Megan Geuss RENO, NV—On an uncharacteristically rainy day in Western Nevada, a small tour bus of journalists rumbled past security gates at the Ormat Steamboat Complex in Washoe County. We were there to learn about geothermal power, a renewable energy resource produced by transferring heat from underground rocks up to power plants. Most people think of Iceland when they think of geothermal power. On that island, approximately 90 percent of homes are heated by geothermal energy. But some 12 gigawatts of geothermal power are generated worldwide, and the US is one of the largest producers of it, generating nearly 3.4 gigawatts in 2013 . Ormat’s Steamboat Complex is within the Reno city limits, and it’s made up of seven smaller plants that collectively generate 78 megawatts of power. A typical coal-fired power plant can generate around 660 megawatts of power , so Ormat’s 78 megawatts are not a lot by comparison. But when compared to other renewables, geothermal has some advantages. Read 23 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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Geothermal energy has success in Nevada, wants to spread to the rest of the west
cartechboy writes Self-driving cars are coming, that’s nothing new. People are somewhat nervous about this technology, and that’s also not news. But it appears self-driving cars are already hear, and one idiot was dumb enough to climb out of the driver’s seat while his car cruised down the highway. The car in question is a new Infiniti Q50 which has Active Lane Control and adaptive cruise control. Both of which essentially turn the Q50 into an autonomous vehicle while at highway speeds. While impressive, taking yourself out of a position where you can quickly and safely regain control of the car if needed is simply dumb. After watching the video, it’s abundantly clear why people should be nervous about autonomous vehicles. It’s not the cars and tech we need to worry about, it’s idiots like this guy. Read more of this story at Slashdot. 
The advent of online file sharing made it easy for anyone to copy and distribute media for free, and many feel—and fear—that 3D printing will eventually do the same for physical products. So it’s surprisingly refreshing to hear that a corporation like Hasbro has decided to embrace 3D printing, and will work with Shapeways to allow fans to design and sell their own toys based on the company’s properties. Read more… 
assertation (1255714) writes with this interesting tidbit from Reuters about the state of solar power in Germany: German solar power plants produced a world record 22 gigawatts of electricity per hour — equal to 20 nuclear power stations at full capacity — through the midday hours on Friday and Saturday, the head of a renewable energy think tank said. The German government decided to abandon nuclear power after the Fukushima nuclear disaster last year, closing eight plants immediately and shutting down the remaining nine by 2022. Read more of this story at Slashdot. 
If there are kids in your future, so is one of those mugs with a picture of your children on it. But wouldn’t it be great if that image could be updated as they grow up? That’s exactly what the Muki mug from Paulig promises, thanks to an e-Ink display powered by your piping hot coffee. Read more… 
In Compton last year, police began quietly testing a system that allowed them to do something incredible: Watch every car and person in real time as they ebbed and flowed around the city. Every assault, every purse snatched, every car speeding away was on record—all thanks to an Ohio company that monitors cities from the air. Read more… 
