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technology

California family creates drinking water out of thin air. Should more households try this tech?

in technology

The drinking water for a family near Keyes comes from an unusual source: It’s extracted from air.

Such systems could help parts of the Central Valley with polluted wells, and parts of the world where water is always in short supply.

The idea is being tested by the Valley Water Collaborative, which has delivered free bottled supplies since last year in parts of Stanislaus and Merced counties.

The new system yields just 10 gallons a day, but that’s enough for the drinking and cooking needs of a typical household.

The test unit was installed in May outside the Esmar Road home of Martha Lorenzo and her extended family. Their tap water had come from a well tainted by nitrate before the collaborative stepped in.

Continue Reading on The Sacramento Bee

California’s vehicle-to-grid experiments offer a glimpse of the future

in technology

The tech already exists for an EV battery to power your house. Now carmakers, utilities, and regulators are working out how that energy-storage tech could help bolster bigger things—namely, the power grid, as both the demand for electricity and reliance on renewables grow.

California has been the US leader in policies that support electrifying transportation, and is crafting regulations that would ban the sale of any new gas-powered cars in 2035. In October 2019, the state passed a bill that requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to maximize the use of “feasible and cost-effective” vehicle-grid integration by 2030—one of only a few of its kind in the country.

Continue Reading on Morning Brew

Device uses eye movement to help non-verbal children communicate

in Education/School/Students/technology

LOS ANGELES — New technology is helping non-verbal students communicate.

San Bernadino County Schools in California recently received a grant to buy the Tobii Dynavox Eye Gaze Machine.

“This equipment just motivates everybody to keep working on individual students and how we can best connect with them so that we can support their goals,” said Superintendent Ted Alejandre.

Continue Reading on ABC23

Modesto Schools Get New Building, Tech, Programs for STEM

in Education/School

Little rolling robots dodged red, green and blue blocks as fifth-graders cheered loudly, at times rising to their feet with enthusiasm.

Tuolumne School students in south Modesto worked in teams to piece together 500 or so parts to create the devices, which they would soon learn to control through coding, teacher Hector Barraza said.

The robotics unit was part of a push at Tuolumne — and Modesto City Schools more broadly — to enhance K-6 learning opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM. By exposing students to STEM at a young age, district officials hope more students will choose to take related courses in middle and high school, setting them up for in-demand careers if they choose.

Continue Reading on Government Technology

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