President Obama announced the first federal nuclear-power loan guarantee, $8 billion for Southern Co. to build two new reactors in Georgia.

In a speech at a job-training center at the IBEW Local 26 headquarters in Lanham, Md., Obama said the loan guarantee will help "build a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in America" as part of a White House effort to create a "clean energy" economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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London, Ontario (February 10, 2010) – Big Blue Bubble Inc. announced today that Fighting Fantasy: Deathtrap Dungeon is now available on iTunes!
Fighting Fantasy: Deathtrap Dungeon for iPhone and iPod Touch takes a different approach bringing Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson’s legendary game book to your favorite handheld device.

Down in the dark twisting labyrinth of Fang, unknown horrors await you. Devised by the devilish mind of Baron Sukumvit, the labyrinth is riddled with fiendish traps and bloodthirsty monsters, which will test your skills almost beyond the limit of endurance.

Countless adventurers before you have taken up the challenge of the Trial of Champions and walked through the carved mouth of the labyrinth, never to be seen again. Should you come out of the labyrinth alive, you will be wealthy beyond your dreams. Do YOU dare enter?
A fan favorite, Deathtrap Dungeon promises to build on the success of the first game in the series, Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, and brings many improvements and feature additions.
Fighting Fantasy fans will love the classic story and original illustrations with a technological twist. No more dice, pencils, or bookmarks. All the special features are built in!

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A critically endangered fish whose swim bladder is believed to cure illnesses has been caught and sold for more than $500,000 in China. [More]

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Enough sunlight bathes Earth’s daytime half in an hour to meet all human energy needs for a year. Sadly, there are several problems with meeting human energy demands by tapping such abundant, free solar power–not least of which is the cost of making semiconducting material that can cheaply harvest the power in sunlight. But material improvements from the California Institute of Technology and IBM might just lower the cost of solar power. [More]

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F.A.T. Lab shows you how to make your very own Google Street View car.
Just the thing you need if you want to make videos that show the Google
Street View driver drinking while driving or peeing in public .
How to build a fake Google Street View car

By: fungus amungus

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Use this handy dandy conversion kit and you can add some tank treads to
your car! Holy smokes, this is gonna be the best thing ever for
dominating the highway. The mileage will take a little bit of a hit, or
a lot, but it must be worth it, right? Link

By: fungus amungus

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Part Bat-Mobile, part jet fighter, all race car. That is the best way to describe the DeltaWing IndyCar Concept, which is on display at the Chicago Auto Show right now. The DeltaWing’s creators hope that the revolutionary design could be “the future of open wheel racing”. It certainly looks like something straight from the future.

The DeltaWing combines slick aerodynamics and fuel efficiency, the DeltaWing should be able to achieve speeds in excess of 200 mph using less horsepower and as much as half the fuel of current Indy cars. It is slated to begin testing this summer.

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Love him or hate him, you’ve got to admire Bob Lutz’s ability to speak his mind, consequences be damned. And, as GM’s Vice Chairman and Volt front man, he’s somebody the world tends to pay attention to.

The same guy who once called global warming a crock of crap has now remarked that the hybrid car market is unlikely to ever comprise more than 10% of the U.S. market. Furthermore, Lutz seems to think that General Motors will always lose money on hybrids, driving up the costs of its other cars. If you ask me, that seems like a bit of a paradox.

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Tired of the heavy flak jackets and sculpted police-issue vests you have
to sport as an international leader or high-profile entertainer? 
Now you too can look stylish while being dodging bullets in these
incredible lightweight, tailored fashions.    Tailor
Miguel Caballero combines fashion with …
By: scoochmaroo

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FORD UNVEILS ‘INTELLIGENT’ SYSTEM FOR PLUG-IN HYBRIDS TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE ELECTRIC GRID
* Ford and its utility partners are testing one of the industry’s first vehicle-to-electric grid communications and control systems, which enables electric vehicles to interface with the grid for optimal recharging
* The new technology allows the vehicle operator to program when to recharge the vehicle, for how long and at what utility rate. For example, an operator could choose to charge only during off-peak hours when electricity is cheaper, or when the grid is using renewable energy
* Since 2007, Ford and its research partners in the utility industry have conducted more than 75,000 miles of plug-in hybrid testing to advance the commercialization of electric vehicles
* Ford introduces a pure battery electric Transit Connect commercial van in 2010, a battery electric Focus compact car in 2011, and a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle and next-generation hybrid electric vehicle in 2012

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Dishwashers are big time power hogs. Between heating the wash water, and then heating up the air to dry the cleaned dishes, most dishwashers suck enough power to require a special high current electrical supply.

A lot of the power used during the dry cycle is needed to reduce the effects of humidity left over from the wash cycle, so the Engineers at Siemens have come up with a way to recycle some of that energy with every load. About three pounds of moisture absorbing minerals called zeolites are held in a container in the bottom of the machine, and during the wash cycle they are heated along with the water. During the dry cycle, the zeolites release their stored up heat, and also absorb moisture from the air inside the machine. The moisture stays in the zeolites until the next wash cycle, when the heating will release it back into the wash water. The result is a faster load cycle, and a 20% reduction in power consumption over the most efficient conventional dishwashers.

While widely available in Europe, somebody needs to convince Siemens to re-establish their US distribution.

Siemens-Home, via Appliancist.com

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