love Europe in that special way only someone who�s lived exclusively in the United States for 25-odd years really can. Yet another fabulous reason to love Europe are these solar powered light trees, spotted last October in Vienna (as well as in Milan in November and December). Designed by Ross Lovegrove, each tree has 10 branches, and each branch has a solar cell (artemide polycrystalline solar cells by Sharp) �petal� on top. During the day, the petals charge built-in batteries, and as soon as the sun goes down, LEDs under the petals light up, providing efficient and cost effective street lighting, especially since the installation costs are minimal (no wiring necessary). The trees are able to provide light even after several consecutive cloudy days, although there aren�t any specifics on how much power the panels generate.

thanks Evan!

Apparently, this billboard in San Francisco isn’t just hype: it is, in fact, a power plant, using 20 solar panels to generate more electricity during the day than it consumes lighting itself at night. On a sunny day, the billboard generates 3.4 kilowatts of energy, which is just about enough juice for a family of four during the day. If it’s cloudy, the output drops to 2.5 kilowatts. PG&E does not, of course, say how much the solar panels cost to buy, install, and maintain. My guess is that it’s in the “you’ll recoup the cost in a decade or so” range. Still, since we’ve got ugly billboards set up all over the place anyway, wouldn’t it be great if they could be put to some practical use besides annoying consumers out of purchasing whatever they happen to be advertising?

thanks Ohgizmo for the info

Are you feeling stressed out? Enter MC Square’s X1 relaxation DAP which claims to "induce positive brain waves" in that thick skull of yours. It uses rhythmic light and sound (via goggles and earphones) to “improve concentration and memory, increase relaxation and improve sleep.”

Sound farfetched? It actually has US studies to back it up. According to researchers from Thomas Jefferson University, using this thing correlates with statistically reliable improvement in verbal memory, associative learning, working memory and measure of attention/concentration.

If your "senior moments" are increasing, then this $399 gizmo may be for you or belongs in someone’s holiday stocking.

Fire trucks are too slow, when a fire breaks out they are at the scene days, even months later. (Although my girlfriend says otherwise) Well, here is a modified truck that will get anywhere to any fire in almost no time at all. That right folks, it’s a fire truck with a MIG 16 jet engine.

Top Gun for firemen. I’ll be Iceman. You can be Goose

Click on the Picutre of Tesla and check out the cool vid.

Twin Solid State Musical Tesla coils playing Mario Bros theme song at the 2007 Lightning on the Lawn Teslathon sponsored by DC Cox (Resonance Research Corp) in Baraboo WI. The music that you hear is coming from the sparks that these two identical high power solid state Tesla coils are generating. There are no speakers involved. The Tesla coils stand 7 feet tall and are each capable of putting out over 12 foot of spark. They are spaced about 18 feet apart. The coils are controlled over a fiber optic link by a single laptop computer. Each coil is assigned to a midi channel which it responds to by playing notes that are programed into the computer software.