Emerging Ideas Roundup

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Now, reports Fast Company (Sept. 2006), the British firm Facility Architects is working to develop vibration-harvesting sensors that could be set into train stations, bridges, factories, and other buildings that rumble with energy from pedestrians, cars, or machinery. The sensors, which could save $200 billion a year in the United States alone, will capture the buzz and convert it into electricity that could be stored in a battery. The company plans to start testing prototypes in early 2007.

A variety of scientists are exploring similar ideas, from cell phone-charging shoes to wearable computers. 'The idea of harvesting otherwise wasted energy isn't new,' reports the Guardian (Sept. 28, 2006), 'but it's beginning to gain traction.'

Solar Sandstorm

Polysilicon, a key ingredient in the solar cells that convert photons into electricity, is made from sand, one of the world's most common materials. Due to a lack of capacity to refine sand into polysilicon, however, there's not enough of the material to meet the growing demand for solar power, reports Plenty (Oct./Nov. 2006). While some environmentalists might see a ray of hope in this lack of supply-more people actually want alternative energy-it will be a while before the solar industry sees sunny days again. Though polysilicon producers are bolstering their infrastructure, the impact won't be felt until at least 2008.

The Real Cost of Crime

It's no great surprise that the neighborhoods that produce the largest number of prisoners are also the poorest-and the most in need of social services. Yet people rarely connect the data points. To hammer home the correlation, researchers are using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to map the amount of money the penal system is spending on individual prisoners, based on their home addresses. The results, reports Clamor (Spring 2006), are stunning: In some cases, there are so many prisoners from a given area that the cost per city block is more than a million dollars. With the maps already available in 10 states, the visual impact may push state and local governments to spend less on prisons and more on education, housing, health care, and jobs.

Reach Out and Rip Someone Off

More than half of mothers in state prisons have never been visited by their children, in part because prisoners are often incarcerated far from home-which is why low-cost telephone service is crucial for inmates who want to sustain relationships with their families. But in New York state, according to Dollars & Sense (May/June 2006), those who accept charges on calls made from prisons pay six times the national average. And the state directly benefits from the overage, collecting 57.5 percent of the booty-a whopping $175 million since 1996. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) has sued New York's Department of Correctional Services, arguing that the kickback is an illegal unlegislated tax and an unconstitutional impediment to freedom of speech and association. CCR has also joined with other groups to form the New York Campaign for Telephone Justice, which is mobilizing family members, raising public awareness, and lobbying to get fairer phone service for the state's prisoners.

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