by Serkan Toto, crunchgear.com Sanyo is already being considered Japan’s “greenest” brand in the consumer electronics field (which is the main reason Panasonic is about to acquire the company), but them building complete, eco-friendly buildings is certainly new. Sanyo Homes [JP], a wholly-owned subsidiary, will start marketing all-electric homes with lithium ion batteries providing back up power to Japanese customers as early as tomorrow. (Sorry for the tiny picture, which shows a CGI-model ... Read Full Story

From ScienceDaily.com Stem cell research is making great strides. This is yet again illustrated by a study carried out by the I-STEM* Institute (I-STEM/ Inserm UEVE U861/AFM), published in the Lancet on 21 November 2009. The I-STEM team, directed by Marc Peschanski has just succeeded in recreating a whole epidermis from human embryonic stem cells. The goal is to one day be able to propose this unlimited resource of cells as an alternative treatment in particular for victims of third degree bu... Read Full Story

From Solar.CoolerPlanet.com A shingle that generates solar energy was named one of the 50 Best Innovations of 2009 by Time magazine. Dow Chemical, the Powerhouse Solar Shingle’s inventor, will make the shingles commercially available by the middle of next year. Dow’s technology “will make affordable renewable energy a reality now and for future generations,” said Dow Solar Solutions managing director Jane Palmieri. The Powerhouse design includes thin-film cells of copp... Read Full Story

From UniversityofCalifornia.edu Human embryonic stem cells could help people with learning and memory deficits after radiation treatment for brain tumors, suggests a new UC Irvine study. Research with rats found that transplanted stem cells restored learning and memory to normal levels four months after radiotherapy. In contrast, irradiated rats that didn’t receive stem cells experienced a more than 50 percent drop in cognitive function. “Our findings provide the first evidence that such cell... Read Full Story

By Natalie Obiko Pearson, Bloomberg.com India is targeting generation of 20,000 megawatts of solar power by 2022, joining China as the two Asian nations that resist emission caps draft plans to boost renewable energy before next month’s global climate change talks. India, Asia’s third-biggest energy consumer, is set to unveil its national solar energy plan “in about a week,” Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah said in Mumbai today. China and India have opposed legally bindin... Read Full Story

From ScienceDaily.com Researchers have transplanted genetically modified hematopoietic stem cells into mice so that their developing red blood cells produce a critical lysosomal enzyme -preventing or reducing organ and central nervous system damage from the often-fatal genetic disorder Hurler’s syndrome. The research team from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center reports its preclinical laboratory results this week in the early edition of Proceedings of the National Acade... Read Full Story

by Karyn Poupe, news.yahoo.com It may sound like a sci-fi vision, but Japan’s space agency is dead serious: by 2030 it wants to collect solar power in space and zap it down to Earth, using laser beams or microwaves. The government has just picked a group of companies and a team of researchers tasked with turning the ambitious, multi-billion-dollar dream of unlimited clean energy into reality in coming decades. With few energy resources of its own and heavily reliant on oil imports, Japa... Read Full Story

by Karyn Poupe, news.yahoo.com It may sound like a sci-fi vision, but Japan’s space agency is dead serious: by 2030 it wants to collect solar power in space and zap it down to Earth, using laser beams or microwaves. The government has just picked a group of companies and a team of researchers tasked with turning the ambitious, multi-billion-dollar dream of unlimited clean energy into reality in coming decades. With few energy resources of its own and heavily reliant on oil imports, Japa... Read Full Story

From ScienceDaily.com Converting sunlight to electricity might no longer mean large panels of photovoltaic cells atop flat surfaces like roofs. Using zinc oxide nanostructures grown on optical fibers and coated with dye-sensitized solar cell materials, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new type of three-dimensional photovoltaic system. The approach could allow PV systems to be hidden from view and located away from traditional locations such as rooftops. R... Read Full Story

From ScienceDaily.com Converting sunlight to electricity might no longer mean large panels of photovoltaic cells atop flat surfaces like roofs. Using zinc oxide nanostructures grown on optical fibers and coated with dye-sensitized solar cell materials, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new type of three-dimensional photovoltaic system. The approach could allow PV systems to be hidden from view and located away from traditional locations such as rooftops. R... Read Full Story