The Daily Dig: Panoramic Memory Edition

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• Lots of solar news today. Solar Panel International got underway in Anaheim yesterday, and the opening speech declared the conference Solar’s “Fourth of July” and outlined a solar “Bill of Rights”; it’s time for solar to make serious moves in the lobbying game. (Earth2Tech, WSJ)
• Among the ARPA grants for innovative energy projects are $23.7 million in the new field of direct solar energy. “Direct” energy–as opposed to coal and oil–is the byproduct of a living organism, not the “husk of the organism itself.” Click for an explanation. (GreenTechMedia)
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• Extortion: n., (1) obtaining by force, intimidation, or undue power; (2) SEPTA workers saying they might, just might, strike before the end of the week, when the World Series come to Philly, the city celebrates Halloween, and the Giants take on the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. (Philadelphia CityPaper)
• The Amtrak losses piece we linked to yesterday didn’t exactly do a great job of contextualizing the issue. 2008 was actually a pretty good year for mass transit, and we can expect “increasing ridership and increasing financial returns on investment.” (CA HSR Blog, Yglesias)

• At the World Solar Challenge in Australia, competitors race solar-powered cars over 1,880 miles. The average car “looks like an earthbound space ship,” which is great, but don’t expect to see them on the road anytime soon. (Wheels)
• Some of that $3.4 billion announced yesterday for a smart grid will go to smart meters, but not everyone is pumped about it. Their ROI is questionable, they’re not that smart, and not everyone wants the utility company to know everything about their usage. (FT Energy Source)
• Oh boy. An alternative-energy company says that the kinetic energy produced by footsteps can be harnessed by their “rubber stones.” Too bad they only last five years. (Inhabitat)
• For the annals of the truly incredible: Stephen Wiltshire, a London-based artist, tours cities by helicopter and then draws them, building by building, from memory. As we write, he is working on a panorama of New York City. (NYTimes - pic via)
• A model railroad enthusiast has built what appears to be the worlds smallest motorized model train. Five cars move through mountains, a tunnel and trees–and the whole thing is .125 x .2 inches! (PhysOrg)