Related topics: energy , renewable energy , wind energy



Electricity

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Electricity (from the New Latin ēlectricus, "amber-like"[a]) is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning and static electricity, but in addition, less familiar concepts, such as the electromagnetic field and electromagnetic induction.

In general usage, the word 'electricity' is adequate to refer to a number of physical effects. However, in scientific usage, the term is vague, and these related, but distinct, concepts are better identified by more precise terms:

Electrical phenomena have been studied since antiquity, though advances in the science were not made until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Practical applications for electricity however remained few, and it would not be until the late nineteenth century that engineers were able to put it to industrial and residential use. The rapid expansion in electrical technology at this time transformed industry and society. Electricity's extraordinary versatility as a source of energy means it can be put to an almost limitless set of applications which include transport, heating, lighting, communications, and computation. The backbone of modern industrial society is, and for the foreseeable future can be expected to remain, the use of electrical power.

For more information about Electricity, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with electricity

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Texas entrepreneur hopes to turn mesquite into power

Technology / Energy

created Feb 05, 2010 | popularity 3.1 / 5 (7) | comments 1

Randy Hill lives amid the fossil fuels of America, a place where natural gas and crude oil made millionaires and the landscape is dotted with pump jacks. But Hill, who lives outside Abilene in West Texas, is spending much ...


Electrons on the brink: Fractal patterns may be key to semiconductor magnetism

Electrons on the brink: Fractal patterns may be key to semiconductor magnetism (w/ Video)

Physics / General Physics

created Feb 05, 2010 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (12) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

(PhysOrg.com) -- Just as the heartbeats of today's electronic devices depend on the ability to switch the flow of electricity in semiconductors on and off with lightning speed, the viability of the "spintronic" ...


Power from down under

Power from down under

Technology / Energy

created Jan 26, 2010 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (38) | comments 11 | with audio podcast

Grants recently awarded to MIT researchers by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) could help to pave the way for a method of generating electricity that produces no greenhouse gas emissions, and that could ...


Iowa State, Ames Lab engineer works to develop better batteries for energy alternatives

Developing better batteries for energy alternatives

Technology / Energy

created Jan 25, 2010 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Get Steve Martin going on the science and technology of batteries and he'll reach for a sheet of graph paper.


Cape Wind's fate unclear, even in Obama's hands (AP)

Cape Wind's fate unclear, even in Obama's hands

Technology / Energy

created Jan 25, 2010 | popularity 2.7 / 5 (3) | comments 2

(AP) -- After eight years of review, the future of a controversial wind farm off Cape Cod now rests in what would seem to be friendly hands - an Obama administration that's pledged to make the U.S. "the world's ...


An electrifying advance toward tomorrow's power suits

An electrifying advance toward tomorrow's power suits

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Jan 20, 2010 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (10) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Could powering an iPod or cell phone become as easy as plugging it into your tee shirt or jeans, and then recharging the clothing overnight? Scientists in California are reporting an advance in that direction ...


AutoPort to roll out first cars equipped with UD's V2G technology

AutoPort to roll out first cars equipped with vehicle-to-grid technology

Technology / Engineering

created Jan 19, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 2

A University of Delaware technology that could change the energy world is now on a roll.


A technician checks the panels of a solar power system

German solar industry faces subsidy cut: minister

Technology / Energy

created Jan 19, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Germany, the world's biggest market for solar cells, is poised to slash its subsidies for solar power by as much as 17 percent, Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said on Tuesday.


More reliable forecasts for water flows can reduce price of electricity

Technology / Other

created Jan 19, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Brazil, Canada, China, the US, Russia, Norway, Japan, and Sweden are among the largest producers of hydroelectric power in the world. One problem for hydroelectric power companies is that the great variations in the river ...


Cell phone coca-cola

Modified Mobile Phone Runs on Coca-Cola

Technology / Energy

created Jan 13, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (30) | comments 12 | with audio podcast weblog

Daizi Zheng, a Chinese developer who is currently based in London, has modified a Nokia cell phone to run on Coca-Cola or any other sugary solution.


A document indicated that the Google Energy unit had asked for "market-based rate authority"

Google wants to buy, sell electricity in US

Technology / Energy

created Jan 08, 2010 | popularity 3.2 / 5 (12) | comments 21

Internet search giant Google is seeking government authority to buy and sell electricity in the United States, a further expansion of its operations aimed at boosting renewable energy.


Scientists' breakthrough in production of biofuels

Technology / Energy

created Jan 07, 2010 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (11) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

A team of scientists from the University of Sheffield have scooped an international award in recognition of their work on an innovative device which will make the production of alternative biofuels more energy efficient.


Straining forward

Nanowires made of 'strained silicon' show how to keep increases in computer power coming

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Jan 06, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (10) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

(PhysOrg.com) -- Computers keep getting more powerful because silicon transistors keep getting smaller. But that miniaturization can't continue much further without a change to the transistors' design, which ...


As the refrigerator said to the hi-fi...

Technology / Engineering

created Jan 04, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

(PhysOrg.com) -- Networked sensors and devices have huge potential but how can we ensure that they can all talk to each other? The answer, according to a European consortium, is to link them seamlessly through a common 'middleware'.


China's installed wind power capacity will reach 20 gigawatts this year

China to be 3rd biggest wind power producer: media

Technology / Energy

created Jan 01, 2010 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (16) | comments 15

China is set to become the world's third largest wind power producer in 2009, state media reported, as the Asian giant seeks various ways to expand energy supply to power its economic boom.