The electric blue is kind of cool. White’s got the Apple look going for it. Black is still the new black. No comment on the sea foam green.

The iPhone 4 accessory wagon continues its quick ramp-up with this new solar-powered battery charger/case available from SimeniBiz. (Read: “Direct Wholesale from China.”) It comes in not-exactly-rainbow colors, but its non-toxic, protective soft silicone sheath is “environmentally friendly” – whatever that means these days. I’m also digging on their marketing line: “Free solar power.” Um, okay. Thanks!

The “high-power” solar panel on the base of the case and built-in 1500 mAh Li battery is where you store the electric stuff. I know, mAh is a “what’s that?” term for me too, but 1,500 of ‘em is a pretty healthy storage capacity; enough to “top off” your charged phone, says EnviroGadget. This is a good thing for those of us who get all nervous when the percentage charged icon falls below 98 percent.

The deal is that its battery charges when it’s left in the sun, with or without the phone in it. It can also be charged with an AC adapter, car charger, or USB charger via a 5-pin cable. The “dash” is simple enough for me, with three light indicators for capacity - 25, 50 and 100 percent - and an ON/OFF switch. Yep. Can do.

When you’re curled up on the couch, sniffling and shivering, with a pounding headache and aching body, it’s hard to imagine any such thing as a good virus. But according to scientists, many viruses have the potential to help, rather than hurt, humans. Over the years, this has been proven time and again. For example, in 1952 Martha Chase and Alfred Hershey used viruses to help establish that DNA, rather than protein, forms the basis of heredity.

And now, some MIT researchers have figured out a way to genetically engineer common bacteriophage viruses (that is, viruses that infect bacteria but are harmless to humans) and put them to work building rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in the form of a plastic film. The result – a new generation of batteries that would have the energy capacity to power personal electronic devices such as iPods and cellphones and might even be powerful enough to be used in plug-in hybrid cars.

As described in the April 2nd online edition of Science, these new batteries could be produced cheaply and be nontoxic to the environment. A prototype of the battery was taken to the White House last week when the MIT president met with President Barack Obama to discuss federal funding needs to help advance research and production of new clean-energy technologies.

Image: dawnzy58