Wind power is pretty bad-ass to begin with, but conventional wisdom is that it's a "mature" technology that, unlike solar and other breakthrough energy technologies, won't be seeing much improvement in the coming decades. WRONGITY WRONG WRONG.

“This is probably the most exciting time in the industry as far as companies launching new product platforms,” Mr. Radomski [an advisor to clean energy companies] said, adding that much of the research and development work was happening in Europe, where the modern wind industry grew up.

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From fully-automated wind turbine plants to blades with airplane-style flaps, wind power of the future is going to be just as science-fiction-y as cities bedecked with countless affordable solar panels, reports The New York Times.

Even more radical departures include vertical-axis wind turbines that are grouped according to the same principles that govern schools of fish.