Ok, so some of you know my fascination with this little slice of science-future. Due to its potential to change EVERYthing, I truly believe that it will happen. Right now, there are some hurdles, but they're not insurmountable. So what in tarnation am I on about? Basically, here it is. They tie a cord to the surface of the earth and extend it into space with a nice fat counter-weight on it. The spinning of the earth causes centrifugal acceleration that keeps the cord taut. Then we put some so... read more

So I find this extremely cool. Meet the U.S. Government's entry into solar-thermal. So here's the deal, Solar Two (an extension of its predecessor Solar One), had a collection of 2,493 mirror arrays, or heliostats, that all focus the sun's energy at the central tower. This tower is full of salts that become molten under the glare of all the mirrors. That heat is then used down the line to boil water, turning turbines and generating up to 10 MW of power. Although Solar Two was a success, it... read more

Ok, so I was curious. Venus Flytraps are carnivorous. So do they expel waste? And of so, how? Well, yes and no. Mostly no. While they do get their nutrients from animals, they don't really eat them. A fly will get trapped in the clutches , and will remain there while the plant has its way with it, and then their carcass is just released from then trap. Here's a photo of an example of said release.