Power cord lights up as electricity flows - CNN.com

Power cord lights up as electricity flows - CNN.com: "'Electricity is both invisible and intangible. We can see, feel, hear and even smell its effects, but we can not really perceive it,' the paper says. 'As the effects of electricity (light, heat and so on) often are taken for granted in our domestic homes today, electricity becomes even more invisible.
'In order to support increased awareness in the area of consumer energy consumption, on a large scale in society as well as on the mundane level of the home, it is crucial that people learn about different amounts of energy used by the electric products in their everyday life.

But what if you could see your money going down the drain? Would visualizing power use help you save energy?

That's one possible effect of a new smartphone charger from Dexim.

When electricity is flowing down the charger's cord, blue lights travel down the cord, too, letting users see the energy that's needed to charge their smartphones. The lights zip down the cord more quickly when the phone is almost out of juice, since more electricity is needed.

'If this awareness is increased, people might gain control over their own local relationship to this invisible global resource. Ultimately this will lead them to question their energy behaviors.'
In the 2006 post 'Glowing Guilt,' the tech blog Gizmodo put this idea into simpler terms:
'Maybe if you could actually see how much energy you're using, you wouldn't leave that PC running all night.'"