Non-IT News Thread
-
Why driving is hard—even for AIs
Despite promises of "soon," the infrastructure to support the driverless future isn't there yet.
I have a couple of kids of learner’s permit age, and it’s my fatherly duty to give them some driving tips so they won’t be a menace to themselves and to everyone else. So I’ve been analyzing the way I drive: How did I know that the other driver was going to turn left ahead of me? Why am I paying attention to the unleashed dog on the sidewalk but not the branches of the trees overhead? What subconscious cues tell me that a light is about to change to red or that the door of a parked car is about to open?
This exercise has given me a renewed appreciation for the terrible complexity of driving—and that’s just the stuff I know to think about. The car itself already takes care of a million details that make the car go, stop, and steer, and that process was complex enough when I was young and cars were essentially mechanical and electric. Now, cars have become rolling computers, with humans controlling (at most) speed, direction, and comfort.
-
-
-
-
@JaredBusch said in Non-IT News Thread:
Forget batteries in my EV... I want batteries for my phone and watch that I don't have to charge them every day, lol.
-
@JaredBusch said in Non-IT News Thread:
Lithium is one element that is good for making batteries, but it is not the only one. Flouride — the most electro-negative element in the periodic table — is also quite suitable for the task. In fact, fluoride batteries are capable of being 10 times more energy dense than lithium batteries. But until now, they needed to be heated to 150° Celsius (300° F for those living in former British colonies) in order to function.
A joint research team composed of engineers from Honda, NASA, and Caltech solved that problem by creating a new liquid electrolyte they call BTFE that lets fluoride dissolve at room temperature, according to Engadget. When used in a prototype battery composed of copper, lanthanum, and fluorine, the new battery was able to be discharged and recharged at room temperature. The prototype also has a “more favorable environmental footprint” than a lithium battery, according to Honda. No word on how well it performs in winter when the thermometer is well below “room temperature.”
-
That's some awesome stuff. What a breakthrough that could be!
-
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
That's some awesome stuff. What a breakthrough that could be!
Yeah, it's definitely a large leap... but what about after that? Is 10x the current capacity of Lithium batteries the limit? What do we do then? Or will that suffice through ways of making things more energy efficient?
What ever happened to the micro-cells thing... where a super large capacity battery could charge in a second and last for a hella long time with a ton of output?
-
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
That's some awesome stuff. What a breakthrough that could be!
Especially if there's a big difference in weight between the Lithim batteries and the Flouride batteries.
-
@dafyre said in Non-IT News Thread:
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
That's some awesome stuff. What a breakthrough that could be!
Especially if there's a big difference in weight between the Lithim batteries and the Flouride batteries.
Even if there is not - it's 10 times the capacity... that's HUGE! Assuming it's not 10 times the cost. or 10 times more likely to explode, etc, etc, etc.
-
@Dashrender said in Non-IT News Thread:
@dafyre said in Non-IT News Thread:
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
That's some awesome stuff. What a breakthrough that could be!
Especially if there's a big difference in weight between the Lithim batteries and the Flouride batteries.
Even if there is not - it's 10 times the capacity... that's HUGE! Assuming it's not 10 times the cost. or 10 times more likely to explode, etc, etc, etc.
Currently, it eats the anodes.
For one thing, the anode and cathode of the prototype battery tend to dissolve completely in the electrolyte.
-
@JaredBusch said in Non-IT News Thread:
@Dashrender said in Non-IT News Thread:
@dafyre said in Non-IT News Thread:
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
That's some awesome stuff. What a breakthrough that could be!
Especially if there's a big difference in weight between the Lithim batteries and the Flouride batteries.
Even if there is not - it's 10 times the capacity... that's HUGE! Assuming it's not 10 times the cost. or 10 times more likely to explode, etc, etc, etc.
Currently, it eats the anodes.
For one thing, the anode and cathode of the prototype battery tend to dissolve completely in the electrolyte.
Yeah I read that.
-
Well it IS fluoride, haha.
-
@Obsolesce said in Non-IT News Thread:
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
That's some awesome stuff. What a breakthrough that could be!
Yeah, it's definitely a large leap... but what about after that? Is 10x the current capacity of Lithium batteries the limit? What do we do then? Or will that suffice through ways of making things more energy efficient?
What ever happened to the micro-cells thing... where a super large capacity battery could charge in a second and last for a hella long time with a ton of output?
10x the current capacity... A Tesla Model 3 with the mid size battery pack goes coast to coast on one charge. A laptop works for 5 days without being plugged in. A smartphone would go for 2-3 weeks. What more do you really want?
Micro-cells? You mean the micro hydrogen generators? Those are generally too expensive for practical use, at least currently.
-
The Sun in its rearview mirror, Voyager 2 is in interstellar space
The solar wind is no longer registering on the spacecraft's instruments.
Voyager 2 was actually the first of the two probes launched back in 1977, but its trajectory had it reaching its first destination, Jupiter, after Voyager 1. Its trailing position had a large impact on its future; after Voyager 1 obtained sufficient data at Saturn, Voyager 2 was switched from a route that optimized data gathering to one that sent it past the ringed planet on a trajectory that boosted it toward Uranus and Neptune. That difference meant that Voyager 1 reached interstellar space much earlier.
-
UK PM to face vote of no confidence later today.
-
@scottalanmiller So...what does that mean in American terms? PM getting impeached?
-
@NerdyDad said in Non-IT News Thread:
@scottalanmiller So...what does that mean in American terms? PM getting impeached?
It's a gap in American political system. Everyone has it but us. It's not for when the PM does something illegal, it's for when they are simply incompetent.
There are two forms of this in the UK. The one now is that the party (Tories) of the PM have lost faith in her to lead the party and feel she needs to be tested.
The other is if parliament (the house) feel that the government has failed and need to remove it (lawmakers forcing a new vote.)
The second has been held off in the UK because the opposition party loves watching the primary party go at each other.
In the US, incompetence is not considered a reason to remove a government.
-
So impeachment is the closest thing that we have, but it's not related. Impeachment opens a president to a legal attack. But a no confidence is a direct means of removing someone all in one fell swoop.
-
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
In the US, incompetence is not considered a reason to remove a government.
Which has never been more obvious the last couple years.
