The ingeniously simple design uses two cardboard boxes, one inside the other, and an acrylic cover that lets in the sun's rays and traps them.

(Read full story in CNN)

Thanks also to Dorie Mickelson for submitting the story! 

A Georgia University researcher is perfecting "biochar," a charcoal made from things we normally throw away. The raw material can be any forest, agricultural or animal waste, even chicken manure. The waste is fed into a metal barrel where it is cooked under intense heat. In a few hours, organic trash is transformed into charcoal-like pellets farmers can turn into fertilizer.

"Gases given off during the process can be harnessed, to fuel vehicles or power electric generators. . .  And, biochar cleans the air by preventing rotting biomass from releasing harmful CO2 into the atmosphere."

Read the article at CNN, or watch the video below...

Thanks to Beth Gern for submitting the link! 

Researchers think they are close to solving a problem with the giant wind turbines leading our way to energy independence, which also cause bats to explode.

When the creatures fly too close, they get caught in a vortex of low pressure created by the turbine blades that causes hemorrhaging in the bats' lungs, similar to the divers' condition known as the bends.

A soon-to-be-released study conducted last year finds that shutting down the turbines during low wind periods can reduce fatalities by more than 90 percent.

"We are all really excited about this," said Laurie Jodziewicz of the American Wind Energy Association. "The industry takes this issue very seriously."

(Read full report in Washington Times)

Robot fish developed by British scientists are to be released into the sea off north Spain to detect pollution. The team hopes to use the five-foot-long robotic fish to find pollution in rivers, lakes and seas across the world.

(Read full story in Reuters)