Collaborate Disseminate
Thursday night, an explosion at a Con Edison electrical facility lit up the entire New York City Sky an unsettling shade of aqua. Continue reading Here’s Why New York City’s Blue-Sky Electrical Explosion Was So Big
Of all the fictional cyborgs who turn against humanity to conquer the planet, this is as far from that possibility as you can get. These harmless mushrooms seem more interested in showing off their excellent fashion sense with a daring juxtaposition of hard grid lines with playful spirals. But the purpose of this bacteria-fungus-technology hybrid is to generate electricity. The mushrooms are there to play nurse to a layer of cyanobacteria, the green gel in the photo, while the straight black lines harvest electricity.
Cyanobacteria do not live very long under these kinds of conditions, so long-term use is out …read more
For more than a decade, the energy and utilities industry has been investing in smarter energy infrastructure in order to enhance energy grid resiliency, reliability and efficiency. Grid modernization has become essential to integrating an increasing n… Continue reading Secure and Compliant Grid Modernization
Electricity always follows the past of least resistance, and that can make for some dangerously beautiful effects. Continue reading Watch 100,000 Volts of Electricity Course Through a Circuit Board in Slow Motion
For the first time, scientists have empirically verified electricity’s role in the ballooning abilities of spiders. Continue reading Spiders Can Fly Thousands of Miles With Electric Power
Power authorities are concerned about Bitcoin’s energy use; how does it stack up against growing bud? Continue reading How Much Energy Does It Take to Grow Weed vs. Mining Bitcoin?
Plattsburgh is worried about Bitcoin’s energy consumption. Continue reading A Small American Town Wants to Put a Moratorium on Bitcoin Mining
Current. Too little of it, and you can’t get where you’re going, too much and your hardware’s on fire. In many projects, it’s desirable to know just how much current is being drawn, and even more desirable to limit it to avoid catastrophic destruction. The humble current shunt is an excellent way to do just that.
To understand current, it’s important to understand Ohm’s Law, which defines the relationship between current, voltage, and resistance. If we know two out of the three, we can calculate the unknown. This is the underlying principle behind the current shunt. A current flows through …read more
But Bitcoin could be so much more than digital gold. Continue reading Bitcoin Mining Is Potentially More Energy-Intensive Than Gold Mining
After two massive hurricanes impacted Puerto Rico three months ago, the island was left with extensive damage to its electrical infrastructure. Part of the problem was that the infrastructure was woefully inadequate to withstand a hurricane impact at all. It is possible to harden buildings and infrastructure against extreme weather, and a new plan to restore Puerto Rico’s power grid will address many of these changes that, frankly, should have been made long ago.
Among the upgrades to the power distribution system are improvements to SCADA systems. SCADA allows for remote monitoring and control of substations, switchgear, and other equipment …read more
