It takes a lot of energy to keep the human body warm. So why not harness that power? The Berkeley Lab at UC Berkeley plans to lace silicon nanowires into a power-jacket. The excess heat from the human body would be used to recharge portable electronic devices, such as cell-phones, PSP’s and laptops.

The process being developed is called “electroless etching,” where rough silicon nanowires are synthesized with silver ions on a flat wafer surface. These wafers would be woven into coats and the excess warmth given off by the body would be transformed into energy.

Thermoelectric materials have been around for a long time. Scientists are just beginning to find a way to make them efficient enough to prove practical. That’s because silicon is a poor conductor of heat at room temperature. The lab has found a solution, reduce the size of the nanowires and combine a flat surface with a heat conducting material.

Don’t expect to pick up this coat next week. The lab still needs to find industrial partners to put all this research to use in the commercial world. With a little luck, we might just have a solution for keeping all of our gadgets at full power, even on the go.

I know what you’re thinking, all this online Web 2.0 malarkey was great when it was connecting you with old girlfriends on MySpace, but what has it done for you lately? Just remember, Internet or no Internet, strength is in numbers.

A fan base with an interest in a minor-league soccer team, Ebbsfleet United of Northfleet England, took that lesson to heart. Who needs fantasy leagues when you can just buy the team outright? Twenty-six thousand fans pitched in $70.50 each. That price bought them a place in history as the first online community to both own and manage a professional sports team.

The site is a meeting place for owners; allowing them to vote on issues such as lineups and the purchase of new players. Fans are able to watch the games via a live feed and thumb through real-time stats on each and every player. The portal will have weekly updates from the coach they select, giving them the skinny on player performances during practice.

This is where you let your mind wonder. Imagine making a bid for the Dallas Cowboys. Last time the franchise was evaluated, its price was estimated at a dizzying $923 million. Yet if 10 million people each ponied up $100 in a mass collaborative effort they’d have a shot at snatching America’s Team from Enemy No. 1, Jerry Jones, for a cool $1 billion.

So let’s sneer at the golden rule for once. Why does it have to be that ‘he’ who has the gold makes the rules. Massive projects like this one – online and off – turn that ‘he’ into a ‘we.’ And with the right motivation, buying a team no longer need be a rich man’s game.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could regrow skin as fast as a Chia Pet? If you’ve ever had a serious wound you know that the only way to replace the skin you’ve lost is to take it from another part of your body. Most of the time grafts are taken from the thigh and the result is scaring on both the treated area and the portion of the leg it was taken from.

But why use your own skin when you can just grow it in the lab? That’s what the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology asked.

How is it done? Dr. Andreas Emmendörffer, the director of the project explains: “We pluck a few hairs off the back of the patient’s head and extract adult stem cells from their roots, which we then proliferate in a cell culture for about two weeks. Then we reduce the nutrient solution until it no longer covers the upper sides of the cells, exposing them to the surrounding air. The increased pressure exerted by the oxygen on the surfaces of the cells causes them to differentiate into skin cells.”

The resulting artificial skin grows into the wound. Within 72 days there are no signs of scarring or visible clues that the wound ever existed. That might even be faster than your Chia Homer’s hair grows.

The new technique is called EpiDex and it’s been approved for use in Germany. The team expects to preform the procedure on up to 20 patients every month in 2008.

• Hoverboards, Get ‘Em While They’re Hot: Hoverboards coming soon. Scientists figured out a way to finally make it happen. Soon frictionless nanomachines will having moving parts below your feet to propel you as far away from Biff as your heart desires.
• Robots Get So Small They Can Fit in Arteries: This little crab-like device was designed to release a chemical that will immediately clear obstructions to the heart. This is just the first step in a succession of advances that will change medical and human history.
• House of the Future Flexes in its Off-Grid Glory: It’s the self-sustaining home of the future, on steroids. And all along you thought going green was for design challenged weenies?
• Scan Your DNA to Find Out What Makes You Tick: Scan your genetic code to find out how you inherited talents and traits. A way to see what diseases you are predisposed to.
• Underwater Hotel: Sleeping with the Fishes: The first underwater hotel to open in Dubai. The Hydropolis will feature 220 suites, restaurants and bars, a grand ballroom, shopping mall, a cosmetic surgery clinic, and a marine biology lab.