In May 1972 in a uranium enrichment plant in France, scientists examining ore from a mine in Gabon, West Africa, discovered that a natural nuclear reactor had spontaneously manifested in that region in the Earth’s primordial past, churning out approximately 100 Kw worth of energy continuously for a few hundred thousand years about 1.7 billion years ago.
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If you’ve ever braved London Underground’s Northern Line tube service during rush hour, you’ll have have experienced the 10th circle of hell that Dante somehow managed to forget.
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Cold fusion is the Holy Grail of energy production. The technology could theoretically produce virtually unlimited energy for next to nothing except that nobody’s been able actually get the system to work despite decades of worldwide research. However one Italian scientist claims to have finally gotten the cold fusion right, you’ll just have to shell out $1.5 million to see if he’s telling the truth.
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Belkin’s WeMo line of connected outlets, motion sensors and wireless switches has been a solid solution for building out a (relatively basic) home-automation system on the cheap, and now there’s a new product to add to the mix. The WeMo Insight Switch can turn lights and appliances on and off just like its older sibling, but this year’s flavor is significantly smaller and more powerful, too. The Insight adds a nifty consumption-tracking feature, letting you monitor uptime and electricity usage for connected devices. Through the bundled Android or iOS app, you can see how long your television, washing machine or space heater have been operating, and just how much they’ll cost you each month. WeMo Insight is available today for $60.
Filed under: Household
Source: Belkin
Coal has been keeping our lights on and our houses warm for centuries. But coal’s inherent messiness — both in mining it and burning it — has always been a problem. So it’s no surprise that many people today advocate for cleaner alternatives. What may come as a surprise, however, is that some people were dreaming of a cleaner energy future nearly a century ago.
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This month, Japanese electronics company Kyocera launched the country’s largest solar plant. The facility can power 22,000 homes—and, maybe more importantly, it poses no risk of melting down, injuring workers, or spewing radioactive water
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With Minute Physics videos we pretty much expect to have the universe explained to us in . . . a minute. Or maybe a few minutes. But this rundown of temperature and how to achieve "negative temperature" only takes 10 seconds. Impressive.
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Conventional wisdom in the northern hemisphere is to face solar panels south so they get the most light all day. Architects and panel installers implement this approach all the time, especially on homes. But a new study indicates that panels facing west may actually get more juice from the sun, and at more convenient times.
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As wind energy has expanded over the years, engineers have raced to build larger and larger turbines—designed to take advantage of as much wind as possible. But the architect Renzo Piano and an energy company in Italy are trying to make a smaller turbine—one that’s suitable for the average yard.
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