Customers’ Gas Bills Smelling like...Gas
The gas bill of some Washington residents stinks—literally—making the gas company happy, because that’s what they say they intended as a safety reminder(提示).
When Puget Sound Energy sent out their August bills to more than 1.5 million homes, they included a scratch(潦草的书写)-and-sniff pamphlet(小册子) with a sample of the odorant (有气味的东西) they use in natural gas to help identify leaks(泄露), a company release(发布的消息) said.
One scratch on the pamphlet and the resident will get a sulfur(硫磺)-like whiff(一阵气味) of something akin(类似) to rotten(恶臭的) eggs, which is the odorant mercaptan(硫醇) added to the odorless and colorless natural gas.
“We’re distributing the pamphlet to make sure that our customers are familiar with the odor so they can recognize it and take safety precautions(预防措施) if there ever is a natural gas leak around their home or elsewhere,” said Martha Monfried, director of corporate communications. “Smell isn’t the only way to detect a natural gas leak. A hissing sound(咝音) or blowing(喷出) dirt may also indicate a possible natural gas leak.”
UK-Designed Smart House Learns Your Desires and Adjusts to Make You Happy
What about a house that prepares a fresh pot of coffee when you wake up, plays your favorite music without being told to, and sets the thermostat(温度调节装置) to your ideal setting? Now that’s smart. Smart-home researchers in the UK want to test systems that rely on “ambient(周围的) intelligence”—systems that can learn your preferences and behavior and adjust conditions accordingly, according to Greenbang, a London-based sustainability blog.
The goal is to explore ways to enhance human-technology relationships, so your machines will know what you want and how to make you happy. Researchers at the University of Essex (英国艾塞克斯大学,创建于1965年,以其卓越的科研成就被列入全英十二所最佳大学之一) are seeking a few volunteers to study such systems, as part of a European Union program called “Adaptive and Trusted Ambient Ecologies(ATRACO).” Essex researchers plan to test emerging technology in a simulated house called iSpace, an “intelligent dorm(郊外住宅区)” that is a fully-functioning two-bedroom apartment. The iSpace has a group of gadgets(设计精巧的小装置) that can communicate with each other, and is outfitted(配备) with sensors(传感器) and other equipment that enable the devices to monitor and make changes to the environment.
Researchers have already asked volunteers to imagine iSpace as their home and told them to interact with various aspects of the ATRACO system. The next step is to ask volunteers to hang out(居住) in iSpace for four two-hour sessions sometime this fall.