Microsoft has sunk a data center into the ocean
The business of data centres is changing, or at least trying to, since technological advances have now far outpaced available bandwidth and infrastructure.
Microsoft has submerged an experimental data center into the ocean floor of the Northern Isles near Scotland.
The undersea data center is part of the technology giant’s Project Natick initiative intended to research more energy-efficient data centers. Microsoft said that it dropped the portable data center, dubbed the Northern Isles, into the sea last Friday and it’s now online and performing an unspecified amount of computing tasks.
Microsoft reported that its first Project Natick test was intended to evaluate the feasibility of operating an undersea data center, while its second test is to assess the feasibility of doing so the “concept is logistically, environmentally and economically practical.”
Nearly every major tech company by that point recognized the tremendous influence of their data centers on their environmental footprint. As cooling servers had been traditionally done, such cooling required a great deal of water and energy, not to mention the powering of the servers themselves, which were multiplying steadily as cloud computing grew.
In the last decades, advanced computing companies like Google, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft have stepped up to the plate and started designing more sustainable data centers. They set up these power facilities in locations with cooler climate conditions to take advantage of outdoor cooling.
The company built an underwater data center inspired by submarines because they’re built to withstand the rigors of the sea. The idea was to have a test vessel that wouldn’t be very far offshore so that it could hook into the electrical grid, but in future versions, the computing would be fully powered by the water — from the energy of the waves or tides. The data center would also be cooled by the surrounding cold water at the bottom of the ocean, cutting out that energy demand.
The Northern Isles data center contains some 12 racks and 864 computers. Microsoft staff will be monitoring the data center for the next 12 months to observe how effectively it is submerged underwater. The hope is for the test that will take place on the Northern Islands to go well and that in the future Microsoft may be able to deploy skyscrapers much like these in cities worldwide.
“We know if we can put something in here and it survives, we are good for just about any place we want to go,” Microsoft Project Natick chief Ben Cutler said in a statement.
The experiment will span a five-year span, during which no modifications or repairs will be made to the technology in the ship of any malfunctions. We’ll see here whether the new system has any effects on marine life; Microsoft has cited Phase One as a success story and reported that its noise levels and water temperature next to it will be insignificant.
Necessary monitoring will be undertaken to observe the natural environment as it is changing. It could be that underwater data centers for example artificial reefs can be constructed to enhance marine habitats and biodiversity. It has already been done using a number of sunken vessels.
Source: technative.io
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Children have the ability to create intriguing ideas and incredible inventions. Here are some of them that have survived the test of time.
Here we explore some of the most unique and effective innovations brought forth by youngsters.
The popsicle
Water or milk-based frozen snack on a stick as an ice pop. Unlike ice cream or sorbet, which are mashed while freezing by whipping to prevent the emergence of ice crystals, an ice cube is frozen while at rest and becomes a solid block of ice.
An 11-year-old boy named Frank Epperson, back in 1905, a San Francisco Bay Area accidentally invented the summertime treat.
His idea never left him, but he didn’t make an attempt to promote it right away, although he patented it in 1924.
Swimming flippers
As an 11-year-old, he wanted to be an entrepreneur in Boston when he invented an oval-shaped engineering device that consisted of holes. Dozens of other inventions like bifocals, the lightning rod are invented by Benjamin Franklin. Initially, his push slipped onto his hands, whereas shortly thereafter we moved to our feet.
A possible cancer cure
During high school, Angela Zhang worked with a Stanford grad student to research the cancer-fighting potential of a single nanoparticle. The results of the research put her in the middle of the science fair circuit. In 2011, she competed in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology, where she garnered a $100,000 scholarship, and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, where the results of her cancer-killing nanoparticle research brought her first-prize awards.
She developed the technology of a specialized nanoparticle system to explain dangerous material in cells without negatively affecting health, and in initial tests on mice, she had been able to demonstrate that the impact was a near-complete replacement of tumors. The judges were full of admiration for her work so they awarded her the $100,000 grand prize. She’s now studying at Harvard, and Her motivation to establish a youth science advocacy association led to the forming of a nonprofit called Labs on Wheels to help other young people gain access to the science and math opportunities that she’s gained so much opportunity from.
The trampoline
Image Credit: Kevin K via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.
A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame using many coiled springs. For most people today, the trampoline has been something that has always been around. Plenty of people have fun memories of jumping on a trampoline in their own or a friend’s backyard during the spring or summer.
But what about the history of the trampoline? Who got the idea to invent the first trampoline, and what gave that person that idea? The version of the trampoline dates back to the early 20th century when 16-year-old George Nissen wanted to build a contraption to safely lift gymnasts and trapeze artists up in the air following their drops.
The Nissen Trio gymnastic troupe was a famous troupe of the past. In 2000, the tiny trampoline reached its highest measurement ever due to an event that occurred in the Sydney Olympics.
A safety device for textile mills
Margaret Knight was born in York, Maine in 1838, and witnessed a serious accident at the age of 12 as she was working in textile mills from a young age. At that age, she started thinking for ways to prevent this from happening. She developed a safety device that would halt production on the machines when there was something caught in them.
Like many other inventors, starting at a young age, this was just the beginning to her inventions. Later she invented other successful inventions such the machine that folds and the bottoms of paper bags was glued, which is still used today to produce the grocery store bags.
Photo by Pragyan Bezbaruah from Pexels
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