PowerSwitch

Here is the trailer.

http://youtu.be/JwfCRAtkYEI

Revolution takes place in a post-apocalyptic dystopian future. Fifteen years earlier, an unknown phenomenon disabled all technology dependent on electricity on the planet, ranging from computers and electronics to car engines, jet engines, and batteries. People were forced to adapt to a world without functioning technology. Due to the collapse of government and public order, many areas are ruled by warlords and militias. The series focuses on the Matheson family, who possess a special device (resembling a flash drive) that is the key to not only finding out what happened fifteen years ago, but also a possible way to reverse its effects. However, they must elude Sebastian Monroe the General and President of the Monroe Militia who wants to possess that power for himself.

So far I'm finding it a cross between The Postman and the Hunger Games. It is heartening to see that after 15 years with no electricity that everyone manages to stay well groomed and retain perfect white smiles. The future doesn't look so bad after all.

Just like the 'survivors' series over here, they/their clothes all look far too clean and well turned out, and they're not tanned enough to have been living mostly outdoors.

Want to know what extended off-grid living looks like, goto Tipi Valley (that video's a real 'trailer for the future').

Rather a silly plot IMHO
Something stopped everything electrical from working, which seems improbable.
A bad EMP event could destroy the grid and electronic items and cause vast loss of life and disruption.
However batteries would still work, as would incandescent lamps, and so should basic generators powered by hand started diesels or steam power.

Not quite certain what physical process could prevent a voltage being produced if say copper and iron plates are put in salt water !
Nor what would prevent a voltage being developed if a conductor is moved relative to a magnetic field.

Yes, it's silly, but it's no more far fetched than The Walking Dead.

Perhaps Electricity has been banned, because it's The Work Of The Devil, and people (bar our hero) have simply forgotten how to generate it?
(disclaimer: I've not watched the trailer )

I don't know how it happened, but a few people are able to conjure electricity back to life with the use of a special i-necklace.

There's a strong vein of conspiracy theorist paranoia running through this program and it's reminding me of the much better Jericho.

I think it's interesting that in this series none of America's nuclear power stations went into meltdown after the power went out.

They might have, but it's not mentioned. After such an event our world would become very small. You'd know what your neighbour was doing, but someone 10 miles away would be a mystery to you.

Without a functioning geiger counter it is not easy to detect a reactor meltdown some miles away.

There would be an increase in deaths from cancer, but that takes a while and could easily be swamped by a general increase in mortality from want of food, medical care, and sanitation.

adam2 wrote:Without a functioning geiger counter it is not easy to detect a reactor meltdown some miles away.

When the Fukushima reactors melted down they did so in a rather visible fashion. It was obvious to me 12000 miles away at the moment it happened though it seemed to take TEPCO and the Japanese Government a few weeks to work it out.

I think adam2 means that we do not posess a sense (smell, touch, etc) that can warn us of high radioactivity. You infer indirectly (though with pretty-much certainty!) that Fukushima is radioactive, but it's not your own senses telling you.

That lack of a sense is one of the things that makes radioactivity so dangerous. Your body has no way of telling you to get away.

biffvernon wrote:

adam2 wrote:Without a functioning geiger counter it is not easy to detect a reactor meltdown some miles away.

When the Fukushima reactors melted down they did so in a rather visible fashion. It was obvious to me 12000 miles away at the moment it happened though it seemed to take TEPCO and the Japanese Government a few weeks to work it out.

Without technology, people a hundred miles away would not know what happened at Fukushima.
We only knew due to newspapers, broadcasts, the internet and so on, all of which need electricity.
Fukushima had no effect in Europe other than indirect fianancial results, and a slight increase in radiaton levels.

adam2 wrote: Fukushima had no effect in Europe

The end of nuclear power in Germany...and consequentially a much wider shift in energy investment strategies.

Gah Biff, he meant physical effect (e.g. raised temperatures, spectacular sunsets, whatever).

I do wonder what would be the effect on our Nuclear power facilities here in the UK in the event of a total grid failure?

Data anyone?