http://news.cnet.com/8300-17912_3-72.html Planetary Gear en-us In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating in her blog, Planetary Gear. A journalist who divides her time between the US and the UK, Lombardi has written for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com and Gamespot. Email her at CandaceLombardi@gmail.com. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET. 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:38:00 PDT Sacramento getting smart grid http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10271809-54.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=PlanetaryGear

Sacramento County plans to install a smart grid.

(Credit: Sacramento Municipal Utility District)

Sacramento County's community-owned electric utility has signed a deal for Silver Spring Networks to provide a smart grid for roughly 600,000 homes and businesses.

Installation is to begin in July with an expected completion date ...

Originally posted at Green Tech

]]> http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10271809-54.html Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:38:00 PDT Candace Lombardi Orange unveils solar concept tent at Glastonbury http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10271672-54.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=PlanetaryGear

Artist's rendering of Orange's solar concept tent.

(Credit: Orange)

Telecom giant Orange unveiled a concept solar tent in conjunction with the opening of this year's Glastonbury music festival in the U.K.

Inspired by the new flexible photovoltaics in development, the tent--if produced for consumers--would be ...

Originally posted at Green Tech

]]> http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10271672-54.html Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:53:00 PDT Candace Lombardi An LED breakthrough in Korea? http://www.news.com/8301-17912_3-10268966-72.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=PlanetaryGear Researchers from Korea claim to have produced the world's first purely white LED (light-emitting diode).

Soo-Young Park, a professor of organic materials for photonics at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University in Korea, led the group, which includes researchers from the University of Valencia ...

]]> http://www.news.com/8301-17912_3-10268966-72.html Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:24:00 PDT Candace Lombardi Aggies rethinking truck freight with electric train http://www.news.com/8301-17912_3-10267629-72.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=PlanetaryGear

Artist's rendering of the Universal Freight System loading a standard shipping container on to a train.

(Credit: Texas Transportation Institute)

A group of Texas researchers would like to resurrect the train as chief freight mover in the U.S.

The Universal Freight Shuttle is the brainchild of Stephen ...

]]> http://www.news.com/8301-17912_3-10267629-72.html Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:58:00 PDT Candace Lombardi Sonic lasers--a shot heard 'round the world http://www.news.com/8301-17912_3-10267528-72.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=PlanetaryGear University researchers in England and the Ukraine have built a laser that emits high-frequency sound waves instead of light beams.

Called simply the "saser," the acoustic laser uses packets of sonic vibrations called "phonons" much like a regular laser uses photons.

Specifically, the acoustic laser device consists of a sonic ...

]]> http://www.news.com/8301-17912_3-10267528-72.html Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:02:00 PDT Candace Lombardi Hybrid trucks strut on Capitol Hill http://www.news.com/8301-17912_3-10262578-72.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=PlanetaryGear

A UPS medium-duty truck containing Eaton's hybrid hydraulic system parked near the Capitol for 'Hybrid on the Hill Day.'

(Credit: Eaton Corp.)

We often fret over our own gas mileage and that of our neighbors' cars, but how often do we stop to think about the commercial trucking industry'...

]]> http://www.news.com/8301-17912_3-10262578-72.html Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:20:00 PDT Candace Lombardi A Google design contest for Guggenheim fans http://www.news.com/8301-17912_3-10261636-72.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=PlanetaryGear The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum has teamed up with Google on an architecture contest celebrating both the museum's 50th anniversary and the search giant's latest 3D-modeling tool.

The two iconic organizations are asking the public to submit plans for a 100-square-foot shelter using Google Sketchup, choosing a location ...

]]> http://www.news.com/8301-17912_3-10261636-72.html Wed, 10 Jun 2009 06:01:00 PDT Candace Lombardi Solar bus shelters for San Francisco http://www.news.com/8301-17912_3-10257192-72.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=PlanetaryGear

Mayor Gavin Newsom unveiling San Francisco's new bus shelters.

(Credit: Office of the Mayor of San Francisco)

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) have unveiled new energy-efficient bus shelters for the city.

The first of these bus shelters has been put up ...

]]> http://www.news.com/8301-17912_3-10257192-72.html Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:15:00 PDT Candace Lombardi A travel guide for geeks http://www.news.com/8301-17912_3-10251944-72.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=PlanetaryGear "The Geek Atlas: 128 Places Where Science and Technology Come Alive" by John Graham-Cumming could be the answer to the yearly Father's Day gift dilemma....

]]> http://www.news.com/8301-17912_3-10251944-72.html Fri, 29 May 2009 07:45:00 PDT Candace Lombardi Silent Sentinel UAV to use solar power http://www.news.com/8301-17912_3-10249939-72.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=PlanetaryGear An unmanned aerial vehicle that's intended to use a combination of solar power and stored electricity is being developed by Ascent Solar Technologies and Bye Aerospace, both companies announced Tuesday.

(Credit: Bye Aerospace)

Ascent Solar will be supplying flexible thin-film photovoltaic modules designed for Bye's drone, the Silent ...

]]> http://www.news.com/8301-17912_3-10249939-72.html Wed, 27 May 2009 07:28:00 PDT Candace Lombardi