By harvesting waste heat, researchers from the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have for the first time built a solar cell with an external quantum efficiency over 100 percent. The best result for the NREL solar cell was 114 percent. it means, says the team, that solar energy has a competitive future, making it possibly cheaper than energy from fossil or nuclear fuels. The researchers hit the 114 percent external quantum efficiency with a layered cell consisting of antireflection-coated glass with a thin layer of a transparent conductor, a nanostructured zinc oxide layer, a quantum dot layer of lead selenide treated with ethanedithol and hydrazine, and a thin layer of gold for the top electrode. They claim the fabrication of quantum dot solar cells lends itself to inexpensive, high-throughput roll-to-roll manufacturing. (TGDaily.com)

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A group of Queens seniors celebrated the beginning of Chanukah by getting some high-tech face time with their friends from the comfort of home. The Selfhelp Austin Street Senior Center in Forest Hills broadcast its Chanukah festivities on Tuesday to home-bound seniors using a Google+ Hangouts program. “This is my Chanukah celebration,” said Milton Greidinger, 87, of Bayside, as he watched local preschool students at the senior center sing Chanukah songs on his computer at home. “It’s amazing, the technology.” Greidinger, who can’t walk, would have spent the kickoff to the important Jewish holiday by himself if not for Selfhelp’s “virtual senior center.” The virtual center provides about 15 homebound seniors with computers and webcams and teaches them how to use the technology to connect with family, friends and social workers. They can also take part in educational programs remotely. “This gives them an outlet to participate in the outside world,” said Scott Code, Selfhelp’s director of client technology. (NYDailyNews.com)

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Last night marked the start of Chanukah (Hanukkah), the Jewish Festival of Lights. Today is the first of 8 days of celebration. A Happy Chanukah to all celebrating!!

Though epilepsy and Asperger’s syndrome sometimes get in the way when Trenton Gilstrap socializes with his high school friends, his conditions haven’t interfered with his educational dreams, CNN reports. Trenton hopes to become a biomedical engineer and was recently accepted — on a full scholarship — to the University of Pittsburgh. While Trenton is satisfied with his accomplishments, he wants to make sure that other young people, suffering with similar disabilities, have the same opportunities. So, Trenton and his mom, Tatia, launched the Hidden Inspirations Project, a nonprofit that offers scholarships to kids living with a range of disabilities. (HuffingtonPost.com)

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Why tap a trickle, if you could tap a torrent? That’s the idea behind Italian company KiteGen’s new system for harvesting strong-blowing, high-altitude winds. Their system would fly tethered kites 2,624 feet into the air where they would harness winds that are, on average, six miles per hour faster than wind harnessed by stationary turbines on the ground. The kites would attach to mechanical arms and be flown over a predetermined flight path to maximize torque while taking advantage of stronger wind.According to KiteGen’s calculations, the technology could help lower energy costs to between $0.02 and $0.05 per kilowatt hour (kWh), compared to $0.05 and $0.09 per kWh for fossil fuel and $0.15 per kWh for current wind turbines.On top of potentially being more efficient than wind turbines, the system would take up less space than conventional wind farms.(DiscoveryNews.com)

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When it’s time for band practice, students at Public School 48 in Hunts Point have to sit on the floor, since there are no chairs or music stands. “They’re basic things we don’t have,” said Principal Roxanne Cardona. “Our piano is from the 1950’s and doesn’t even work. It’s really kinda sad.” That is, until now. The Spofford Ave. elementary school was one of three grand prize winners of the “GLEE Give a Note” campaign, a national contest to fund struggling school music and arts programs. The campaign was co-sponsored by Fox TV’s popular musical show, Glee. Nearly 500 schools submitted videos in hopes of winning grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. P.S. 48 took top honors, winning $50,000. The official announcement came last Thursday. (NYDailyNews.com)

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Exposure to sunlight may help impede the spread of chickenpox, claim researchers. The University of London team found chickenpox less common in regions with high UV levels, reports the journal Virology. Sunlight may inactivate viruses on the skin, making it harder to pass on. UV light has long been known to inactivate viruses, and Dr Phil Rice, from St George’s, University of London, who led the research, believes that this holds the key why chickenpox is less common and less easily passed from person to person in tropical countries. It could also help explain why chickenpox is more common in the colder seasons in temperate countries such as the UK - as people have less exposure to sunlight, he said. (BBC.co.uk)

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http://www.projectforawesome.com/

In an effort to “decrease suck,” brothers Hank and John Green inspired YouTube-ers to flood the video-sharing site with feel-good shorts about their favorite charities and raise $64,000 in just two days. The fifth annual Project For Awesome campaign kicked off Saturday, and enabled participants to upload their homemade videos about their favorite causes, which were streamed live for 24 hours. The videos raised awareness for a range of causes, from finding a cure for cancer to buying desks for school children in Malawi. The five causes that bring in the most votes will get 20 percent of the funds that were raised. (HuffingtonPost.com)

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The National Zoo was given $4.5 million by a philanthropist on Monday to fund its giant panda program, which faces a lack of cubs produced by its two adults, the zoo said. The donation by David M. Rubenstein, founder and managing director of The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, will allow the zoo to run the program for another five years, the zoo said in a statement. Rubenstein’s “generosity will enable us and our Chinese partners to continue our conservation work to give this critically endangered species the chance to survive in its native habitat,” said John Marriott, chairman of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo Advisory Board. (Reuters.com)

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Mozilla Firefox has recruited 12 big-name celebs to compete in a one-month fundraising challenge and will grant the winner $25,000 to put toward a favorite cause. Zooey Deschanel, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogan and Barbra Streisand are a few of the stars who signed on for the challenge that kicked off Dec. 14 and concludes on Jan. 11. Each is raising funds on the Crowdrise platform and is offering weekly prizes and giveaways to entice donors to get involved. The philanthropic celebrities have chosen a range of causes to champion. Deschanel is promoting the Innocence Project, a nonprofit that works to exonerate innocent people from death row. Hill is supporting Nothing But Nets, an organization that provides lifesaving mosquito nets to those in danger in Africa.(HuffingtonPost.com)

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A wildly-colored gecko, a fish that looks like a gherkin, and a monkey with an Elvis-like hairstyle are among the more than 200 new species discovered in the Greater Mekong region last year, environmental group WWF said on Monday. The area’s diversity is so astonishing that a new species is found every two days, but regional cooperation and decision-making must take centre stage to preserve its richness, the group added. The Greater Mekong region covers Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the southern Chinese province of Yunnan. (Reuters.com)

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An anonymous donor dropped a diamond-and-sapphire ring worth $2,000 into a Salvation Army kettle in suburban Miami on Friday, the charity said on its Facebook page. The ring, tucked inside a $50 bill, was wrapped inside a note that read: “They need more than I. Do good! A Friend.” (Reuters.com)

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The annual Rake&Bake, a Brookfield tradition that brings out the community in a singular show of charity, in numbers that seem unreal to those who don’t see it happen year after year, is the end result of one man and his family reaching out to their neighbors and making a tangible difference in their lives. Fourteen years ago, Brookfielder Peter Brady, now 70, along with five family members and four friends, answered the call to help two fellow elderly parishioners from St. Joseph’s Church rake the leaves from their lawns. Afterwards, the group rested and enjoyed a hotdog lunch together and the Rake&Bake was born. Fourteen years later, more than 1,000 area residents gathered in the Brookfield High School (BHS) gym Saturday morning, split into designated teams and tackled 80 properties in Brookfield, Bethel, Danbury, New Milford and Sandy Hook. Afterward, they all returned to the gymnasium for a smorgasbord of food, fixings and the satisfaction of knowing they spent their Saturday morning making a real difference for someone in their community. And, of course, there were plenty of hotdogs. (Brookfield.patch.com)

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Motorists were recently given some sweet news. The world’s first “green” tires may be hitting the road within the next few years and they’ll likely be made from sugar. Strained supplies and high prices for natural and synthetic rubber have caused tire companies to look for more renewable and sustainable sources for raw materials. Traditionally, petroleum has been used to make almost 1 billion tires annually worldwide, with a single tire taking nearly 7 gallons of oil to manufacture. To offset this scarcity, two leading tire makers — Goodyear and Michelin — along with synthetic rubber manufacturer Lanxess have partnered with industrial biotechnology companies to start producing bio-based rubber from sugar.According to C&EN senior business editor Melody Bomgardner, microbial fermentation is the key to making three renewable rubber intermediates: isoprene, isobutene and butadiene. These compounds, she explained, “cover a wide swath of ground for the rubber making industry.” (DiscoveryNews.com)

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The 35-foot long boat Lagniappe II plowed into a reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in August 2002. The boat’s owner paid $56,671.27 in a negotiated settlement to partially cover the costs he had incurred for the American public. The money partly covered the restoration of the 376 square-feet of living coral he damaged. NOAA went to work reattaching 473 corals, then monitored the reef’s progress as it regained its health. NOAA researchers used photos and a specialized computer program to study the numbers and types of coral in the damaged area. By 2009, the reattached coral looked just like a nearby area used as a reference. Another year later, and the damaged reef had more coral than the reference area. (DiscoveryNews.com)

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