Philip Ball

Society

Crush that was waiting to happen

The riot at the opening of a north London branch of Ikea last week may have shown human behaviour at its most unappealing and uncivilised, but not at its most unpredictable.

February 17, 2005

Society

Power blackouts likely: Electricity systems are becoming ever more vulnerable, and there’s no quick fix.

Two groups of researchers have independently brought forward evidence of intrinsic weaknesses in the North American power grid. Their analyses both conclude that massive power blackouts such as the one that took out New York last summer are likely to happen again.

January 19, 2004

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