Slashdot Mirror
High Speed Steam Powered Car
CodeWanker wrote in to tell us about a story about new steam powered vehicles that are aiming to set speed records. The car is kind of goofy looking, but more eco friendly (which works for the Prius ;) Don't expect to see anything like this at your local dealer any time soon tho.
Valve has done something right.
M$ Lawyer: But `gcc
The gas mileage you can get with a hybrid is far less than what you can get with a good diesel engine. Hybrids are a bad idea, twice the weight (batteries, two motors), half the interior room. Diesel-engined cars have been getting 50+ MPG for years and years. Unfortunately the stigma in the US over "diesel" prevents them from being brought over here.
-Jesse
Nothing says "unprofessional job" like wrinkles in your duct tape.
http://www.theaircar.com/
does not run on steam. But runs on air... And you can expect to see these at a local dealer soon. (at least Europe)
- Your stupidity got you into this mess, why can't it get you out? -Will Rogers
Anything that can begin to cut down on the amount of pollution that is generated in our atmosphere is a step in the right direction.
Sure, I'm not about to give up my VW GTI VR6 just yet, but sooner or later something's gotta give. Even Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story is mocking us:
'Do you people still use fossil fuels, or have you discovered crystallic fusion?'
Valkyrie is about to die! Wizard needs food -- badly!
are we really going to start progressing towards an almost dark ages type society where we ressurect old tech and reuse it constantly?
Is that such a bad thing assuming the old tech can be made to perform better than the new tech?
Turbines are interesting designs and have been tried in cars before IIRC (i remember seeing a documentary on History Channel about this), was it Ford? They had a car that basically ran on anything that burned; they even tried common isopropyl alcohol on it. Worked just fine.
I wonder how efficient this engine is. Also, how quiet - that was one of the main issues with the car i mentioned before, it sounded like a small jet plane.
If it's not broke, don't fix it. I like to see new technology being developed as much as anyone else, but I believe we also need to keep enough of an open mind that we do not overlook great ideas that have already been made and improve on those ideas. Old tech can easily become new tech through basic improvements in efficiency, reliability, affordability, etc.
Will the engine refuse to start if it can't connect to the internet?
Does the manual will indicate which lever is the velocitator and which the deceleratrix?
-Peter
My father-in-law actually remembers some people who had Stanleys from back in the 30s. I imagine that they were the same kind of people I remember from my youth who kept their 2-stroke Saabs on the road: engineering afficiandos.
According to pops, the Stanley was a terrific car in most respects, and fast as all get-out, but it had one fatal flaw. You had to heat the boiler up for a long time before you could get going. No running out the convenience store for a gallon of milk in that car.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
In general, hand-made stuff was always highly prized when the hands involved were those of a master artisan -- the industrial revolution wasn't about producing something better than the best artisans could do, but something more _cheaply_ (and still pretty good -- the old 'bang for the buck' thing) than it would cost a master artisan to do.
That this practice continues to today (A few years back I was looking into getting a sword commissioned as a wedding gift and only seriously looked at hand-made swords, because there are no good factory-made swords -- there's not enough of a volume for good swords to justify an entire factory) is not regression.
Oh, and with regards to your sig, I think you want to say "woman-centric." The hyphen makes a difference.
The dark ages were characterized by a total lack of scholarship and invention. The Englightenment, you may recall, occurred not when people donned blinders to the past and started looking forward, but when they were willing to look further back than others had done. And, by building on Greek and Roman scholarship that was thousands of years old, they were able to usher in the environment of inventiveness that helped create the Industrial Revolution.
Hell, we still learn things from Plato. Or would you consider that "regression" as well?
Another one bites the dust
Steam and Electric are obviously nothing new, the first Car to break 100 mph was I belive electric.
Steam , like electric has several DISADVANTAGES as well, The was a time, when steam engines didnt reclain their steam that steam polution caused great enviromental issues with their condensate.
In addition high pressuer steam is DANGEROUS, and any vehicle designed would need to take that into account, think of the danger to the occupants of a vehicle whose boiler explodes.
For a take on this take a Hot Water heater, it is actually (gas or electric) the MOST Dangerous item in you hous a blocked T&P (Temperature and Pressure relief valve) with a tank in ovverun condition can catapult a Hot water tank through a 3 story house to a height of 100 ft, yup thats right, just like those little red plastic water rockets you had as a kid.
I was a union plumber and pipefitter, my specialty was in steam, I can tell you while the average goober might see great potential they seldom see the very real dangers of steam, steam to most seem innocent enough, just look at some of the deaths associate with steam engines recently, This even happened about 10 miles from my home an hourt after I left. Here and Here , and the fellow who owned and operated this was FAMILIAR with these risks, from burns to boiler failures, its not something to screw with unless you know what youre doing, and even then it will leave you suspicious
OK, I've RTFA. Hype! The bottom line is that steam is not a source of energy. Something has got to make that steam. And that gets us right back to the problem of supplying the energy in a form that burns clean and is clean to produce in the first place (Hydrogen for hydrogen based cars, by the way, burns clean, but is made from natural gas in a very polluting and wasteful process; overall a "clean burning" hydrogen car is a much more wasteful car and a source of more total polution tyhan one that would just use natural gas directly. Of course, if we were to produce hydrogen cleanly that would change, but there seems to be no move to do so.)
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
[1] One day some clever chap might invent one that does it by itself, automatically even, thus leaving one hand free for other tasks such as eating.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
We did experiment some with external combustion vehicles about 30 years ago.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.