The old English saying has a new ring of truth. A company in New Zealand has become the world’s first to make biodiesel from sewage pond algae. And best of all, the process helps purify the water even more than normal treatment methods.

Technology researchers have debuted a chip that can convert optical fiber signals into computer data at astonishing speeds; up to 107 gigabits per second. Should make the filesharing lobby quite cheerful, at least…

This one is tough to explain, so I’ll try to keep it simple: a research team has manipulated light in such a way that, when passed through an optical fiber, the light wave/particle will actually travel backward from the far end of the fiber to meet itself. Of particular importance, I think, is the lead researcher’s conjecture that this discovery could lead to a refutation of Einstein’s theories about faster-than-light travel.

According to the boffins at NASA, the Sun’s ‘Great Conveyer Belt’ (a massive circulating current of plasma) is running slower than ever before, at least since records were kept. This means we’re in for a weak solar cycle around 2020, which translates into an increased dose of cosmic rays.

Sick to the back teeth of your fellow travellers on public transport watching your mobile content? Indulge your privacy with a set of mobile-display glasses. Their manufacturers claim wearing them will be like viewing a 32 inch TV at a distance of two meters; headphones will shut out the background noise. How will you know when it’s your stop, though?