Quick Bits: Violence, English, Solar

Some of this is old news, but I had to flush my bloggable bookmarks queue, so here goes…

• Solar Cells reach 40% efficiency. Slashdot notes that this means a sunlit area 265 miles square could meet the world’s energy needs. More practically, developing but energy-poor countries like India may have just found a way out of their energy trap. Solar panel infrastructure on roofs and two-way metering are just some innovations that would let Indian cities improve their residents’ quality of life in an environmentally friendly way.
• “…In the end, America may be stronger for it.” Anti-offshoring lobbyist Scott Irwin shuts down his lobby group. (via)
• Patent laws stifle drug innovation (via)
• The Decline of Violence (via)
• A Middle Ground on Climate, from the NYT. And reaction from RealClimate. (via)
• English: a Celtic language with Germanic words?
• “Extraterrestial Intelligent beings do not exist.”