Feds Drop $106 Million Into Futuristic Energy Projects

Lately we've been covering the doings of DARPA, the Defense Department's mad scientist wing that conducts kooky scavenger hunts and loses hypersonic gliders. But today the focus is on the Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)—an agency President Obama created last year to foster research on creative alternative energy projects rather than futuristic weaponry. ARPA-E, which is part of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, announced this week grants totaling $106 million. The first of the three groups of projects funded by the ARPA-E uses microorganisms to create liquid fuels.