BBC News: Japan Restarts First Nuclear Power Plant Since Fukushima
Japan has restarted its first nuclear reactor under new safety rules following the 2011 Fukushima disaster. All of Japan's nuclear plants were gradually shut down after a series of meltdowns at the Fukushima plant sparked by a tsunami and earthquake.
But after passing stringent new safety tests, Kyushu Electric Power restarted the number-one reactor at its Sendai plant on Tuesday morning. There is still strong public unease about a return to nuclear power.
Think Progress: India Could Plateau Coal Use by 2025-2030, Leading Politician Says
Heading into the December global climate talks in Paris, India’s leaders continue to assert they will not announce when their greenhouse gas emissions will peak.
One leading Indian politician, however, former Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, recently said that the country could plateau emissions starting in 2025 or 2030. Ramesh, a former self-described “economic hawk,” called this goal “doable and necessary for India.”
Associated Press: ERCOT Peak Electricity Demand Tops 69,000 MW for 1st Time
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates that grid that covers most of the state, says demand peaked at 69,408 megawatts between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Monday, then hit 69,783 megawatts between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Those marks shattered a record of 68,912 megawatts set between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Thursday. An ERCOT statement says the system set a weekend record of 66,587 megawatts between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Ensia: How to Grow More Food With Less Water
When a farmer wonders how much water a crop needs, a simple test has always sufficed: Grab a handful of soil and feel how it clumps together.
Now something else is helping inform the farmer’s touch: data. Sensors, satellites and software are adding piles of new data to help manage water on the farm. From soil moisture to leaf transpiration, pump speed to valve status, a farm field these days can seem as wired as an airport.
CNET: Tesla's Robo-Snake Charger Prototype Is Our New Car Overlord
In the future, we will all drive electric cars, and semi-sentient robots will refuel them for us. That seems to be the way things are heading after Tesla Motors shared a video Thursday of a prototype charger attaching itself to a Model S. This would be no big deal, except the charger requires no human interaction and looks like a cross between a Battlestar Galactica Cylon and a snake.