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Solar lightbulb to shine on developing world

Here's a bright idea for the planet. A Hong Kong-based company has introduced what it bills as the world's only solar-powered lightbulb with the hope of reaching millions of people with little or no access to electricity.

The Nokero N100 solar LED lightbulb is meant to replace kerosene lamps as a lighting source in the developing world. The company says 1.6 billion people still lack sufficient access to electricity, and many burn fossil fuels for light, which can be dangerous and expensive.

The N100 solar bulb is about the size of a standard incandescent bulb and has … Read more

Football pool editor

NFL Office Pool offers a way to manage a pick 'em style football pool. While the program looks basic enough to operate, the manual input required will make users seek out simpler solutions online.

Initially, we were pleased to find that this program's interface looked simple and easy to manage. However, after looking closer at some of the functions, we needed to consult the tutorials in the Help file. The program sets up betting leagues for College, CFL, and even NFL Europe games, but an NFL pool was easiest. This was because the NFL's 2009 schedule was fully … Read more

BOL 1064: Urine in the sky with diamonds

That beautiful silvery comet you saw in the sky recently was actually astronaut urine. No joke. We also avoid talking about pee for most of the show. Bing is still on the rise and Facebook is making money. Wow. Things are looking up all over. Just be careful when you look up. There's astronaut pee up there.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1064

Facebook grows and makes money http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8258117.stm

Bing grabs 10 percent of search market http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10354394-75.html… Read more

Are ESL bulbs better than CFL or LED?

A novel design for energy-efficient lightbulbs can produce incandescent-quality light and does not contain mercury like compact fluorescents (CFLs), according to manufacturer Vu1.

The Seattle-based firm has been working on an alternative to CFLs and LED lights for five years and just rolled out a demo video, below.

Vu1's Electron Stimulated Luminescence (ESL) lights can last up to 6,000 hours, about three to four times the lifespan of incandescents and comparable to CFLs. They produce 50 percent less heat than incandescents.

The ESL bulbs contain an electron source that fires electrons at a proprietary luminescent phosphor, which then … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 949: Leonard Nimoy melts your pants

There is a lot about pants in today's episode. I mean, the French Parliament killed the Net piracy bill, Conficker started adding a key logger, and the AP does more stupid stuff. But really, it's all about pants. The new "Star Trek" movie was shown to a surprised group of Austin fans. Apparently, it melted one man's pants, it was so good. And there are also some robotic pants in today's show. But, the show is far from pants in the British sense. Just listen.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 949

French … Read more

Can we actually reduce energy usage without hurting GDP?

I was thinking today, in cleantech we often talk a lot about energy efficiency. Californians often cite that this state has grown its economy for the last 20 years without a significant increase in energy usage per capita, compared to the rest of the country, where GDP per capita goes up, and energy usage goes up just as much. But of course, California has lost much of its manufacturing sector over that same 20 year period, too. Perhaps no coincidence?

But if we wanted to actually do it, where could we actually save energy without impacting GDP growth, make a … Read more

LED light fixture company gets $16.5 million

North Carolina's LED Lighting Fixtures has received a $16.5 million injection as the push to bring light-emitting diodes to the home gains momentum.

The company makes light fixtures for commercial buildings and homes around LEDs. LEDs consume far less energy than incandescent bulbs--LED Lighting Fixtures, for instance, sells a lighting unit, the LR6, that puts out 650 lumens but only consumes 12 watts. One or more LEDs can be combined into a single light fixture as well.

Individual LEDs are beginning to challenge compact florescent bulbs in lumens per watt. LEDs also last longer--some go as long as … Read more

Concocting a recipe for the LED

Think of Intematix as a paint store for the energy market.

The company has come up with a way to quickly devise formulas for phosphors for light emitting diodes. Phosphors are essentially a coating for LED lights: put the right kind of phosphor over a blue LED and you get white light. The LED can then be put into a bulb or a lamp to light a room.

The problem is that blue LEDs, which get produced in massive numbers at chip factories, aren't uniform, according to Dave Epstein, a partner at Crosslink Capital and an investor in Intematix. … Read more

Let there be lightbulb recycling

So you've popped new, corkscrew-shaped, compact fluorescent lightbulbs into every lamp at home. Fingers crossed, your next electrical bill will shrink now that those wasteful incandescent lights are gone.

Millions more people may soon follow in your footsteps. A California lawmaker wants the state to ban the sale of energy-wasting incandescents altogether, as Australia is doing. Meanwhile, campaigns such as Yahoo's 18 Seconds promote switching to CFL bulbs, which are getting more shelf space in Wal-Mart stores.

However, the funny-looking fluorescents pose a pollution problem. Their energy savings may be ecofriendly, but each bulb contains enough methylmercury to … Read more