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How do you power a super advanced alien civilization? Soak up a star.

We harness the power of the sun using solar panels. What if you were to scale this idea to astronomical proportions? Surround an entire star with solar-collecting structures or satellites to power your sprawling alien galactic empire. Such massive structures are known as megastructures—in this case a “Dyson sphere.” We are already trying to detect possible megastructures in space using the dimming of a star and the glow of megastructure components in infrared light. But recent research provides a new detection method—a Dyson sphere may cause its host star to swell and cool.

Power companies are having to come to terms with the high cost difference between maintaining poles and wires and installing hybrid power systems at the ends of the long power lines. And when the bushfires burn all the poles, then it makes the decision much easier.

Horizon Power is rolling out standalone off-grid solar and battery powered systems for 19 customers east of the town of Esperance. “Horizon Power first began offering certain remote regional customers the option to be powered by a custom built stand-alone solar and battery power system, or SPS, after bushfires destroyed more than 320 power poles and hundreds of kilometres of power lines in the region in November of 2015.”

At that time, only four landowners took up the offer. Now they expect to deliver more than 1,000 systems to farmers and remote indigenous communities. As part of the Western Australian government’s Recovery Plan, Horizon Power has received $46 million to provide 150 systems across regional Western Australia. Each system consists of solar panels, battery storage, and a backup diesel generator. Connection to HP’s service hub means that any faults can be diagnosed remotely. Service teams can be dispatched if needed.

The Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrid goes on sale soon, with 4-wheel drive standard.


It’s good news, bad news time at the Jeep division of Stellantis, formerly FCA, formerly Daimler Chrysler, formerly Chrysler Corporation. The 4xe plug-in hybrid version of the popular Grand Cherokee will go on sale this spring. According to Autoblog, buyers will have 5 trim levels to choose from — base, Trailhawk, Overland, Summit, and Summit Reserve.

The Grand Cherokee 4xe Good News

Every Grand Cherokee 4xe will come with the same basic powertrain — a 2-liter, 4-cylinder, turbocharged gasoline engine, a pair of electric motors, a total system output of 375 horsepower (280 kW) and 470 pound-feet (637 NM) of torque, and a battery pack that operates on 400 volts. The 4xe models will have a towing capacity of 6,000 pounds and a battery-only range of 25 miles. If you drive less than 25 miles a day, you could drive your Grand Cherokee 4xe on its daily appointed rounds and never burn a drop of gasoline — in theory.

Hydrogen, which has a diverse range of applications and can be deployed in a wide range of industries, can be produced in a number of ways. One method includes using electrolysis, with an electric current splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen.

If the electricity used in this process comes from a renewable source such as wind or solar then some call it green or renewable hydrogen. The electrolyzer in Zhangjiakou will use onshore wind power, Shell said.

While there is excitement in some quarters about green hydrogen’s potential, the vast majority of hydrogen generation is currently based on fossil fuels.

Sweeney responded: “Sounds doable, account and all my help. Any chance to up that to $50K?”

The 19-year-old cited college funding and told the billionaire the money could go towards buying a Tesla Model 3.

“I’ve done a lot of work on this and 5k is not enough,” Sweeney said in an interview with Insider. He added $5,000 wasn’t enough to replace “the fun I have in this, working on it.”

“The main goal is to build a smart new city, a new city that is competitive at the global level, to build a new locomotive for the transformation… toward an Indonesia based on innovation and technology based on a green economy.”

Environmental groups not on board However, not all are on board with Widodo’s new plans. Environmental groups worry that the new city may disturb the orangutans, leopards, and other wildlife that already live there. There is also the fact that the new development would cost a whopping $34 billion, a price much too high to pay during an already costly pandemic.

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Pretty soon it won’t just be Indonesia’s Navy submarine that will have disappeared. Its capital city Jakarta is also sinking quickly.

Indonesia is looking to replace its capital city because it is very polluted, congested, susceptible to earthquakes, and quickly sinking, according to the Associated Press. The country now aims to build a more sustainable, cleaner, and resilient capital city.

A smart new city

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) connects IoT with Industry. The IIoT allows companies to reap information from their machines and environments to create intelligent, self-learning machines. This interconnected ecosystem provides numerous benefits for enterprises, such as reduced downtime, increased throughput and safety, and predictive maintenance — leading to greater efficiency. The 4th Industrial Revolution is fueled by exponential advancements in digital technology and brings us closer to a sustainable future of intelligent manufacturing environments that operate with zero emissions. With the advent of Industry 4.0, there has been a massive increase in the levels of data being produced by intelligent machines. This enormous increase in information can be hard to manage and analyze effectively without converting into usable insights. These insights are gained through the use of various technologies, including intelligent digital twins that allow for real-time monitoring of a machine’s condition, AI that can analyze large amounts of data to produce actionable insights, and connected devices that provide live status updates.

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Tesla has launched an in-car karaoke microphone called TeslaMic. But it’s only available in China for now.