10 years is a ridiculously low estimate for an automotive battery pack. Nissan Leafs with 150k on them have barely any degradation, and Tesla tested their packs up to 750,000 miles with 14% capacity loss. It's basically a non-issue.
Panasonic rate the cells in the Tesla packs for 900,000 miles to 80% capacity. The tests suggest that is about right. So to EOL the pack in 10 years you should need to do 90,000 miles/year, which is quite unusual (most people do less than 20k/year). Even then, an 80% pack still gets you over 200 miles in a Model S, so it would make more sense to either carry on driving it or reuse the pack in some other application (e.g. PowerWall). You certainly wouldn't want to toss something so valuable and useful away.
While those numbers seem reasonable for short term use you are leaving off the time component. Batteries age and lose capacity even if they undergo zero charge discharge cycles. The batteries in cars are no different.
Proliferation of fast food and over processed calorie dense prepackaged garbage passed off as food.
There is typically nothing wrong with those foods from a nutritional value. Sure, they may not always taste as good, and often they may be heavy on sugar, fat, and salt, but there is nothing inherently wrong with them if you are eating a relatively balanced diet.
The real problem is they make eating too easy which can affect how some people eat. Eating foods you prepare yourself wastes so much time and effort that it makes it physically harder to eat, which in turn helps remove the choice of eating more. For countless thousands of years, humans spent the majority of thier time and activities trying to get enough to eat. Food was scarce and many people starved much of the time as a result. Now we have extremely cheap and plentiful food every where you turn and people actually complain it is too easy to consume.
His own electric cars get about 40mpg co2 wise where I live due to the coal powering the majority of electrical use. Is he asking to up the price people pay on his own products?
We have nothing but pure guesswork to go on in estimating the probability that intelligent life will evolve from microscopic life over a given time frame and not much more to go on in estimating the probability of life arising in the first place.
Yes, I personally find the arguments that we aren't the only intelligent life in the universe compelling but suggesting that MATH tells us this is true is simply misleading. People whose prior probability that intelligent life evolves given a suitable planet is super low are perfectly justified in their beliefs.
This is the exact same argument I heard from people 25 years ago about the existence of planets outside our solar system. I had people who were scientists (not in cosmology/astronomy) try and say planets were probably rare and we may have the only ones around right here. While it's true we did not have evidence at the time, the whole argument just seems that much sillier today as using common sense and extrapolation don't always lead you astray.
What do you predict will happen it something like a major change in humidity affects a region that has a nuclear arsenal and faces hostile neighbors? Keep in mind that's mainly just added moisture from a change in local weather patterns, something likely of typical changes in the future.
Yes, it is. Would you pick up a random needle off the street and stick it into your vein, then wonder how you got AIDS? Would you stick your dick in some random person you found behind a 7-11, then wonder how you got the clap? It's not the computers fault you stuck an unknown, infected USB drive in it. Take some responsibility for your actions already. This is absolutely nobody's fault but your own, so stop doing stupid shit and then playing the victim card.
The problem is that it isn't safe to plug a USB stick into a computer.
Bullshit. It's perfectly safe to insert a USB stick into a computer, as long as there's nothing malicious on it. Knowing whether or not there's anything damaging on it is up to you, and there's always a risk (even fresh out of the package), but to imply that all sticks are dangerous is just FUD. I've never picked one up off the street, or met one in a truck stop bathroom, and I've never had a bad experience with a thumb drive. Just use some common sense, and take the proper precautions.
Real malicious people drop devices that look like USB sticks, but in reality contain a bank of capacitors that slowly charge then deliver a high voltage mega death zap to your USB port. Those puny TVS designed for static don't stand a chance and it perma fries the entire machine.
Maybe they will have to get off their collective asses and actually file for proper warrants and do some proper investigative work instead of it being spoon fed on a silver platter. The humanity!
This is a prototype. The most likely configuration based on current technology will be a receiver that is flush with the current vehicle undercarriage - no lower than it is now.
In the charging area, there would be clearly painted lines or perhaps even ruts, to ensure the car was aligned perfectly with no chance of hitting the transmitter.. The transmitter would likely have a system that automatically raises it into the proper position vertically.
The concept of charging on the highway was described as future technology based on the current technology. They clearly consider this to be a continuing research product, not an end stage, ready for consumer device.
However, all that raising and lowering is insanely expensive, requires moving parts and greater complexity which all undermine the notion of wirelessly transmitted power. At that rate why not just have a plug that lifts up from the ground and cut the costs by a factor of 10, the power losses by a large amount, and the charge time by another factor of 10.
Given their current technology and the rate of advancement, it is not unreasonable for them to widen the gap sufficiently and to enlarge the charging field enough to allow in car charging while cars were in the correct lane.
Except physics yes. The fundamental laws of physics wont change and the coupling efficiency is massively dependant on the gap to width ratio. Simply put you can't keep the performance and widen the gap. Further there are all kinds of problems and losses when the devices are moving with respect to eachother, not to mention the absolutely monumental and insane cost of putting a charger every foot down millions of miles of road. It won't likely ever make sense, and certainly not in our lifetimes.
Honestly, the real problem is more likely to be caused by weathering. Potholes area already a major problem, even without sticking high voltage electrical devices just under the top of the roads.
Yep pretty obvious you cant have a huge object under your vehicle with nearly no clearance to the road, it is a disaster waiting to happen.
100% different. That only adjusts power up or down as necessary for charging, it has absolutely zero safety issues or even a need for efficiency of coupling. As the article says its 90% efficient on a good day, likely most of that comes from the coupling losses. It only takes like 20w to start a fire with nearby metallic objects if the geometry is right which is about 1% of the losses and 0.1% of total power. Coupling losses, as any ee knows, are influenced by slight variations in the stock market and the drivers arm position. A mm level misalignment, humidity difference in the air, or even if nearby objects get wet are all likely to create losses over 20w so it will be very difficult to know where those losses are going.
Rapid charging stations that can be installed in homes, albeit expensively, are 50kw, 2.5x the power of this wireless prototype. That's why they are trying to up the power transfer to compete with the rapid charging stations that exist currently.
50kw, or even 20kw is extremely dangerous to couple. Outside of the leaking RF spectrum possibly interfering with electronics, the danger is something with a similar resonant field could be nearby and absorb some of that power. Even just a few tens of watts could start a fire. They probably need something akin to a gfci circuit that monitors the power in and out precisely and if something is absorbing power that shouldn't be, notice the discrepancy and terminate the charge.
The actual picture is pretty funny, with a ginormous briefcase put under the back of the vehicle, a mere 2 inches above the similar unit embedded in the floor. No way is that remotely practical, they would need to increase the air gap by at least triple, to 5x+ to properly mount it under reasonable vehicles. To keep the same coupling, the size would then have to be increased substantially. Further there is no way in hell that is working while you drive, it has to be precisely aligned which isn't going to happen period, even at stoplights. I could see it embedded into a garage stall, or even a parking stall outdoors, perhaps, but alignment would be a major issue and one that is not being addressed at this stage from anything I can gather.
No they don't, not really. However I think its important to emphasize to them that they don't understand by not over simplifying things. I see it as a way to help them think critically earlier than if they are taught to accept simple answers without question. It also sometimes gets them to ask a series of questions, which they may also not understand, and many parents find annoying, but which also helps that critically thinking part. The early years often dictate how they will tend to think their entire lives.
Ever heard an iteration of this BS before? "Why not let your government collect data on you? you have nothing to hide."
I mean besides targeted ads, invasion of privacy, online profiling that will affect the prices of products and search results, being subjected to voyeurism by bored government agencies, attracting whatever weirdo or teen hacker that managed to somehow get the data, perhaps elongating the queue at the airport when you're "randomly" asked about that "funny" prank in college, or the widely used change of your insurance quote because some stupid filter found a word associated with higher risk somewhere in a database that has info about you...but let's get back on point:
Why would I trust the government with my data when they cannot secure their own data? -Why should I still bend over and just accept their blatant and useless corrosion of individual privacy and freedom in lieu of their incompetence and carelessness?
Because terrorists! I'm sure this will all be addressed in the upcoming "America, land of the free" bill that will make encryption illegal.
I think the obvious answer is the need for more back doors in all systems. Obviously we need to get those responsible and the only way is to put the master keys in the hands of the most responsible, technically savvy people ever to walk this earth. It's really the only way to keep out children safe and get the bad guys.
Well, in addition, the moon appears a different size to your eye hourly due to the effect of the curvature of the atmosphere as well as material falling on the moon making it insubstantially (and obviously not visually) bigger. So there are many different aspects to the question. I'm not saying that all answers should be simple, but people should emphasize that it is a complex problem.
So in the case above with my own children I would answer that the moon may look bigger or smaller, yes, but that does not mean it it is actually changing size. It seems like a small difference but I've seen how those questions get children to think, and relate the problem to other observations, rather than just storing away the answer and not thinking about it the same way.
Slashdot Mirror
When 8 years from now his tenure isn't renewed and he finds himself replaced by his own chatbot.
By execution?
If you can 3-d print cheaply, why do you need any sort of income?
Wait until you see how much the toner cartridges cost. You might as well buy a whole new printer when the magenta runs low.
10 years is a ridiculously low estimate for an automotive battery pack. Nissan Leafs with 150k on them have barely any degradation, and Tesla tested their packs up to 750,000 miles with 14% capacity loss. It's basically a non-issue.
Panasonic rate the cells in the Tesla packs for 900,000 miles to 80% capacity. The tests suggest that is about right. So to EOL the pack in 10 years you should need to do 90,000 miles/year, which is quite unusual (most people do less than 20k/year). Even then, an 80% pack still gets you over 200 miles in a Model S, so it would make more sense to either carry on driving it or reuse the pack in some other application (e.g. PowerWall). You certainly wouldn't want to toss something so valuable and useful away.
While those numbers seem reasonable for short term use you are leaving off the time component. Batteries age and lose capacity even if they undergo zero charge discharge cycles. The batteries in cars are no different.
Proliferation of fast food and over processed calorie dense prepackaged garbage passed off as food.
There is typically nothing wrong with those foods from a nutritional value. Sure, they may not always taste as good, and often they may be heavy on sugar, fat, and salt, but there is nothing inherently wrong with them if you are eating a relatively balanced diet.
The real problem is they make eating too easy which can affect how some people eat. Eating foods you prepare yourself wastes so much time and effort that it makes it physically harder to eat, which in turn helps remove the choice of eating more. For countless thousands of years, humans spent the majority of thier time and activities trying to get enough to eat. Food was scarce and many people starved much of the time as a result. Now we have extremely cheap and plentiful food every where you turn and people actually complain it is too easy to consume.
Maybe it's my paranoid brain, but I have suspected Microsoft may want to sabotage older OS like 7 to force people to "upgrade".
...when you have a vested interest in a matter, your opinion on that matter becomes worthless.
If he wants to mod and post in the same thread he will just have to get another account.
His own electric cars get about 40mpg co2 wise where I live due to the coal powering the majority of electrical use. Is he asking to up the price people pay on his own products?
We have nothing but pure guesswork to go on in estimating the probability that intelligent life will evolve from microscopic life over a given time frame and not much more to go on in estimating the probability of life arising in the first place.
Yes, I personally find the arguments that we aren't the only intelligent life in the universe compelling but suggesting that MATH tells us this is true is simply misleading. People whose prior probability that intelligent life evolves given a suitable planet is super low are perfectly justified in their beliefs.
This is the exact same argument I heard from people 25 years ago about the existence of planets outside our solar system. I had people who were scientists (not in cosmology/astronomy) try and say planets were probably rare and we may have the only ones around right here. While it's true we did not have evidence at the time, the whole argument just seems that much sillier today as using common sense and extrapolation don't always lead you astray.
What do you predict will happen it something like a major change in humidity affects a region that has a nuclear arsenal and faces hostile neighbors? Keep in mind that's mainly just added moisture from a change in local weather patterns, something likely of typical changes in the future.
The problem isn't that people are idiots
Yes, it is. Would you pick up a random needle off the street and stick it into your vein, then wonder how you got AIDS? Would you stick your dick in some random person you found behind a 7-11, then wonder how you got the clap? It's not the computers fault you stuck an unknown, infected USB drive in it. Take some responsibility for your actions already. This is absolutely nobody's fault but your own, so stop doing stupid shit and then playing the victim card.
The problem is that it isn't safe to plug a USB stick into a computer.
Bullshit. It's perfectly safe to insert a USB stick into a computer, as long as there's nothing malicious on it. Knowing whether or not there's anything damaging on it is up to you, and there's always a risk (even fresh out of the package), but to imply that all sticks are dangerous is just FUD. I've never picked one up off the street, or met one in a truck stop bathroom, and I've never had a bad experience with a thumb drive. Just use some common sense, and take the proper precautions.
Have you seen the custom made USB drive that fries your laptop like an egg?
Real malicious people drop devices that look like USB sticks, but in reality contain a bank of capacitors that slowly charge then deliver a high voltage mega death zap to your USB port. Those puny TVS designed for static don't stand a chance and it perma fries the entire machine.
Its a pretty decent TV show, fairly creative. It won a golden globe and is on USA network. Ill probably watch the second season when it comes out.
Maybe they will have to get off their collective asses and actually file for proper warrants and do some proper investigative work instead of it being spoon fed on a silver platter. The humanity!
This is a prototype. The most likely configuration based on current technology will be a receiver that is flush with the current vehicle undercarriage - no lower than it is now.
In the charging area, there would be clearly painted lines or perhaps even ruts, to ensure the car was aligned perfectly with no chance of hitting the transmitter.. The transmitter would likely have a system that automatically raises it into the proper position vertically.
The concept of charging on the highway was described as future technology based on the current technology. They clearly consider this to be a continuing research product, not an end stage, ready for consumer device.
However, all that raising and lowering is insanely expensive, requires moving parts and greater complexity which all undermine the notion of wirelessly transmitted power. At that rate why not just have a plug that lifts up from the ground and cut the costs by a factor of 10, the power losses by a large amount, and the charge time by another factor of 10.
Given their current technology and the rate of advancement, it is not unreasonable for them to widen the gap sufficiently and to enlarge the charging field enough to allow in car charging while cars were in the correct lane.
Except physics yes. The fundamental laws of physics wont change and the coupling efficiency is massively dependant on the gap to width ratio. Simply put you can't keep the performance and widen the gap. Further there are all kinds of problems and losses when the devices are moving with respect to eachother, not to mention the absolutely monumental and insane cost of putting a charger every foot down millions of miles of road. It won't likely ever make sense, and certainly not in our lifetimes.
Honestly, the real problem is more likely to be caused by weathering. Potholes area already a major problem, even without sticking high voltage electrical devices just under the top of the roads.
Yep pretty obvious you cant have a huge object under your vehicle with nearly no clearance to the road, it is a disaster waiting to happen.
Given the latest research described in this paper I think futurama is actually predicting the future.
100% different. That only adjusts power up or down as necessary for charging, it has absolutely zero safety issues or even a need for efficiency of coupling. As the article says its 90% efficient on a good day, likely most of that comes from the coupling losses. It only takes like 20w to start a fire with nearby metallic objects if the geometry is right which is about 1% of the losses and 0.1% of total power. Coupling losses, as any ee knows, are influenced by slight variations in the stock market and the drivers arm position. A mm level misalignment, humidity difference in the air, or even if nearby objects get wet are all likely to create losses over 20w so it will be very difficult to know where those losses are going.
Rapid charging stations that can be installed in homes, albeit expensively, are 50kw, 2.5x the power of this wireless prototype. That's why they are trying to up the power transfer to compete with the rapid charging stations that exist currently.
50kw, or even 20kw is extremely dangerous to couple. Outside of the leaking RF spectrum possibly interfering with electronics, the danger is something with a similar resonant field could be nearby and absorb some of that power. Even just a few tens of watts could start a fire. They probably need something akin to a gfci circuit that monitors the power in and out precisely and if something is absorbing power that shouldn't be, notice the discrepancy and terminate the charge.
The actual picture is pretty funny, with a ginormous briefcase put under the back of the vehicle, a mere 2 inches above the similar unit embedded in the floor. No way is that remotely practical, they would need to increase the air gap by at least triple, to 5x+ to properly mount it under reasonable vehicles. To keep the same coupling, the size would then have to be increased substantially. Further there is no way in hell that is working while you drive, it has to be precisely aligned which isn't going to happen period, even at stoplights. I could see it embedded into a garage stall, or even a parking stall outdoors, perhaps, but alignment would be a major issue and one that is not being addressed at this stage from anything I can gather.
No they don't, not really. However I think its important to emphasize to them that they don't understand by not over simplifying things. I see it as a way to help them think critically earlier than if they are taught to accept simple answers without question. It also sometimes gets them to ask a series of questions, which they may also not understand, and many parents find annoying, but which also helps that critically thinking part. The early years often dictate how they will tend to think their entire lives.
Ever heard an iteration of this BS before? "Why not let your government collect data on you? you have nothing to hide." I mean besides targeted ads, invasion of privacy, online profiling that will affect the prices of products and search results, being subjected to voyeurism by bored government agencies, attracting whatever weirdo or teen hacker that managed to somehow get the data, perhaps elongating the queue at the airport when you're "randomly" asked about that "funny" prank in college, or the widely used change of your insurance quote because some stupid filter found a word associated with higher risk somewhere in a database that has info about you...but let's get back on point: Why would I trust the government with my data when they cannot secure their own data? -Why should I still bend over and just accept their blatant and useless corrosion of individual privacy and freedom in lieu of their incompetence and carelessness?
Because terrorists! I'm sure this will all be addressed in the upcoming "America, land of the free" bill that will make encryption illegal.
I think the obvious answer is the need for more back doors in all systems. Obviously we need to get those responsible and the only way is to put the master keys in the hands of the most responsible, technically savvy people ever to walk this earth. It's really the only way to keep out children safe and get the bad guys.
Well, in addition, the moon appears a different size to your eye hourly due to the effect of the curvature of the atmosphere as well as material falling on the moon making it insubstantially (and obviously not visually) bigger. So there are many different aspects to the question. I'm not saying that all answers should be simple, but people should emphasize that it is a complex problem.
So in the case above with my own children I would answer that the moon may look bigger or smaller, yes, but that does not mean it it is actually changing size. It seems like a small difference but I've seen how those questions get children to think, and relate the problem to other observations, rather than just storing away the answer and not thinking about it the same way.
Sounds like they will need to do another free day due to an outage of service. This could be a recursive problem...
Wow, just wow. I know you were shooting for a +5 funny but it seems the lack of an irony mod option has come back to bite you.