I know the title has probably got you interested, and I’m pretty sure the story will open your eyes too.

British company, P2i, have announced today their latest technology that makes materials waterproof at a molecular level. Unlike other types of solutions, their “Ion Mask” plasma surface enhancement technology [sic] will penetrate an object completely, without altering the look or feel of it. So you could technically treat a piece of paper with it, tear it into small pieces, and each piece would remain waterproof.

Current sectors the innovation is being aimed at are footwear, and textiles, but there is also talk of the inventors being in the early stages of testing with electrical items. Just think of how revolutionary that would be!

A truly water-cooled PC, or any other electrical system, without the need for noisy fans - cutting down on costs and repairs. Your computer keyboard could be fully treated with the technology - and if you spilt your coffee in it, simply unplug and stick in your dishwasher. But even better, it could mean diseases that breed on keyboards would be a thing of the past, as your electrical devices also get a “weekly wash.” Any electrical equipment that would need to be outside (street lamps, traffic lights, billboards, big screen TVs in stadiums etc.) wouldn’t need any special housing to keep the weather off, reducing costs. Even things like undersea research would be more effective, if the material didn’t react to the salt in the sea. This could really be a revolution in how we use things in the future!

For more information and to see some of the other projects P2i are involved in, visit their website.

UK Engineering at it’s finest, and also just down the road from where I live, Southampton University have developed a submarine to explore the undersea world automatically.

Capable of diving to depths of 6km, and a range of 1000km, the AutoSub6000 will be primarily exploring undersea volcanoes. It amazes me how these boffins can set up an undersea vehicle, program it like an expensive BigTrak, and send it on it’s way to do it’s job - completely without human intervention. For a full list of specs, for the terminally geeky, download the pdf.

Google Earth is soon to release a plug-in that will allow 3D content from the Google Earth archives to be displayed within your browser window - rather than using the stand-alone Google Earth app. The plug-in currently supports, in it’s Beta form, Firefox 2 and IE6/7.

This is a move, I think, that spells the end for the application, that has always seemed to fit strangely with the rest of Google’s ideals. The concept of cloud computing is lost a little when you have a clunky OpenGL app that needs to be fired up every time you want to find a location. To be honest I always use Google maps as I find it easier just for this reason. To me it looks as though Google realise this and are moving Google Earth over to a browser-only platform.

Much like Google Israel, Google UK has also gone dark for Earth Hour. In an effort to help promote the use of energy conservation in the home, Earth Hour aims to get people to turn off their lights for just 1 hour between the hours of 8-9pm. Do your bit and see if you can survive for a whole hour in the dark. [SHOW ME]

Just recently an institute in Georgia, America has announced it has created a material that can produce electricity when it’s worn. Every tiny movement in the material would produce an electrical current, because of the make up of the fibres. Potentially, a 1 metre square piece of material would have enough power to charge a mobile phone or your iPod. The only problem with the technology, at this early stage, is that the fibres corrode in water - but thankfully the professors are hard at work trying to fix this - otherwise you’ll be saving the planet, but not making any friends! [SHOW ME]

If you sign up for the initial flights with Virgin Galactic it will set you back a cool £100,000 with a 10% deposit on booking your flight. For this, though, you will “officially” go into space and experience weightlessness. A bargain at twice the price (or at least in my opinion!)

The company, funded fully by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, looks to be the first commercial offering space flight to actually get airborne. Even though Virgin Galactic are ahead of it’s opposition, the focus is on making sure everything is right (especially safety) before the go-for-launch order is given. The first lucky passengers are set to go up next year, Virgin announced yesterday, if all goes to plan. Read the full press-release [HERE]

No I don’t think I’m jumping to conclusions at all on this story. Why else would you get a monkey in the US to control a robot in Japan? It’s just one tiny step away from Planet of the Apes - where is Charlton Heston when you need him?

OK, so coming back to Planet Earth, this really could mean a breakthrough for medicine & science alike. If you can prove a monkey can control a robot, with the motor function part of the brain, you can potentially create the next bionic man. And I’m sure if the right people OK’d it, you could have a person on an operating table in a matter of years with cybernetic enhancements being fitted, or maybe having a missing limb replaced with one of terminator’s. It won’t be long (20 years maybe?) before anyone will be able to walk into a hospital for hardware upgrades. Just imagine being able to zoom on objects far away? Or having the ability to automatically translate foreign languages into english - a real life babelfish without the stench! [SHOW ME]

The conception of the transistor 60 years ago ear-marked the creation of the modern technology we see today. Without the transistor we wouldn’t have computers, aircraft, space shuttles or even toasters. This article by the BBC gives a slideshow view of the last 60 years of technology evolution - all thanks to the transistor. [SHOW ME]

Do you want to know the extent to the problems the human race is causing to Mother Earth? Well, you’re in luck - it seems poodwaddle have created the solution to our inquisitive nature, with EarthClock.. [SHOW ME]

Use a google maps-esque viewer to look at the Carina Nebula. Zoom and Pan till your hearts content. [SHOW ME]