Ford Launches Vehicle-to-Grid Software Trial for Plug-in Hybrids (earth2tech)

"It may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of big automakers, but in the coming rollout of plug-in vehicles intended for the mass market, software and communication between vehicles and the power grid will be a key piece of the puzzle. Today Ford, which has partnered with utilities, the Electric Power Research Institute and the Department of Energy, pulled back the curtain on a 3-year demonstration project to test out vehicle-to-grid software for plug-in hybrid vehicles...."

Bike of the future will never be stolen, has puncture-proof tyres and will play music as you ride (UK Daily Mail)

"It will count calories as you pedal, play music and use a solar-powered motor when you get tired - welcome to the commuter bike of the future.

Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman was today unveiling a design that he believes will be an everyday product within 20 years. The 40-year-old said the technology was already available, it just needed the will to put it all together.

The new bike includes an inbuilt computer system incorporating an 'unbreakable' locking device that allows only the owner to open it via fingerprint recognition

A mini computer on the handlebars counts the calories the cyclist is burning by monitoring each turn of the pedals.

Spoke-less wheels make the bike more aerodynamic while the tyres will be puncture-proof with self-inflating tyres...."

Giant Particle Collider Struggles (NYT)

The biggest, most expensive physics machine in the world is riddled with thousands of bad electrical connections.

Many of the magnets meant to whiz high-energy subatomic particles around a 17-mile underground racetrack have mysteriously lost their ability to operate at high energies.

Some physicists are deserting the European project, at least temporarily, to work at a smaller, rival machine across the ocean.

After 15 years and $9 billion, and a showy “switch-on” ceremony last September, the Large Hadron Collider, the giant particle accelerator outside Geneva, has to yet collide any particles at all.