European countries want to use more solar power, but land is expensive and often obscured by clouds. Power says the solution could be massive solar panel farms in the Sahara linked to Europe via high voltage DC transmission lines. The goal is to build 6,500 square miles of solar power plants producing 20 GW of power.

Germany is known as an environmentally-conscious nation, making it difficult to build much needed coal-fired power plants. For an 800 MW power station in North-Rhine Westphalia, the answer is burning low sulfur bituminous coal in a highly advanced plant. Key components include the ultra-supercritical steam boiler and turbine.

NEMA recently published its ANSI C119.5-2009 standard — Insulation Piercing Connector Systems, Rated 600 Volts or Less. EC&M says the standard establishes electrical, mechanical, and environmental test requirements for electrical insulation piercing connectors. The text covers connectors used on overhead distribution lines.

Arc-Flash incidents in industrial facilities cause an average loss of more than $500,000 per event, and 90% of arc-flashes are caused by ground faults. Safety Online reports on relays that detect and prevent ground faults. Applications include hospitals, petrochemical, semiconductor, and wastewater treatment plants.

Crutches have been leaned on to rehab leg injuries, but many patients use them incorrectly. The University of Southampton in England improved the crutch by adding three accelerometers that measure weight applied to a patient's leg and the grip position. Visual information is displayed on the crutch to indicate correct use.

Retailers want to find an easy way for customers to receive and redeem coupons, and RFID may be the answer. RFID Update reports on a coupon system developed for Dairy Queen. Customers receive coupons on their mobile phones via text message, then redeem the coupons using RFID labels attached to the phones.

An interactive Google map graphically shows where MEMS and nanotech work is being done in the U.S. Small Times says efforts in the U.S. have spiked 50% in the past two years via 1,200 organizations involved — from R&D to commercial production. No surprise that the top four states are CA, MA, NY, and TX.

E-paper displays are used in e-books, e-newspapers, and mobile phones. EE Times projects compound annual growth rates of 41% in revenue and 64% in units over the next decade. Growth will fuel demand for MEMS display technology which will expand from monochromatic mobile phone displays to larger color e-book displays.

Finding your career path and succeeding at the same is never easy, but watching these videos can provide guidance and inspiration. Streaming Futures showcases short videos that show how successful people realized their vision in areas from business to technology. There are a dozen or more videos, and the videos are not only educational, but are often also humorous and entertaining. The video interviews are also hosted on Monster.com and aired on PBS television.

You may have noticed that your new smartphone has more in common with a notebook PC than with mobile phones of yore. CNN.com reports that similarities between smartphones and PCs are also unfortunately extending to viruses. An iPhone virus allowed hackers to send text messages, access Web sites, and make phone calls from infected phones. Apple responded with a security patch, much like firms have been doing for years in the PC world.

Virus Killer?

Computer viruses are annoying at best and dangerous at worst, and are now proliferating to handheld devices like smartphones. Will there ever be a killer app to eliminate viruses?