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User: k2backhoe

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  1. Re:Time to short Manganese ? on The Next Gold Rush Will Be 5,000 Feet Under the Sea, With Robot Drones (vice.com) · · Score: 1

    Yes, I immediately thought of the Glomar Explorer and Howard Hughes when I read the title.

  2. Wrong. Tesla batteries are 350-450 volts on How Tesla Batteries Will Force Home Wiring To Go Low Voltage · · Score: 2

    This article is wrong on so many levels it's not funny. Go to http://www.teslamotors.com/pow... and you will see that the Tesla home batteries are NOT low voltage. Efficient inverters are way cheaper than rewiring and relamping a house. Silly story.

  3. We did this in 1967 on the IBM 1620 on First Fully Digital Radio Transmitter Built Purely From Microprocessor Tech · · Score: 5, Informative

    The 1620 was an all digital machine built of discrete transistors. As an undergraduate, we wrote programs that caused the machine to alternate between two loops at a variable rate. The computer radiated so many harmonics that this could be heard all across the AM band where no strong station existed. We programmed it to play (mostly) classical music, "Flight of the Bumblebee" was the perennial favorite. Any truly all digital transmitter will generate harmonics outside of the allowable FCC band, so at the very least they need a really good analog bandpass filter on the output.

  4. Energy Harvesting is old on EnOcean Wireless Sensors Don't Need Batteries (Video) · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I have an 80+ year old Atmos torsion pendulum mantel clock. It never needs winding, it harvests energy from atmospheric pressure changes (or temperature changes). Air pressure in a sealed can will run the clock for a week on just a 2F degree swing in ambient temperature.

  5. The paper you reference is a year old, criticizing an earlier paper. The recent publication describes recent tests which directly address most of those criticisms,

  6. Re:Old news for buses on Tesla Would Be Proud: Wireless Charging For Electric Cars Gets Closer To Reality · · Score: 2

    Good article with some believable numbers. But when transmitting 100 kW at 85% efficiency, you have to wonder what is happening to 15 kW of magnetic field. Where is it going, who is it affecting? Will my fillings heat up, or my cochlear implant overload if I am near by?

  7. 20 HP average? on Solar-Powered Boat Carries 8.5 Tons of Lithium-Ion Batteries · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This has 512 m^2 solar array, incoming sun at directly overhead is roughly 1 kW / m^2, assume solar panel efficiency of 15%. This is a total power of about 76 kW or about 100 HP when the sun is directly overhead. Averaged over a 24 hour day, this is maybe 20-25 HP. 89,000 kg of lithium battery at 200 Wh / kg is 17.8 MWh. This would take 234 hours to charge with the sun directly overhead. That is about 40 days of clear sky charging, assuming you are not running the propeller at the same time. Something is fishy here. Sounds like he charges in port, then runs to the next port on solar plus battery (otherwise there is no need for this large battery / solar cell ratio). Then he repeats. Is my math wrong, or is this story a bit strange?

  8. Kevin O'Donnell on Ask Slashdot: Most Underappreciated Sci-Fi Writer? · · Score: 1

    Loved the Journeys series

  9. Re:Seemed very slow on SpaceX's Falcon 9 Successfully Reaches Orbit · · Score: 1

    With rockets, faster acceleration means LESS total fuel to orbit, not more (assuming you can just use the same fuel either faster or more slowly). The shorter time you are fighting the 1G, the less total fuel you use up. Imagine takeoff to orbit at 1.01G (1G earth, .01G motion). instead of 2G. You take forever to achieve orbit and the first 1G is wasted all that time. The only advantage I see is (as you say) lighter engines and structure. Still seems low compared to any other rocket I have ever seen.

  10. Seemed very slow on SpaceX's Falcon 9 Successfully Reaches Orbit · · Score: 2

    In the video it seemed to take 60 seconds to reach 225 m/s, or around 3.5 m/s/s. That's only 1/3 G!! Did the takeoff seem slow to others? Even manned rockets accelerate a lot faster than that! What's wrong with my analysis or their rocket?

  11. Re:Stuxnet2 - What a great terrorist tool on United Pilots To Use iPads For Navigation · · Score: 1

    Used for navigation. Provide wrong navigation coordinates to the pilots under conditions of reduced visibility. The humans will follow blindly in most cases. We have seen large numbers of aviation accidents like this. Remember the plane that got shot down over NK because the pilot had entered wrong co-ords into the autopilot? Sorry for your anger and lack of imagination. I just hope the terrorists have similar mind sets.

  12. Stuxnet2 - What a great terrorist tool on United Pilots To Use iPads For Navigation · · Score: 1

    Cyber war gave us the stuxnet worm that was very selective and only activated when it could ruin gas centrifuges. The Ipad would make airlines vulnerable to a clever al qaeda hacker who makes a worm that activates when certain critical conditions were met (i.e. when a US airliner was over water, or during a critical landing maneuver). Are we conceited enough to think that USA and Israel are the only ones with master hackers?

  13. Re:You should see USA railroad signaling equipment on Circuit Flaws Blamed For China Train Crash · · Score: 1

    Valid point. some sections of usrr can override the operator,but it is very expensive.

  14. Re:You should see USA railroad signaling equipment on Circuit Flaws Blamed For China Train Crash · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you pay attention to the accidents, you will see the train accidents are almost always due to human error, not signaling equipment failure. Drivers going thru flashing red signals, engineers under the influence or texting, and occasional sabotage. Signal equipment almost always fails safe. This causes very annoying (but safe) delays while the equipment is fixed.

  15. You should see USA railroad signaling equipment! on Circuit Flaws Blamed For China Train Crash · · Score: 5, Informative

    I worked on US rail signaling equipment (Background = Physics PhD). I have never been so impressed with over-designed, fail-safe equipment. They plan for everything, including multiple lightning strikes. They do such things as positioning their relays upside down so that the armature falls to NC by gravity if the spring breaks. They have many years of experience, and all of our equipment is for sale. I think the NIH mentality bit China in the arse this time.

  16. Fix the grant latency on Ask Slashdot: Reducing Software Patent Life-Spans? · · Score: 1

    If your premise is that the dynamics of software is faster than other technologies, then this only makes sense if you can streamline the patent examination process to grant software patents in an average of 6-9 months. This also implies publishing the applications after only 2 months, and acting on public input in a month or less. An interesting idea, but not feasible with the current USPTO.

  17. Be Bald or Be Balled on Merck's Drug Propecia Linked To Sexual Dysfunction · · Score: 1

    Your choice

  18. Patent Claims on IBM Patenting HAL-Like Stuffed Animal Toys · · Score: 3, Funny

    Claim 12: A system as in claim 1 where, if the audible warning telling the child 'to play nice' in a strict tone of voice and the audible warning that asks the child 'would you like someone to do that to you' in a softer tone of voice along with a visual cue as well are not effective, then a small correctional current is applied through EEG electrodes 1 and 2, inducing the desired behavior or a peaceful coma.

  19. How would squids see this? on It's Surprisingly Hard To Notice When Moving Objects Change · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The reef squid has the ability to quickly change colors and patterns on it's body, and seems to signal other squids in this fashion (as well as for camouflage). I wonder if they would be fooled by this illusion or if their neural optics are wired very differently than ours. It would be challenging to try to create an objective test that you could do with them.

  20. Only one viewer? on Apple Patents Glasses-Free 3D Projector · · Score: 2

    As I read the patent claims, it appears that in order to require no eyeglasses and to allow the observer to be located anywhere relative to the screen, the 3D effect will only work with one observer. No claims allow multiple, position-independent viewers. That makes sense from a physics and optics point of view, but it is disappointing.

  21. That's nothing, 3-D camera made of ice on Nokia Builds a Touchscreen Display Made of Ice · · Score: 1
  22. Re:Not to take anything away but . . . on Rocketman Takes Off In Custom-Made Wingsuit · · Score: 1

    Thanks for the video, that wasn't the one I first looked at. WOW!! loops and everything. This guy is great!

  23. Not to take anything away but . . . on Rocketman Takes Off In Custom-Made Wingsuit · · Score: 1

    That is outstanding, but the text in English is misleading. Loops implies a vertical circle. It appears that he either did rolls, or horizontal circles. Loops require a lot more lift to drag ratio and power to weight ratio than I suspect he has. Still, it is a fantastic flight. Keep it up!

  24. k2backhoe on Human Exoskeletons Getting Closer · · Score: 1

    BOGUS! Sorry, but as nice an idea as this is, the video is a CONCEPT not a product. Watch how the person stands while carrying the supposed enormous weights. The balance (center of gravity) is wrong unless the packs are very light. Additionally, there are too few servos to act torsionally on the legs. There is nothing to act on side to side motion of legs. Compare this with the Japanese versions and you can see that this device is powered by the human, not the motors/pistons. The very idea that the device supports weight even when batteries are depleted is ludicrous. That might help in a stiff-legged march down hill, but will not help once the knee is bent. Sorry, nice video, no credibility.

  25. Patented in 1987 on Rainforest Fungus Synthesizes Diesel · · Score: 1

    Well, yes, this sounds exciting, but it is not new. Look up US patent 4,698,304, Method for producing hydrocarbon mixtures, applied for in 1985, granted in 1987. Fukada specifically patents using this fungus (and others) to produce the C2-C5 molecules that seem so important today. Maybe they have improved production rate, or efficiency. k2