Thin-film, that is. Traditional photovoltaic cells make poor large-scale solar generation plants because they are inefficient, and they take a lot of high-grade silicon to manufacture (of which there is a shortage at present). The company Nanosolar has just signed a deal with Conergy to develop power plants based on their new thin-film photovoltaics – plants that they believe will be able to produce electricity at the same price as peak demand power from other (non-renewable) resources. They must be on to something, as a lot of other big name companies are chasing the same idea.

Thanks to chemical similarities, silicon has been suggested as an alternative to carbon in the molecules of lifeforms by a number of cranks and science fiction writers in the past, but it’s not an idea that has ever gained any real scientific support. Until now, that is – Dr Tom Gold, emeritus professor of astronomy at Cornell University, is publishing a book that advances exactly this idea, suggesting that the crust of the Earth may be teeming with silicon-based lifeforms that we (in our carbon-based arrogance) have never even noticed. May I be the first to welcome our new silicon overlords…

The land down under seems to be embracing renewable energy in a big way. Not content with that solar convection tower thing they are planning, they’ve just authorised the construction of a vast windfarm that will crank out over 230 megawatts of power, enough to supply over 130,000 homes. That just blows me away…

You’ll just have to forgive me briefly putting on my lover-of-cool-gadgets-and-toys hat for a moment, as I tell you that I really really want one of these DIY-assembly personal one-man helicopters! Can anyone lend me $30,000?

We’ve mentioned haptics before, but beyond the vibration units in your phone and game controllers, there’s not much in the way of genuine touch-based interfaces available yet. That could be set to change with a demo here in the UK of a new technology which exploits the human body’s propensity for being deceived by sensory input. It can make a person feel like they are touching a variety of different surfaces, from smooth spheres to sawblades.