Thus, the failures spanned the electrical system, cooling system and control and instrumentation systems at the plants.

WSJ: Nuclear Industry Likely to Reassess Safety Systems

Applying an electric current and getting a muscle to jump is easy. (Alessandro Volta jolted a frog's legs 218 years ago.) Peckham is harvesting the body's own electrical signals to control muscles that have been cut off from the nervous system, a process called functional electrical stimulation, or FES. Peckham runs a group called the Cleveland FES Center, a collaboration among Case Western Reserve and two Cleveland hospitals.

FORBES: Technology

In 2004 Mercedes-Benz faced customers complaints that its Sensotronic brake-by-wire system - which used an electrical link to control vehicles' brake pads - sometimes failed.

BBC: Nissan steer-by-wire cars set for showrooms by 2013

Today's electrical system is a creaking relic lacking the sophisticated command-and-control tools necessary to ensure reliability.

ECONOMIST: MONITOR