Thursday, December 28, 2017
Generating electricity from ocean waves with Wells Turbine
The ingenuity of this is a turbine that spins the same direction regardless of air flow direction, a Wells turbine. Not as efficient as a regular turbine, it is however much more mechanically simple, and hence more serviceable to install in remote locations along the seashore.
The Wells Turbine is better explained in this video, which shows the blades are shaped like a sailboat in a crosswind. At 3:13, the single direction of rotation is demonstrated very well with reversing airflow direction.
This video shows some flexible blades of plastic or metal that change shape as the airflow reverses, much like letting the sail out into a broad reach in a crosswind, which increases the efficiency.
Unfortunately, this ingenious project was shut down in 2013 due to lack of interest in funding the idea. https://mobile.offshorewind.biz/2013/03/05/voith-hydro-shuts-down-its-scottish-wave-business/
ToxiCity: life at Agbobloshie, the world's largest e-waste dump in Ghana
-what a horrible existence. Electronic trash from around the world is shipped to Ghana where scavengers pick apart the trash for useful metals, hoping not to get too sick from lead poisoning in the meantime.
NY City Shaped by Steam | Living City | The New York Times
- I had no idea this was the largest municipal steam system in the world by a factor of ten. I've seen the huge public steam pipes in Finland, but New York's are hidden underground.
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Building the world’s most powerful gearbox for wind turbines - the Winergy 8 MW gearbox
I found this docuvertisment interesting. The gearbox for a wind turbine is not scalable, that is, the problems you encounter at bigger sizes can't be conquered by just scaling everything proportionately to the next size.
And in the testing phase, things that are hard to predict are vibration and efficiency.
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Conjoined Teachers!
-intriguing, unusual, inspiring. Imagine just the simple act of walking, and how much cooperation that takes. Let alone getting to where they've gotten.
Friday, December 22, 2017
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Birth of a New Island
-interesting correlations between both of a new island and life on other planets
An Elevator That Actually Goes Sideways
-interesting elevator that can go up and sideways using linear induction motors.
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
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