NPR: At a once-defunct Polaroid film factory in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the lights are on again and a new industry is rising up inside the ruins of an old one.The company Konarka makes solar panels, but not the kind most people have seen. These are thin, lightweight, flexible plastic sheets, and that enables them to be used in all sorts of new ways."We make what’s called plastic solar cells; we call it ‘power plastic,’ ” says Rick Hess, Konarka’s chief executive officer. Related news storySolar panel thefts heating up
The finding that the Saturnian moon may host layers of icy slush instead of a global ocean could change how planetary scientists think about other icy moons as well.
Modeling the shapes of tree branches, neurons, and blood vessels is a thorny problem, but researchers have just discovered that much of the math has already been done.
January 29, 2026 12:52 PM
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