Electricity
hideElectricity (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.
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News tagged with electricity
Small optical force can budge nanoscale objects
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Engineering researchers have used a very tiny beam of light with as little as 1 milliwatt of power to move a silicon structure up to 12 nanometers.
A greener way to get electricity from natural gas
Dec 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new type of natural-gas electric power plant proposed by MIT researchers could provide electricity with zero carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere, at costs comparable to or less than ...
Selling chip makers on optical computing
Nov 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Computer chips that transmit data with light instead of electricity consume much less power than conventional chips, but so far, they've remained laboratory curiosities. Professors Vladimir ...
Pickin' Up Good Vibrations to Produce Green Electricity
Nov 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Vibrations from the environments we live and work in could be much more widely harnessed as a clean source of electricity, due to cutting-edge UK research.
Cutting greenhouse pollutants could directly save millions of lives worldwide
Nov 25, 2009 |
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Tackling climate change by reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse emissions will have major direct health benefits in addition to reducing the risk of climate change, especially in low-income countries, according to ...
Staying Power: Senate Hearing Focuses On Energy Storage
Dec 10, 2009 |
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Thursday's Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing featured testimony from experts about the power industry's need to develop systems capable of storing large amounts of electricity if the nation's ...
NREL Uncovers Clean Energy Leaders State by State
Nov 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- That California and Texas still lead the United States in generating renewable energy probably is no surprise. But, NREL's 2009 State of the States report shows that several smaller states ...
China solar panel makers see boost from Copenhagen
Dec 03, 2009 |
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In Trina Solar's brilliant white factory in eastern China, masked workers in lab coats turn silicon wafers into solar power cells capable of harnessing the sun's clean and limitless energy.
Checklist for going solar
Dec 04, 2009 |
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With the sun setting before 5 p.m., solar power may be the last thing on your mind these days. But declining panel prices ans a federal tax credit make now a good time to at least investigate whether solar power might make ...
Hi-tech, eco-friendly dream home takes shape in Japan
10 hours ago |
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On Tokyo Bay, at the edge of the largest urban sprawl on Earth, sits what may be an environmentalist's dream home.
Energy efficiency technologies offer major savings
Dec 09, 2009 |
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Energy efficiency technologies that exist today or that are likely to be developed in the near future could save considerable money as well as energy, says a new report from the National Research Council. Fully adopting ...
Seeking a Smarter Grid: Integrating Wind Energy by Linking Buildings to the Grid
Nov 24, 2009 |
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In utility parlance, wind energy is known as a “variable load.” That’s because wind is naturally unpredictable and inconstant. What’s worse, it is more likely to blow at night, when demand for electricity ...
