Solar With Batteries to Hit $1 Billion in U.S. by 2018

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-18/solar-paired-with-batteries-to-reach-1-billion-in-u-s-by-2018.html?cmpid=yhoo

Multiferroic heroics put instant-on computing in sight

http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/12/multiferroic-heroics-put-instant-computing-sight

In one aspect of vision, computers catch up to primate brain

http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/computer-neural-networks-identify-objects-like-primate-brain-1218

Could ibuprofen be an anti-aging medicine?

http://www.buckinstitute.org/buck-news/could-ibuprofen-be-an-anti-aging-medicine

Minnesota could supply more than 50 percent of its power needs through renewable energy by 2030

http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2014/12/18/report-sees-bright-future-for-renewable-energy-in-minnesota/

More on the Skype language translator (with video)

http://www.wired.com/2014/12/skype-used-ai-build-amazing-new-language-translator/

Evidence Of Life On Mars?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/16/life-on-mars_n_6337610.html

How Scientists Are Building Tiny Microscopic Motors

https://screen.yahoo.com/scientists-building-tiny-microscopic-motors-140000866.html

Graphene can be made magnetic

http://gizmodo.com/a-little-lead-can-make-graphene-magnetic-1671641756

AT&T made predictions in 1994 that have come true

http://news.yahoo.com/live-future-t-imagined-1994-161500780.html

I'm especially amused by the claim that voice translation is "still clearly in the future"...on the same day Skype becomes available to do exactly that. :-)

Skype now allows real-time voice translation into another language

Another step in the loss of translation jobs:

http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/15/7393665/skype-translator-features

A.I. learns to identify images

http://www.wired.com/2014/12/deep-learning-renormalization/

Engineers have doubled the efficiency of a prominent solar cell technology

http://phys.org/news/2014-12-persistent-solar-cell-issue.html

Blu-Ray Disc Can be Used to Improve Solar Cell Performance

http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2014/11/blu-ray-disc-can-be-used-to-improve-solar-cell-performance.html

U.S. Solar Jumps 41% With Home Systems Surpassing 300 Megawatts

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-12-09/u-dot-s-dot-solar-jumps-41-percent-with-home-systems-surpassing-300-megawatts

Why Solar Panels Are Going on the Country's Biggest Rooftops

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/12/10/why-solar-panels-are-going-on-the-biggest-roofs-in.aspx

Quantum Teleportation Reaches Farthest Distance Yet

http://www.livescience.com/49028-farthest-quantum-teleportation.html?cmpid=558756

Alternate energies causing gradual death spiral for utilities

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2014/12/08/report-energy-efficiency-could-cost-u-s-utilities-48-billion/

New drug can heal spinal cord injuries

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-30254698

Australian researchers achieve 40% solar efficiency

http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-technology/unsw-researchers-set-world-record-solar-energy-efficiency

Robotic-leg prosthetic allows amputees to walk normally

http://www.kurzweilai.net/robotic-leg-prosthetic-allows-amputees-to-walk-normally?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b7e5a5230c-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-b7e5a5230c-281903081

Stephen Hawking voices concerns about artificial intelligence

http://www.livescience.com/48972-stephen-hawking-artificial-intelligence-threat.html?cmpid=558754

Levitating magnetic gear system results in zero wear and friction

http://portal.uc3m.es/portal/page/portal/actualidad_cientifica/noticias/magdrive_levitating

Solar Power’s Stunning Growth: U.S. Generation up 100 Percent This Year

http://breakingenergy.com/2014/12/01/solar-powers-stunning-growth-u-s-generation-up-100-percent-this-year/

Why battery technology hasn't improved much in decades

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/its-2014-why-is-my-battery-stuck-in-the-90s-104166984299.html

The Cheetah robot runs and maneuvers on batteries alone

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/mit-engineers-high-hopes-cheetah-robot-060838533.html

Will the Technological Singularity Arrive, and Will it Be a Good Thing or Bad?

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2014/11/artificial-intelligence-singularity-theory

The Uplifting Promise and Depressing Reality of Space Travel

This could be, if only we put more than a fraction of 1% of our budget into NASA:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/30/wanderers-short-film_n_6244990.html?fb_action_ids=10204015258754626&fb_action_types=og.likes

But watching this video of what the upcoming Orion is supposed to do is depressing:

http://www.universetoday.com/116785/cool-nasa-animation-beautifully-details-every-step-of-orions-first-launch/

How painfully little has changed in 50 years! It's like watching a sad remake of a classic.

Tesla's $5 billion gigafactory to power more than just cars

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/11/21/dont-overlook-the-other-reason-for-tesla-motors-in.aspx

Solar Panels that glue on to roofs could almost eliminate installation costs

http://nextbigfuture.com/2014/11/solar-panels-that-glue-on-to-roofs.html

Batteries Could Capture Low-Grade Waste Heat

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/batteries-could-capture-low-grade-waste-heat/

Using wind power to make hydrogen for "free" during excess production

http://green.autoblog.com/2014/11/14/bibendum-2014-itm-power-make-free-hydrogen/

Solar to reachy grid parity in two years

https://autos.yahoo.com/news/coming-solar-power-boom-charts-tell-story-grid-143433439.html

Twisted-light waves transmitted in air over a 3-kilometer path

http://www.kurzweilai.net/twisted-light-waves-transmitted-in-air-over-a-3-kilometer-path?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2547c5ecc1-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-2547c5ecc1-281903081

"The light can be theoretically twisted with an infinite number of turns, with each configuration acting as a single communication channel ... a number of experiments using twisted light over fiber-optic links, some showing that twisted-light can be used to transmit 2.5 terabits of data per second."

A battery made up of billions of nanoscale batteries

http://www.umdrightnow.umd.edu/news/billion-holes-can-make-battery

The global market for residential solar energy storage is expected to grow tenfold over the next five years

http://news.investors.com/technology/111214-726121-solarcity-vivint-solar-to-capitalize-on-battery-trend.htm

Magnesium To Replace Lithium-ion Batteries Soon

This sounds like a major game-changer:

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/business/magnesium-to-replace-lithium-ion-batteries-soon.html/?a=viewall

"up to 12 times the energy density of a lithium-ion battery and its charge-discharge efficiency is five times greater"

Fossil fuels with $550 billion subsidies hurt renewables

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2014/11/12/fossil-fuels-with-550-billion-subsidies-hurt-renewables/

China making a big push for solar power

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/chinas-hunger-clean-energy-leave-162034895.html

Google teaching robots martial arts

http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/11/7199179/watch-googles-robot-perform-that-scene-from-the-karate-kid

The Tricky Transition From Fossil Fuel

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/science/earth/denmark-aims-for-100-percent-renewable-energy.html?_r=0

Google's advanced technology research

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article48112.html

Novel process could let consumers 3D-print metal parts for the first time

http://www.kurzweilai.net/novel-process-could-let-consumers-3d-print-metal-parts-for-the-first-time?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=3183e33762-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-3183e33762-281903081

Dual-purpose film for energy storage, hydrogen catalysis: Chemists gain edge in next-gen energy

http://phys.org/news/2014-11-dual-purpose-energy-storage-hydrogen-catalysis.html

Nanomotor Lithography Used to Develop Nanoscale Machines

http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/news/news_releases/release.sfe?id=1591

"the team developed nanorobots, or nanomotors, that are chemically-powered, self-propelled and magnetically controlled"

Darpa Circuit Achieves Speeds Of 1 Trillion Cycles Per Second, Earns Guinness World Record

http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2014/10/28.aspx

Grid Parity to Reach 36 States in 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-29/while-you-were-getting-worked-up-over-oil-prices-this-just-happened-to-solar.html

So it it fair to say that 2016 is the tipping point?

Solar Prices Still Falling Fast, Study Finds

http://www.triplepundit.com/2014/10/solar-prices-still-falling-fast-study-finds/

GM doubles down on the Chevy Volt

https://autos.yahoo.com/news/general-motors-doubles-down-chevy-040100807.html

Are We Witnessing The End Of The Oil Era

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/gartman-were-witnessing-end-oil-221420996.html

How Vermont's largest city went 100 percent renewable electricity

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2014/1027/How-Vermont-s-largest-city-went-100-percent-renewable-electricity

Big utilities pushing into booming home solar market

http://news.yahoo.com/big-utilities-pushing-booming-home-solar-market-112015170--finance.html

Solar energy prices see double-digit declines in 2013, trend expected to continue

http://phys.org/news/2014-10-solar-energy-prices-double-digit-declines.html#jCp

Lowly DSL poised for gigabit speed boost

http://www.cnet.com/news/lowly-dsl-broadband-poised-for-gigabit-speed-boost/

Compact Fusion Reactor Will be Available in 5 Years Says Lockheed-Martin

Sounds great, but...

http://www.universetoday.com/115411/fusion-energy-always-50-years-away-now-just-5-according-to-lockheed-martin/

Brighter, New Energy-Saving Flat Panel Lights Based on Carbon Nanotubes

http://www.aip.org/publishing/journal-highlights/beyond-leds-flat-panel-lights-using-carbon-nanotubes

"Scientists from Tohoku University in Japan have developed a new type of energy-efficient flat light source based on carbon nanotubes with very low power consumption of around 0.1 Watt for every hour's operation -- about a hundred times lower than that of an LED."

Why Hawaii is at the forefront of American solar adoption

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/10/19/solar-news-watch-hawaiis-solar-dilemma-it-could-be.aspx

Why Solar Panels Are More Important Than Ever

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/10/18/why-solar-panels-are-more-important-than-ever.aspx

Soda May Age You as Much as Smoking, Study Says

One good way to not lose a few years from your lifespan:

http://time.com/3513875/soda-may-age-you-as-much-as-smoking/?xid=newsletter-brief

New Electric Drive System Saves Space

http://phys.org/news/2014-10-space-weight-electric-cars.html

Peak Oil Demand is Almost Here, Already is for the Developed World

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/10/16/peak-oil-is-coming-and-why-you-should-love-it.aspx

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/