All posts tagged: switches

RAM 3500 driver switches to EV, and the savings are SHOCKING

RAM 3500 driver switches to EV, and the savings are SHOCKING

Published by skeptic

How much can drivers really save by trading their ICE truck for an EV? One driver parked his trusty 2023 RAM 3500 diesel and drove a new 2026 Chevrolet Silverado EV for a few days — and his real-world fuel savings are impossible to ignore. America is full of rural communities that are miles away from its major cities, both geographically and culturally – but that doesn’t mean these more sparsely populated regions can’t reap the benefits of electrification. In fact, EVs offer rural drivers even more benefits than they do to city-dwellers. That’s truer than ever these days, with diesel prices climbing past $6.00 per gallon in many parts of the country (and approaching $8 in parts of California), it’s more expensive than ever to haul sailboat fuel around town in a big pickup truck. “Diesel is sitting around roughly $6.00/gal. on average,” writes Robert Wallace, a certified energy manager and self-proclaimed rural energy innovator. “My [2023] RAM [3500] gets about 17 MPG, which means every time I drive a mile it’s costing me $0.35.” This week, though, Wallace got …

I set up smart switches to power my home, and they’ve made this lazy man into a genius

I set up smart switches to power my home, and they’ve made this lazy man into a genius

Published by skeptic

pros and cons Pros Can push and pull switches, for total bidirectional control Nothing to wire into the mains and no electrician needed Works with or without a hub. Cons Fitment can be a little fiddly at times The VHB tape isn’t the best at sticking to curved surfaces There’s only one spare bit of tape in the kit. Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. Home automation is a wonderful thing. I love that I can control so much of my life from my smartphone. But let’s be honest, this automation also made me lazy — so lazy that I now resent some of the simplest tasks. Especially when that task is something as trivial as flipping a switch. Doubly so if some electrician put that switch in an awkward, hard-to-reach spot. Well, good news: switch flipping is officially a thing of the past for me, thanks to SwitchBot.  As the name suggests, SwitchBot is a device that presses switches for you. (Yes, we’ve reached the point in human history where we have …

Micro Softy 69: A Bunch of Switches

Micro Softy 69: A Bunch of Switches

Published by Jenni Sidey

Computer engineers are required to study digital logic. This includes switching theory. Last week’s Micro Softy relates to this week’s puzzle, so let’s give last week’s solution first.  Solution to Micro Softy 68: An Overcrowded Prison   Frenchy was the 100th prisoner at the Pokey Nook Prison. Every day, each of the 100 prisoners here must flip a switch. Prisoner #1 goes first, then #2, etc up to prisoner #100. There are two switches next to each other. A prisoner can flip either switch but could only flip one. If Frenchy can tell the Warden with certainty when the 101st prisoner arrives, he’ll be released,     Frenchy and the other prisoners at Pokey Nook Prison flipped a switch each day for 101 days, On the 102nd day, Frenchy announced with certainty the 101st prisoner had arrived. How did he know?  The answer lies in 100 being an even number.   Suppose Frenchy starts with both switches in the up position. After 100 flips, including Frenchy’s flip, the switches will either both be up or both be down. If the initial configuration had one switch up and one down, then after 100 flips including Frenchy’s, they would still be in a one-up, one-down arrangement. Any other resulting configuration would signal to Frenchy that the 101st prisoner has arrived.  A Really Overcrowded Prison   This …

UK’s first deep geothermal electricity plant switches on | Science, Climate & Tech News

UK’s first deep geothermal electricity plant switches on | Science, Climate & Tech News

Published by skeptic

The UK’s first deep geothermal plant that produces power from heat miles underground and lithium for batteries is being switched on in Cornwall. Geothermal Engineering Ltd’s (GEL) £50m United Downs site will deliver renewable electricity around the clock, generated from the country’s deepest well ever drilled, at more than three miles (5km) below the surface. The site will draw up water at extremely high temperatures of more than 190C to drive turbines that will generate power for 10,000 homes. The water contains a high concentration of lithium, which will be extracted to produce zero-carbon lithium carbonate, which can be used in the production of electric car batteries. Image: The site will generate power for 10,000 homes. Pic: GEL GEL said it will produce 100 tonnes of lithium carbonate annually starting from this year – enough to make 2,500 car batteries. The company said on its website: “Geothermal energy is a form of renewable energy derived from the Earth’s natural heat; the term ‘geothermal’ literally meaning ‘heat from the Earth’. “In Cornwall, natural fractures or faults …

Micro Softy 67: Three Switches and a Song

Micro Softy 67: Three Switches and a Song

Published by Jenni Sidey

One of the first things computer engineers learn is digital logic and the most fundamental is switching theory.     Wide Clyde is alone in the basement in his summer house deep in the woods away from civilization.  He wants to go upstairs to cook some Top Raman noodles. To do that, he needs to identify which of three switches controls the hot plate upstairs. The hot plate is plugged in but currently off. The other two switches turn outside lights off and on. Wide Clyde can’t see outside, so he can’t determine which switches control the lights.   Wide Clyde We’ll give the answer to this Micro Softy next week.  Solution to Micro Softy 66: Reducing Repetitive Repetition     Here’s last week’s Micro Softy.   Choose any three-digit number, say 567, and repeat it: 567,567. Divide it by 13, then 11 and then 7. The result will be the original number, 567. This works for any three-digit number. Why?  Here’s the answer. Any three-digit number multiplied by 1001 duplicates the number. For example, 214 x 1001 = 214,214. And 13 x 11 x 7 = 1001. So dividing the big number by 13, then 11 and then 7 is the same as dividing by 1001. The original three-digit number always results!  …

Princess Anne switches it up in wraparound shades and skinny jeans

Princess Anne switches it up in wraparound shades and skinny jeans

Published by Daniella Wilson

Princess Anne has perhaps the most versatile wardrobe among the British royal style set, case in point being her recent outing in Italy. While making an appearance at the curling and snowboarding events during the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, King Charles‘ sister looked on from the crowd with not a skirt suit in sight. Anne, 75, opted for an uber-relaxed look, pairing dark-wash skinny jeans with a cobalt Team GB puffer coat. Adding a retro touch, the Princess Royal also wore a pair of wraparound sunglasses with orange-tinted lenses. Princess Anne’s Olympic get-up As President of Team GB, the royal also presented medals for the Women’s Snowboard Big Air Final. As she took to the ice, Anne removed her sunglasses and popped on a cornflower blue beanie hat for extra warmth. © PA Images via Getty ImagesPrincess Anne wore her beanie with confidence Though a beanie is a less conventional choice of headwear for a royal who is usually seen in a formal hat or tiara, it gets the seal of approval from HELLO! …

Scientists use atomic switches to reliably connect individual molecules to electrodes

Scientists use atomic switches to reliably connect individual molecules to electrodes

Published by Jenni Sidey

Electronics keep shrinking, but silicon is starting to run into physical limits. To go smaller, researchers are turning to something far tinier than any transistor on a chip: single molecules that act as circuit elements in their own right. One of the biggest roadblocks has been surprisingly simple to state and very hard to solve. How do you make a clean, stable electrical connection between a single molecule and metal electrodes so those tiny parts can work together as a real circuit for you to use? Cracking the Wiring Problem At the Molecular Scale A team in Japan has now taken a major step toward that goal. Researchers at the Institute of Science Tokyo and partner institutes have built silver based atomic switches that can reliably connect individual molecules to electrodes in a solid device. Their work shows how to build and break metal filaments one atom thick, then let a single molecule slip into that gap and carry current. This sounds abstract, but the goal is concrete. If engineers can wire up molecules in …