Archive for July, 2017
Donald Trump Jr. Hires N.Y. Lawyer for Russia Probes
July 11th, 2017Via: Time: Donald Trump Jr. has hired a lawyer to represent him in Russia-related investigations, his office and the lawyer said on Monday, as Republicans voiced concern about a meeting between the U.S. president’s son and a Russian. Trump Jr. hired New York lawyer Alan Futerfas, who specializes in criminal defense. Futerfas would not say […]
NZ: Solar Tax Stands
July 10th, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Oh, just wait. They’re just getting started. A little bird told me that odious legislation is coming with regard to energy storage here in New Zealand. The retail electricity cartel knows that solar + storage spells certain doom for them. Now, get this (I couldn’t […]
Working Past 70: Americans Can’t Seem to Retire
July 10th, 2017Via: Bloomberg: More and more Americans are spending their golden years on the job. Almost 19 percent of people 65 or older were working at least part-time in the second quarter of 2017, according to the U.S. jobs report released on Friday. The age group’s employment/population ratio hasn’t been higher in 55 years, before American […]
VW: Auto Industry Needs 40 Giga Factories by 2025
July 10th, 2017Via: Automotive News Europe: A massive shortage of lithium ion battery cells could plague the global car industry in the coming decade if capacity equivalent to 40 Tesla gigafactories is not added by 2025, according to estimates from Volkswagen Group. Ulrich Eichhorn, head of r&d for the world’s largest carmaker, increased projections made just 13 […]
Genetically-Modified Cyborg Dragonfly Drone
July 10th, 2017Via: Popular Mechanics: DragonflEye was created by genetically modifying regular dragonflies with “steering neurons” in the insect’s spinal cord, which are light sensitive. Tiny, fiber-optic-like structures in the dragonfly’s eyes send pulses of light to their brains, functionally controlling where the insect flies via remote control. The dragonfly also carries a miniature “backpack” with sensors […]
Cryptocurrency Miners Wipe Out Supplies of Graphics Cards in U.S. and Europe
July 10th, 2017I’m trying to understand the logic of people trying to mine Ether with GTX 1070s costing between $500 and $600 or more right now!? These cards launched with a retail price of $349 for the commodity models. (Fancy factory overclocked or water cooled models would cost more.) The situation is even worse on AMD RX […]
Houston Startup Plans to Store Wind Energy Underground
July 8th, 2017Via: Houston Chronicle: Texans have long stored oil, natural gas and other forms of energy in underground salt caverns, so it’s only natural that a Houston startup wants to store wind energy there, too. The method is in the company’s name, Apex-CAES, where CAES stands for compressed air energy storage. The company plans to use […]
Tertill: Solar Powered Weeding Robot
July 8th, 2017Via: IEEE: Tertill is a solar-powered, weed-destroying, fully autonomous and completely self-contained robot designed for your garden. Put it out there, forget about it (mostly), and it will brutally exterminate any weeds that it can find, as long as they’re short.
100 MW/129 MWh Powerpack System for South Australia
July 7th, 2017Via: Tesla: This week, through a competitive bidding process, Tesla was selected to provide a 100 MW/129 MWh Powerpack system to be paired with global renewable energy provider Neoen’s Hornsdale Wind Farm near Jamestown, South Australia. Tesla was awarded the entire energy storage system component of the project. Tesla Powerpack will charge using renewable energy […]
Facebook’s Company Town
July 7th, 2017Via: Mercury News: Aiming to address long-neglected community needs and to accommodate its burgeoning workforce, Facebook has proposed a vast expansion of its Menlo Park campus. The new campus would include several office buildings, hundreds of homes, retail, a grocery store, and parks and plazas, all part of what the social network giant envisions as […]
