KARE 11 News "Livestream"

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Live Streaming of the storms in and around the Twin Cities Metro Area. LINK

Artistic Whirlwind

Some Neatorama readers will have seen a recent video of an art installation created by placing a group of fans in such a way as to create a vortex of air which causes a red silken fabric to twirl in the air. Here is nature doing the same thing, as a whirlwind in Austria lifts plastic sheeting from a field of strawberries. It’s really quite beautiful. LINK: Neatorama, Via: Youtube

Bottlehouse

An introduction of The Bottle House. It is more as a Chiesa. Some of the bottles are filled with various "non freezable" concoctions to add refractions of color to other bottles. When the wind blows the bottlehouse makes music. LINK: Youtube

Pieces in Motion

Watch as tons of steel move like a feather in the wind, a prime example of kinetics in action. LINK: Youtube

"Transformation" Scott Tyler's kinetic wind art

A steel kinetic wind sculpture by Scott Tyler, utilizing two-axis, counterweighted pieces, carefully balanced to respond to slight variations in wind currents. Video footage by Nate Tyler. LINK: Youtube

Brief but Strong Storm Sweeps Through NY

A fast-moving storm packing winds of up to 100 mph ripped through the city Thursday, knocking down trees and power lines, tearing off roofs in one Brooklyn neighborhood and leaving at least one person dead. (Sept. 16). LINK: Youtube

Raw Video - Detroit Fires Leap From Home to Home

Firefighters in Detroit, Michigan, grappled with 85 fires in a four-hour period Tuesday night, officials said.

"A lot of these fires were due to high winds and downed wires," said Karen Dumas, a city spokeswoman.

There were no reports of deaths or injuries, she said.

"We had winds from 30-50 mph and have a number of downed power wires," said Detroit Fire Commissioner James Mack Jr. "We are attributing some of the fires to downed power wires which makes more fires with the wind being so strong."

Mack said that between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. the fire department responded to 140 calls for wires down before the evening outbreak.

Detroit firefighters received assistance from fire departments in the neighboring towns of Warren, Dearborn and Harper Woods.

"It's a matter of public safety," Dumas said. "We have enough resources to manage our daily demands, but that was an unusual and concentrated number of fires."

There also was at least one report of suspected arson associated with the fires, Mack said. A man in the city's northeast section is being questioned. LINK

Pacific Sun Cruise liner in very heavy seas. Internal CCTV footage

Pretty scary actually, pity the poor lady that face plants against the column in the center of the video. Sorry there is no audio, it was removed. LINK: Youtube

Raw Video: Earl's Rains Hit North Carolina

As Hurricane Earl closed in along the coast of North Carolina, wind-whipped rain began to lash the Outer Banks. (Sept. 2). LINK: Youtube

The Windmill Farmer

Neatorama author JohnnyCat received a bit of inspiration in the form of an animated short story.

For the past few days, I’ve been seriously considering getting trained to be a wind turbine specialist. There’s a school right here in town that certifies people to go out and maintain the growing number of windmills providing renewable energy.

Looks like he’s going to take the course, after watching The Windmill Farmer by Joaquin Baldwin. LINK: Neatorama, Via: Youtube

Hybrid Rickshaw in Nepal "Easy Rider, Ricksaw in Nepal"

Big drum on top of rickshaw rotates as rickshaw moves
forward. It observes wind and supports driver to move forward

According to the driver: He has came up with this hybrid system with drums that assist rickshaw driver to move forward. In addition, it has feature that make driver easy to cycle. This built by professor from next town. LINK: Youtube

Floating Wind Farm

The Poseidon 37 is a floating wind farm under construction by the Danish company Floating Power Plant. It will generate 40 to 50 gigawatt hours of energy a year. The facility will be about 230 meters long and weigh over 30,000 tons, making it sturdy enough to withstand the roughest seas. The final product will also be able to acquire energy from turbines powered by the ocean’s waves:

Topping a wave system with wind turbines takes out some of the risk. Offshore turbines are a proven, stable technology. Thus, even if the wave generators don’t produce as much energy as planned, at least the investors will see revenue from wind energy. In a sense, this model could be viewed as an offshore wind turbine with wave energy thrown in as a bonus.

The risk is further diminished by the design of the wave power platform. It’s big. The company borrowed heavily from the engineering techniques behind the floating platforms that have been built by the oil industry for years. The platform’s sheer size insulates it from hazards posed by rogue waves and 100-year storms.

Link, Via: Gizmodo | Image: Floating Power Plant, Via: Neatorama

Windy Cable Car

Cable car in stormy wind High Tatra. I sure wouldn't want to be in there. LINK: Youtube