Among those projects is the Brightsource Ivanpah project, a 450-foot-fall solar power tower located in the Mojave Desert.

FORBES: Here Comes Google's $94 Million Sun

One force behind all this money has been the fall of the ivory tower that once kept professors above real-world concerns.

FORBES: Magazine Article

But the financing market for leveraged buyouts is getting squirmy, the music business itself is harder than ever to value, and with new tenanting prospects in double-dip-recession limbo as an ebullient recovery in office-building investment slows, the tower may become part of the collateral damage caused by the shuddering fall of EMI.

FORBES: Iconic Capitol Records Tower Feels EMI's Pain

This year, Le Web happens to fall on the day a snowstorm shut down the airports and the Eiffel Tower, and brought traffic to a standstill in the French capital.

BBC: Le Web: The tech world's best talk about the hottest trends