energy – Museum of the Weird

You’ve probably heard about the epic battle between inventors, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla about how electricity would be delivered to the masses. If not, this video will catch you up.

As the video shows, Edison’s campaign was pretty grim. He was convinced that AC power was unsafe and publicly electrocuted a number of animals, including an aging elephant, to prove it. AC had advantages for cheaply delivering power over long distances, so it ultimately won out…or did it.

In this article, Will Tesla Batteries Force Home Wiring to go Low Voltage?, innovations in battery technologies developed by Tesla Motors may force homes and appliances to rewire for DC to be more efficient. The irony of this is staggering. A company inspired by and named for Nikola Tesla may reverse a long-standing convention and get us closer to Edison’s original vision for power distribution.

It makes one wonder if their battle may continue wherever they may be, if they might look at what their creations have wrought and continue to keep score.

You might also be interested in Edison’s device for contacting the dead. We’ll be examining this in more detail soon.

Scientists can now generate electricity from viruses!

The world of nano-technology is growing exponentially fast and with it, come a slew of amazing breakthroughs. This one for example, is pretty fascinating.

Scientists have used the principle called “piezoelectricity” or, the use of pressure and vibrations to generate energy, to create enough electricity to power a small lcd screen from a small virus similar to the one found in our bodies when we have the common cold.

Mother Nature Network writes:

When people get a cold or the flu, they tend to experience a lack of energy. But what if viruses could actually generate energy — not to power your body, but to charge your electronic devices?

That’s the idea behind a new electric generator developed by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The scientists coated a postage-stamp-sized electrode with specially engineered, harmless viruses that, when tapped, generated enough electricity to power a small LCD display. Their research was published online May 13 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Tag: energy

AC vs DC: the Battle’s Not Over

SCIENTISTS GENERATE ELECTRICITY FROM A VIRUS