The Daily Flash -Eco, Space, Tech (11/12)

Journey to Pluto

An epic 10-year, 3-billion-mile journey from Cape Canaveral to the rim of the solar system is almost halfway complete, and in 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft will allow us to lay eyes directly on the mysterious, beloved Pluto for the first time. “Every time that we go to a new kind of place, we find out stuff that just blows our minds,” said planetary scientist Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute, leader of the New Horizons Mission.

Do Solar Curtains on Buildings Make Sense?

Forget the Iron Curtain--we'll all be living behind solar curtains if Konarka Technologies has its way. The organic solar cell company has teamed up with Arch Aluminum and Glass to test out so-called "solar curtains," or walls of solar panels integrated into buildings. The curtains, which are made out of Konarka's plastic solar film and encased in glass, are certainly attractive. But do they make sense?

NASA, European Space Agency Want To Go To Mars

NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are aiming to cooperate on all manner of robotic orbiters, landers and exploration devices for a future trip to Mars.The program would focus on  several launch opportunities with landers and orbiters conducting astrobiological, geological, geophysical, climatological, and other high-priority investigations and aiming at returning samples from Mars in the mid-2020s. 

Schools of Swimming Robots to Study Ocean Currents

http://www.switched.com/2009/11/12/schools-of-swimming-robots-to-study-ocean-currents/

If you happen to notice a swarm of robots floating past your beachfront home, don't panic; it's not the first wave of the SkyNet invasion. Aided by funding from the National Science Foundation, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) is planning to deploy fleets of autonomous robots, possibly numbering in the hundreds, to study localized oceanic environments.

NASA brings chemical sensor to iPhone

If you are in need of finding out if there is ammonia, chlorine gas or methane in the air around you, there's an iPhone app for that. A researcher at NASA's Ames Research Center has developed what NASA calls a proof of concept of new technology that would bring compact, low-cost, low-power, high-speed nanosensor-based chemical sensing capabilities to cell phones

Gadget Singularity: Let's Ditch Our Buttons and Screens Forever

The past decade's march towards better gadgets shows a trend line pointing towards ultra powerful gadgets with UIs so seamless, they make Macs look like a punchcard computers. But if you think about it, we—not hardware—are the limitation.

PlayStation 3 to Get Facebook in Next Update?

These dashboard screens—reportedly found directly on the UK version of PlayStation.com—suggest the PS3 will soon have Facebook integrated into the Cross Media Bar interface, plus a new photo viewing option, and the ability to change gamercard colors.

Google Poised to Become Your Phone Company

Google has reportedly spent $30 million to buy Gizmo5, an online phone company. The service is akin to Skype — but based on open protocols and with a lot fewer users.