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A first-of-its-kind cyberattack on the U.S. grid created blind spots at a grid control center and several small power generation sites in the western United States, according to a document posted yesterday from the North American Electric Reliability Corp.

The unprecedented cyber disruption this spring did not cause any blackouts, and none of the signal outages at the “low-impact” control center lasted for longer than five minutes, NERC said in the “Lesson Learned” document posted to the grid regulator’s website.

But the March 5 event was significant enough to spur the victim utility to report it to the Department of Energy, marking the first disruptive “cyber event” on record for the U.S. power grid (Energywire, April 30).

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Circa 2018

As the national power grid becomes increasingly dependent on computers and data sharing—providing significant benefits for utilities, customers, and communities—it has also become more vulnerable to both physical and cyber threats.

While evolving standards with strict enforcement help reduce risks, efforts focused on response and recovery capabilities are just as critical–as is research aimed at creating a well-defended next generation smart grid. The Daily Herd recently sat down with Michael Ahern to discuss the many challenges involved in securing the against physical and cyber –both now and in the future.

In addition to his role as director in WPI’s Corporate and Professional Education and instructor for the Foisie Business School, Ahern also leads a WPI research team supporting BAE Systems as part of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s Rapid Attack Detection, Isolation, and Characterization Systems (DARPA RADICS) intitative.

Continue reading “Protecting the power grid from cyber attacks” | >

Circa 2018

When gold hunters in Russia collected the yellowish stone in 2016, they thought it might contain a precious metal. It didn’t — but what it did contain was far more rare and valuable.

The rock had come from space, and it contained a new, never-before-seen mineral.

It has yet to be officially documented, but scientists have named it uakitite, after the Uakit region in Siberia where the meteorite fell.

Continue reading “A Siberian Meteorite Revealed a New Mineral We’ve Never Seen Before on Earth” | >

Elements is more than just a science show. It’s your science-loving best friend, tasked with keeping you updated and interested on all the compelling, innovative and groundbreaking science happening all around us. Join our passionate hosts as they help break down and present fascinating science, from quarks to quantum theory and beyond.

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WASHINGTON — SpaceX is asking federal regulators to allow it to spread out satellites in more rings around the Earth, saying the tweak to its orbital plans could bring coverage to the southern United States in time for next year’s hurricane season.

In a filing to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, SpaceX said it wants to triple the number of orbital planes at 550 kilometers, the altitude where its lowest layer of Ku- and Ka-band Starlink satellites are to operate.

SpaceX launched its first 60 Starlink satellites May 23 on a Falcon 9 rocket. The company needs another six Starlink launches before it will have enough satellites to start partial service, but by splitting satellites into 72 rings instead of 24 as originally envisioned, Starlink will be more spread out, enabling greater launch efficiency, SpaceX said.

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A similar flurry of activity is under way in China, which wants to lead the world in AI by 2030 (by what measure is unclear), and in Russia, where President Vladimir Putin famously predicted that “whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world”. But the paradox is that AI might at once penetrate and thicken the fog of war, allowing it to be waged with a speed and complexity that renders it essentially opaque to humans.

A new type of arms race could be on the cards.

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The Intertubes have been buzzing with news that a research team based at UC-Irvine has created a new type of energy storage device that can last for more than 100,000 charges. For all practical purposes, that counts as an infinite battery. Under real life conditions, such a battery would most likely outlive the device it powers, and it might even outlive the owner of the device as well.

The new battery is still in the early research stage, but if it pans out, it would have a significant impact on lifecycle and supply chain issues for the ballooning number of smart phones, electric vehicles, energy storage products, and countless other battery powered devices inhabiting the Earth.

energy storage breakthrough

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An inviting massage table, a snug chair, a sunlit field of grass – this is not a holiday resort but one of London’s famous double-decker buses, which this summer will house up to 40 homeless people.

A fleet of four decommissioned buses has been converted by British-based social enterprise Buses4Homeless into a shelter for homeless people, with spaces for sleeping, dining, cooking, job training and relaxing.

“The most crucial thing for anyone is shelter, having a place to stay,” said Buses4Homeless founder Dan Atkins, from the buses’ temporary site in Croydon, south London.

“And that’s what’s sorely missing in London as the number of beds in night shelters gets slashed and housing remains unaffordable for too many,” he added.

Continue reading “London is transforming its double-decker buses into homeless shelters” | >