Perpetual Notion Machine

Energy storage is rapidly changing the market for renewable power.  Business and residential customers are turning toward batteries to have a reliable back-up energy system.  Large scale developers use battery power to smooth out the power generation.

On this episode of the Wisconsin Energy Broadcast we are airing a Battery Storage breakout session from the January 16, 2020 Renewable Energy Summit held at the Monona Terrace in Madison, Wisconsin.  The accompanying slides and the full audio recording are available at renewwisconsin.org.

The short slide presentation includes energy storage terminology, system design and models of how the combination of solar + storage can smooth variations into hourly firm blocks and reduce energy imbalances.  These slides may enhance your enjoyment as you listen to this presentation from the energy storage experts.

The experts featured in tonights episode are Steve Danbeck, Arch Electric, Inc., Kate Howling, Invenergy, Tom Mullooly, Foley and Lardner & Tim Wilson of Gunderson Health Systems.

 

Tonight on PNM: Kelly, Ary, and Josh talk about some cool science you might have missed due to the flood of COVID-19 news coverage. From enzymes engineered to ‘eat’ plastic to the possibility of extraterrestrial life, we hope to bring you some positive news!

Links to articles & resources we mentioned:

University of Wisconsin Experts Database

Mutant Enzymes & Recycling Plastics

UW Madison Lab’s Diabetes Discovery

Origin of Oumuamua Explained

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This week on PNM Kelly & Ary discuss the history of the environmentalist movement and the first Earth Day celebration. We’ll talk about how early environmentalist efforts were motivated more by public health concerns than planetary stewardship concerns and where scientists got it wrong. Much like public health efforts facing the country today, the experts behind them were not always listened to and policy tended to be more reactionary than precautionary.

Articles & resources referred to in our show:

PBS Environmentalist Movement Timeline

Walter Cronkite’s 1970 Earth Day message

Legacy of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring

Happy birthday, Earth!

Since COVID-19 is here, tonight’s episode of the Perpetual Notion Machine again looks into the nature of pandemics. The November 5, 2015 show asked the question: “What’s the next pandemic going to look like?” Our guest was Tony Goldberg, epidemiologist in pathobiological sciences at UW-Madison. My, that is PNM’er Dennis Shaffer’s, feeling was that the next pandemic would be a zoonotic transference of a completely unknown virus from animals to humans. Who could’ve thought that a pandemic of this nature would occur within 5 years? But tonight’s guest, virologist Kristen Bernard, says that even though COVID-19 is called a SARS CoV-2 coronavirus that is related to SARS CoV-1, it still migrated, jumped, to humans from animals. And yet COVID-19 still caught us by surprise. As Tony also explained, Kristen explains how difficult it is to predict pandemics, and even prepare for one when it happens. This experience should provide us with plenty to learn. Also, since Kristen’s primary field of study is the West Nile Virus contracted by mosquitoes, she discusses the factors it would take for insect-borne diseases to become pandemic.

Since you are now reading this post, please scroll down further to the Nov. 5, 2015 show post to listen to the audio of the show.

For a list of the types of coronavirus, check out this webpage from the CDC.

And not to scare you completely, the World Health Organization has a fact-sheet on vector-borne diseases.

On this episode of PNM, Kelly, Anita, and Ary address some of your concerns about COVID-19. Should you avoid ibuprofen if you suspect you might have COVID-19? Will drinking tonic water protect you from infection? How can you separate fact from fiction when reading the latest updates?

What do if you have symptoms (UW Hospital)

Reliable & accurate sources of COVID-19 information:

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)

University of Wisconsin Hospitals

Wisconsin Department of Health Services

World Health Organization (WHO)

Reach out to us on Facebook if you have questions or concerns and we can point you to a reliable source of information.

Why are schools, sports teams, and amusement parks shutting down? What should you be doing differently to protect yourself and those around you from infection? What should you do if you suspect you might have COVID-19? How long will this all last? Tonight on PNM: A COVID-19 fireside chat with PNMers Kelly, Kevin, & Ary.

What do if you have symptoms (UW Hospital)

Reliable & accurate sources of COVID-19 information:

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)

University of Wisconsin Hospitals

Wisconsin Department of Health Services

World Health Organization (WHO)

Reach out to us on Facebook if you have questions or concerns and we can point you to a reliable source of information.

Is there a link between vision and mental illness? Does social media really make us unhappy? How does science fit into President Trump’s budget proposal for 2021? Tonight on PNM Josh and Ary bring you up to speed on what’s been up in nerd news!

More info:

Blindness & Schizophrenia

Baby Talk

Technology & Mental Illness

2021 Proposed Science Budget

Gun Violence Research

Many of us love football, whether we’re playing the game or watching from the sidelines (or couch!) But is it safe, especially for young athletes? Tonight PNM gears up for Superbowl Sunday with Dr. Julie Stamm, an expert on brain injury in children atheletes, from UW Madison Kinesiology. Ary, Kelly, and Dr. Stamm will discuss chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and the impact of repeated brain injuries on athletes of all ages. Read more about Dr. Stamm & her work here.

Food? Delicious. Science? Awesome. Food science? A match made in heaven.

On this episode of PNM, Josh Mitchell and Matt Blackburn talk food, science, and food science with food scientist Dr. Sarah Willett from Kerry Group. Sarah discusses her journey from jazz band to coffee chemist and how one of our favorite caffeinated drink gets its flavor.

Director/Producer James Gray said he wanted his film Ad Astra to be “the most realistic depiction of space travel that’s been put in a movie”. Several critics would assert that Gray failed in this mission. On this episode of Perpetual Notion Machine, PNM’ers Aryel Clarke, Kevin Lauterjung, and Matt Blackburn discuss the science and science fiction within this moody 2019 space drama.

For more info on Ad Astra go here.

Read one astrophysicist’s critique of the film by clicking on this link.