Electric cars sit charging in a parking garage at the University of California, Irvine January 26, 2015. “The Irvine Smart Grid Demonstration”, a $79 million project funded half by federal stimulus money and half by Edison and partners like UC Irvine, was launched in 2010. The $12 billion utility's research team Southern California Edison is testing everything from charging electronic vehicles via cell phone to devices that smooth out the power created by rooftop solar panels. Those are some of the roughly 60 projects in the works at Edison's Advanced Technology division. It has a small $19 million annual budget, but its influence far exceeds that. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

“SpaceShipOne was a suborbital air-launched spaceplane that completed the first manned private spaceflight in 2004. That same year, it won the US$10 million Ansari X Prize and was immediately retired from active service. Its mothership was named “White Knight”. Both craft were developed and flown by Mojave Aerospace Ventures, which was a joint venture between Paul Allen and Scaled Composites, Burt Rutan's aviation company. Allen provided the funding of approximately US$25 million”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A chase plane follows SpaceShipOne after it reached a height of 62 miles in the first non-governmental flight to leave the Earth's atmosphere on June 21, 2004 in Mojave, California. SpaceShipOne spacecraft was carried to a height of 50,000 by the twin-turbojet high-altitude research aircraft, “White Knight”, where it was launched for its final climb. The space effort was funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and headed by aerospace engineer Burt Rutan. (Photo by Jim Campbell-Pool/Getty Images)

Owners and their dogs take part in “HK Doggie Dash 2018”, an event held to raise money for for abandoned and surrendered dogs in Hong Kong on April 15, 2018. Dozens of pugs and dachshunds compensated for their modest speed with peppy spirits at Hong Kong’s inaugural “doggie dash” on April 15 that raised funds and awareness for the city’s abandoned and rescued dogs. (Photo by Isaac Lawrence/AFP Photo)

A deer canters past participants in the Darkness into Light event in Killarney, Co Kerry, Ireland on May 7th, 2022. The annual pre-dawn walk raises funds for Pieta, a charity that supports people who are in suicidal distress or engage in self-harm, as well as families affected by suicide. All counselling sessions and other services are provided free of charge. (Photo by James Crombie/INPHO)

Model Bar Refaeli arrives at amfAR's Cinema Against AIDS 2007 at Le Moulin de Mougins on May 23, 2007 in Mougins, France. The amfAR Foundation raises funds for research, education and treatment of AIDS/HIV worldwide.

Ants carry a leaf with a slogan reading “Merkel, Help!”, a reference of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, at the zoo in Cologne, Germany August 18, 2015. Some of the zoo's 500,000 leaf-cutting ants carry laser-cut leaves with slogans during a campaign to protect the Amazon rain forest, organised by the German branch of World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) and Cologne Zoo. Picture taken through the glass of the display case. (Photo by Ina Fassbender/Reuters)

Elephants feast on fruits and vegetables during the elephant buffet prior to the start of the 2016 King's Cup Elephant Polo event in Bangkok, Thailand, 10 March 2016. The annual charity event, now in its 14th edition, runs until 13 March and will involve 18 elephants brought from tourist trekking camps in Pattaya as well as some unemployed in Surin. A total of 10 teams encompassing over 40 players will take part in the event directed at raising funds to improve the lives of elephants and elephant conservation. (Photo by Diego Azubel/EPA)

A Syrian refugee girl plays outside a tent at a refugee camp in Zahle in the Bekaa valley November 18, 2014. In October, Lebanon, which has the highest per capita concentration of refugees in the world at one in four residents, said it could not cope with more than one million Syrians and has asked for funds to help look after them. (Photo by Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)