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The California Energy Commission has unanimously voted to kick TV manufacturers in the you know where, determining  that flat screen TVs must reduce 33% less power by 2011 and 49% by 2013. How, they do not say…The ruling will apply for displays up to 1400 square inches (58 inches approximate diagonal) and makes it necessary for vendors to achieve a power rating in 2011 of (0.2 x screen size [in square inches]) + 32 with the unit of watts. By 2013 that number is reduced to (0.12 x screen size [in square inches]) + 25 with the unit of watts. If you work the math that means they are looking for a power consumption of 312 W from 1400 square inch displays in 2011 and 193 W in 2013. Ouch! The power factor will also have to be at least 0.9 and the measurements include a fixed display luminance level so that the vendors cannot cheat with a dimmer image.The staff of the commission have done their homework in terms of the status today in a massive report, Overview of Proposed Television Regulations and Draf...

This has been a remarkable week for space. Masten Space Systems with their Xoie rocket edged out Armadillo Aerospace by more accurately landing their lunar landing module closer to the target on both of two trips in the Lunar Landing Challenge run by the X Prize Foundation.Masten walks away with one million dollars, although it is estimated that the design and execution of the project cost them in excess of ten million. Armadillo takes home five hundred thousand dollars but also won three hundred and fifty thousand dollars in the earlier Level 1 challenge last year.The competition – in which there were four entries, three getting to flight status – was NASA-originated with commercial funding provided by Northrop Grumman, the successor to the company that built the Apollo modules. The notion was that alternative technologies could be found for reusable lunar modules, and both the winning companies achieved that in spades, at a much lower price than NASA could have ever done.But in this same week th...