News
Every time you plug in your EV or flip on your solar inverter, MIT engineers see a secret weapon hiding in plain sight against grid collapse
5+ hour, 50+ min ago (466+ words) The power grid that keeps your lights on is more fragile than most people realize. A well-placed cyberattack or a severe storm can knock out a critical node and leave thousands of homes dark — sometimes for days. What MIT engineers…...
Scientists are briefly electrifying rivers to save vanishing fish and their population counts are finally coming into focus
2+ day, 1+ hour ago (817+ words) In the Miera River basin in northern Spain, a small team of researchers is wading into clear mountain streams. They are sending brief pulses of electricity into the water. The scene looks startling, but it’s completely deliberate and carefully controlled....
Pipeline operators adopt drones and robotic crawlers to automate inspection and replace manual surveillance crews
2+ day, 1+ hour ago (449+ words) Pipeline operators are swapping out the crews that once drove or flew thousands of miles to visually check for leaks, corrosion, and encroachments. In their place: drones and robotic crawlers running continuous, sensor-driven inspections across entire pipeline rights-of-way. The shift…...
Charge Robotics raises $22 million to deploy portable robotic factories for utility-scale solar farm assembly
3+ day, 18+ hour ago (904+ words) Charge Robotics, founded by MIT alumni Banks Hunter and Max Justicz, has raised $22 million to move its portable robotic assembly factories from prototype to commercial deployment. The company plans to begin its first commercial installations later this year. The factories…...
Wind farms have been quietly stealing each other's wind, and a new AI tool finally lets planners see exactly how much
1+ week, 3+ day ago (793+ words) Wind farms don’t operate in isolation. As they grow larger and more powerful, the invisible wakes they cast — corridors of slowed, turbulent air stretching miles downwind — increasingly reach neighboring farms, sapping their output in ways that are difficult to predict…...
GridForge licenses ORNL blockchain cybersecurity tool designed to protect U.S. electric grid data
2+ week, 6+ day ago (495+ words) GridForge Energy Solutions, a California-based startup, plans to commercialize Cyber Grid Guard for grid management companies, energy project developers, and utilities. The technology was developed by ORNL researchers Raymond Borges Hink, Gary Hahn, Aaron Werth, and Emilio Piesciorovsky, with funding…...
Colorado researchers built a crystal-clear window film that traps heat so effectively it could reshape how buildings consume energy
1+ mon, 1+ day ago (602+ words) Modern architecture can become an active participant in climate control using a new window film. The worsening effects of climate change are driving up energy consumption worldwide. Extremely cold winters and prolonged heatwaves in summers are skyrocketing electricity usage in…...
MIT engineers propose using home solar panels, EV chargers, and smart thermostats to stabilize power grids after cyberattacks or disasters
1+ mon, 1+ day ago (363+ words) A network of residential solar panels, EV chargers, and smart thermostats could one day serve as a backup defense for the power grid during cyberattacks or natural disasters. That’s the core finding of a study published in February 2025 in the…...
Ten EU member states urge European Commission to classify nuclear power as sustainable energy for data centers and AI
1+ mon, 1+ day ago (396+ words) Ten of the EU’s 27 member states have jointly written to the European Commission calling for nuclear power to be classified as sustainable energy under a new regulatory framework governing how data centers and AI infrastructure are powered. The letter signals…...
Researchers develop adaptive neural-network-augmented wind turbine controller that raises economic profit by up to 30 percent while reducing actuator wear
1+ mon, 4+ day ago (317+ words) A new controller for wind turbines can raise economic profit by up to 30 percent — not by squeezing out more power, but by teaching the turbine’s internal model to recognize its own blind spots. The core objective is economic: maximize profit…...