When it comes to predicting how Earth would look like hundreds of years from now, there are two schools of thought dominating the field of science. First are the conservatives who believe global warming, exhaustion of fuel cells, and destruction of the environment will ultimately lead to our extinction. The second group is the liberals, who think that Homo Sapiens are far too advanced to let these things end their existence - they maintain that we'll be able to come up with scientific methods to clear pollution, produce alternatives for energy, or if all else fails, create a colony of our own outer space.

We're neither fans of human extinction nor are we narcissistic fools, but this latest technological wonder from Netherlands can further fan the flames of that debate.

The folks over at the Delft University of Technology has come up with a solar-powered mouse (not live ones silly, we're talking about computer peripherals here). According to the press release they issued, Sole Mio was designed to be used by anyone with access to sunlight, or even artificial light. The technology behind this product enables it to charge power from sources of light, making it available for the owner's usage. Here's a text from the press release:

With solar energy, under ideal circumstances charging can occur a factor of five times quicker than in the current situation. Over time it is estimated that several hundred million batteries could be saved annually on a global scale. The net environmental benefit is still restricted by the high energy content of current PV cells. However the introduction of new types of cheap and energy-extensive PV cells, on which TU Delft and partners are working, would eventually yield an even higher environmental gain.

So they're looking into making this more environment friendly in the long run. Is this then the first step towards what the liberal wing in science believes as the next stage of man's evolution? Can humans actually create ways to destroy the planet and save itself at the same time?

Wake me up from cryostasis when a solar-powered race is in charge of the planet.

After much hullabaloo and criticism for the One Laptop Per Child Project, production has finally started and the earliest batch should be ready by this October.

 

For those unfamiliar with the OLPC, it's a non-profit organization set out to revolutionize the standards and methods of education for children the world over. It particularly targets regions that can't afford the luxuries of a decent education. The project is just about what it's named after: to provide a laptop for each child. The laptop, dubbed XO, currently costs US$ 176 but is aimed to be sold for the initial goal of US $100.

Let's look at what it actually offers for the US$ 100:

• It's tough, set to survive in harsh conditions. It's case is waterproof and guess how they test it? They put the laptops in ovens at 50 degrees.
• It can be manually powered. That's right, it can be powered through solar energy, by a foot-pump or even by pull-string. You don't have a lot of sockets available in Nigeria.
  
• It has 1GB of memory using open-source software. You can't use it to make your office presentations, but think how many books you can fit in there.
• It has WiFi and a camera.

That's pretty good, and kids would certainly benefit from it greatly. The idea has been widely criticized, much for the goal that seems like an idealist's dream and for the seeming impossibility of such an undertaking. However, the dream has been realized and even Kofi Annan, ex-secretary general of the United Nations, commends the laptop as an "expression of global solidarity."

Wanna go green and be environmentally-friendly? Digital World Tokyo has posted about the Solar-fine 1350 from Japanese company Links International, a gadget that could be just the piece of technology that you're looking for.

Judging from the images and what we can understand from the Solar-fine 1350's product page, this device turns solar energy into electricity in order to charge up the batteries of various handheld gadgets. It has a capacity of 1350mAh and a voltage of 3.7V and can be connected to a variety of handheld gaming devices, mobile phones, and portable media players.

Now, solar-powered devices are cool and all, but the problem always lies in getting enough sun at the right time. As some user have noted, the PSP screen doesn't handle exposure to direct sunlight too well, so if you wanna hook this up to your PSP you might have to find a nearby window so you can charge it up without being out under the sun yourself.

The Solar-fine 1350 takes a bit of a while -- around ten hours -- to charge. If you simply can't wait that long or if there's no sun, there's also a handy option to charge it via AC or USB. It carries a price tag of 7,980 Yen (US$ 66) and comes bundled with a variety of connectors for the devices that it supports.

Scientist from Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have been developing ways on how to harvest energy and extend operating hours for your devices like your laptop or your mobile phone. At the Hanover Trade Fair they displayed new energy storage technologies, micro-fuel cells and information on drawing power from multiple energy sources available in the environment of the device.

Researchers are using micro fuel cells as chemical power converters to supply power for mobile devices. The flat micro cells are made of polymer and metallic films. Three of these would amount to 1.5 V, enough to replace conventional button cells.

The concept of energy harvesting refers to using light, heat or motion to generate energy. For example, the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM employs thermoelectrics: energy is generated by a heat flow source such as the user's wrist. Prominent clock makers use this technology to power watches. Micro-integrated thermo-electric converters can also be used to cool electronic components.

Building on the concept of thermoelectrics, theoretically if you let your mobile phone equipped with these micro fuel cells sunbathe for a few hours every day, you'd never run out of battery. Ever.