Solar-powered plane on round-the-world flight gets stuck in China

The Solar Impulse 2, the experimental plane attempting to fly around the world without using a drop of fuel, has been grounded by the weather in China.

What was supposed to be an overnight pit stop in the southwestern city of Chongqing has now stretched into a two-and-a-half week stay.

It's an unexpected layover that is testing the patience of the pilots and more than 60 team members, just a quarter of the way along a journey that will cover some 35,000 kilometers (21,748 miles) over five months.

"You can believe that your will can influence the weather," says pilot Bertrand Piccard, who comes from a long family line of explorers. But "then you'll be really disappointed because it doesn't work.

"Or you just know that it's an adventure you do with the forces of nature."

Piccard, along with Andre Borschberg, a Swiss engineer, are taking turns flying the single-seater aircraft, which took off from Abu Dhabi on March 9 and has successfully flown through Oman, India, and Myanmar.

There is much at stake. Their mission, which the pilots say is aimed at proving the power of renewable energy, and inspiring innovation, has been 12 years in the making. In many ways, it has become Piccard and Borschberg's raison d'etre.

Why quantum dots are taking over your TV

Yearn for the warm yellow light of an old energy-hungry Edison incandescent light bulb? Find the white-blue glare of a modern LED bulb too harsh?

Quantum dots are about to change all of that.

These electronic crystals are so tiny that 10,000 of them span just the width of a human hair.

They are small enough to operate in the fascinating realm of physics called quantum mechanics, and possess unique optical qualities that could change everything from TV screens and phone displays to medical imaging and solar panels.

Even the humble light bulb is unlikely to escape their revolutionary clutches.

Shine a light

Quantum dots emit one specific color when light goes through them. The color can be finely tuned and is determined by their size.

The bigger ones -- about 50 atoms thick -- glow red, while the smallest -- 30 atoms or so -- glow green.

Just a subtle tweak in the size of the particle can change its color right across the spectrum of the color wheel: "We can tune these dots to fluoresce at any color that a given application requires," says Michael Edelman, CEO of UK-based Nanoco, a quantum dot manufacturer.

Applied to TVs, this technology has several advantages over traditional LCD panels, as the colors are more accurate and the images more vibrant.

On top of that, they are more energy efficient: "Quantum dots require a tiny amount of energy to operate," Edelman told CNN.

"Whenever you have a material that gives off a very bright pure light with a tiny amount of energy, people start getting excited."