Thankfully Bertrand Piccard, who flew the Breitling Orbiter hot air balloon around the world in 1999, isn’t mad.  In fact, this idea may just fly.

In 2003 he and the Solar Impulse Foundation announced their intention to fly a Solar Powered Plane around the world.  In 2007, they started to build it.

Now the plane has taken it’s first small, but confident, steps.

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Thin-film solar is being used in a variety of new applications, from solar roof shingles to solar tiles (like clay tiles) to solar panels glued right onto the roof. Its flexibility in use is one major benefit of this technology.

Lower cost is the number one factor responsible for its anticipated growth, but there are trade-offs as well.

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If a picture is worth a thousand words, this series of photo tours is going to be worth about a hundred thousand.

You have probably heard before that the cities on this list are great bicycle cities, but the following photo tours will give you a better and more entertaining visual explanation of why they are considered to be so great.

From public art to art on bikes, seas of bicycles to bicycles that could carry a swimming pool, high heels to naked bicyclists, check out these upcoming photo tours of some of the world’s greatest bicycle cities.

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This is what was implied by the Obama-Biden Presidential Campaign.  Too bad that many of President Obama’s team of advisers, initially touted for its wealth of experience and qualifications, have come under the radar for this very “unamerican” activity. Nancy Killefer nominated for chief performance officer,  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and health czar-designee Tom Daschle are all examples.

In the Vice-Presidential debates, Jo Biden had also hinted that Americans with money abroad were “unamerican.” What he implied was not merely the fact that they had money abroad but that it was stored in undeclared bank accounts and that they did not pay tax on interest earnings.

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Swiss company BKW has revealed that it plans to launch a 20-30 meter long solar-powered submarine. The vessel, to be used as a tourist attraction, will feature a huge ‘living-room’ style passenger area, as well as 60-70cm viewing portholes.

Under the plan, called Project Goldfish, a team of engineers will build a submarine, capable of carrying 20-30 passengers and two crew, at a depth of up to 300 meters across Lake Thun. Since it operates underwater, the team has figured that it’s pointless to attach solar panels on the sub itself. Instead, the vessel will fully recharge at a floating solar platform on the surface of the lake, decked out with 300m2 of solar collectors capable of supplying up to 30kW of renewable energy.

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Professor Hansjürg Leibundgut, a professor at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, has just been given permission to begin construction of a model apartment block that will make use of new CO2-free technologies. According to Leibundgut, the apartments contain heating, cooling, and solar energy systems that have never before been seen in private homes.

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FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp, broke ground on its first - and largest - international solar energy facility on Monday. The facility near the Cologne, Germany airport will house over 16,000 square meters of solar panels.

The new solar panel installation is slated for completion by 2010; a 1.4-megawatt (MW) solar power system that will generate 1.3 GWhs of electricity/year. That is equivalent to the annual consumption of 370 homes!

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This discovery, coupled with initiatives to develop alternative energy projects, such a brand new biogas factory, will put Cuba on the fast track to achieving energy independence.

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A law protecting the dignity of plants?  Laugh if you will.  I’m down on my knees in respect and awe.  At last the Western World is realizing the dire importance of taking other species into account.

Recently, the Swiss Parliament asked a panel of philosophers, lawyers, geneticists and theologians to determine the meaning of dignity when it pertains to plants.

Lo and Behold, the team published a treatise on “the moral consideration of plants for their own sake.” The treatise established that vegetation has innate value and that it is morally wrong to partake in activities such as the “decapitation of wildflowers at the roadside without rational reason.”

Over a decade ago, an amendment was added to the Swiss constitution in order to defend the dignity of all creatures — including vegetation — against unwanted repercussions of genetic engineering. The amendment was turned into law and is known as the Gene Technology Act. However the law itself didn’t say anything specific about plants, until recently, when the law was amended to include them.

The obvious question at hand:  how does this new ruling affect the production of genetically modified organisms?

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During a recent sea expedition the team successfully used the bacteria, which contains a protein that glows blue when viewed though a simple light-detecting device, to detect oil.

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I don’t know if this is truly a step forward in clean car technology, or just something for James Bond and Aquaman fans, but Swiss car maker Rinspeed will debut the sQuba, a fully submersible electric car, at next month’s Geneva Auto Show.

Beautiful Off-Road Bike Paths & Great Bicycle Signage

Image Credit 1: knallaerbse via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: freddy via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: nchenga via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Arts & Crafts Bikes

Image Credit 1: Jope 1978 via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: missdarling via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: alicetiara via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Great Bike Parking of All Sorts

To a secure bike center under the train station with attendants where you can also buy or rent a bike, visit a full-service bike shop, go to one of several available cafes, or get bikes maps and information:

Image Credit 1: Julikeishon en Basel via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Climens via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: kbrookes via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: Márcio Cabral de Moura via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 5: acezz3000 via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 6: kbrookes via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 7: freddy via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Weather-Protected, Artistic Bike Seats

Image Credit: JackVinson via flickr under a Creative Commons license