If you’re on a cycling holiday where you spend all day in the saddle, there’s nothing like getting back to your accommodation and flopping down in front of the TV for a well deserved rest. But for guests at one UK bed and breakfast, it really is nothing like that … because Cottage Lodge in Brockenhurst has installed a bicycle-powered television in one of its rooms.

Guests at the retreat in the New Forest National Park have the option of pedaling away to generate the electricity needed to power the LCD TV on their … Read More → "Eco-minded hotel installs bicycle-powered television"

A remarkably well-preserved fighter plane that crashed in the Sahara Desert during World War II has been found 70 years later, shedding new light on the pilot’s struggle to survive.

The American-made Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk was discovered by a Polish oil worker, Jakub Perka, who was exploring the desert in Egypt, The Telegraph newspaper reported. It was about 200 miles from the nearest … Read More → "World War II Kittyhawk fighter found in Sahara, shedding light on pilot’s fate"

A site in New Mexico, near the city of Hobbs in Lea County, has been chosen as the place to build a shiny new city with all the latest mod cons, smart tech and cool gear, but there’s not going to be anyone there to enjoy them, the Associated Press reported.

US firm Pegasus Global Holdings is constructing the billion-dollar ghost town as a research facility to allow boffins to test all manner of gizmos and gadgets, including self-flushing loos, intelligent traffic systems, smart grids and first responder tech for homeland security.

This picture shows the spot that the Opportunity Mars rover has been sitting on for the last 19 weeks doing its level best to try not to starve to death from lack of solar power. Or I guess, unlevel best, since she was stuck on that little outcropping (called Greely Haven) to keep her solar panels oriented more directly at the sun. But now, the sun is high enough in … Read More → "Opportunity Rover fires up engines, starts another year exploring Mars"

A detailed description of development of the first practical artificial leaf — a milestone in the drive for sustainable energy that mimics the process, photosynthesis, that green plants use to convert water and sunlight into energy — appears in the ACS journal Accounts of Chemical Research. The article notes that unlike earlier devices, which used costly ingredients, the new device is made from inexpensive materials and employs low-cost engineering and … Read More → "First practical artificial leaf produces hydrogen fuel from sunlight and water"

Light is the fastest known phenomenon in the universe, capable of traveling at 186,282 miles per second.

The lighting business, by contrast, is one of the slowest industries in the world.

Think about it for a moment. Consumers and businesses around the world spend over $100 billion on light bulbs and fixtures annually, and over $600 billion on electricity to power them.

Yet the lion’s share of that money gets thrown out the window. The incandescent bulb, still the most popular bulb with consumers in the U.S., typically only uses 10 percent … Read More → "Let there be intelligent light: the case for LEDs"

One of Europe’s main contributions to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is built and ready to ship to the US.

The Mid-Infrared Instrument (Miri) will gather key data as the $9bn (£5.5bn) observatory seeks to identify the first starlight in the Universe.

The results of testing conducted at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK … Read More → "James Webb telescope’s ‘first light’ instrument ready to ship"

Imagine a community that gathered one thousand of the boldest, brightest, and most talented tech entrepreneurs from around the world. Now imagine that this community was a part of Silicon Valley, the best place to scale a high-tech company… Well, that dream is becoming a reality.

More information here

Lenses are a part of everyday life—they help us focus words on a page, the light from stars, and the tiniest details of microorganisms. But making a lens for highly energetic light known as gamma rays had been thought impossible. Now, physicists have created such a lens, and they believe it will open up a new field of gamma-ray optics for medical imaging, detecting illicit nuclear material, and getting rid … Read More → "Physicists succeed in making ‘impossible’ gamma-ray lens"

If you haven’t seen these, check ’em out. They’re incredible.

Based in Nantes, France, the street theatre company Royal de Luxe performs around the world, primarily using gigantic, elaborate marionettes to tell stories that take place over several days and wind through entire cities. Puppeteers maneuver the huge marionettes — some as tall as 12 meters (40 ft) — through streets, parks, and waterways, performing their story along the way. Gathered here are images … Read More → "The giant marionettes of Royal de Luxe"