Portable Wind Turbine Charges Handheld Electronic Devices Off-Grid
Off-grid travelers and backyard campers, take a look at this useful product for small-scale wind generation. It could put low-cost wind generation into the hands of thousands of people. Along with your solar cooking gear, this could be a great power generation source to pack. It is also easily packable. I love solutions that are ideally utilitarian, and this is one. Remember, good travelers leave no tracks, and certainly not carbon footprints.
- Folded length: 35 cm (13.8 in)
- Folded width: 10 cm (3.9 in)
- Blade diameter: 60 cm (23.6 in)
- Mount height: 91.4 cm (3 ft)
- Total weight: 3 lb (1.3 kg)
The Shine Turbine Wind Charger with patent-pending technology can collect 3 phones worth of power in as little as an hour. Shine points out, “97% of outdoor enthusiasts bring technology with them on trips, which enables them to extend outings by an average of 6 days per year.”
Shine’s patent-pending technology reportedly creates energy faster than any other portable renewable product!
Shine Turbine
Shine emailed, “We’re a startup based in Halifax, Nova Scotia who has built a portable wind turbine for individuals looking to charge their handheld electronic devices (phone, eReader, laptop, GPS, headlamps, etc.) off-grid. We’ll be launching in 2021.” Shine will be launching the Shine Turbine on Kickstarter on June 8th!
Shine Turbine
Wind: Air flows over turbine body. Yaw: The turbine automatically turns into wind. Rotor: Wind causes blades to spin. Battery: Turbine batteries charge when no device is connected. Device: Electronics charge when USB cord is connected to turbine.
Here are some more details from the company:
- Totally collapsible and contained: Mount and blades all collapse into housing.
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Shine Turbine: Arrives fully collapsed with the mount, pegs, and reflective guy-wires stored inside.
Cat Adalay, Founder and CEO, Aurea Technologies Inc. Rachel Carr, CMO, Aurea Technologies Inc., and Co-Creator of Shine.
“We are a team of outdoor lovers who are always seeking the next adventure. Our world-class expertise in wind turbine engineering, sustainable operations, and people-centric business practices enable us to deliver the best experience possible.
“Aurea upholds the highest standards of sustainable practices throughout our product development, supply chain, packaging, and distribution. For the places we love to explore, for those we care about, and for generations to come this is Aurea’s ongoing commitment.”
Specs:
1. Power rating: 40 Watts
2. Internal Battery: 5 V, 12,000 mAh
3. Connector: Regulated 5 V DC, 2 A
4. Cable: USB-A Male
5. LED indicator: Battery & Temperature
If you’re interested in learning more, head over to the Shine website.
All images courtesy of Shine/Aurea Technologies.
10 Tesla Cybertrucks will be added to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police (LVMPD) fleet for patrol and SWAT.
The electric trucks were donated.
During the 2025 State of the Department this week, LVMPD Sheriff Kevin McMahill announced that the department will add Cybertrucks to its fleet.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is excited to announce that we will be adding 10 Tesla Cybertrucks to our fleet! These cutting-edge vehicles will be customized for LVMPD patrol and SWAT, helping our officers protect and serve with the latest technology.
Interestingly, LVMPD said that the Cybertrucks were donated by “an anonymous supporter”:
“This fleet was entirely donated by an anonymous supporter.”
Some suspect that Tesla or Elon Musk might be behind the donation, considering the Cybertrucks are not selling and Tesla is sitting on a lot of inventory.
The LVMPD said that the Cybertrucks will be used alongside its fleet of drones:
Part of our commitment to innovation and safety, these Cybertrucks will join our expanding use of semi-autonomous drones connected to shot-spotting technology.
The Police department released these two images of Cybertrucks with the announcement:
The LVMPD is not the first law enforcement with a Cybertruck as the Irvine Police also unveiled a Cybertruck police vehicle, but it will likely have the largest fleet.
Electrek’s Take
I don’t know if Tesla is involved in the donation, but if it is, it’s not a bad idea. The trucks are not selling anyway, and some people like to have cars used by law enforcement and the military.
A fleet of police Cybertruck could help promote the vehicle.
However, I think the Cybertruck, and Tesla in general, have problems that a police fleet won’t fix.
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Environment
Block’s Bitkey rolls out bitcoin inheritance fix for ‘multibillion-dollar problem waiting to happen’
Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter Inc., speaks during the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, Florida, U.S., on Friday, June 4, 2021.
Eva Marie Uzcategui | Bloomberg | Getty Images
For over a decade, bitcoin has been lauded as a revolutionary financial asset — decentralized, self-sovereign and resistant to confiscation — all contributing to an astronomical increase in value.
But one problem has remained largely unsolved: What happens to your bitcoin when you die?
While traditional financial institutions allow for the seamless transfer of stocks, mutual funds and retirement plans, bitcoin’s self-custodial nature makes inheritance and estate planning inherently thorny. Coinbase requires probate court documents and specific will designations before releasing funds, while physical wallets offer little to no support, potentially leaving all that digital value stuck on a private key.
Jack Dorsey‘s Block says it’s created a fix, and the company is now bringing it to market.
In November, Block’s Bitkey self-custody bitcoin wallet introduced an inheritance feature that lets users set a beneficiary for their bitcoin holdings, creating a simple system for transferring the digital currency in the case of death. The feature is being rolled out on Wednesday.
“A lot of people have significant amounts of bitcoin at this point, or appreciating bitcoin, that’s sitting in a place where it’s not going to get to their loved one,” said Jason Karsh, who joined the company in July and is now Bitkey’s head of business. “It’s just kind of a multibillion-dollar problem waiting to happen that we’re hoping to solve by making it super easy to recover in the case of your death.”
Karsh said that with other bitcoin storage products, beneficiaries typically have to provide extensive legal documentation. And hardware wallets often require a user to store seed phrases in a way that exposes their bitcoin to unnecessary risks.
Bitkey is one of the remaining pieces of Dorsey’s crypto strategy at the company he originally started as Square. The same month that Block announced the inheritance product, the company said it was winding down its unit called TBD, which was created in 2021 to focus on bitcoin. TBD was designed to be Block’s platform for developers in an effort to create a more decentralized, secure and private internet.
In shuttering TBD, the company said it would still be investing in Bitkey as well as a bitcoin mining initiative, while continuing to allow users to buy bitcoin through the Cash App.
Unlike traditional crypto exchanges that profit from holding user funds, Bitkey makes money through hardware sales and, potentially, transaction fees. The Bitkey device is a self-custody bitcoin wallet that users purchase to store their private keys securely.
For the inheritance offering with Bitkey, the company lets the user create a separate key for the beneficiary that’s uploaded to Block’s servers. The beneficiary has no access to the key until six months after the owner dies. The funds will then be securely transferred to the beneficiary’s own Bitkey wallet.
Beyond Bitkey, Dorsey said in the company’s latest earnings report that Block expects to deliver its first bitcoin mining chips this year, and is “building the infrastructure to scale faster, investing in next generation chip design and mining systems.”
Volvo is raising the bar with its new fully electric ES90. It’s the fastest-charging Volvo yet, and with up to 435 miles (700 km) range, it can also drive further than ever. Volvo calls it “one of the most technically advanced cars,” EV or gas-powered on the market.
Volvo ES90 driving range and charging specs
With its official debut just a week away, Volvo is giving us a closer look at its flagship electric sedan set to shake up the EV market.
With up to 435 miles (700 km) WLTP driving range, the ES90 can drive further than any Volvo available today. Although it will be slightly lower on the EPA scale, it’s still a significant upgrade over its current lineup. Volvo’s three-row EX90 has a WLTP range of 373 miles (600 km) and 310 miles EPA-estimated range.
The ES90 is also the brand’s fastest charging, giving you over 185 miles (300 km) in just 10 minutes. Volvo says the higher performance is thanks to its advanced new 800V electric system.
“Our 800V technology marks another significant technological upgrade for our customers as we move towards full electrification,” Volvo’s chief engineer, Anders Bell, explained.
According to Bell, the advanced platform “helps you charge your electric Volvo faster and go further on a single charge. “
Most electric vehicles today use a 400V system outside the Tesla Cybertruck, Porsche Taycan, Lucid Air, most Hyundai Motor Group models (including Kia and Genesis), and a select few others. With up to 350 kW, it could even charge faster.
Combined with its Superset tech stack, the ES90 is “one of the most technically advanced cars on the market today,” Bell said.
The flagship electric sedan will be Volvo’s first vehicle with dual NVIDIA Drive AGX Orin computers and its most powerful in terms of computing capacity.
NVIDIA’s new in-vehicle platform delivers about 508 trillion operations per second (TOPS), a considerable upgrade over the 254 trillion TOPS in its previous Drive Orin system.
Volvo’s new EV will include an array of sensors, a lidar, five radars, eight cameras, and twelve ultrasonic sensors, providing advanced safety and assisted driving features.
The ES90 will officially debut next week on March 5. You can watch the livestream event on YouTube here. Check back soon with Volvo revealing additional info leading up to the event.
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