[RD] The US Environmental Protection Agency

[onejayhawk]

Nah we should completely deregulate all genetic engineering, people should be allowed to release any new genetic species into the wild to propagate
What could possibly go wrong ?

Comeon you know why, they have to be tested

So do climate change modifications. We've made things worse at least once already.

J

 

[FriendlyFire]

So do climate change modifications. We've made things worse at least once already. J

This is the problem with our broken political system, where logical and new scientific information isn't being acted on and adjustments arent being made
Like an Apollo/Manhatten project into researching new energy, genetic engineering, and robotics but that would be too logical, instead we have bailouts for banks and botched military adventures in the middle east

 

[Perfection]

Still, with regard to electric vehicles, you are correct. At most, current tech will support small, strictly local vehicles. Rural or industrial use is impractical. Freight is a different order of magnitude. If you are planning to replace 18 wheeled tractor-trailer rigs in the next 25 years, think again. Aircraft are also a distant objective.

J

Elon Musk is on the Tractor Trailer game

Short haul trucking is seems doable via BEV (battery electric vehicles), but long-haul trucking is probably a bit father out. The drivetrains for large vehicles are easy, it's the batteries and charging that cause problems.

A few hundred miles with the need for a 30 minute or longer charge time to get to the next bit could cause operators some real headaches.

Long haul trucking has been on the decline though. The rise of intermodal transit (going rail [as Borachio has noted] and ship for most the journey) and increasing reticence of people to take these rather isolating jobs) has made it a less attractive option. It will be interesting to see how autonomous vehicle tech plays into it (for instance, having to take a break to recharge might not be such an issue if you don't have to pay a driver to take it).

In any case, I can see BEVs making major inroads on the freight industry.

Replacing ICE in construction, industrial, and agricultural applications doesn't strike me as something that's out of reach. Especially if we go autonomous. Lower energy costs will likely be a huge factor in these decisions, these machines take a lot of energy, getting it from a more affordable source would be a major boon.

I think the hardest market will likely be be rural personal vehicles. The having to stop and charge is going to be annoying for people who really pound the pavement. People will have to change behavior to account for this if they want to go electric and getting people to change is hard.


You're definitely right about battery electric aircraft. The lower energy to mass ratio of batteries compared to fossil fuels is a real killer here. Additional weight on land vehicles only makes it harder to start and stop - holding steady depends mostly on Aerodynamics. But with aircraft you need to generate more lift to compensate for the increased mass during the whole flight so it's a much larger issue.

 

[Silurian]

You are repeating what I referenced. Why?

My post goes into more detail than your reference.
I needed to go into more detail to show why the spear thrower has reached the limit of practical improvement and your statement below is wrong.
If you had said you could improve it by 10% using modern materials and maybe changing the shape after computer modelling may be.
300% that you state is just impossible.

I could construct a spear thrower that could triple the distance if I wanted to do a science fair project with one of the kids.

 

[onejayhawk]

My post goes into more detail than your reference.
I needed to go into more detail to show why the spear thrower has reached the limit of practical improvement and your statement below is wrong.
If you had said you could improve it by 10% using modern materials and maybe changing the shape after computer modelling may be.
300% that you state is just impossible.

I see the misunderstanding and my bad. Triple the distance is vs unassisted throwing not vs archaeological equivalents. The science fair project would be to demonstrate the lever action. That said, 10% is very lowball. I would guess 50% or more. Modern competition bow arrows are that much better than wood and feather. Modern bows also convert pull weight to velocity much more efficiently. I suspect the same is true of atlatl.

This is the problem with our broken political system, where logical and new scientific information isn't being acted on and adjustments arent being made Like an Apollo/Manhatten project into researching new energy, genetic engineering, and robotics but that would be too logical, instead we have bailouts for banks and botched military adventures in the middle east

Are you seriously claiming that the proposals for political action have any solid basis in the science?

J

 

[Silurian]

Three times an unassisted throw is also lowball.
When I was a teenager back in the 70s we throw arrows with string and they would go more than three times an unassisted throw when you had practiced.