Who's that behind the Ray Bans?

I'm fascinated with the Mars rovers. They're the twin robots that landed on Mars in January, 2004. They were built to last roughly ninety days, and travel less than a mile each before fading into history. Five years later, they're still...well...roving.

Now what I find so interesting about these little guys, is their power source. They have small batteries, but most of the power comes from solar cells. Yep, just like the solar cells people put on roofs to generate power. Granted the rovers don't go far in a day, and they move at a snails pace, but they've been going for over five years.

I can't help but question why this technology can't be adapted for cars. It probably couldn't be used everywhere, Seattle comes to mind, but some parts of the country, like the entire Southern half, gets plenty of sun. I guess it all comes down to economics. Apparently it's cheaper to beat up on people in far off countries than develop new stuff here.

For now anyway, we've still got the little pink guy.

Status: 14,237 words, or 65,763 to go.