It seems wind records aren’t the only vehicular-based records being broken this year. Pictured above is the 66-pound unnamed unmanned flying machine that broke a world record for the longest-lasting unmanned flight. It remained airborne for an unbelievable 83 hours and 37 minutes.

That’s three and a half days of non-stop flight thanks to it’s power source: lithium-sulfur batteries charged via solar panels during the day. The craft remained steady at a height of 60,000 feet while being flown by an autopilot guided by GPS. Who says you need a piloting license to operate an aircraft, let alone an actual pilot?

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Tuesday night at the National Clean Energy Summit, Mayor Bloomberg of New York City expressed his vision of a cleaner more green New York. He urged the need for energy-efficient design and proposed alternative methods of obtaining power, whether it be by wind or solar means. He goes as far as suggesting to add wind turbines to both the Brooklyn Bridge and Empire State Building, a move that would dramatically change the NYC skyline.

But with good intentions, Bloomberg hopes to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the city by 30% before 2030 making New York the cleanest air of any large American city.  Our hats are off to you Mr. Bloomberg, we wish more leaders cared about our well-being as much as you do.

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In the future everything is microscopic. We’ve got robots that can get inside your intestines to distribute medicine with their tiny robot hands, but what about solar race cars no bigger than a quarter? Now we’ve got those too. This 33 x 22mm car runs on light, artificial or otherwise. Just chase after it with a flashlight and watch it go. You can grab your own for about $23. Try not to lose sight of it.

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In your neighborhood, you may have noticed that the street lights can be almost as horrendous looking as the telephone lines. Designer Jongoh Lee must’ve been disgusted by the intrusion on mother nature for having come up with these solar powered street lights that imitate leaves, called Invisible Streetlight. The lights are comprised of a double injection of silicon, aluminum materials and a photocapacitor, which keeps it glowing all night long.

While it’s by no means a bloomin’ dildo light source, it’ll at least fit in with the other leaves on the tree. Though we’re more impressed with leaves that want to be lights rather than lights that want to be leaves, the Invisible Streetlight is a fine alternative to power wasting street lights.

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This 52 home community is taking the next step in solar power communion in Alberta, Canada. Yea, Canada is a cold place but for these houses, which can provide over 90% of the annual heating and hot water needs, the cold is the last of their worries. However, the slaying of baby seals is another story for another day.

It’s called the Drake Landing Solar Community and as the name implies, it collects solar energy through an array of solar panels on the roof of each home. The heat is stored in the earth as a heated fluid which is transferred from a neighborhood energy center. By storing heat in the summer time, the community is provided with warmer winters with the help of simple solar panels. Beats living in that freezing house you traded for a paper clip all year round.
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So, we’re at the Last HOPE Conference in New York. The moment we arrived at the Pennsylvania Hotel, we took the escalator upstairs to the showroom floor. We were then greeted by this blossoming solar powered dildo flower thing. Whew, that’s a mouthful, and so are all those dildos!

Glass or rubber, these lamps have it all. Dildos, butt plugs, anal beads and pretty much any love stick imaginable decorate the light, but perhaps most importantly is the center piece.  Surrounded by your typical dildos is the eye popping mega-butt plug. I’d love to meet the girl daring enough to join forces with it.

A combination of steel, LEDs, solar electronics and a sick mind are all Randy Polumbo needed to craft these perverted lamps which are ideal for any bachelor pad. Invite a bunch of your lady friends over and see how many of them can sit on it simultaneously.  It’d be like king of the mountain, except more erotic. If you like his work, hit the jump below for more pics and his website.

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In an attempt to turn everyday household windows into solar panels, two MIT researchers have created “organic solar concentrators” out of dyed glass that could potentially increase traditional solar panel efficiency by 50%. Imagine fulfilling all your electrical needs with the help of your typical household glass windows.

I sure hope you haven’t desecrated your roof with inefficient solar paneling for no better reason than to impress your neighbors. In comparison to expensive solar paneling, these dyed windows will give you more bang for your buck. Which means you’ll have more money to burn on things like that stretch Hummer you’ve always wanted. Can I stop paying my electrical bill yet?

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The world’s first electronic musical instrument is revived with this DIY from ClockworkRobot.com. With just a little soldering, you’ll be on your way to playing high pitched tunes in the sun. That’s right, this theremin is solar-powered. Sorry, no late nights playing this thing. It’s easy to play, as well; just casting a shadow over the panel with your hand will allow you to play a theremin-like melody. Tilting and angling the theremin’s relation to the sun will alter the note.

For just $23.35, you can purchase the kit along with an empty Altoids case that you were too lazy to buy and put one together yourself. Alternatively, you can get the $19.45 kit and design your own cool case that everyone will envy.
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You won’t ever live to see this floating ecopolis. This concept, designed by Vincent Callebaut, is straight out a science-fiction film with its ability to float. Dubbed “Lilypad,” this amphibious city can hold around 50,000 people and protect them from floods and bizarre plate tectonics.

The city is designed to draw power from solar, wind and tidal means, which enables it to live in the depths of the ocean like that alien-race in The Abyss.  Concepts like these will hopefully evolve mankind into a half-fish half man species like Kevin Costner in Waterworld.

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Almost like the movie “Sunshine,” we’ll soon be probing the Sun, except we wont be using a suicide squad of top scientists and astronauts. NASA has decided to finally go to the sun after 400 years of studying the star from afar. The mission is being called Solar Probe+ (pronounced ‘Solar Prove Plus’).

We’ll be using a heat-resistant spacecraft made specifically to dive into the Sun’s atmosphere.  For the first time ever we plan to visit a living, breathing star.  The project could go through as early as 2015 and is said to take several years to complete. With this stellar project, we’ll be able to solve two great mysteries of astrophysics and make many new discoveries during the mission.
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