Fridaygram: renewable energy, grabbing an asteroid, driverless car
By Scott Knaster, Google
Developers Blog Editor
Running Google takes power, so we’ve long been interested in efficient and responsible power
creation. This goes not just for energy we use, but also energy used by others. By investing
in
renewable energy, we hope to
have positive effects on the environment as well as help further good business opportunities.
This week we
announced
our investment in the Spinning Spur Wind Farm, a Texas wind farm. We’ve
now invested in 11
renewable energy projects – and because we all like pictures and numbers, here are some
statistics (click to enlarge):
Meanwhile, in space,
NASA and the
Keck Institute for Space Studies have
proposed
robotically
capturing a small near-earth asteroid and bringing it to a lunar orbit by 2025. This
relocated rock would give astronauts a chance to perform all sorts of tasks, including
landings and scientific experiments, all without leaving the relatively close location of the
moon’s orbit (
read the full
proposal here). The captive asteroid wouldn’t be much of a tourist destination, but
could greatly advance space travel and science research.
Finally, when you have a few spare minutes this weekend, take a look at
this video that shows what
might happen as the world gets used to self-driving cars.
Happy 2013!
Each week on Fridaygram,
we take time out from developer topics to present cool things from Google and elsewhere that
you might have missed during the week. See, we like to have fun too.
