From: shamrock@netcom.com (Lucky Green)
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 1996 13:53:37 +0800
To: Dave Farber <cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: US Power Outages
Message-ID: <v02120d06ae344a4cc94e@[192.0.2.1]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 18:15 8/11/96, Dave Farber wrote:
>The avalanche behavior of power systems is still not
>well understood and techniques to prevent such failures are not obvious.
>Same can be said of telephone and computer networks at different levels.

Does somebody here have a pointer to literature on this topic? A system in
which small localized disturbances can amplify, propagate through the
system, leading to catastrophic failure is the worst of all possible
designs. I fail to understand why a system as important as the power grid
would display this type of behavior. Why is the grid negatively dampened?

TIA,


-- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred.
   Defeat the Demopublican Unity Party. Vote no on Clinton/Dole in November.
   Vote Harry Browne for President.