The way we receive our television signals changes tomorrow.  The modern  TV receiver was patented in 1948 – and what few remain from that era could still work – today – picking up analog  signals broadcast from  nearby transmitters.  But as of tomorrow they’re history.     Analog receivers need to be retrofitted with digital convertor boxes to work.    We talked to WGCU Public Media General Manager Rick Johnson about the conversion to digital TV.

Lee
County residents who count on public transportation will see something
new on the roads starting Tuesday. WGCU’s Luis Hernandez reports.

Florida
Gulf Coast University students and faculty got an update on the
university’s plans for an on campus, 2 megawatt solar power plant
Thursday.  WGCU’s Mike Kiniry has more…

Researchers
call it The Kanzius Radiofrequency Field Device- Kanzius RF
for short.   It was developed in the mind…and garage…of Sanibel winter
resident and former broadcaster John Kanzius.  The inventor passed away
last month from pneumonia after multiple rounds of chemotherapy
treatments for his leukemia.  The device, initially viewed with
skepticism,  has quickly gained the research community’s attention. 
WGCU’s Mike Kiniry filed this report…

In
1903 a company in London started making cars that ran on compressed
air. They didn’t last. Some of the early challenges were high cost and
lack of torque. Over the decades independent engineers toyed with the
idea but it hasn’t stuck. Two Port Charlotte men hope to change that.
In part two of his look at the future of energy efficient vehicles
WGCU’s Luis Hernandez reports on a car that runs on – air.

A local environmentalist has created an award-winning, automated e-mail list to connect and share ecological information. The “Environmental Voice of Southwest Florida” serves as a solution to a communication problem among many local activists.  Chelsey Stoner reports.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune will discontinue home delivery of its paper to Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda and parts of DeSoto County next month. Its publisher – Diane McFarlin – says the decision was driven by the sliding economy and the migration of advertising dollars to the web. She told WGCU’s Mike Kiniry that which areas to cut were mostly determined by geography and population density…

Cape Coral gets high marks for digital savvy. That’s according to the recently released 2008 Digital Cities Survey – which ranked Cape Coral number 8 in the nation. WGCU’s Luis Hernandez reports.

Fans of "Star Trek" will remember the universal translator: a device that instantly turned alien languages into spoken English. Today that technology is no longer just the stuff of science fiction. Joshua Johnson went to Boca Raton where researchers at IBM have made it happen and has this report…

It’s that time of year again…when the sound of Salvation Army bells ring outside many retail outlets. WGCU’s Luis Hernandez reports on a new way people can give.