Month: May 2021

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Nikola Tesla’s “Wireless Electricity” Is Now Reality in New Zealand

It’s kind of depressing when the things people dream up don’t come to be until after they’re gone, but I like to think that somehow they always knew it was a solid idea and it would eventually come to fruition.

That’s been the case with several of Nikola Tesla’s inventions, of course, and now an energy startup called Emrod is bringing wireless electricity to New Zealand.

It’s been nearly a hundred years since Tesla first demonstrated wireless electricity was possible, and now Emrod is doing it again, with only a clear line of sight as a prerequisite.

Their founder, Greg Kushnir, issued a statement that said New Zealand’s particular set of skills is what actually made it possible.

“We have an abundance of clean hydro, solar, and wind energy available around the world but there are costly challenges that come with delivering that energy using traditional methods, for example, offshore wind farms or the Cook Strait here in New Zealand requiring underwater cables which are expensive to install and maintain.”

Without the need for traditional copper wiring, Emrod plans to bring power over terrain that has proven difficult, and into homes and businesses that exist in places where physical infrastructure is lacking.

They believe this wireless option will also ease the demand on diesel generators, too, which will benefit the environment.

The company is still in the testing phases, working out the kinks while sending “a few watts” over a distance of just over a hundred feet.

“Energy is transmitted through electromagnetic waves over long distances using Emrod’s proprietary beam shaping, metamaterials and rectenna technology.”

Image Credit: Chetvorno

The “rectenna” is what turns magnetic waves into electricity. It’s a square element mounted on a pole acts as the pass-through point that keeps electricity moving, and a broader surface area that catches the entire wave.

To stop it from zapping things like birds and cars, the beam is surrounded by a low-power laser fence, and they’ve got a contingency plan for outages, too.

There was initially some concern over the loss of signal or signal strength without any conducting materials, but Emrod claims their relay technology “refocuses the beam,” which allows them to lose almost no power over the distance.

“The efficiency of all the components we’ve developed are pretty good, close to 100 percent. Most of the loss is on the transmitting side. We’re using solid state for the transmitting side, and that’s essentially the same electronic elements you can find in any radar system, or even your microwave at home. Those are at the moment limited to around 70-percent efficiency. But there’s a lot of development going into it, mainly driven by communications, 5G and so on.”

Emrod seems like quite a company, yeah?

Emrod says on its site, referring to the New Zealand government’s “innovation agency,”

“The prototype received some government funding and was designed and built in Auckland in cooperation with Callaghan Innovation.

It has received a Royal Society Award nomination, and New Zealand’s second largest electricity distribution company, Powerco, will be the first to test Emrod technology. “

They hope to increase both the distance and kilowatts over time, and believe there is no upper limits to what they can achieve once they work out all of the kinks.

Thank you, Nikola Tesla.

Just think about all you could have accomplished if you’d had the idea for a rectenna, too.

The post Nikola Tesla’s “Wireless Electricity” Is Now Reality in New Zealand appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Nikola Tesla’s “Wireless Electricity” Is Now Reality in New Zealand

It’s kind of depressing when the things people dream up don’t come to be until after they’re gone, but I like to think that somehow they always knew it was a solid idea and it would eventually come to fruition.

That’s been the case with several of Nikola Tesla’s inventions, of course, and now an energy startup called Emrod is bringing wireless electricity to New Zealand.

It’s been nearly a hundred years since Tesla first demonstrated wireless electricity was possible, and now Emrod is doing it again, with only a clear line of sight as a prerequisite.

Their founder, Greg Kushnir, issued a statement that said New Zealand’s particular set of skills is what actually made it possible.

“We have an abundance of clean hydro, solar, and wind energy available around the world but there are costly challenges that come with delivering that energy using traditional methods, for example, offshore wind farms or the Cook Strait here in New Zealand requiring underwater cables which are expensive to install and maintain.”

Without the need for traditional copper wiring, Emrod plans to bring power over terrain that has proven difficult, and into homes and businesses that exist in places where physical infrastructure is lacking.

They believe this wireless option will also ease the demand on diesel generators, too, which will benefit the environment.

The company is still in the testing phases, working out the kinks while sending “a few watts” over a distance of just over a hundred feet.

“Energy is transmitted through electromagnetic waves over long distances using Emrod’s proprietary beam shaping, metamaterials and rectenna technology.”

Image Credit: Chetvorno

The “rectenna” is what turns magnetic waves into electricity. It’s a square element mounted on a pole acts as the pass-through point that keeps electricity moving, and a broader surface area that catches the entire wave.

To stop it from zapping things like birds and cars, the beam is surrounded by a low-power laser fence, and they’ve got a contingency plan for outages, too.

There was initially some concern over the loss of signal or signal strength without any conducting materials, but Emrod claims their relay technology “refocuses the beam,” which allows them to lose almost no power over the distance.

“The efficiency of all the components we’ve developed are pretty good, close to 100 percent. Most of the loss is on the transmitting side. We’re using solid state for the transmitting side, and that’s essentially the same electronic elements you can find in any radar system, or even your microwave at home. Those are at the moment limited to around 70-percent efficiency. But there’s a lot of development going into it, mainly driven by communications, 5G and so on.”

Emrod seems like quite a company, yeah?

Emrod says on its site, referring to the New Zealand government’s “innovation agency,”

“The prototype received some government funding and was designed and built in Auckland in cooperation with Callaghan Innovation.

It has received a Royal Society Award nomination, and New Zealand’s second largest electricity distribution company, Powerco, will be the first to test Emrod technology. “

They hope to increase both the distance and kilowatts over time, and believe there is no upper limits to what they can achieve once they work out all of the kinks.

Thank you, Nikola Tesla.

Just think about all you could have accomplished if you’d had the idea for a rectenna, too.

The post Nikola Tesla’s “Wireless Electricity” Is Now Reality in New Zealand appeared first on UberFacts.

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Brewmasters Share Their Behind-The-Scenes Secrets

I love a good weekend jaunt to a brewery. The beer is interesting, there’s usually a nice patio, and if you live in a city known for brewing, there’s a good chance you can hop on a tour bus and hit up more than one – which makes it a really good Saturday, if you ask me.

If you love breweries and craft beer but the whole process is a bit lost on you, here are 8 things that go on behind the scenes.

8. Yes, they’ll bring the beer.

Image Credit: iStock

Like most professions, if yours involves making something delicious, friends and neighbors and coworkers will be disappointed if you show up empty handed, says Tom Kehoe, co-owner of Yards Brewing Company in Philadelphia, PA.

“If it’s appropriate to bring beer, I will. And sometimes when it is not so appropriate.

I have brought beer to a business networking breakfast and somehow it turned out to be a great icebreaker. I find that people are disappointed if I don’t have at least some beer at the ready.”

So… find yourself some brewmaster friends!

7. Many brewmasters started out as home brewers.

Image Credit: iStock

Kehoe also reveals that while some brewmasters do have college degrees in chemistry or something similar, just as many started by tinkering at home.

“When I started, I would say about 50% were home brewers. The basic knowledge of how beer is made is exactly the same.

However, good brewing practices need to be learned on site. The environment working in a brewery is a lot different than brewing at home.”

The number of breweries has grown exponentially in recent years, and now as many as 90% of working brewmasters experimented first at home before doing it professionally.

6. They know they can be hypercritical.

Image Credit: iStock

It’s no secret that whatever you do professionally, it affects the way you view that product when it’s made by other people – which according to Stone Brewing brewmaster Jeremy Moynier, sadly means that brewmasters can struggle to enjoy drinking socially sometimes.

“I still love beer, but it changes the way you approach it. You pick out a flaw, and it will bother you. It might ruin your enjoyment.

But if you find a beer you really like, it can also make it more enjoyable.”

This pickiness can extend to flavors in foods, too, and which ones make the best pairings for the beers in their hands.

5. They use another sense almost as much as taste.

Image Credit: iStock

Most microbreweries use a lot of machinery, like stainless steel vats, pumps, and bottling lines used to create the perfect brew. According to Moynier, it’s a bit like a symphony, and if something is off, a good brewmaster can tell.

“You use all of your senses, from taste to sound. Breweries are noisy, and there are sounds you get attuned to.

If something sounds wrong, you know there’s a problem somewhere. Your senses being in tune are important.”

Once, he followed an unfamiliar squeaking noise that led him to discover a backed up tank, helping him avoid a costly repair.

4. Names and logos are key.

Image Credit: iStock

If you’ve ever perused the craft beer aisle at the grocery store, you’ve probably wondered if there’s some kind of contest to come up with the cleverest name – and you’re not really wrong.

Marketing is key in any industry, and as more and more craft beers enter the market, helping people remember your product is key.

Tröegs’s, for example, makes a beer called Haze Charmer, and the website description goes into how they chose the unusual name.

“Haze Charmer emerges from a soft, swirling cloud of oats and unmalted wheat.

Vigorous dry-hopping adds a second phase of haze, propping up the oils of Citrus and El Dorado.”

You want people to know what they’re getting, to have the package reflect what’s in the can or bottle, and come up with a name that sticks in the mind.

No pressure.

3. There’s no flavor they won’t try.

Image Credit: iStock

Recently I’ve seen a waffle and bacon flavored beer, and also one that’s flavored like mustard, so the fact that Moynier says they’re offering an oyster stout doesn’t really surprise me.

“There are so many different styles, flavor, and aroma profiles you can hit.

We’re constantly learning about new ingredients.”

As for the oyster stout, Moynier called it “pretty fascinating.”

2. Color equals mood.

Image Credit: iStock

Kehoe says that light and dark beers, which result from different sorts of grains, each give off a distinctive personality trait.

“To me, the color of the beer is the mood of the beer.

Light color is fluid and exciting. Darker is slower and more filling and relaxing. Amber is more middle of the road – it can be whatever personality that you want to project in the moment.”

Color me intrigued!

1. Sanitation is a big part of the work.

Image Credit: iStock

Brewmasters might love coming up with new flavor profiles and dreaming up the perfect name for their latest creation, but according John Togner, co-owner of Tröegs Independent Brewing in Hershey, PA, the majority of their job is making sure they’re working in clean and sanitary conditions.

“People usually think you’re sitting around all day dreaming up recipes and tasting beer. That’s a very small component.

Physical cleaning is probably 80 percent of it. Sanitation is paramount.

It’s like a chef keeping a kitchen clean. Workers spend more of their time scrubbing.”

I’m feeling smarter now, but let’s be honest – you don’t need to know all of the secrets to enjoy the beer. I’m just saying.

If you or someone you know is a brewmaster, share some more secrets with us in the comments!

The post Brewmasters Share Their Behind-The-Scenes Secrets appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Brewmasters Share Their Behind-The-Scenes Secrets

I love a good weekend jaunt to a brewery. The beer is interesting, there’s usually a nice patio, and if you live in a city known for brewing, there’s a good chance you can hop on a tour bus and hit up more than one – which makes it a really good Saturday, if you ask me.

If you love breweries and craft beer but the whole process is a bit lost on you, here are 8 things that go on behind the scenes.

8. Yes, they’ll bring the beer.

Image Credit: iStock

Like most professions, if yours involves making something delicious, friends and neighbors and coworkers will be disappointed if you show up empty handed, says Tom Kehoe, co-owner of Yards Brewing Company in Philadelphia, PA.

“If it’s appropriate to bring beer, I will. And sometimes when it is not so appropriate.

I have brought beer to a business networking breakfast and somehow it turned out to be a great icebreaker. I find that people are disappointed if I don’t have at least some beer at the ready.”

So… find yourself some brewmaster friends!

7. Many brewmasters started out as home brewers.

Image Credit: iStock

Kehoe also reveals that while some brewmasters do have college degrees in chemistry or something similar, just as many started by tinkering at home.

“When I started, I would say about 50% were home brewers. The basic knowledge of how beer is made is exactly the same.

However, good brewing practices need to be learned on site. The environment working in a brewery is a lot different than brewing at home.”

The number of breweries has grown exponentially in recent years, and now as many as 90% of working brewmasters experimented first at home before doing it professionally.

6. They know they can be hypercritical.

Image Credit: iStock

It’s no secret that whatever you do professionally, it affects the way you view that product when it’s made by other people – which according to Stone Brewing brewmaster Jeremy Moynier, sadly means that brewmasters can struggle to enjoy drinking socially sometimes.

“I still love beer, but it changes the way you approach it. You pick out a flaw, and it will bother you. It might ruin your enjoyment.

But if you find a beer you really like, it can also make it more enjoyable.”

This pickiness can extend to flavors in foods, too, and which ones make the best pairings for the beers in their hands.

5. They use another sense almost as much as taste.

Image Credit: iStock

Most microbreweries use a lot of machinery, like stainless steel vats, pumps, and bottling lines used to create the perfect brew. According to Moynier, it’s a bit like a symphony, and if something is off, a good brewmaster can tell.

“You use all of your senses, from taste to sound. Breweries are noisy, and there are sounds you get attuned to.

If something sounds wrong, you know there’s a problem somewhere. Your senses being in tune are important.”

Once, he followed an unfamiliar squeaking noise that led him to discover a backed up tank, helping him avoid a costly repair.

4. Names and logos are key.

Image Credit: iStock

If you’ve ever perused the craft beer aisle at the grocery store, you’ve probably wondered if there’s some kind of contest to come up with the cleverest name – and you’re not really wrong.

Marketing is key in any industry, and as more and more craft beers enter the market, helping people remember your product is key.

Tröegs’s, for example, makes a beer called Haze Charmer, and the website description goes into how they chose the unusual name.

“Haze Charmer emerges from a soft, swirling cloud of oats and unmalted wheat.

Vigorous dry-hopping adds a second phase of haze, propping up the oils of Citrus and El Dorado.”

You want people to know what they’re getting, to have the package reflect what’s in the can or bottle, and come up with a name that sticks in the mind.

No pressure.

3. There’s no flavor they won’t try.

Image Credit: iStock

Recently I’ve seen a waffle and bacon flavored beer, and also one that’s flavored like mustard, so the fact that Moynier says they’re offering an oyster stout doesn’t really surprise me.

“There are so many different styles, flavor, and aroma profiles you can hit.

We’re constantly learning about new ingredients.”

As for the oyster stout, Moynier called it “pretty fascinating.”

2. Color equals mood.

Image Credit: iStock

Kehoe says that light and dark beers, which result from different sorts of grains, each give off a distinctive personality trait.

“To me, the color of the beer is the mood of the beer.

Light color is fluid and exciting. Darker is slower and more filling and relaxing. Amber is more middle of the road – it can be whatever personality that you want to project in the moment.”

Color me intrigued!

1. Sanitation is a big part of the work.

Image Credit: iStock

Brewmasters might love coming up with new flavor profiles and dreaming up the perfect name for their latest creation, but according John Togner, co-owner of Tröegs Independent Brewing in Hershey, PA, the majority of their job is making sure they’re working in clean and sanitary conditions.

“People usually think you’re sitting around all day dreaming up recipes and tasting beer. That’s a very small component.

Physical cleaning is probably 80 percent of it. Sanitation is paramount.

It’s like a chef keeping a kitchen clean. Workers spend more of their time scrubbing.”

I’m feeling smarter now, but let’s be honest – you don’t need to know all of the secrets to enjoy the beer. I’m just saying.

If you or someone you know is a brewmaster, share some more secrets with us in the comments!

The post Brewmasters Share Their Behind-The-Scenes Secrets appeared first on UberFacts.

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How Can I Prove Negligence In My Slip And Fall Case?

Slip and fall accidents are common, especially in public places such as shopping malls and offices. You can go through a lot of agonies if you slip and fall, including getting physical injuries. Most slip injuries are a result of negligence from someone who was supposed to provide safety. Fortunately, there are several ways of proving negligence in slip and fall cases if (and when) you end up in court.   Record the scene of the accident The best way to prove that your slip and fall accident results from someone else’s negligence is by recording the scene of the

The post How Can I Prove Negligence In My Slip And Fall Case? appeared first on Factual Facts.

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What Actor or Actress Was Totally Wrong for a Role They Played? Here’s What People Said.

I think that being a casting director would be pretty difficult.

You really only have one shot to get it right with each role and if you mess up and cast the wrong person…well, we all know how that usually turns out…

Folks on AskReddit talked about the actors and actresses they believe were totally wrong for specific roles.

1. Could’ve been better.

“Jafar in the new Aladdin.

He wasn’t believable or menacing and way too young.

Plus for much of his screen time he’s standing next to Navid Neghaban, who would have been a MUCH better choice.”

2. Blame the casting director.

“Ferdia Shaw as Artemis Fowl.

He conveys none of the intelligence, shrewdness or relentless determination of the book character. He comes across as a child dressed up in a suit and handed cue cards with smart-sounding lines to read unconvincingly.

He’s a child so I’m going to lay the blame for that one on the casting director.”

3. Not a great choice.

“Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan.

He would have been more believable as Kyle Raynor then Hal Jordan… he was regularly thrown around to play Wally West as the Flash.

They took a big(ish) popular actor and throw him at a role without any consideration that his personality matched the character.

Everything that makes Reynolds perfect as Deadpool makes him wrong as Hal Jordan.”

4. Missed the mark.

“Joel McHale as Roy in the ill-fated US remake of The IT Crowd.

We want a scruffy and misanthropic IT nerd, so let’s get an actor known foorrr… charisma and confidence?

OK…”

5. A real classic!

“Jon Voight as a snake hunter in Anaconda is fine.

But him as a snake hunter from Paraguay…with an accent?

Just……why?”

6. Dr. Acula.

“John Dorian as Dr. Acula. He is way to hammy, and not very threatening for a vampire who is behind loads of mysterious deaths in the hospital.

He clearly only got the part because he wrote the darn script for it. It was also a very racist filming process where multiple times Chris Turk was told to “act blacker”.

In good conscience I can’t support the film.”

7. Upcoming movie.

“Kevin Hart as Roland in the upcoming Borderlands movie.

Everyone who knows anything about Borderlands will agree with me. Terry Crews should be playing Roland.

He’s big, has comedic chops, and can play the no-nonsense straight shooter BAD*SS when everything else is wild.”

8. Struggled.

“Maybe an unpopular opinion, but Sophie Turner as Jean Gray.

I like her as an actress, but I just couldn’t get into it.

I felt like she struggled with hiding her accent.”

9. Not a good review.

“Colin Farrell as Alexander The Great.

As one of my old university professors once said, “I wouldn’t follow that guy to the end of my DRIVEWAY”.”

10. The remake.

“Both Lily James and Armie Hammer in the Rebecca remake.

She’s way to confident to be the narrator and he’s way to smarmy to be deWinter.

And I thought that before all the creepy stuff about him came out – now it’s even worse to try to watch.”

11. A look into the future.

“I will take a look in the future and say Mark Wahlberg as Sully in the Uncharted movie.”

12. Those are teenagers?

“Any film with 30 year olds playing teens.

I was so confused by Grease growing up.

Why are these people that look the same age as my mom at school?”

13. Not great.

“Cameron Diaz was horrible in the 2014 Annie remake.

She hasn’t made a movie since.”

14. Nicole Kidman.

“Nicole Kidman is cast as Lucy in Aaron Sorkin’s Lucille Ball movie.

She can’t move her face anymore.

And I like Nicole Kidman, she’s done some great stuff lately but this doesn’t make sense.”

15. Messed it up.

“Annabeth in the “Percy Jackson” movie.

The main physical feature was supposed to be the blond hair, and they somehow messed up on that.”

What actor or actress do you think was wrong for a role they played?

Talk to us in the comments.

We’d love to hear from you!

The post What Actor or Actress Was Totally Wrong for a Role They Played? Here’s What People Said. appeared first on UberFacts.

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Uranus Passed a Gas Bubble 22,000 Times Bigger Than Earth

I don’t think it’s possible for a planet to be embarrassed, but if it were, Uranus should definitely be ashamed of the gas bubbles that are emerging from its bowels.

Do farts stink in space? There’s a question for NASA the next time I’ve got them on the line.

In all seriousness, this discovery is something special, because with all of the information we’ve been able to gather from various planets in our solar system – earthquakes on Mars, grooves in Saturn’s rings, jet streams on Jupiter, and even Pluto’s heartbeat – our image and knowledge of Uranus hasn’t been substantially increased since Voyager 2 passed by the blue beachball in 1986.

Image Credit: iStock

In 2020,though, two planetary scientists noticed an anomaly that everyone had overlooked – a magnetic bubble, perhaps.

Their report appeared in Geophysical Research Letters, and has led scientists to take another look at the mysterious planet.

Gina DiBraccio and Daniel Gershman are two of the scientists who are brushing off old research, seeing what else we might have missed. They’ve spent hours manually looking at 30-year-old data, and found that by focusing on what Voyager 2 considered extraneous noise, there is much we could have missed.

Specifically, they spotted a 60-second long section of the 45-hour flyby where the magnetic field rose and fell in a way they immediately recognized.

It was a plasmoid.

Those are charged globs of atmosphere blown out into space when solar winds whip around planets, and losing them can transform a place over a long period of time.

Image Credit: Public Domain

Studying them is one of the ways scientists believe they can gain insight into how planets live – and how they die.

DiBraccio explained,

“We expected that Uranus would likely have plasmoids.

However we didn’t know exactly what they would look like.”

The plasmoid looks similar to ones they’ve seen emitting from Saturn and Jupiter, but it’s much larger – it formed a cylinder roughly 22,000 times larger than Earth.

Uranus is ripe for study, with updated imaging showing a world that’s not just blue, but painted with white, candy-striped clouds. We’ve also really never understood that way it rolls instead of spins, tipped on its side with its poles pointing either toward or away from the sun.

It’s magnetic field is different, too. It’s offset from the planet’s center, around 60 degrees to the side instead. Planetary astronomers have never really been able to see it or how it works, though the Hubble can occasionally catch an indirect glimpse.

NASA and other space researchers have a growing interest in sending a dedicated probe to Uranus or Neptune. Sketches of possible missions have emerged over the past three years, and DiBraccio confirms they’re likely not going to stop until one is approved to go ahead.

Image Credit: iStock

The plan is to send a Cassini-style orbiter to circle the planets for years, surveying the magnetic field and studying its heat flow. There would also be at least one smaller probe the ship could fire into the atmosphere to measure invisible gasses leftover from the planet’s formation.

Uranus and Neptune, made from heavier molecules (water and ammonia) than the more common “gas giants” in our solar system, aren’t anomalies anywhere else. Neptune-like planets are one of the most common in the galaxy, and understanding more about them could tell scientists about the fundamental ways our galaxy seems to differ from the majority of known space.

Image Credit: iStock

Still, nuclear power will have to catch up, and getting to the outer reaches of our galaxy will be a years-long mission, even after it gets off the ground, says Heidi Hammel, a planetary astronomer and VP for Science at the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy.

“Even with our current best rockets and gravity assists, it’s still a decade to get out there. Most of us tend to think in multi-decade time scales.”

“I dream about exploring Uranus and Neptune and I dream about fantastic space telescopes. That’s how we get through tough times. We dream about the future.”

We’ve certainly had plenty of tough times lately, so let’s hope it pays off when we see some of these dreams and visions of the future come true.

The post Uranus Passed a Gas Bubble 22,000 Times Bigger Than Earth appeared first on UberFacts.