True Grid
The solution to our overburdened, outdated power grid? One word: microgrids—localized power networks that are cheaper, cleaner and more reliable. What’s not to like? By Greg Nichols From The Optimist Magazine Fall 2015 In late 2000 and early 2001, rolling blackouts swept across California. Read More...
Deaf children may receive the gift of sound from a brain stem implant
An FDA-approved clinical trial to give the gift of sound and speech to children who were born deaf is already yielding encouraging results. Read the story of Jiya Bavishi, a six-year-old girl who received an auditory brainstem implant. The implant is a microchip that receives sounds picked up by a Read More...
How to keep your car shiny clean in water-deprived California
Washing your car in drought-ridden California can earn you a $500 fine these days, since the process typically requires so much water as to be deemed wasteful. Fortunately, a Massachusetts-based software engineer has invented a device that makes it possible to polish your vehicle with merely 1.5 Read More...
Bladeless turbine to make wind-energy systems affordable and easy to maintain
Spain has long been a wind-energy pioneer. It should only be fitting that the latest, hottest wind innovation comes from the South European nation. Spanish startup Vortex Bladeless has developed a technology to harvest energy from wind without using blades—as it names suggests. Because it has no Read More...