Duracell has hatched an interesting campaign in New York’s Times Square which offers a chance to participate in some crowd-sourced power generation.

The battery manufacturer unveiled their Smart Power lab last week, where visitors can come to charge gadgets for free, play Xbox games, and expend some energy to help power the 2010 numerals for the New Years Eve ball drop. The “Power Rover”, a stationary bike-like device will capture and convert users pedaling into electricity.

[via GoodCleanTech]

National Geographic has a fascinating simulation of why the US World Trade Center towers collapsed after the planes hit them on September 11 2001.

It's part of a program investigating "science and conspiracy".

Basically, it's because the fuel in the (nearly-full) tanks caught fire, which weakened the columns, which bent slightly, which meant that the roof - and other floors- fell in.

We know that from the real-life example, of course. But it's interesting to see it demonstrated here. Not, of course, that this will satisfy the wingnuts who think it was a conspiracy. Their loss.

But sometimes this is what engineering is about: figuring out why things happen after the event. (Other videos on the National Geographic site ask whether controlled demolition could have done the same job, and whether the hijacked planes were replaced by planes carrying explosives. Enjoy.)