Word: raindrops
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Army engineers eventually made the dream come true by imprisoning Lake O behind a giant dike, subduing the Everglades with 2,000 miles of levees and canals, seizing control of nearly every raindrop that fell in southern Florida. Their all-out war on natural water flow made the bottom half of the state safe for an unrestrained building frenzy that began after World War II and basically continued until Juan Puig bought his billiard table. Florida now has 18 million residents, most of them south of Orlando. Such progress had a price. Half the Everglades is gone. The rest...
...behind one of the most innovative forms of energy-scavenging: rain-harvesting. Researchers led by Jean-Jacques Chaillout at France's Atomic Energy Commission found that a 25-micrometer-thick strip of piezoelectric material (the diameter of a thin strand of human hair) could produce about 1 microwatt per raindrop. That's barely noticeable, but it could be enough to power environmental sensors, especially in areas where condensation is constant--like the inside of a nuclear power plant's cooling towers. "When you add up all the materials and costs in powering, battery production and charging you save with...