A group of scientists have invented a device that can generate 140 volts of electricity from a single drop of rain, while a massive new iceberg has broken off in Antarctica; plus, more of today’s weather news and forecast.
A team of engineers at the City University of Hong Kong says they have developed a device that can generate a powerful flash of electricity from a single drop of rain. The research was published last week in the journal Nature.
The researchers are calling the device a droplet-based electricity generator (DEG). The researchers say the device can briefly generate 140 volts of electricity from a single raindrop.
That translates to the ability to briefly power 100 small light bulbs.
While that sounds promising, it’s still not practical enough for everyday use, but it’s a significant step toward developing a new form of renewable electricity.
A massive new iceberg that’s about twice the size of Washington, D.C. or about the size of Tampa, Florida, has just broken off the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica.
Scientists had been monitoring the ice shelf for over a year, noting back in October that a pair of cracks more than twelve miles long had opened up.
The iceberg is now floating free, and because it was previously already floating on water, it won’t raise sea levels. However, NASA is warning that there is already enough “vulnerable ice” in the West Antarctic region to fuel up to four feet of sea-level rise.
The danger is, that as more ice floats off into the ocean, it could speed up the disintegration of Antarctica’s glaciers as water eats away at them from the bottom.
Scientists are also anticipating any day now that another iceberg, roughly twice the size of New York City, will break away from the Brunt Ice Shelf as soon as the two existing cracks within it intersect.
Southern US: Severe weather and high risk of flooding throughout the South for the next two days, with the possibility of isolated tornadoes tomorrow. Flooding is already occurring in northern Georgia, and heavy rain leading to school closures in North Carolina amid a severe weather risk.
Colorado: Heavy snow for the southern portion of the state, but should end early Tuesday.
Southern California: Winter storm strikes San Diego, dropping mountain snow.
North Dakota: Blizzard risk on Wednesday in Red River Valley spanning Interstate 29 and Interstate 94.
Indiana: Increased snow accumulation Wednesday and Thursday.
Florida: Highs in the mid-80s today, could set records with temps in the upper 80s tomorrow.
Northwest & Northern Rockies: Seattle 48, Portland 56, Boise 42, Billings 35, Bismarck 37, Rapid City 43.
West: San Francisco 66, Los Angeles 73, Reno 53, Salt Lake City 37, Denver 35, Las Vegas 61.
Southwest: Phoenix 59, Albuquerque 34, El Paso 50, San Antonio 50.
Central & Upper Midwest: Kansas City 45, Oklahoma City 45, Lubbock 33, Dallas 46, Minneapolis 28, Madison 29.
South: Houston 62, New Orleans 77, Memphis 45, Atlanta 67, Charlotte 68, Jacksonville 84, Tampa 83, Miami 80.
Ohio Valley: St. Louis 44, Chicago 34, Detroit 39, Cincinnati 44.
East: Norfolk 69, Washington, D.C. 55, Buffalo 33, New York 48, Boston 43, Bangor 31.
