Consumers are currently accustomed to seeing LEDs as the prime components of modern flashlights and Christmas tree lighting. But heretofore only specialty lamps have produced light from light-emitting diodes.

That will be changing over the next few months. LED light bulbs are coming to a lamp near you. An array of companies are launching LED bulbs that will fit into regular light sockets. And, unlike previously marketed LED retrofit bulbs, these will produce a light in the same color temperature range as incandescent blubs, 2,700K to 3,000K.

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Might the next front in the cola wars consist of advertising campaigns aimed at convincing the public to pour a particular brand of soft drink into their cell phones?

It will if Chinese designer Daizi Zheng and Finnish electronics giant Nokia have their way. The two have teamed up to develop a biodegradable cell phone that runs on Coca-Cola.

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In tough economic times there’s a special need for gifts that come at a cheap price but that feel expensive. So here are 10 items with a low cost and high WOW factor. As with our other gift guides, friends and family of Spot Cool Stuff are advised to read no further lest you ruin the surprise of your gift this holiday season. The rest of you, carry on . . .

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Color us cynical, but when we first heard of the cell phone made out of corn-based materials we figured that the product would be little more than a green gimmick. (Perhaps we are still haunted by memories of drinking cheap corn-made beer—”beer” that literally cost less than bottled water—while in college in Iowa. But ANYWAY . . .)

. . . then we tried out the Samsung Reclaim. Turns out, the phone much cooler and less, well, corny, than we had imagined.

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Obtaining one will set you back $25 million—cheap considering that a single module can power about 20,000 homes

A remote town in Africa, an automobile manufacturing plant and the Smith family next door are among the entities that may soon be able to join the United States, Japan and France on the list of those who have a nuclear power plant.

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This is not another post about some futuristic electric concept car that exists only in artistic renderings. This post isn’t about a car prototype or about a car that’s scheduled for production. The MyCar, from the NICE Motor Company, is an electric car that’s in showrooms today. You can take it for a test drive and purchase today. At least, you could if you lived in London.

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There’s a race on to develop the technology that will power the next generation of cars.

Some of the biggest and smartest car companies, such as Honda and BMW, are making huge bets that hydrogen is going to replace oil as the car fuel of choice. (To wit: The Honda FC Sport we recently reviewed). Another group of car companies, mostly small start-ups based in the greater San Francisco area, think the next automotive paradigm involves electric power.

Of that second group of car companies, one of the most promising startups is Aptera and its soon-to-go-into-production 2e model.

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No, we didn’t mis-categorize this post. Onions and all sports drinks containing electrolytes (such as Gatorade) are indeed iPod accessories.

And yes, we mean a real, actual, everyday onion. This isn’t some sort of clever reference to the humor magazine The Onion.

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