Florida threatens world peace
-How the news works-
The straight dope from Tom Tomorrow and This Modern World:
Click for full comic and punchline. (Hint: It's one of those 'lather, rinse, repeat' things). (Working for Change)
-Nifty-
Researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have come up with 'an inexpensive solar cell that can be painted or printed on flexible plastic sheets.' According to Somenath Mitra of NJIT's Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, "Someday homeowners will even be able to print sheets of these solar cells with inexpensive home-based inkjet printers. Consumers can then slap the finished product on a wall, roof or billboard to create their own power stations."
Most cells rely on purified silicon -- the same stuff computer chips are made of -- while NJIT's cells use organic polymers made from carbon nanotubes. Mitra sees not only printable cells, but photo-voltaic paint. "Imagine some day driving in your hybrid car with a solar panel painted on the roof, which is producing electricity to drive the engine," he says. "The opportunities are endless." Getting free electricity by the gallon from Home Depot in flat or semi-gloss -- sounds like a plan. (ScienceDaily)
-Florida has WMD-
Explosives experts from MacDill Air Force Base were called in to examine a strange object in a Tampa scrap heap. The object was described as 'odd-looking,' in that it oddly looked like a Patriot missile -- which is exactly what it was. The surface-to-air weapon was found to have no warhead, but 'still had its rocket motor and guidance system.' I don't know about the motor, but that guidance system can't be cheap or a good thing to find itself in the wrong hands. No one knows how the missile wound up in the bone yard -- you'd think people would know something like this was missing.
Calling Florida a 'clear threat to stability' in the southeastern US region, President Bush has sent a carrier group to the Gulf of Mexico, where they'll anchor just off the beach. The carrier crews will then make scary faces and provocative gestures at beachgoers. (AP)
