All of these high power lasers are currently chemical lasers. They generate the coherent light by using a chemical reaction. From what I understand the power source is something that resembles a rocket engine at least slightly.
High power solid state lasers would be the way to go to minaturize, but they are a little ways off.
Maybe think about this..
If you "NEED" a faster computer, then you should be able to make the computer pay for itself.
Last time I checked, I "NEEDED" a million dollars. Maybe someone with 10 million should give me 1. It's only fair right.
Welcome to North Carolina, USA folks. There is a nice little worksheet on our state tax form to report online and mail order purchases and pay state sales tax on them. So if this is offloaded to the companies selling the products, the prices will just go up. Simple economics.
Here's a conspiracy theory for you. What if the companies are getting wise to the fact that users intentionally "crash" their drives every 2.5 years to get a new drive for "free". I've seen discussions of this type quite a bit.
The other issue here is why aren't people backing up their data. I've never had the need for a data recovery service, because I make multiple backups at least once a day. Quit whining and use some common sense.
This sounds like the laser diode overheats when run at too high a duty cycle. So the firmware probably just tells the drive to burn at slower speeds no matter how fast the media says it can run. Maybe we just need some people to develop a hardware hack to cool the diode better.
Most electric cars are small and underpowered, because the sole purpose is to make them as economical and efficient as possible.
You want lots of power, an electric motor can be your best friend. No need to get up to high RPMs to get the power, just hit the gas and it's all there from the get go. Look at diesel/electric trains. Tell me they don't have enough power for you. The problem is that no car company wants to put the R&D money into developing a reasonable electric car program, when internal combustion technology already fits the bill pretty well.
The main problem is energy storage. Batteries are basically crap at the current state of the art. You need gas/electric hybrid or fuel cell power to really get things going.
I would say that your analysis doesn't fit very well with most Phds I have seen. I am currently a Phd candidate in Mechanical Engineering. I took the qualifiers 2 1/2 years ago. I have had my topic for almost 1 year longer than that. Some Phd programs just take longer than others. I am very hopeful that my completion will be within the next six months.
This is not something you can give a canned response to.
It's the lose of efficiency that is the big concern. Every material blocks some of the wavelengths of light that solar panels convert to electricity. The panels already have a fairly low efficiency, so putting anything in front of them just reduces the power you generate.
The ISS and Hubble solar arrays are outrageously expensive. They are very close to a money is no object solution. I doubt many people want to spen a few hundred thousand dollars to get their home off the grid.
If your going to get "off the grid", it has to be an entire design philosophy. You don't want to just throw up a few panels and forget it. Get as much from natural resources as possible. The problem is that this is not always pleasing to the eye. Passive techniques can save a fortune. Use the sun for heat and the earth to cool. Properly superinsulating can give very tangible paybacks. Having a fresh air heat exchanger and blocking every other air leak you can find does wonders. Buying the "right" appliances can also save a fortune in precious electricity. It all comes down to priorities. Most people would rather buy the $1500 whirlpool tub than get an energy efficient washer and dryer. Or for that matter, dry your clothes outside on a line.
I love the way they talk about the fins along the side. The only problem is that they should be oriented vertically. The way it is they provide a little more surface area, but unless you have a fan blowing over them, very little convective cooling.
Instead of all this talk about blocking every port, lets here from the legitimate users of P2P apps. How many people do you know that use P2P apps to transfer legitimate and legal files.
I'ld be willing to bet we're talking somewhere in the less than 1% region.
Let's take another wireless technology, that which makes cellphones possible. AT&T, the grandfather of modern telecommunications, is practically out of the long-distance market. It's wireless division has been going gangbusters for the last 5 years. That means AT&T, who built most of the land-lines in the world, including the last mile to most homes, is still making great money, but not off those decades of investment in cabling.
AFAIK the cellular technology only uses wireless from the phone to the nearest tower. From then on it's landline based. I see land-lines as being a very sound long-term investment. Wireless will only be a last mile solution for quite a while.
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All of these high power lasers are currently chemical lasers. They generate the coherent light by using a chemical reaction. From what I understand the power source is something that resembles a rocket engine at least slightly. High power solid state lasers would be the way to go to minaturize, but they are a little ways off.
Maybe think about this.. If you "NEED" a faster computer, then you should be able to make the computer pay for itself. Last time I checked, I "NEEDED" a million dollars. Maybe someone with 10 million should give me 1. It's only fair right.
Welcome to North Carolina, USA folks. There is a nice little worksheet on our state tax form to report online and mail order purchases and pay state sales tax on them. So if this is offloaded to the companies selling the products, the prices will just go up. Simple economics.
Here's a conspiracy theory for you. What if the companies are getting wise to the fact that users intentionally "crash" their drives every 2.5 years to get a new drive for "free". I've seen discussions of this type quite a bit. The other issue here is why aren't people backing up their data. I've never had the need for a data recovery service, because I make multiple backups at least once a day. Quit whining and use some common sense.
This sounds like the laser diode overheats when run at too high a duty cycle. So the firmware probably just tells the drive to burn at slower speeds no matter how fast the media says it can run. Maybe we just need some people to develop a hardware hack to cool the diode better.
Most electric cars are small and underpowered, because the sole purpose is to make them as economical and efficient as possible. You want lots of power, an electric motor can be your best friend. No need to get up to high RPMs to get the power, just hit the gas and it's all there from the get go. Look at diesel/electric trains. Tell me they don't have enough power for you. The problem is that no car company wants to put the R&D money into developing a reasonable electric car program, when internal combustion technology already fits the bill pretty well. The main problem is energy storage. Batteries are basically crap at the current state of the art. You need gas/electric hybrid or fuel cell power to really get things going.
I would say that your analysis doesn't fit very well with most Phds I have seen. I am currently a Phd candidate in Mechanical Engineering. I took the qualifiers 2 1/2 years ago. I have had my topic for almost 1 year longer than that. Some Phd programs just take longer than others. I am very hopeful that my completion will be within the next six months. This is not something you can give a canned response to.
It's the lose of efficiency that is the big concern. Every material blocks some of the wavelengths of light that solar panels convert to electricity. The panels already have a fairly low efficiency, so putting anything in front of them just reduces the power you generate. The ISS and Hubble solar arrays are outrageously expensive. They are very close to a money is no object solution. I doubt many people want to spen a few hundred thousand dollars to get their home off the grid. If your going to get "off the grid", it has to be an entire design philosophy. You don't want to just throw up a few panels and forget it. Get as much from natural resources as possible. The problem is that this is not always pleasing to the eye. Passive techniques can save a fortune. Use the sun for heat and the earth to cool. Properly superinsulating can give very tangible paybacks. Having a fresh air heat exchanger and blocking every other air leak you can find does wonders. Buying the "right" appliances can also save a fortune in precious electricity. It all comes down to priorities. Most people would rather buy the $1500 whirlpool tub than get an energy efficient washer and dryer. Or for that matter, dry your clothes outside on a line.
I love the way they talk about the fins along the side. The only problem is that they should be oriented vertically. The way it is they provide a little more surface area, but unless you have a fan blowing over them, very little convective cooling.
Instead of all this talk about blocking every port, lets here from the legitimate users of P2P apps. How many people do you know that use P2P apps to transfer legitimate and legal files.
I'ld be willing to bet we're talking somewhere in the less than 1% region.