This week we feature glowing, gooey, flying tech.
The “glow” comes from LEDs made by Philips that are illuminating skiers in a movie due out this October to promote the company’s new Ambilight TV. The TV casts different hues of light onto the wall behind to create a more immersive experience. The ski movie, called Afterglow, was made by Sweetgrass Productions and recently won Best Cinematography and Best Short Movie at the International Freeski Film Festival in Montreal.
Facebook wants to deliver Internet to the two-thirds of the world that don’t have it. This week, Yael Maguire, the engineering director at Facebook‘s Connectivity Lab, told Mashable’s CEO Pete Cashmore, that the planes would be “roughly the size of a commercial aircraft, like a 747.” No no one really imaged the drones would be that big, although they’ll be much lighter than a 747. Maguire also said that the drones would fly between 60,000 and 90,000 feet, where weather and other air traffic won’t be a problem and they’ll run for months or longer solely on solar power.
Researchers at MIT are working on a battery that has two layers of molten metal, separated by a layer of molten salt. Such a battery could work better than conventional batteries at storing large amounts of energy harvested by wind turbines and solar power plants. Storing energy means less of it goes to waste because more of that energy can be used when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining.
The people of New Caledonia are building a beautiful solar farm in the shape of a heart. The solar panels will produce 2 megawatts of electricity and deliver it to 750 homes on the Pacific island.
