Living in America, it may feel like it’s nearly impossible to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, but even our car-obsessed society doesn’t have it as bad as island-dwellers.
Traditional streetlights spend all day doing nothing. Not until the sun begins to set, does a preset timer cause their inefficient bulbs to flicker on, illuminating the ground below until morning.
If you’ve never been on a sailboat, it might seem like the ultimate form of leisurely transportation: nothing but the waves, sunshine, and ocean breezes to speed you along your journey.
Solar-powered microelectronics? Not unusual. But a solar-powered microchip with no battery - that is to say, a chip with the solar cell integrated into it and running directly off available light - now that's a breakthrough.
Indian school-children are testing a solar-powered tablet PC being developed by Rice University and Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
