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Tech Beat: Kids learn technology behind Sandy power outages
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Children in an East Village workshop have a chance to interact with a cardboard Manhattan, powered by toys and to see how it reacts to a mock hurricane.
However, it takes more than toys to make electrical light shine in this mini-Manhattan.
The toy-version of Manhattan is powered by littleBits, electronic modules that snap together with magnets. Their creators are inviting local students to their headquarters for a hands-on demonstration explaining why the lights went out during Hurricane Sandy.
"We have different power bits that represent the different power stations. Power stations are connected through multiple wires and multiple forks to connect entire neighborhoods,” Ayah Bdeir of littleBits said. “So we're going to be switching off these power stations to indicate that that neighborhood goes down when the power goes out, and then you'll see how some parts of the neighborhood go out when others don't."
After attending the workshop, the children say they feel fully confident that they can teach their friends, and maybe even their parents, about exactly why the power went out in the city and why it took so long to come back.
"Places all over the country bring a little bit of power in here, and this brings out separate wires to all the buildings in its area," one child said.