurzweilai.net/new-algorithm-enables-mit-cheetah-robot-to-run-and-jump-untethered-across-grass?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=4cc668be04-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-4cc668be04-281903081

Renewable energy creating revolution in energy creation

http://m.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/14/1329718/-NYT-renewable-energy-creating-revolution-in-energy-creation?detail=email

A soft ‘wearable robot’ exosuit to increase stamina for soldiers and civilians

Currently vaporware, but...

http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2014/09/walsh-to-advance-wearable-robot-design

Will Brownian Motion Sink the Hopes of Nanotech?

http://hplusmagazine.com/2013/11/23/going-soft-on-nanotech/

Robot learns to load a dishwasher

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29168675

New finding may considerably delay the aging process

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-09/uoc--ubd090814.php

Simplest form of long distance technological telepathy achieved

http://www.kurzweilai.net/researchers-demonstrate-direct-brain-to-brain-communication-in-human-subjects?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=67e61eaba8-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-67e61eaba8-281903081

New advance in making graphene

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-08/crystals-chemicals-and-a-crazy-idea-forget-breaking-bad-and-try-breaking-graphite.html?cmpid=yhoo

GM to launch hands-free driving

http://news.yahoo.com/gm-launch-hands-free-driving-050530248.html

The proliferation of 3D printing

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29114744

New generation of chips are half the size and 30% thinner than the previous generation

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29066210

Space Station’s Robonaut 2 Is Getting More Astronaut-Like By The Day

http://www.universetoday.com/114346/space-stations-robonaut-2-is-getting-more-astronaut-like-by-the-day/

The next steps for Watson

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/28/questions-for-ibms-watson/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

The Top 10 U.S. States for Solar Power — And What They Can Teach Us

http://www.triplepundit.com/2014/09/top-ten-states-leading-example-harnessing-solar-energy/

Robotic brain 'learns' skills from the internet

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28936436

Transparent solar cells for windows and other see-through surfaces

http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2014/solar-energy-that-doesnt-block-the-view/

NASA creates 3D printer capable of using different alloys on the same item

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/08/23/nasa-just-blasted-through-one-huge-3d-printing-tec.aspx

Soon Europe Might Not Need Any New Power Plants

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/08/24/3474972/ubs-europe-solar-batteries-evs/#

Lawmakers, Homeowners Fight Rules Saying Solar is Too Ugly to Install

http://www.nationofchange.org/lawmakers-homeowners-fight-rules-saying-solar-too-ugly-install-1408715620

Stanford scientists develop inexpensive water splitter that runs on ordinary AAA battery

Potential!

http://webmaster.stanford.edu/report_stage/news/2014/august/splitter-clean-fuel-082014.html

Major Court Ruling Clears the Way to Let Renewables Into the Grid

http://www.nationofchange.org/major-court-ruling-clears-way-let-renewables-grid-1408550263

Nicholas Negroponte: A 30-year history of the future

http://www.ted.com/talks/nicholas_negroponte_a_30_year_history_of_the_future

Nanotechnology-based next generation memory nears mass production

http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=6188

A self-organizing thousand-robot swarm

http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2014/08/self-organizing-thousand-robot-swarm

Could hemp nanosheets topple graphene for making the ideal supercapacitor?

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-08/acs-chn071614.php

Eco-friendly 'pre-fab' self-assembling nanoparticles could revolutionize nano manufacturing

http://www.kurzweilai.net/eco-friendly-pre-fab-self-assembling-nanoparticles-could-revolutionize-nano-manufacturing?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b2fe40865d-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-b2fe40865d-281903081

Your Services Are No Longer Required - The Coming "Great Idleness"

Robots and A.I. will likely eliminate most jobs over the next two decades. Marshall Brain wrote about it in 2003, I think, suggesting a universal basic income based on advertising to ensure everyone can survive joblessness:

http://marshallbrain.com/robotic-nation.htm

Here are more ideas:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/12/1321054/-Your-Services-Are-No-Longer-Required-The-Coming-Great-Idleness?detail=email

Siri’s Inventors Are Building a Radical New AI That Does Anything You Ask

http://www.wired.com/2014/08/viv/

Aquion Energy’s battery factory & the future of solar storage

http://gigaom.com/2014/07/20/behind-the-scenes-of-aquion-energys-battery-factory-the-future-of-solar-storage/

IBM Develops a New Chip That Functions Like a Brain

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/science/new-computer-chip-is-designed-to-work-like-the-brain.html

Will You Lose Your Job to a Robot?

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/07/upshot/will-you-lose-your-job-to-a-robot-silicon-valley-is-split.html?_r=0

IBM launches functioning brain-inspired chip

http://www.kurzweilai.net/ibm-launches-functioning-brain-inspired-chip?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=7650af8d8d-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-7650af8d8d-281903081

New Technology at MIT Turns Solar Heat into 85% Energy Efficient Steam

http://www.nationofchange.org/new-technology-mit-turns-solar-heat-85-energy-efficient-steam-1407417576

This Chinese company can 3D print 10 houses in a day

http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20141604-25394.html

The result looks clunky and plain right now...but imagine where the technology will be in five, ten years. It may become common practice when buying a new home to tear down the old house and build exactly what you want, rather than live with someone else's custom home.

Declining intelligence in old age linked to visual processing

This is probably why playing computer games helps keep your brain young:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-08/cp-dii073014.php

No-power Wi-Fi connectivity could fuel Internet of Things reality

http://www.washington.edu/news/2014/08/04/no-power-wi-fi-connectivity-could-fuel-internet-of-things-reality/

Suing Obama in Federal Court is Likely to Fail Miserably

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/31/1318130/-Turns-out-that-lawsuits-have-rules?detail=email

Elon Musk's Idea for a 14K mph Pneumatic Railroad Completely Open Source

http://www.nationofchange.org/wunderkind-elon-musk-pneumatic-railroad-14000-mile-hour-travel-completely-open-source-1406900207

Scientists develop a 'nanosubmarine' that delivers complementary molecules inside cells

It's too preliminary to be all that encouraging yet, but such a "nanosubmarine" is the ultimate goal for maintaining biological health:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-06/uom-sda062514.php

Maybe it can use this to maneuver:

http://www.ats.org/news/worlds-smallest-propeller-could-be-used-for-microscopic-medicine/

New concept may halve the cost of solar power costs

http://gizmodo.com/a-new-adaptive-material-could-halve-the-cost-of-solar-p-1613204859

A Colorful Tree That Grows 40 Different Types Of Fruit

This isn't really new tech, but it does suggest some cool options for the future. I would love to have a few of these trees!

http://designtaxi.com/news/367792/In-New-York-There-Is-A-Colorful-Tree-That-Grows-40-Different-Types-Of-Fruit/?interstital_shown=1

Driverless Cars to Hit Public Roads in Britain by January 2015

http://time.com/3056369/driverless-cars-to-hit-public-roads-in-britain-by-january-2015/?xid=newsletter-brief

A better test than the Turing Test

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140728005207/en/Nuance-Announces-Winograd-Schema-Challenge-Advance-Artificial#.U9klavldV8F

One good reason to like Apple products

http://www.nationofchange.org/apple-build-100-acre-solar-farm-north-carolina-1406558032

New Quantum Theory Topples Einstein's Spacetime

I'm not sure what this implies, but it is fascinating:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/splitting-time-from-space/

New way to generate steam power from the sun

http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/new-spongelike-structure-converts-solar-energy-into-steam-0721

The failed Republican economy in Kansas

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/19/1315203/-I-know-bupkis-about-economics-but-I-know-what-happened-to-Kansas?detail=email

We will have fully self-driving cars by 2020?

http://www.kurzweilai.net/wait-six-years-to-buy-your-next-car?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=6c3d2027ea-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-6c3d2027ea-281903081

This device adds extra robotic digits to our hands

http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/getting-grip-robotic-grasp-0718

Do we live in a multiverse?

http://www.kurzweilai.net/is-our-universe-a-bubble-in-the-multiverse?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8310c7f168-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-8310c7f168-281903081

The allure of solar roadways

http://www.nationofchange.org/are-solar-roadways-next-our-clean-energy-horizon-1405953466

We will need robot caregivers

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/20/opinion/sunday/the-future-of-robot-caregivers.html?_r=0

New chip-chemistry process could help extend Moore’s Law

http://www.kurzweilai.net/new-chip-chemistry-process-could-help-extend-moores-law

Biologists discover electric bacteria that eat pure electrons rather than sugar

http://mobile.extremetech.com/latest/221698-biologists-discover-electric-bacteria-that-eat-pure-electrons-rather-than-sugar-redefining-the-tenacity-of-life

Fish oil pills may prevent Alzheimer's

Gotta keep the meat brain healthy until it can be replaced with machine parts!

https://www.yahoo.com/health/fish-oil-boosts-brain-power-says-science-91965585587.html

Wind energy faltering after tax subsidies cut

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/07/17/5-graphs-about-wind-energy

Vibrations in photosynthesis may increase solar efficiency

http://www.nationofchange.org/vibrations-vegetables-energetics-process-photosynthesis-could-boost-solar-power-efficiency-140552580

New technology fits a terabyte of data on a postage stamp-sized flash drive

http://news.rice.edu/2014/07/10/rices-silicon-oxide-memories-catch-manufacturers-eye/

Boron "Buckyball" Discovered

A new material for the nanotechnology playhouse:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-07/bu-rdb071014.php

New Internet speed record blows past Google Fiber

10x faster than Google Fiber...over copper cables?

http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/10/technology/innovationnation/internet-speed-record/index.html?iid=HP_Highlight&nbd=5_things

Your skin cells have a sense of smell?

Slightly off-topic, but definitely interesting:

http://time.com/2969963/sandalwood-scent-heal-wounds/?xid=newsletter-brief

IBM investing $3 billion to extend computing beyond silicon

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/44357.wss

Rooftop solar power is making coal obsolete in Australia

http://news.yahoo.com/rooftop-solar-power-making-coal-obsolete-australia-203834801.html

Dean Kamen's Stirling engine could soon replace grid power

http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2014/07/02/dean-kamen-thinks-his-new-stirling-engine-could-power-the-world/

The potential replacement for silicon

http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/news/2014/june-17-2014.htm

Scientists criticize the Human Brain Project

Well, if they can get the research expanded, that'll be a good thing:

http://www.livescience.com/46678-scientists-criticize-human-brain-project.html

USC Scientists Create New Battery That’s Cheap, Clean, Rechargeable… and Organic

http://pressroom.usc.edu/usc-scientists-create-new-battery-thats-cheap-clean-rechargeable-and-organic/

"The batteries last for about 5,000 recharge cycles, giving them an estimated 15-year lifespan ... "Lithium ion batteries degrade after around 1,000 cycles, and cost 10 times more to manufacture."

3D-printed composite is lighter than wood and stiffer than concrete

http://www.gizmag.com/3d-printed-strong-composite/32738/

The secret to human limb and organ regeneration?

http://www.kurzweilai.net/limb-regeneration-do-salamanders-hold-the-key?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=aa5916e08b-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-aa5916e08b-281903081

Microsoft is pursuing research into quantum computers

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/24/technology/microsoft-makes-a-bet-on-quantum-computing-research.html?_r=0

Single dose reverses autism-like symptoms in mice

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-06/uoc--sdr061114.php

Elon Musk plans to build one of the single largest solar panel production plants in the world and send people in Mars in ten years

http://www.kurzweilai.net/musk-announces-plans-to-build-one-of-the-single-largest-solar-panel-production-plants-in-the-world?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=637110a742-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-637110a742-281903081

I hope all the great projects he's doing isn't because he has a small penis.

On second thought...I don't really care about the reason!

More:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-17/solarcity-to-acquire-silevo-to-become-pv-panel-manufacturer.html?cmpid=yhoo

Leukemia drug found to stimulate immunity against many cancer types

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-06/ucl-ldf061114.php

New Type Of Computer Capable Of Calculating 640TBs Of Data In One Billionth Of A Second, Could Revolutionize Computing

http://www.iflscience.com/technology/new-type-computer-capable-calculating-640tbs-data-one-billionth-second-could

"...if the technology was scaled down, smartphones could be fabricated with 100 terabytes of memory."

Damn impressive!

200 years that changed the world (with Hans Rosling)

Here's that active chart Ray Kurzweil used in his talk (posted here a few days ago):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPt8ElTQMIg