Solar Cylinders For Power on Roof Tops?

30 Billion square feet of flat roof top can be found in the United States.  Imagine if there was a way to turn all that space into a viable means of collecting solar power.  According to this Scientific American articlethere might actually be.  The solution could come in cylindrical solar cells that may reduce installation and maintenance cost and could possibly provide a significant chunk of electricity. 

Personally I think it would be great to see flat roof top space be used in such a way.  It might not solve all the nations energy problems but it could be a way for businesses and building owners to lower their dependency on carbon producing energy such as coal.  Of course only time will tell whether or not this is a solution that is actually practical.  Still I like the idea and look forward to hear more about it.

Congrats for the Nobel Prize in Physics

Congratulations to Yoichiro Nambu, Makoto Kobayashi, and Toshihide Maskawa for winning this years Nobel Prize in Physics.  The American (Mr. Nambu) and two Japanese (Mr. Kobayashi and Mr. Maskawa) scientists have received the prize for their work on investigating hidden symmetries between elementary particles.  For more information on their work check out this New York Times article.