Subject
8 entries
Energy
Bookmarks
Open Infrastructure Map: visualizing physical infrastructure from OpenStreetMap
Open Infrastructure Map visualizes power lines, substations, gas pipelines, telecom towers, and other physical infrastructure from OpenStreetMap data. A public, interactive map of the hidden physical systems civilization depends on.
Proof of Useful Work: Blockchain Web Services
A 2022 technical whitepaper proposing Proof of Useful Work (PoUW) as an alternative to Bitcoin's proof-of-work, directing miners' computation toward paying clients' ML training jobs and scientific simulations instead of purposeless hash puzzles. A direct response to the energy waste criticism of PoW mining.
ARK Big Ideas 2022
ARK Invest's 2022 annual Big Ideas report lays out their investment thesis across five disruptive technology platforms: genomics, robotics, energy storage, artificial intelligence, and blockchain. It's both a market forecast and a statement of where ARK believes exponential cost curves will reshape entire industries over the next decade.
Danielle Fong: A Time for Urgency
Danielle Fong's talk at the Nantucket Project on the urgency of clean energy — referencing a dramatic decline in some metric (likely solar costs or storage costs) that had "gone basically to zero." A physicist-founder making the case for aggressive timelines on energy transition.
San Francisco's Secret DC Grid
IEEE Spectrum piece on San Francisco's hidden DC power distribution network — a legacy system from the early 20th century still operating underground. An unusual piece of city infrastructure that survived the AC/DC war.
Data Centers Waste Vast Amounts of Energy
NYT investigation into the massive energy waste inside data centers — servers running at 6-12% utilization, backup systems idling on standby, cooling systems sized for peak loads that rarely arrive. Exposed the gap between the clean, efficient image of cloud computing and the physical reality.
The Curiosity Rover's Nuclear Battery Explained
Explainer on the Curiosity rover's Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) — the nuclear battery that powers it. Unlike solar panels, the RTG works through Martian dust storms and the long polar nights, and its heat output helps keep electronics warm.
Maker Faire 2012: Bike-Powered Stage
Personal video from a 100% bike-powered stage at Maker Faire 2012. A human-powered stage is a recurring Maker Faire installation — a literal demonstration that a crowd's collective pedaling can power a music performance.