When it comes to predicting how Earth would look like hundreds of years from now, there are two schools of thought dominating the field of science. First are the conservatives who believe global warming, exhaustion of fuel cells, and destruction of the environment will ultimately lead to our extinction. The second group is the liberals, who think that Homo Sapiens are far too advanced to let these things end their existence - they maintain that we'll be able to come up with scientific methods to clear pollution, produce alternatives for energy, or if all else fails, create a colony of our own outer space.

We're neither fans of human extinction nor are we narcissistic fools, but this latest technological wonder from Netherlands can further fan the flames of that debate.

The folks over at the Delft University of Technology has come up with a solar-powered mouse (not live ones silly, we're talking about computer peripherals here). According to the press release they issued, Sole Mio was designed to be used by anyone with access to sunlight, or even artificial light. The technology behind this product enables it to charge power from sources of light, making it available for the owner's usage. Here's a text from the press release:

With solar energy, under ideal circumstances charging can occur a factor of five times quicker than in the current situation. Over time it is estimated that several hundred million batteries could be saved annually on a global scale. The net environmental benefit is still restricted by the high energy content of current PV cells. However the introduction of new types of cheap and energy-extensive PV cells, on which TU Delft and partners are working, would eventually yield an even higher environmental gain.

So they're looking into making this more environment friendly in the long run. Is this then the first step towards what the liberal wing in science believes as the next stage of man's evolution? Can humans actually create ways to destroy the planet and save itself at the same time?

Wake me up from cryostasis when a solar-powered race is in charge of the planet.

  

We don't normally report artists' concepts for new gadgets, but we made an exception for this one. Why? There are things that are really useful but are too darn boring, and there are things that are really cool but lacks efficiency. You can say this Hae Lim creation is somewhere between those two groups, hence this article.

Anyway, this thingamajig is a shower head/MP3 player hybrid. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I don't mind folks who like to turn up the music's volume while taking a bath, but to hear the noise coming from the shower head itself? Well apparently, this gadget is designed primarily to do just that. It's supposed to have a speaker/charging base/shower head holder mounted to the shower wall, while the detachable shower head has control buttons for the MP3 device.

No pricing and specs yet, it's still a design remember? But judging from the alarming rising number of people singing loudly in the showers, it shouldn't be surprise if this ever hits mass production.

Now all we need is a headset/water sprinkler combo.

Tired of gazing at the same old monitor every single day? Want to buy rotating monitors to give your work (otherwise known as random net surfing) a little zing but you don't have any money for those expensive stands? Well, odrarek's handy little project may just save us from the ho-hum hours of sitting right in front of our computers.

Basically, odrarek has created a DIY project on making our very own rotating/pivoting stand for LCD monitors. As odrarek himself pointed out, this is "very useful in rotating 90 degrees your monitor in order to see or read documents in a portrait fashion." The materials needed are pretty easy to get hold of and the five-step procedure is fairly simple to follow. Follow the read link below to check the step-by-step process. Here's the list of the tools you'll need:

• Wood, 4 pieces, (1 column, 1 base, 2 pivots)
• lazy susan or turn base,
• 4 screws for the monitor
• 3 metal angles
• 12 wood screws

Odrarek says it helps him a lot with his work. We say this one's worth a try if only for the simple pleasure of surfing QJ.net left/right side up.

It's not exactly what we could call "futuristic", but it could certainly give R2-D2 a run for its money in the efficiency and cuteness department. We're talking about the Figla Robot, a cleaning android borne out of the ingenious brain cells of our friends over at Japan.

A Figla prototype was recently unveiled to display its technologically advanced AI, enabling it to sweep, vacuum, and pick up trash without human intervention. Equipped with a great combo of sensors (gyroscope, camera, and ultrasonic), the Figla robot was able to smoothly navigate sidewalks, and recognize and pick up trash along the way. According to its creators, the 'droid can easily cover a thousand of square meters within a single hour. We know we're done with the efficiency part, how did it become cute?

You have to watch the video below to find out for yourself.

Here's the answer for all husbands being nagged by their wives asking for a new house. LG Kompressor may look like an ordinary vacuum cleaner to you, but it's actually more than that, say, brick loads more.

The LG Kompressor is equipped with a built-in "dirt compressor" technology which, as the name implies, compresses dirt into blocks. Not only will this give you more room to store dirt, with a little imagination, you can actually use the collected filth bricks and pile them just like the way the Eskimos construct their igloos.

With a maximum power of 2.000 W, in a week you'll probably have enough bricks to build a pyramid, two if you live in a house with kids and a couple of pets. Seriously though, this product will be wheeled out of mass production in April and will be sold at € 299 (roughly US$ 400). Not bad for a vacuum cleaner and brick maker combo. Now all we need is loads of filth...

While browsing over various sites, we came across this page offering a Sony Memory Stick PRO Duo for roughly US$ 210 (209.99 to be exact). This Frys offer, while not exactly what we could call a "steal", is still considerably cheaper compared to the original US$ 325 price tag previously set by Sony.

This latest expansion to PSP-compatible memory stick is said to be part of Sony's buildup for future digital content for its handheld gaming device. With 8 GB of storage space (well, 7.35GB actually after some file allocation and formatting), it's not hard to imagine what possible media downloads we should expect for our portables. 2007 is said to be the year for PSP, with games like Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion War, Silent Hill: Origins and a lot more coming out, and the looming interconnectivity with PS3, could this expanded memory stick be the sign of things to come?

[insert time traveling space warp SFX here] Back to the deal, if you've got 210 greenbacks to spare this could be a good chance to grab a whopping 8 GB of extra memory space. If not, then let's get to back to mere speculating on how this could affect us... [reinsert time traveling space warp SFX here]

When our big-brained folks claimed that science was the only thing more diverse than the universe itself, they weren't joking (not that I know any scientist that could joke anyway, except probably the guys that demoted Pluto, but that's a different story). On one side of the spectrum, we've got people inventing ways to conserve water. On the other, we've got brainiacs who built something that could waste them.

What we're referring to above is this latest creation by Heat & Glo - Aqueon. What's Aqueon? It's a modern-day fireplace that produces fire using water as fuel. Nope, that's not a typo. This particular device creates fire by converting water into a matter that directly contradicts its nature.

The science behind this is a process that includes electrolysis and separation. By feeding Aqueon water through a storage tank inside it, the conversion process will be initiated by electrosis (via a 220 volt electrical service). This would separate the hydrogen and oxygen components of H20. The futuristic fireplace would then utilize hydrogen to create the flame and part of the oxygen would be used to adjust the flame's color and brightness.

Aqueon will supposedly light up our lives this summer, although pricing is still on TBA status. On the bright side, you can now have jokes about The Human Torch and Aquaman living under the same roof.

We don't know if it's sheer trust on Blu-ray formats' durability or just plain dislike of Adam McKay's acting skills, but torturing Blu-ray discs, specifically copies of Talladega Nights, seems to have become a favorite pasttime nowadays. First there was this guy who submitted the Blu-ray disc to the steel wool scrubbing routine, now we have Joystiq putting the format to what they call the supreme test.

Nope, they're not pleased with using mere steel wools. They tried murdering it via stabs using a ballpoint pen, scratching it with a pizza cutter, and finally chopping it with a butcher's knife. The ill-fated Blu-ray disc survived the first three (steel wool, ballpoint pen, and pizza cutter) and was still playable when loaded to the PS3. But after the butcher's knife, like any old warrior who's met its end, it finally didn't respond.

You can watch all of these, gory cuts, scratched discs and all, by playing the vid below. Keep watching it to the very end - you'll think Bill Gates had something to do with this.

If there's one thing you could do to your beloved PlayStation2 to boost the gaming experience a notch higher, what would it be? I know, all of us wished we could move that digit one figure higher to get the ultimate hardware of this gaming generation - so near yet so far 'ey? Well our radar back at the QJ observatory has scanned something that might give us the next best thing - an HDTV Game Upgrade for PS2.

What exactly this product from Xploder does, is allow PS2 games to be played in High Definition. With both next-gen consoles, Xbox360 and PS3, already boasting of High Definition formats, Xploder's HDTV Game Player is set to give PS2 a nudge by giving it connectivity to your HDTV sets. So how can this enhance your standard game's image quality? With these features:

- Select a HD 720p or 1080i setting to give a clearer, crisper picture quality for all PS2 games.
- Play games in Enhanced Definition (ED) TV 480p mode; a higher resolution for improved image quality.
- Choose from a variety of superior VGA options.

Driven by proprietary Xploder software, you simply put the disc in the PS2 console and use the on-screen interface to select the optimum configuration for your system (HD, ED or VGA modes) from the options menu. The details are automatically saved to your memory card, so there’s no need to reconfigure the settings every time you use your console. The supplied high-quality RGB component cable also connects the PS2 directly in your HDTV to ensure superior image quality.

We may not be able to boost our PS2s to three, but it may now be somewhere around 2½.

Remember how you glue your eyes on the keyboard when you were just learning how to type? Well if you're using one of these (and has someone willing to wear it for you), you might just wish you'll never ever learn how to type.

This bendable USB keyboard from Angel Kitty (what a cute...name!) is made of silicon to make your hands feel like they're touching the real thing (feel free to think of whatever that is). It comes attached to maid's costume (for what reason I do not know, maybe to remind us to always clean up?), but is detachable whenever you think your hands have had enough, of typing that is.

Available in Japan for ¥15,750 (around $137), this contraption can be yours made to order and in a variety of bust sizes. Now what I really want to know is how much I need to add to have that girl as an add-on...