Microbial fuel cell generates electricity from mud

Scientists are looking into harnessing bacteria to produce electricity through microbial fuel cells. These microbial fuel cells convert chemical energy to electrical energy to offer a clean, efficient and reliable alternative to batteries and other environmentally harmful fuels. Office of Naval Research has developed an microbial fuel cells that can convert decomposed marine organisms into electricity.

The most promising electricity-generating microorganism is called Geobacter. Geobacter, has tiny hairlike extensions called pili that it uses to generate electricity from mud and wastewater. With its powerful return of clean energy it could reduce carbon emissions in the environment.

To read more about microbial fuel cells click on the following link.

Late last year Austin, Texas lauched a pilot of the car2go program. The way the program works is, 200 smart fortwo vehicles were made available 24/7 within the city to a select group of city employees. As a member you can use the car as long as you like. When you are done, you can park it in any available public parking space within downtown Austin area or at specially marked car2go spaces. You can go online and book a vehicle in advance. The pilot showed that 90% of people use car2go spontaneously and for one-way trips. The trial was so successful that beginning in May, 2010, the number of cars will increase and all Austin residents and students can apply for a membership. I was curious to see exactly how it all worked, so I visited the car2go website. I clicked on the FAQ's link, and there most of my questions were answered.

Augmented reality windshield from GM

GM partnered with Narnegie Mellon University has developed a working heads-up display that turns an ordinary windshield into an augmented reality information dashboard. According to the article, this enhanced vision system can help drivers by highlighting landmarks, obstacles, and road signs on the windshield in real-time to inprove safety and navigation.

Cameras mounted on the dashboard track the driver's head and eyes to determine where he or she is looking.

To sense what is in front of the car, the systems uses a variety of sensors, including night vision, navigation systems, and caneras to gather data.

I don't know about you guys but I would think something like this would be very distracting to a driver. I mean if you are looking at images on your windshield then you are not looking at the road.