Researchers boost solar energy by tapping infrared light

Sounds very promising, if they can overcome their two main hurdles:

http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/28/solar-energy-from-infrared-light/

and

http://ucrtoday.ucr.edu/30606

SolarCity launches plan to bring solar power to small and midsize firms

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-solarcity-20150728-story.html

Solar technology could give consumers the power to get off the grid

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/20150725-solar-technology-could-give-consumers-the-power-to-get-off-the-grid.ece

Super-elastic conducting fibers for artificial muscles, sensors, capacitors

http://www.utdallas.edu/news/2015/7/23-31627_Scientists-Stretch-Electrically-Conducting-Fibers-_story-wide.html?WT.mc_id=NewsHomePageCenterColumn

The Windows PC That's Smaller Than a Snickers Bar

I'm going to have to get myself one of these:

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/intel-compute-stick-a-full-windows-pc-smaller-124848163919.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

Genome editing technologies poised to revolutionize medicine and industry

http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-crispr-craze-genome-editing-technologies-poised-to-revolutionize-medicine-and-industry?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d93d2f698b-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-d93d2f698b-281903081

New computer program first to recognise sketches more accurately than a human

http://www.qmul.ac.uk/media/news/items/se/159633.html

Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking Announce $100 Million Breakthrough Initiatives to Dramatically Accelerate Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/yuri-milner-and-stephen-hawking-announce-100-million-breakthrough-initiatives-to-dramatically-accelerate-search-for-intelligent-life-in-the-universe-300115403.html

Can Elon Musk's battery really cut your power lines?

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2918235/sustainable-it/can-elon-musks-battery-really-cut-your-power-lines.html

Renewable energy boom will mean vastly cheaper electricity

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2947870/sustainable-it/renewable-energy-boom-will-mean-vastly-cheaper-electricity.html

Scale Model WWII Craft Takes Flight With Fuel From the Sea Concept

https://m.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/08/1290380/-Navy-lab-makes-gasoline-from-seawater-as-low-as-3-per-gallon?detail=emailclassic

Porn industry’s billion-dollar new frontier

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-the-future-of-virtual-reality-depends-on-porn-2015-07-15

A jet engine powered by lasers and nuclear explosions?

Not really appropriate for within the atmosphere, but for spaceflight...yes!

http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-jet-engine-powered-by-lasers-and-nuclear-explosions?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=6398b7c763-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-6398b7c763-281903081

And the Cheapest Electricity in America Is … Solar

Yes!

http://ecowatch.com/2015/07/15/cheapest-electricity-solar/

IBM announces first 7nm node test chips

http://www.kurzweilai.net/ibm-announces-first-7nm-node-test-chips?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=dcec9fd066-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-dcec9fd066-281903081

Wind power temporarily generates 140% of Denmark's total electricity demand

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/10/denmark-wind-windfarm-power-exceed-electricity-demand

IBM Discloses Working Version of a Much Higher-Capacity Chip

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/09/technology/ibm-announces-computer-chips-more-powerful-than-any-in-existence.html?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003&_r=1&referrer=

The Cloud Will Be the Key to Our Robotic Future

http://time.com/3951109/cloud-robotics-elements/

Researchers zero in on more than a dozen factors that can predict how fast you’re aging — and have some ideas about what makes people age more slowly

http://time.com/3946850/slow-down-aging/?xid=newsletter-brief

Omnidirectional free space wireless charging developed

http://www.kaist.ac.kr/_prog/_board/?code=ed_news&mode=V&no=37305&upr_ntt_no=37305&site_dvs_cd=en&menu_dvs_cd=060101

Engineers Give Invisibility Cloaks a Slimmer Design

http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/engineers_give_invisibility_cloaks_a_slimmer_design

Autonomous taxis could be cheaper and improve the environment, says Berkeley Lab study

http://www.kurzweilai.net/autonomous-taxis-could-be-cheaper-and-improve-the-environment-says-berkeley-lab-study?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=30f29662c7-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-30f29662c7-281903081

Woolly Mammoth Clones Closer Than Ever, Thanks to Genome Sequencing

http://www.livescience.com/51424-woolly-mammoth-genome-sequenced.html?cmpid=NL_LS_weekly_2015-07-06

Solar-energy storage cell that works at night developed

http://www.uta.edu/news/releases/2015/06/Fuqiang-Liu-solar-cell.php

Elon Musk commits $10 million to ensure artificial intelligence benefits humanity

http://futureoflife.org/misc/2015selection

New electron microscopes will capture images at subnanometer resolution

http://news.rice.edu/2015/06/29/rice-university-boots-up-powerful-microscopes-2/

Engineers more than double data transmission capacity over fiber-optic cables

http://www.kurzweilai.net/engineers-more-than-double-data-transmission-capacity-over-fiber-optic-cables?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=f0426ca9bd-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-f0426ca9bd-281903081

Autonomous cars and man's future

A nicely detailed assessment of the impact of our driverless future:

http://factor-tech.com/feature/autonomous-cars-and-mans-future-the-road-ahead/

‘Renewables Are Cheapest Energy Option’ When Fossil Fuel Subsidies Are Removed

http://ecowatch.com/2015/06/27/renewables-are-cheapest/

D-Wave Systems breaks the 1000 qubit quantum computing barrier

I have no idea if this is really groundbreaking or amazing, but it sounds like it is:

http://kurzweilai.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aad1a7eea269839c7d10845e8&id=8ffcd82815&e=b5efa4426b

A Google self-driving car cut off a rival self-driving car while driving in California

:-)

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-two-rival-self-driving-cars-have-close-call-in-california-2015-6?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003

Still was safe!

Making trucks more efficient isn't all that hard to do

http://www.wired.com/2015/06/making-trucks-efficient-isnt-actually-hard/

New manufacturing process cuts lithium-ion battery cost in half

http://www.kurzweilai.net/new-manufacturing-process-cuts-lithium-ion-battery-cost-in-half?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8db8d69024-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-8db8d69024-281903081

7 Ways These Rolling Robots With Screens Could Change Our Lives

The next step after videoconferencing:

http://time.com/3923648/rolling-robot-screen-beam/

What's next? Perhaps offices populated by android drones with full human motion capability becoming commonplace, eliminating a lot of commuting need.

Should You Put Solar Panels On Your House?

http://time.com/3933638/solar-panels-house/

Single-catalyst water splitter from Stanford produces clean-burning hydrogen 24/7

Use excess solar power to generate hydrogen during the day, and use the hydrogen for power at night:

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/june/water-splitter-catalyst-062315.html

The Way Humans Get Electricity Is About to Change Forever

According to this, we're still screwed as far as global warming is concerned. However, it doesn't take into account the potentials of nanotech:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-23/the-way-humans-get-electricity-is-about-to-change-forever?cmpid=yhoo

The story of the invention that could revolutionize batteries

A very promising-sounding process:

http://qz.com/433131/the-story-of-the-invention-that-could-revolutionize-batteries-and-maybe-american-manufacturing-as-well/

Interview with the director of "Capture the Sun" documentary on solar power

http://www.salon.com/2015/06/21/the_energy_revolution_that_has_1_percenters_shaking_in_their_boots/

First UK user receives world’s most lifelike bionic hand

They're getting more and more realistic!

http://rslsteeper.com/news/first_uk_user_receives_worlds_most_lifelike_bionic_hand

Do black holes create a hologram copy of anything that touches it?

Your physics weirdness for the day:

https://news.osu.edu/news/2015/06/16/%E2%80%8Bfuzzyhologram/

Could hemp nanosheets topple graphene for making the ideal supercapacitor?

http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2014/august/could-hemp-nanosheets-topple-graphene-for-making-the-ideal-supercapacitor.html

3D Printing Is About To Change The World Forever

Very encouraging!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ricksmith/2015/06/15/3d-printing-is-about-to-change-the-world-forever/

Elon Musk building a SolarCity plant in Buffalo, NY

Niiiiice:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-musks-biggest-challenge-yet-143000250.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

Tipping Point in Transit

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/bits/2015/06/10/tipping-point-in-transit/?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003&_r=0&referrer=

Injectable device delivers nano-view of the brain

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/06/injectable-electronics-promise-sharper-view-of-brain/

A major advance in ultra-high-speed, all-optical data transmission

http://www1.lehigh.edu/news/crossing-critical-threshold

10 Post-Human Entities Who Could Inherit The Earth

http://listverse.com/2015/06/10/10-post-human-entities-who-could-inherit-the-earth/

Residential solar installs post largest quarterly growth ever

http://www.cio.com/article/2933337/energy-efficiency/residential-solar-installs-post-largest-quarterly-growth-ever.html

Here's what it would take for the US to run on 100% renewable energy

Big tax incentives could make this move along more rapidly, as will improving technology:

http://www.vox.com/2015/6/9/8748081/us-100-percent-renewable-energy

The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Continent; Europe's Import Tariffs On Chinese Solar Cells

Arguably more suitable as a political post, but it's the argument for buying cheap solar, whatever the source, that intrigues me:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/06/07/the-lunatics-have-taken-over-the-continent-europes-import-tariffs-on-chinese-solar-cells/

Why The Military Will Drive Energy Innovation to a New Level

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/06/07/why-the-military-will-drive-energy-innovation-to-a.aspx

'Sunshine State' or not, Florida badly behind on solar power

http://news.yahoo.com/sunshine-state-not-florida-badly-behind-solar-power-153940047.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

Stanford engineers' breakthrough heralds super-efficient light-based computers

http://engineering.stanford.edu/news/stanford-engineers-breakthrough-heralds-super-efficient-light-based-computers

Korean Robot Takes Home $2M Prize in DARPA Challenge

http://news.yahoo.com/korean-robot-takes-home-2m-prize-darpa-challenge-122922371.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

Self-driving cars: Forecasts, tech timelines, and the benefits and barriers that will impact adoption

http://www.businessinsider.com/report-10-million-self-driving-cars-will-be-on-the-road-by-2020-2015-05?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=taboola&utm_campaign=taboolaMain&utm_term=dailykos&IR=T

Another promising approach to fusion power

http://news.sciencemag.org/physics/2015/06/mystery-company-blazes-trail-fusion-energy

DARPA laser research boosts airborne death rays, tiny laser scanners

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/05/darpa-laser-research-boosts-airborne-death-rays-tiny-laser-scanners/

Simple, inexpensive, unobtrusive way to make batteries last 8x longer

Rather amazing!

https://www.yahoo.com/makers/no-joke-new-2-50-gadget-makes-batteries-last-8-120545843275.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

Worldwide Apollo Plan to be launched for alternative energy development

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/apollo-plan-cheaper-green-energy-230256088.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

Fab plants are now making superfast carbon nanotube memory

Very cool, and imminent:

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2929471/emerging-technology/fab-plants-are-now-making-superfast-carbon-nanotube-memory.html

Military technology: Laser weapons get real

Enjoy the tech boner! I love that they're applying sounds from SF movies:

http://www.nature.com/news/military-technology-laser-weapons-get-real-1.17613

Robots that can adapt like animals

Watch the videos:

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v521/n7553/full/nature14422.html#videos

Can Cigarettes Beat Tesla At The Energy Storage Game?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cigarettes-beat-tesla-energy-storage-171914656.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

MIT's Robot Cheetah Now Jumps While Running, So Walls Won't Protect You

http://gizmodo.com/mits-robot-cheetah-can-now-run-and-jump-so-walls-wont-1707536079

One possible route after Moore's law expires

http://www.kurzweilai.net/one-step-closer-to-a-single-molecule-device?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2281636df2-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-2281636df2-281903081

Fly-catching robot speeds biomedical research

Hints of the speed of robot chores to come:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/fly-catching-robot-speeds-biomedical-research?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2281636df2-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-2281636df2-281903081

New technology could fundamentally change future wireless communications

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2015/may/full-duplex-transceiver.html

This Robot Learned to Make a Salad by Watching YouTube

http://time.chtah.net/a/tBVYG8QBASRffB84oq1BRdX1Pon/time5

New neuroprosthetic implant captures intent to move, not the movement directly

http://www.kurzweilai.net/robotic-arm-precisely-controlled-by-thought?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=99386eaabc-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-99386eaabc-281903081

New ‘deep learning’ technique enables robot mastery of skills via trial and error

http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2015/05/21/deep-learning-robot-masters-skills-via-trial-and-error/

It's interesting how the process is more like how a human fumbles with something than the precision we associate with robots.

A concept for a thermal space solar power satellite

Too vulnerable to terrorism and space debris, I think, but an interesting addition to the options for replacing fossil fuels:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-Lrj35HcbQ&feature=youtu.be

Scientists say they’ll soon extend life ‘well beyond 120’

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jan/11/-sp-live-forever-extend-life-calico-google-longevity

The real reason we don't yet have nuclear fusion

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-dont-we-have-nuclear-fusion-yet-2015-5

Wind turbines are huge, but they’re about to get way, way bigger

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/05/19/why-the-u-s-needs-to-build-taller-wind-turbines/

A brilliant table-shaped air conditioner that uses no electricity

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/goodbye-clunky-air-conditioner-kitchen-153406687.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

Google plans to test its new self-driving vehicle prototypes on Mt. View roads

That's just 15 minutes from here.

http://www.kurzweilai.net/google-plans-to-test-its-new-self-driving-vehicle-prototypes-on-mt-view-roads?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=3b57d96e0b-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-3b57d96e0b-281903081

New panels could have a 34% energy conversion rate

A potential big game changer!

http://fortune.com/2015/05/18/solar-power-ripasso/?xid=yahoo_fortune

7 Top Futurists Make Some Pretty Surprising Predictions About What The Next Decade Will Bring

Some interesting, some massively boring:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/12/futurists-next-10-years_n_7241210.html

Nanowires and bacteria harnessed for artificial photosynthesis

http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=6567

System designed to label visual scenes according to type turns out to detect particular objects, too

http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/visual-scenes-object-recognition-0508

The most fascinating section to me:

“Deep learning works very well, but it’s very hard to understand why it works — what is the internal representation that the network is building,” says Antonio Torralba, an associate professor of computer science and engineering at MIT and a senior author on the new paper. “It could be that the representations for scenes are parts of scenes that don’t make any sense, like corners or pieces of objects. But it could be that it’s objects: To know that something is a bedroom, you need to see the bed; to know that something is a conference room, you need to see a table and chairs. That’s what we found, that the network is really finding these objects.”

I suspect the road to full general A.I. will be littered with many such "we don't know how it's doing this" sentiments.

Scientist develops exotic ceramic that will significantly save fuel

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/stubborn-ge-scientist-creates-fuel-183941024.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

Closed Hayward dump will be transformed into solar farm

This is my neighborhood:

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Closed-Hayward-dump-will-be-transformed-into-6261855.php

Solar power is booming. But is it booming fast enough?

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy/2015/0505/Solar-power-is-booming.-But-is-it-booming-fast-enough

We can only hope that as prices drop, people will demand it faster and faster until there's simply no upside to fossil fuel plants.

Hawaii hopes to be completely powered by renewable energy by 2045

http://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2015/0512/Hawaii-hopes-to-be-completely-powered-by-renewable-energy-by-2045

Fun facts about the Tesla Model-S

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla_model_s

Google Blames Humans for Accidents Involving Its Self-Driving Cars

http://time.com/3854528/google-self-driving-cars-accidents/?xid=newsletter-brief

Over 700 thousand driverless test miles in California and Nevada, and 1.7 million total miles so far, with only 11 minor accidents, apparently all caused by human error. Not bad. Now if they can just make the price of a robot car affordable to all....

Can Elon Musk's battery really cut your power lines?

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2918235/sustainable-it/can-elon-musks-battery-really-cut-your-power-lines.html

I like the comparisons Elon gives.

This is the first road-legal big rig that can drive itself

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/6/8556791/self-driving-semi-big-rig-freightliner-inspiration-truck

MIT says solar power fields with trillions of watts of capacity are on the way

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2919134/sustainable-it/mit-says-solar-power-fields-with-trillions-of-watts-of-capacity-are-on-the-way.html

The Internet of Everything: Boring, But So Important

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-m-eger/the-internet-of-everything-boring-but-so-important_b_7193622.html?utm_hp_ref=technology&ir=Technology

Why Tesla’s announcement is such a big deal: The coming revolution in energy storage

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/04/30/why-teslas-announcement-could-be-such-a-big-deal/

Another approach to curing Alzheimer's

http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-04-30/do-we-all-have-alzhemers-completely-wrong-man-says-yes

Quantum Computers Will Make Your Laptop Look Like an Abacus

http://www.newsweek.com/quantum-computers-will-make-your-laptop-look-abacus-327676

Today’s billionaires believe they can defy death through technology

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2015/04/04/tech-titans-latest-project-defy-death/

Genetic breakthrough may halt and even reverse the aging process

Game changer?

http://m.digitaljournal.com/science/genetic-breakthrough-may-halt-and-even-reverse-the-aging-process/article/432313

Scientists Achieve Critical Steps to Building First Practical Quantum Computer

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/46725.wss#release

Artificial photosynthesis could help make fuels, plastics and medicine

http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/presspacs/2015/acs-presspac-april-29-2015/artificial-photosynthesis-could-help-make-fuels-plastics-and-medicine.html?

Tesla Unveils Powerwall Battery For Homes, Powerpacks For Businesses And Cities

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/30/tesla-powerwall-battery_n_7186534.html?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003

DORA offers a realistic telepresence experience through Oculus Rift

http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/29/dora-oculus-rift-telepresence/