When you’re planning your world takeover plans, be sure to check your plans against this do not do list.

This is definitely not how I’ve viewed the universe, but it’s also a fascinating read.

An interesting video on psychology and competence…

This guy seems to think that actually charging someone something helps improve profits. Why is this relevant? Facebook is looking at charging for it’s services (gasp – shock!).

This was a pretty cool way to do some above-ground gardening, especially on a patio or porch. The creator calls it the EarthTainer.

From http://earthtainer.tomatofest.com/

From http://earthtainer.tomatofest.com/

Good stuff…

These folks obviously have lots of free time, but are absolutely awesome in their use of it. Found via Gilles Tran’s blog.

Aunt Barb sent this my way and it’s just cool.

A company that makes heat to electricity converters put together this fancy-schmancy demo where they use a candle to power an LED that’s brighter than the original candle (EcoGeek).

Ever wonder how efficient a candle is at producing light? The answer can be found here. In this image Nextreme Thermal Solutions is using a new thermoelectric material that can convert some of the heat from a candle into electricity. That electricity is then run through an LED. The LED and the candle combined put off more light than two candles would.

The demo itself was pretty slick, but the heat to electricity technology should have an impact and let industrial applications get a little power back from their waste heat. As always, it depends on the price.

Scientists need better PR folks. I mean seriously. It’s Nov 4 and they’re publishing scientific breakthroughs like people will listen. What did they find? Oil producing fungus (also Yahoo):

“This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances,” said researcher Gary Strobel from Montana State University. “The fungus can even make these diesel compounds from cellulose, which would make it a better source of biofuel than anything we use at the moment.”

The scientists are now working to develop its fuel producing potential, according to a paper published in the November issue of the journal Microbiology.