Multiply that by millions of customers in a metro area, and a smart grid can produce a data set large enough to monitor power demand in real time and predict probable outages before they occur.
It will probably not remain the biggest economy in the world - some predict China will overtake it in three years' time.
It rubbed them the wrong way at the time, but in a week I predict most will be forgotten, and fanboys will be bowing down to them at E3 in a month.
As we have seen since 2008, two years is a long, long time in politics, and no one can predict what may happen in November, 2012.
Then again, I did help predict this revolution, if not in time, than in form.
Because periodical broods tend to emerge in the same locations each time, scientists can fairly accurately predict which areas will get hit the hardest.
Facial detection technology is making it feasible to do real-time measurement and analysis of ads in the physical world and predict the products you will want to buy, based on who you are or what you look like.
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None of us can fully predict where Europe will be in a few month's time never mind the next few years time.
Of course, the Irish predict the end of the world every time it rains and their roots in mysticism, shape shifting, and consulting oracles make the Mayans seem like babes in the woods.
They predict a growth in China's cultural influence, but believe this will take time.
Many fear and predict that if in fact, Villaran wins on Sunday, she will have a hard time controlling her coalition of leftist groups and radicals and accommodating the different factions.
But this year, experts predict that the selling boom, which normally starts in spring, will hit at a different time than it has in the past.
Mr Blair's response on June 15th to this seismic upheaval uncomfortably close to his Sedgefield constituency was to predict that Mr Arnold will mess up and Labour will retake the city in two years' time, as happened in Sheffield.
There's no way to predict the outcome, and, in any event, these performance differences tend to even out over time.
Most of the schemes he presented in the Budget were not expected to come into force for some time, and their impact was inherently difficult to predict.
Using those simple measurements and the equations presented in the paper, the researchers were able to predict which half of the roulette wheel the ball would end up in about 59% of the time.
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If things continue down this path, the decline will result in a steady loss of crucial scientific data during a time when, given the range of hard-to-predict effects from a warming atmosphere, it will be needed more than ever.
Crews also used specialist software to predict where many emergency calls would come from so vehicles could be in the right place at the right time.
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