http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/ Engadget Comments for Man-made 'tethered tornadoes' touted as a viable power source http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
//this is why we're still on coal
]]>Aug 1st 2007 2:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
Also, to the writer: When nuke plants have an accident, it's usually not quite as severe as "24" would have you believe.]]>Aug 1st 2007 3:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
Of course, when a severe accident *does* happen, the surrounding area becomes inhabitable for a few thousand years, whereas even the worst tornadoes don't last more than a few hours...]]>Aug 1st 2007 3:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
]]>Aug 1st 2007 3:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmens/is_200604/ai_n16377068
]]>Aug 1st 2007 3:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
Anyhow, he probably also doesn't know that not only did Chernobyl have so many things go wrong at one time (on an un-authorized experiment, no less), it was also a cheapie design, called "partial containment", that didn't enclose the reactor in another building, like we (generally, as far as I know) do in the US. Why do you think Three Mile Island wasn't actually that bad? It was sealed off from the atmosphere. Chernobyl reactor 4 was not. End of story.

Also, not many people realize that other reactors at Chernobyl were actually still producing power until the year 2000, and there are still workers there decommissioning it.

Anyway, basic understanding of what you're talking about is good.]]>Aug 1st 2007 3:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
you might want to try a little sarcasm on for size.
Everyone else seemed to get it.

Typical.]]>Aug 1st 2007 3:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
Stat-wise, nuclear power is even safer than coal power plants, if you look at the deaths per megawatt (or some type of measurement).

Properly designed and built nuclear power plants are extremely reliable and have emergency system after emergency system, as well as multiple failsafes that basically make a serious accident just about impossible.

Remember 3 mile island? What happened there - that's right, it fixed itself. Please read that again - fixed itself. ]]>Aug 1st 2007 4:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Chernobyl only killed 56 people (plus about 4000 indirectly through cancer and other side effects) and it was about as bad of a failure mode as is possible for a nuclear plant. Sure it was terrible, but imagine if the three gorges dam in China collapsed, we'd be looking at hundreds of thousands of deaths, dwarfing Chernobyl. Or closer to home, what if Hoover dam burst? Would we then abandon hydroelectric power?]]>Aug 1st 2007 7:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 2:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 2:44PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
In all seriousness, this is a much more environmentally friendly choice, especially for the cost. It costs less and doesn't pollute the environment. That's pretty awesome.

Of course you have the downside of disaster, a tornado off the "leash," however this is far less dangerous than a radioactive meltdown or oil spill. I'm sure there could be safety mechanisms to help reduce the damage done by "escaped" tornadoes like building an array of concrete walls around the perimeter of the power plant to help dampen the tornado's fury until it was almost just fast winds and nothing more by the time it reached any civilization.]]>Aug 1st 2007 2:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 2:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
Damn straight. But SimCity aside this thing is awesome.]]>Aug 1st 2007 2:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
If SimCity 5 could do that, that would be awesome. If it comes that is. Still no word from EA.]]>Aug 1st 2007 4:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/]]>Aug 1st 2007 2:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 2nd 2007 10:58AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
Power here in the US can be sold back to the company but they will only give you wholesale rates which is not a whole lot.

Nuclear is the way to go if we can get the environmentalists off our back. They are already trying to eliminate one of the cleanest forms of power, hydroelectric. ]]>Aug 2nd 2007 3:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/what about the effect this will have on weather patterns...you think people complain about changing weather patterns now! I can't even begin to imagine what this would do. Any meteorologists out there?]]>Aug 1st 2007 2:47PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
I'm not a meteorologist. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.]]>Aug 1st 2007 3:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 3:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
I think that "-E" hit the nail on the head with the problem of not knowing the impact it would have on weather conditions. That could create more inviromental problems then some of the things today's tree huggers protest over.]]>Aug 1st 2007 2:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 4:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
See, they needed wind not magnets.]]>Aug 1st 2007 2:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 2:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 2:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
We understand so little about the weather, I wouldn't feel safe with man made tornadoes impacting the controlled chaos that is nature.]]>Aug 1st 2007 3:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 3:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
Mike ]]>Aug 1st 2007 3:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 3:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 4:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 4:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 3:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
Not to mention, the Soviet Union didn't exactly handle the situation as good as they might have... not evacuating the city and all until their parade was over.

56 direct deaths
4,000 extra deaths due to cancer
4,000 thyroid cancer cases among children diagnosed by 2002

I'm not attacking the USSR, or socialism, before someone goes on a spree about the Cold War being over. Just saying they didn't handle it well.]]>Aug 1st 2007 3:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
From what I've read and heard recently, improvements in Nuclear power generation technologies have rendered 'meltdowns' virtually if not totally impossible. When managed correctly, waste from plants poses no immediate risk and likely little to no future risk, especially when compared to traditional power generation. Sure, renewable energy should be the final destination, but is nuclear really that bad an option to bridge the gap?

I heard a story on NPR yesterday about a single line in the latest Energy bill that could (or would) allow for the federal guarantee of loans for nuclear plant construction. For some insight on the matter, the reporter conducted interviews with residents of a small town in New England that was near a power plant. Those who didn't mind or even enjoyed the presence of the plant (enjoyed in terms of realizing the benefits to the local community in terms of taxes and jobs) backed up their opinions with facts. Those who were opposed expressed uneducated, subjective fears, using terms like 'meltdown' and 'lime green'. Yet somehow these subjective viewpoints continue to guide policy.

Cultural resistance to innovation and technological improvement has led to the downfall of more than one civilization. ]]>Aug 1st 2007 3:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/Chernobyl/) , 4000 cases (as of 2002) of childhood thyroid cancer (NOT deaths) can be attributed to Chernobyl - which was/is very treatable (less than 1% mortality and normal life expectancy). Trust me, I was shocked to read the report a few years ago as a Master of Public Health student. I remember as a child in the late 80's that "Chernobyl was going to cause tens of thousands of deaths, mutated babies, and infertile adults" (according to the media) - but that simply turned out not to be true. The more substantial negative public health impact can be traced to disinformation and impact on the psyche of the area. Can you imagine "waiting" for some horrible tragedy that never came to pass?]]>Aug 1st 2007 3:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
4000 kids with cancer is barely a blip on the radar screen. Let's party!



]]>Aug 1st 2007 4:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 3:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 3:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 3:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
It seems perfectly fine, thermodynamically, but I'd like to know where they see the efficiency heading, and why they think designing and building these things would be better than well-understood methods.

The fact that the article and the inventor completely ignore every other means of reclaiming waste heat isn't particularly surprising, but it doesn't instill any hope in the technology.

Sounds like a cool effect in search of a problem.]]>Aug 1st 2007 3:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 9th 2007 10:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
Yeah, knowing the facts is a good thing. I remember in high school being told that the Chernobyl death count was in the thousands, and thus, nuclear power = ftl.

Interesting bit of information, though, considering that the real number was more around 56 (total number of deaths related to the incident as of 2004).

http://www.uic.com.au/nip22.htm]]>Aug 1st 2007 7:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 5th 2007 9:01AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 4:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 4:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 4:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/
But in all seriousness, I wouldn't want to live next to that power plant.]]>Aug 1st 2007 4:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 4:42PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/man-made-tethered-tornadoes-touted-as-a-viable-power-source/Aug 1st 2007 9:39PM