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POPSUber-Thin Modular Solar Panels Energize Any Building
Each Sulfurcell panel is composed of a protective frameless glass exterior layered over an enclosed solar module that is able to withstand mother nature’s most unforgiving trials. A single hair-thin semiconductor layer is coated on the back of the hardened glass surface, and each module features 82 strips of thin-film solar cells coated on the back and integrated wiring cable inside. In order to keep the solar panels cool and maximum efficiency, the panels are rear-ventilated and have recessed drainage channels which direct rainwater around each cassette. Sulfurcell utilizes copper-indium-sulfide semiconductors, which enable them to produce cells hundreds of times thinner than conventional photovoltaics, which in turn reduces the manufacturing costs. Production is said to use only half the energy used to manufacture conventional solar modules. Sulfurcell has been a pioneer in the photovoltaic industry since 2003, and the company has been named by The Guardian as one of the world’s t
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POPS Plants Have a Social Life, Too In a paper published in the November American Journal of Botany, Dudley describes how Impatiens pallida, a common flowering plant, devotes less energy than usual to growing roots when surrounded by relatives. In the presence of genetically unrelated Impatiens, individuals grow their roots as fast as they can. Acknowledging relatives in this way is an example of kin recognition. It’s common in the animal world, and is a precursor to kin selection, in which animals help their familial group, not just themselves. Dudley thinks plants have kin selection, too. It’s a controversial idea, but that it’s even being debated shows how far research into plant sociality has come.
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POPSA taste of Norman Rockwell By 1925 Rockwell was a national name, and by the end of the Depression was an institution. Very few people saw his original work, only in the form of reproductions, but this is often the case today when famous works of art are readily available in art books or on computer screens. Hughes dismisses Rockwell as “homelier than apple pie, more American than the flag, and more affirmative than Dad.”
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POPSPortrait of a Sociopath The world’s most successful investment bank likes to hide behind the tidal wave of money that it generates and sends crashing over Manhattan, the City of London and most of the world’s other financial capitals. But now the dark knights of banking are being forced, blinking, into the cold light of day. The public, politicians and the press blame bankers’ reckless trading for the credit crunch and, as the most successful bank still standing, Goldman is their prime target. Here, politicians and commentators compete to denounce Goldman in ever more robust terms — "robber barons", "economic vandals", "vulture capitalists". Vince Cable, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, contrasts the bank’s recent record results — profits of $3.2 billion in the last quarter alone — and its planned bumper bonus payments with what has happened to ordinary people’s jobs and incomes in 2009.
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POPSSomali man aged 112 marries girl of 17 "I didn't force her, but used my experience to convince her of my love, and then we agreed to marry," the groom said. The bride's family said she was "happy with her new husband". Somali adolescent girls are often married off to older men.
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