Technology
Floating wind turbine in Maine proves resilient in storm simulation, researchers say
Maine fishermen aim to sink Biden’s offshore wind farm plan
FOX Business’ Lydia Hu reports on President Biden’s wind farm plan opposed by Maine’s fisheries. New England Fishermen’s Stewardship founder Jerry Leeman explains how the plan poses a risk to marine life and the industry, saying ‘it’ll cripple us.’
- The University of Maine is contributing to the global effort to improve floating machines to harness wind over deeper offshore waters.
- Researchers envision turbine platforms floating in the ocean beyond the horizon, stretching more than 700 feet.
- Floating turbines are the only viable option for U.S. states to capture large-scale offshore wind energy in waters too deep for traditional turbines.
As waves grew and gusts increased, a wind turbine bobbed gently, its blades spinning with a gentle woosh. The tempest reached a crescendo with little drama other than splashing water.
The uneventful outcome is exactly what engineers aimed for.
The demonstration featuring a 13-foot-tall floating wind turbine in an indoor pool aimed to ensure it can withstand the strain of powerful water and wind when much larger versions are deployed in the ocean.
US’S FIRST LARGE OFFSHORE WIND FARM OFFICIALLY OPENS IN NEW YORK, WITH MORE TO COME
It’s the University of Maine’s contribution to a worldwide race to improve floating machines to tap wind that blows across deeper waters offshore, too deep to attach turbines to the seabed with permanent pilings.
The University of Maine’s first prototype of an offshore wind turbine is seen in this Sept. 20, 2013, file photo, near Castine, Maine. Floating turbines are the only way for some countries and U.S. states to capture a massive amount of offshore wind energy. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, files)
In the next decade, UMaine researchers said, they envision turbine platforms floating in the ocean beyond the horizon, stretching more than 700 feet skyward and anchored with mooring lines.
“These structures are massive,” said Anthony Viselli, chief engineer for offshore wind technology at the university’s Advanced Composites Center, after the demonstration wrapped up. “These would be some of the largest moving structures that humankind has endeavored to create. And there would be many of them.”
THREE GROUPS ARE SUING NEW JERSEY TO BLOCK AN OFFSHORE WIND FARM
As the technology advances, dozens of designs are being promoted by experts who see floating wind turbines as a way to address climate change by shifting away from burning fossil fuels.
Floating turbines are the only way some countries and U.S. states can capture offshore wind energy on a large scale. In the U.S. alone, 2.8 terawatts of wind energy potential blows over ocean waters too deep for traditional turbines that affix to the ocean floor, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. That’s enough to power 350 million homes — more than double the number of existing homes in the U.S.
The first floating wind farm started operating off Scotland’s coast in 2017. In the United States, the Department of Interior two weeks ago proposed the first floating wind energy auctions for the Gulf of Maine, following lease auctions for the West Coast that began in 2022. The nearly 1 million acres up for auction off the New England coast could generate enough clean wind energy to power more than 5 million local homes, the department said.
UMaine is home to the nation’s largest team of engineers dedicated to floating offshore wind. Other big players include Equinor, which has installed a demonstration floating project of the coast of Norway; global company Principle Power, which has installed small-scale projects off Scotland and Portugal; and SBM Offshore, which has a demonstration project off France.
Floating offshore wind is still a nascent industry, however, making it expensive.
The Norwegian company Equinor postponed its Trollvind floating initiative, citing technology availability, rising costs and a strained timetable to deliver on the original concept.
BIDEN ADMIN APPROVES EIGHTH US OFFSHORE WIND PROJECT OFF MASSACHUSETTS COAST
Danish wind energy developer Ørsted decided to focus its efforts on fixed-bottom turbines, foregoing deeper offshore regions including Japan, Norway, Spain, Portugal and the U.S. West Coast. “We care a lot about affordability of renewable power, and floating wind is a lot more expensive than bottom-fixed,” said CEO Mads Nipper.
But others are moving forward.
Gazelle Wind Power is developing a modular platform system to make manufacture and assembly cost-effective and efficient.
“This is a global problem and this is an ideal solution in order to deliver power to shore,” said Gazelle Wind Power CEO Jon Salazar.
UMaine launched its first floating prototype a decade ago and became a surprise global leader after a study showed that the Gulf of Maine had the wind energy potential of 156 nuclear power plants, due to fast, consistent wind.
The state could meet all its home heating needs and power every car — if they were all electric vehicles — by tapping just 3% of that water. That improves the odds of successfully sharing the resource with fishermen, recreational boaters, the military and, of course, marine life. Indeed, the federal government’s lease proposal spares Maine’s key lobstering grounds from development, removing a potential obstacle.
Trailblazers in offshore wind are benefiting from work done by the oil industry, which engineered floating oil and gas rigs, said Habib Dagher, director of the Advanced Composites Center.
The university’s wind wave basin, which looks something like a swimming pool with wave and wind generators that can mimic ocean conditions up to a 500-year storm, takes that work to the next level.
On a recent day, the semi-submersible floating turbine was tethered to the bottom of the basin. Its 1:70 scale represented a real turbine standing about 800 feet (240 meters) tall atop a platform in the ocean. The goal is to have industrial scale turbines of 15 to 20 megawatts each, Dagher said.
Size and efficiency are keys to profitability. Larger wind turbines mean fewer are needed, reducing construction, installation and maintenance costs, Viselli said. With greater size and efficiency, developers envision only about 50 turbines needed to produce about the same amount of electricity as a nuclear power plant.
Full-size turbines generate peak power starting at about 20 mph. In powerful storms, they shut down automatically to avoid stressing the equipment or breaking. The mooring lines tethered to the ocean floor are made of rope nearly thick as a telephone pole and under heavy tension. That makes them safer for marine mammals.
For all the turbine technology, the platforms developed by UMaine can be built locally with concrete, a simple material that’s readily available. The university already has partners around the world interested in licensing its technology. The state of Maine plans to develop a port facility in the Searsport area to build the floating bases and attach turbines before sending them into the Gulf of Maine.
A brand new industry means some experiments in design will succeed and some will fail. And there is work to ensure that wind farms are good neighbors, overcoming objections from others using the ocean.
“We’re going to have some problems and we have to figure out how to roll up our sleeves and solve these problems,” Dagher said. “And I think we have no choice as a society but to do that.”
Google’s NotebookLM is adding a new way to catch up on your notes: TikTok-style AI videos. The new feature is rolling out to Google AI Ultra and Pro subscribers, allowing NotebookLM to generate 60-second vertical AI clips based on the sources you upload to the app.
The example shared by Google details Australia’s unsuccessful war on emus, pairing paper cutout-style AI art of emus with narration. It adds to some of the other ways NotebookLM lets you interact with your research, including by generating AI podcasts, cinematic videos, and visual explainers.
To generate a 60-second clip, head to NotebookLM on the web or app, select a notebook, and then choose “Video” from the Studio column on the right side of the screen. From there, select “Short,” choose the topic you’d like NotebookLM to focus on (or enter your own), and then hit the “Generate” button.
The feature is rolling out in English only for now, with support for free users coming “soon.”
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Ever settle in for movie night, hit play, and thirty seconds later, the picture dissolves into a blurry mess of pixels? You restart the app. You restart the router. You’re paying for a fast internet plan, so what gives?
Before you spend forty minutes on hold with your provider, there’s something you should know: the problem might not be your connection speed at all. It m
ight be your internet provider putting the brakes on certain types of traffic.
The good news is that one tool may help, especially when your provider is slowing down streaming traffic that it can recognize.
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TRAVEL MISTAKE PUTS PHONE, LAPTOP AND STREAMING ACCOUNTS AT RISK
Buffering during streaming may not always be caused by slow internet speeds. ISP bandwidth throttling could be reducing video quality, and a VPN may help in some cases. (Photo by Marcus Brandt/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Why your streaming keeps buffering
Internet service providers handle enormous amounts of traffic. When their networks get congested, they look for ways to manage the load. One of the handiest tools in their bag is a technique called bandwidth throttling. It means deliberately slowing down certain types of traffic to ease the pressure on their infrastructure. Streaming video is one of the first things they may target because it eats up a lot of bandwidth fast.
Here’s the part that most people don’t realize: your ISP can often see what kind of traffic you’re sending and receiving. When they detect a steady stream of traffic flowing from a streaming platform, they may put a speed limit on that traffic specifically, even while your overall connection seems fine. You won’t always get a warning, but you will notice a dip in video quality.
That’s why you can load a webpage in a blink but still have to sit through buffer wheels before your show even gets going. The issue may not be your speed. It may be what your ISP does with it once they know how you’re using it.
Travelers can run into an additional wrinkle. Hotel networks and public connections are often shared across dozens or hundreds of people at once. When everyone is streaming, browsing and video calling at the same time, the network slows to a crawl and your video quality pays the price. What worked fine at home suddenly stutters and stalls on the road.
The fix most people don’t know about
A VPN, or virtual private network, is usually thought of as a privacy and security tool, but it may also help with some throttling problems. It runs quietly in the background while you stream.
When you connect to the internet through a VPN, your traffic gets encrypted before it leaves your device. Your ISP can still see that you’re using data, but it can no longer easily see what kind. Streaming traffic looks like encrypted data passing through, which means there’s no obvious streaming target to throttle. The result can be a more consistent connection, fewer interruptions and less of that infuriating mid-episode quality drop.
And there’s an extra benefit for travelers: Your traffic is encrypted on hotel, airport and café Wi-Fi. That can help protect what you’re doing online, though it won’t magically fix a network that’s overloaded. A good VPN can help keep your connection more stable across the unpredictable variety of networks you encounter while traveling, not to mention help protect you from public Wi-Fi hackers.
Just keep in mind that some streaming services may limit or block VPN connections, so you may need to switch servers or check the service’s rules.
NETFLIX CO-CEO CLARIFIES STREAMING GIANT’S LIVE SPORTS STRATEGY AMID NFL LINEUP EXPANSION, FEDERAL SCRUTINY
A VPN can encrypt your internet traffic, making it harder for internet providers to identify and selectively throttle streaming services. (Photo by Grichka BEYSSON-LEANDRI / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)
What to look for in a VPN for streaming
There’s no shortage of VPN options out there, but for streaming, a few things matter more than others.
Speed is king when it comes to video. A VPN that encrypts your traffic but slows your connection defeats the whole purpose. Look for a provider with a large network of fast servers and a proven track record with high-definition and 4K content.
Device support matters too. Your streaming life doesn’t live on just one screen. It’s also on your phone, your smart TV, your tablet and your laptop. A good VPN covers all of them under one subscription and will let you run it on multiple devices simultaneously.
Our top VPN pick checks all these boxes and is more than fast enough for high-quality streaming.
For the best VPN software, see my expert review of the best VPNs for browsing the web privately on your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices at Cyberguy.com
A few more tricks to keep in mind
Before blaming throttling, test your speed with the VPN on and off, restart your router, move closer to Wi-Fi, use a 5 GHz or 6 GHz network when available and try Ethernet for your main TV. If everything else is fast but streaming keeps dropping quality, throttling becomes a more likely suspect. Pair a VPN with these tips, and buffering becomes a rare event instead of a nightly battle.
1) Connect before you open the app
Turn on your VPN first, then launch your streaming service. It’ll save you the hassle of reconnecting in the middle of the episode.
2) Choose a nearby server
In general, the closer the server, the lower the lag. A server in your home city usually delivers the best balance of speed and stability.
3) Check your home router
If streaming still struggles with a VPN running, an outdated router might be your weakest link. A dual-band or Wi-Fi 6 model makes a noticeable difference on busy home networks. Looking to upgrade your home setup? Check out our guide to the Top 5 routers for best security in 2026 at Cyberguy.com
4) Download before you go
Most major streaming apps let you save content for offline playback. Load up a few episodes on your home connection before a long trip, and you might not need to stream at all for the first leg of your journey.
INSTANTLY UPGRADE YOUR STREAMING: AT HOME AND WHEN TRAVELING
Travelers using hotel or public Wi-Fi may benefit from a VPN’s added privacy, though it cannot overcome an overloaded network. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Kurt’s key takeaways
Buffering isn’t something you have to accept, and your internet plan may not be the issue. Your provider could be managing your traffic when it recognizes what you’re watching. A reliable VPN can make it that much harder, whether you’re on your couch or in a hotel room across the country. Remember: the trick to smoother streaming isn’t always paying for faster speed. It’s making sure the speed you’re already paying for actually reaches your device.
Are you using a VPN for streaming, or have you found another workaround that does the job? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com
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Though hopes were high for Supergirl, the movie has turned out to be a bit of a dud. Critics have been rather down on the project, and its lackluster box office performance has it on track to lose WBD somewhere between $100–120 million. Films flop all the time, and Supergirl not resonating with audiences probably wouldn’t be a huge deal if we knew that DC Studios had more exciting things coming down the pike. But Supergirl feels like it could be an early sign that Gunn’s grand plan for the DCU is falling apart before it even really gets off the ground.
Loosely based on Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic miniseries, the new Supergirl film follows Superman’s cousin Kara (Milly Alcock) as she embarks on an interstellar bender that culminates in her dog being poisoned by crew of sex-trafficking pirates. Unlike Superman (David Corenswet), Supergirl doesn’t really have a problem with killing her enemies — especially when they’re trying to stop her from saving Krypto. But with an orphaned girl (Eve Ridley) tagging along for the adventure, Kara tries to set a good (read: no murdering) example.
Supergirl struggles to make its titular heroine feel distinct from Superman
Though Supergirl comes from director Craig Gillespie and writer Ana Nogueira, everything about this movie — from its focus on animals in distress to its needle drops — makes it feel a lot like some of Gunn’s previous work. Supergirl’s drunken brawls in alien bars and scenes of her schlepping around space in a junky starship look like they could have been ripped from any one of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy features. You can hear Nogueira channeling Gunn’s spiky sense of humor as the movie introduces new faces like unhinged bounty hunter Lobo (a distracting Jason Momoa in comics-accurate garb). Momoa’s presence is a constant reminder of how the DCEU fell apart, but Lobo isn’t really what drags Supergirl down.
As refreshing as it was to see Superman gloss over Clark Kent’s oft-repeated tragic backstory, Supergirl spends much of its runtime rehashing the details of Krypton’s destruction. Flashbacks to Kara’s past are meant to help us understand the grief she’s been living with, and to see why her sense of morality is very different from her cousin’s. But rather than unpacking Kara’s emotions in any meaningful way, the movie makes light of her substance abuse while sending her on a by-the-numbers adventure that’s generally lacking when it comes to intrigue or visual spectacle.
One of Supergirl’s more glaring issues is the way it struggles to find organic ways to make its titular heroine feel distinct from Superman. Aside from her relative brutality and moody outlook, she’s just another indestructible alien who periodically needs to recharge her powers by basking in yellow sunlight. The movie tries to give itself some stakes by constantly putting Kara in situations where she’s left without her abilities. But by the second sequence in which Kara’s getting punched out by a bunch of dudes, you get the sense that DC Studios never really locked in on a plan to make this story pop.
That’s somewhat surprising given the way Gunn has previously insisted that DC Studios would “never put a half-assed script in production” simply because the project had already been announced. Half-assed is the perfect description of Supergirl’s entire vibe, and it being the studio’s second major feature doesn’t exactly bode well for the DCU’s future. Supergirl needed to demonstrate that Gunn had a solid plan to build a new universe on the backs of some of DC’s lower profile characters. Though we’ve already seen some of how that could work in HBO’s Peacemaker series, it was less clear whether the studio could pull it off on the big screen. The entire point of rebooting WBD’s superhero movies was to put DC Studios in a better position to compete with Marvel — which is on the verge of its own major reset. But whereas Marvel has a few reliable aces like the X-Men and a new Spider-Man movie up its sleeve, DC is essentially starting from scratch.
Some of Supergirl’s problems might not be so readily apparent if there had been more time before it and Superman’s theatrical debuts. The two movies coming out so close to one another emphasizes their characters’ general similarities, and makes it seem like DC might be a little too comfortable putting out iterative projects. This calls into question Gunn’s decision to prioritize a series about the Green Lanterns and a Clayface film before introducing new versions of more well-known heroes like Batman and Wonder Woman. WBD still plans to put out a sequel to Matt Reeves’ The Batman that won’t technically be part of the DCU, but the Gotham of it all may get audiences primed to see a new Bane / Deathstroke movie that the studio is reportedly prioritizing in the wake of Supergirl’s underperformance.
All of these B-tier projects and alternate realities give the nascent DCU a whiff of the same messiness that has plagued Sony’s universe of Spider-Man spinoffs since its inception. And when you factor in WBD’s impending merger with Paramount Skydance, it seems very possible that the DCU might not come together the way Gunn originally intended. Though it’s possible that next year’s Man of Tomorrow could steer things in a stronger direction, what feels more likely right now is DC putting out another Super-movie that feels a little too similar to what we’ve seen before. It wouldn’t be the first time that WB found itself on the ropes with a comics-related crisis, but it might be the last chance the studio has to get this stuff right.
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