Futures Foundation

When constructing computer circuits, most folks start with silicon and metal, but not the researchers at Stanford. The boffins in Palo Alto want to build computers out of living tissue, and to that end they've created a biological transistor, called the transcriptor. Transcriptors substitute DNA for semiconductors and RNA for the electrons in traditional transistors -- essentially, the transcriptor controls the flow of a specific RNA protein along a DNA strand using tailored combinations of enzymes.

Using these transcriptors, researchers built logic gates to derive true/false answers to biochemical questions posed within living cells.

More details can be found here:

http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/31/stanford-genetic-transistor-transcriptor/

New techniques in making a sprayable liquid that works like a solar panel will make them both easier to install and cheaper to produce.  The new method is currently in development at a lab at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. “The goal is to reduce the amount of energy and money required to make a solar cell," David Lidzey, a physicist collaborating on the project, explains in a statement. "This means that we need solar cell materials that have low embodied energy but we also need manufacturing processes that are efficient, reliable and consume less energy.”

More details can be found here: http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681384/you-may-soon-just-spray-paint-on-your-solar-panels