Month: December 2015

If this actually turns out to be true solar power will be the cheapest power source in the world.

Originally shared by John Poteet

If this actually turns out to be true solar power will be the cheapest power source in the world. What a christmas gift. 

“A simple economic analysis shows that the proposed battery-to-solar-cell procedure could have a substantial impact. Assuming that the perovskite thin film is just half a micrometer thick, the researchers calculate that a single lead-acid car battery could supply enough lead for the fabrication of more than 700 square meters of perovskite solar cells. If the cells achieve 15 percent efficiency (a conservative assumption today), those solar cells would together provide enough electricity to power about 14 households in Cambridge, Massachusetts, or about 30 households in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada. Powering the whole United States would take about 12.2 million recycled car batteries, fabricated into 8,634 square kilometers of perovskite solar panels operating under conditions similar to those in Nevada.”

http://news.mit.edu/2015/solar-energy-discarded-car-batteries-1222

see the video here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP9HmTrUms0

h/t Keith Wilson 

http://news.mit.edu/2015/solar-energy-discarded-car-batteries-1222

A recently released report from the U.

A recently released report from the U.S. Census Bureau revealed that female CEOs in America make a paltry 258 times what their average employee makes, while male CEOs make an average of 331 times more than theirs. That’s a pay gap of nearly 23 percent, which in dollar value—per median salary of U.S. CEOs—translates to an average disparity of $2.57 million, or enough to buy approximately 12 Aston Martins.

https://t.co/FfReF8MJZH

OK I held off posting this one for a few days but it makes some interesting observations about the changing…

OK I held off posting this one for a few days but it makes some interesting observations about the changing political themes depicted in Star Wars and how they relate to the changes in our own society (as channelled by George Lucas) since 1977. Who the hell are the Jedis and how do they relate to democratic society? How have attitudes changed about equality and the exercise of political power? This article was written before the new movies came out.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/dec/17/why-star-wars-is-a-political-force-to-be-reckoned-with