Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Underused motor devices could unlock gigawatts of spare U.S. grid capacity

Roughly 50 million electric motors powering fans, pumps and compressors across U.S. factories and buildings consume nearly a third of the country's electricity, often far more than necessary. Variable frequency drives (VFDs) can cut that waste, but a 2021 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report found only 16 percent of industrial motor systems and 4 percent of commercial ones use them, largely due to installation hassle and lack of mandates.

spectrum.ieee.org · 2026-10-17

NOIRLab releases DR11, largest 2D sky map covering 75% of the universe

NSF NOIRLab's DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys team has published DR11, a 5.6-trillion-pixel map spanning 75% of the night sky and cataloging roughly 4 billion celestial objects. Built from 263,407 ground-based exposures gathered by 160 scientists, the release expands coverage by 50% over DR9 and restores northern-sky data missing from DR10, and it's freely accessible for public exploration.

cnet.com · 2026-09-09