POWER TALK

LOOK FOR THE UL LOGO

For more than 100 years, Underwriters Laboratories’ instantly recognizable UL Mark has guided consumers to reputable electrical products that have been rigorously tested and approved for safe use. But alas, there are counterfeit goods on the market.

Any UL Mark should look like the one shown here. And to make things even easier for buyers, Underwriters Laboratories has introduced a new holographic version that’s required in 32 consumer product areas prone to counterfeiting, including power supply cords, night lights and ceiling fans. The mark, which has been in use since July 1, features a gold background, color-shifting ink similar to that in new U.S. paper currency and a repeating pattern of floating UL symbols. In some cases, the mark is only on the packaging.

CableOrganizer.com (http://cableorganizer.com), a world leader in providing cable, wire and equipment management-related products for business and residential use, encourages consumers to shop smart and advises them to avoid:

• Products whose packaging references Underwriters Laboratories but lacks a company name, trademark, trade name or other UL-authorized designations.

• Use of words such as “approved” or “pending”—neither word is sanctioned or used by Underwriters Laboratories—in place of words such as “classified” or “listed.”

• A so-called UL Mark on product packaging made suspect by spelling and grammatical errors.

• The lack of product documentation, including instructions for use, safety warnings and information
on proper care and maintenance.

•  Product packaging that lacks a toll-free customer service number, company address or other corporate contact information.  

For more information about UL Marks, go to www.ul.com/global/eng/pages/corporate/aboutul/ulmarks/mark.

HAPPPENINGS

Not every dog will be a wiener—but every dog, in one way or another, will be a winner at the third annual Dachshund Days Festival set for September 12 in Cleburne, south of Fort Worth.

All breeds are welcome at the event-opening parade. And the same holds true for the costume contest that features four categories: formal wear, cutest, most original and best costume worn by both the dog and owner.

Bone up for the talent contest in which dogs of all breeds will compete for such titles as best kisser, best singer and best dancer. And yes, there will be dachshund races, with the fast little dogs high-tailing it down—and erratically weaving in and out of—50-foot-long lanes divided only by chalk.

For more information, call (817) 556-2382 or go to www.campfireusatesuyacouncil.org.

PERFECT WOOD FOR SHIPBUILDING

“Of all the Texas oaks, perhaps none is as well known, beloved, or venerated as the live oak. In part, live oak is respected for its incredibly strong wood, which played a critical yet all- but-forgotten role in maritime history. … In the age of wooden ships, live oak was the strongest and most durable shipbuilding wood that grew in the nation, possibly second only to teak for the best maritime wood worldwide.”

—Matt Warnock Turner, Remarkable Plants of Texas: Uncommon Accounts of Our Common Natives, University of Texas Press, 2009

POWER TALK
UT Experiments With Thin-Film Solar

A group led by a University of Texas chemical engineering professor has dreams of mass-producing solar panels on huge printing presses like those used by newspapers.

The group has created an ink-like concoction of light-absorbing material that can be spray painted on a combination of plastic and metal to make solar panels thinner than a sheet of paper, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

To date, though, the panels convert only 1 percent of the sunlight that hits them to electricity. Ten percent conversion would make them commercially viable. The UT team has a long way to go to match researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory who say they’ve created a thin-film solar cell with 19.9 percent efficiency.

The thin-film solar technology could reduce the cost of putting a solar array on a roof from more than $20,000 to less than $2,000, said Brian Korgel, the UT professor leading the research.

WHO KNEW?

When Texas joined the Union in 1845, the state was twice its approximate current-day size of 268,000 square miles, as recounted in the book Going To Texas: Five Centuries Of Texas Maps (Texas Christian University Press, 2007). But five years later, chronically short of cash, Texas sold parts of territories it claimed in what are now Colorado, New Mexico and Kansas to the United States for $10 million. Just think. We could be skiing in the Texas mountains if we’d kept the land.

GLOSSARY

Alternating current (AC): An electrical current that regularly reverses direction (as opposed to direct current, which flows in only one direction). Transformers can increase or decrease the voltage of AC, allowing for the efficient, long-distance transport of high-voltage electricity. The voltage is then lowered for consumer use. Most homes and businesses worldwide use AC electric