For decades environmentalists and many scientists have touted solar-energy as the ultimate “clean-energy” solution to our global energy needs. The sun is the power source of a growing number of devices and gadgets, such as watches, speakers, mobile phones, and toys. And the number of US homes using solar-power is growing, from 17,000 in 1998 to 300,000 in 2007.

CS Monitor

Small Reactor could run on spent nuclear fuels.

General Atomics

Earlier this week President Obama announced that the federal government will provide $8.33 billion in loan guarantees for a pair of nuclear reactors to be built in Georgia by Southern and Co. These guarantees, along with Japanese export loan guarantees, will cover part of the $14 Billion dollars needed to build the plants. The reactors, which could be up and running within four years at the earliest, would be able to power 550,000 homes, providing electricity to 1.4 million people.

When most of us think of space travel, we envision teams of highly-trained scientists shuttling to the International Space Station to conduct experiments in zero gravity, or Air Force officers such as Neil Armstrong walking on the Moon. However space increasingly is becoming a travel destination for tourists, thanks to the efforts, and investment dollars, of a few visionary entrepreneurs.