Google Earth Used To Predict Electrical Problems

coondoggie writes "What do you get when you combine images from Google Earth and the brainpower from researchers at Oak Ridge National Labs? Well in this case you get a tool that enables real-time status of the national electric grid that federal state and local agencies can use to coordinate and respond to major problems such as wide-area power outages, natural disasters and other catastrophic events. The Visualizing Energy Resources Dynamically on Earth (VERDE) system, announced this week, mashes together images and stats of everything from real-time status of the electric grid and weather information to power grid behavior modeling and simulation."

HUH???

[Jane Q. Public]

Okay, I can see "recent" data... but anybody who really thinks that Google Earth is "realtime" is a serious candidate for the Happy Home.

Some of the pictures are over 6 YEARS old...

Re:HUH???

[kerashi]

The google earth maps may not be updated, but the maps are just a backdrop upon which the data is displayed.

Re:I am skeptical...

[alextmqazwsx]

Referenced from here: Google Earth [google.com]

*Note: While Google Earth Plus has additional capabilities, the underlying imagery is the same for all versions of Google Earth.

Two years behind the DOE and NASA WorldWind..

[Anonymous Coward]

(Posting Anon as I helped on the project) The DOE has been using WorldWind Java [nasa.gov] for over a year to already do this and a lot more. But of course, that is not public use. This could easily have been done with any web based map or any virtual globe.

Crime stat methodologies vary ...

[Ungrounded Lightning]

I am still waiting for Google Earth to fully encompass the feedback offered in games like Sim City, where I can search regions around the world for such things as Crime Statistics, Pollution, Economy, etc.

The method of collection of such statistics varies by country, so they are not easily comparable.

One that I'm familiar with (from activism related to gun laws): Murder, accident, and suicide statistics. For instance:

  - Britain counts it as a murder when they have a conviction. US when they have a body in suspicious circumstances.

  - Father kills his three kids, wife, and himself: US: Four murders one suicide. Japan: Five suicides.

  - In many places in the US a suicide, especially of a youth, will usually be reported as an accident (to avoid placing a stigma on the bereaved family).

I could go on. (Especially about Japan and variations on so-called "family suicide".) But I think the above examples show how directly comparing published rates for the US, England, and Japan can yield some very bogus impressions.