New Year Advancements

Even if solar reaches 100% efficiency, there is not enough solar energy incident on my current location to amount to a hill of beans. If/when I retire to the Tri-Cities area of Washington State, this could all change. Decent wind prospects there, too.

The so-called LENR (low energy nuclear reaction) don't seem to be replicable thus far; whether anything comes from that angle seems yet unknown.

There was a recent CR4 item on some kind of solar paint, but the output was laughably low, like 600 watts for a whole roof. (And the paint had cadmium in it.)

I don't see 100% EVER, at least not in my life. I was reading an article a few days ago where it was shown in theory that solar output could be doubled. The idea is that an electron is lost in the picoseconds of conversion when a photon hit's a free electron. I think if they can bring it to market it would change the panel industry overnight. Half the size, same output, cheaper, etc.

Note: This didn't use a concentrator of any type.

Probably wishful thinking on my part, but what I'd like to see, is a return to genuine quality in the goods that consumers buy....................across the board.

Along with that, I'd like to see things being designed and built to be fixed if they break, and a resurgence in parts houses, so we can fix things, improve them, etc., and get off the perpetual buy, throw away, and replace, merry go round that we've been forced to ride.

So basically you're saying don't buy "made in China"?

Well, not necessarily.

Going back to your OP, I predict that we will see a noticeable uptick in the quality of Chinese made goods in 2012.

Now that they have eliminated a lot of the competition, the next logical step would be to take measures to keep it that way.

Utility-scale waste heat power harvesting will step in to meet demand as capacity is strained by the new EPA mercury rule. Desalination will become easy and cheap with radical new magnetohydrodynamic designs that avoid membranes and chemicals. Smokestack emissions will be controlled -- also without membranes and chemicals -- so coal will be able to make a comeback as shale gas falters due to refusal to spend on wastewater cleanup. New synthesis methods for carbon nanotubes will make these super-strong, near superconductors cheap, and nanocomposites will transform many industries. Oil sands extraction will improve and the sludge ponds of Alberta will transform from eyesores to oases. Mechanical disinfection (by cavitation) will reduce disease. "Apocalypse" means uncovering, i.e. discovery, so 2012 might be a breakthrough year on many fronts.

1) Evidence of the Higgs Boson particle will be found confirming that everything we know about the universe is right.

2) The faster than light experiments will be replicated and confirmed showing us that everything we know about the universe is wrong.

I agree about the second one