This is actually a burgeoning field of research right now. There are several games that use human effort to solve NP-hard problems. The ones I know about are foldit (a protein folding simulation) and phylo (a comparative genomics engine), but I'm sure there are more.

*NEWS FLASH* The internal combustion engine used worldwide for over a century produces a jillion percent more output power than the electrical input power used to fire the spark plugs.

...from CERN. Sure, the Grid was massively expensive, but I doubt genome researchers are generating 27 TB of data per day.

The biggest problem with these LEDs, regardless of the substrate, is that the element Gallium is already in short supply. In small production batches, these LEDs might be cost-comparable to CFLs. Once production ramps up, though, the sheer amount of Gallium needed to provide significant lighting will cause the price to skyrocket.

it shouldn't be hard at all. Just take some stock Hubble photos, some sharp looking spacesuits, lasso, clone, publish! I bet money they're the first to Mars, too.