Here's What's Awesome: Flashless Flash Photos, Carbon-Capturing Molecules

This week astronauts aboard the International Space Station got news nobody wants at their workplace: the space station toilet is down! While I have neither interstellar plumbing skills nor any way to get up there, I do have something that will help those brave souls pass the time until their restroom is up and running again: the weekly set of excellent links that is Here's What's Awesome. It's one giant blog by a man, three awesome links for mankind.

Let there be infrared light
Tired of blinding everyone at weddings and press conferences? A new invisible flashbulb developed at New York University uses infrared and ultraviolet light to "flash" your subjects without using any visible light. Infrared and UV photos don't do color very well, so the camera then takes a second, flash-less photo and merges the two together. [Popular Science]

You've tried scrubbing it out...
Might we have stumbled upon the solution to global climate change? Ok, that's probably overstating it, but consider the case of Dr. J.A. Tossell, a scientist in Maryland who, in the course of doing other research, happened to find a peculiar molecule that seems to absorb CO2 right out of the air. So, in theory, you could put a bunch of those near an old smokestack and tidy things up. Expect a whole lot of research in the next few years to see if it really works. [CleanTechnica]

Best two out of three, or go to the next room?
As the proud owner of a smallish house, I'm a big fan of space-saving devices, and fun space-savers like the Ping Pong Door are the best of the lot. Contained within the door frame is a fully-functioning ping pong table - push the panel back up at the end and you're done. [LikeCool]

Now it’s your turn: share an awesome link in the comments. Do it for the astronauts!

(Photo by addhass via Flickr/Creative Commons)