[OT] Ten Technologies That Deserve to Die

[LGodamus]

Well, personally I like cosmetic surgery...

 

[tarchon]

There's actual reasons we still have gas powered cars. First among those reasons is that there isn't a good electric replacement. And by laws (those are LAWS people) of thermodynamics, it's extremely inefficient to use electric cars. You convert some other energy source to electricity, and electricity to motive power. Each conversion costs you energy, so switching to electric cars INCREASES your fuel requirements. It also pushes all the power generation currently done in vehicles (200 million vehicles times 80 horsepower each times 746 watts per horsepower... and that's just in America) onto your electric grid.

Not necessarily - thermodynamics just limits the efficiency of the heat engine - you only have to go through that step once whether it's at a power plant or in an ICE. Since power plants run at higher temperatures, they in fact generate power more efficiently (and their centralized nature makes pollution control much easier). Conversion and storage losses do reduce the ultimate efficiency, but electromechanical conversion and storage don't have to involve heat directly, so they aren't really limited by thermodynamic concerns. In fact, electromechanical power conversion can be extremely efficient, though there's definitely a price/efficiency tradeoff in most cases. What really hinders electric car development is mostly the storage issue.
I suspect the hybrids will eventually rule - the more efficient heat engine allowed by not having to cope with wide engine speed variations is advantage number 1; advantage number 2, the greater flexibility of electrical power (esp. storage, regenerative braking), will put it in the hole.
E.g. the 2004 Prius - MSRP $20,510, 106 HP, 50 MPG - and this is the Model T.

BTW, there are gasoline fuel cells around - they don't have to use hydrogen.

 

[Teflon Billy]

I wonder why he has a such a hate on for the heat given off by lightbulbs...I mean, I don't like heat either, but I can't think of a single time I've ever said "christ it's hot; turn off the lights".

That said, I've always quite liked Bruce Sterling's fiction (Schismatrix is my favorite)...his mullet is hilarious (unless that's gone now)

 

[RenoOfTheTurks]

No, Sterling is so wrong!!! Some of these things make my life (seem) easier and more instantly gratifying, whatever other effects they might have!!! What could we replace DVDs with?


Hah. Prisons is *so* right on. Dollars spent earlier on prevention are, what, two, three times as effective as dollars spent on punishment and incarceration? Or at least let's get rid of the privatized prisons where cost-cutting corporations have a habit of letting prisoners kill guards and each other (which IS a bad thing. These are human beings.) Ah well, at least the white collar criminals, who actually do much more harm, are housed in better conditions and for shorter terms. Yay for prisons!

 

[LightPhoenix]

Which is just points out how little they know about Sterling, and how much they are missing the point of the article.

That point being, he actually has two asses... one on his bum and another where his mouth should be.

I'm sorry, but writing a piece of drivel like this, for any reason, is just a complete waste of time, and makes the man sound like an idiot. If this is supposed to be humor, then it's a really bad attempt. He should stick to writing his fiction... after all, he seems to know a lot about that.

 

[Darrin Drader]

I don't like heat either, but I can't think of a single time I've ever said "christ it's hot; turn off the lights".

I have. Of course up until this summer my house didn't have air conditioning. Aside from the really hot, humid days of summer, the only other time I've ever felt that way was when I was sick and feverish, so I'm not sure that counts.

Aside from that, light bulbs really do give off a lot of heat. Enough that, to me at least, it makes a noticable difference. I wonder if that difference is enough to have actually saved on my electricity bill...

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Hah. Prisons is *so* right on. Dollars spent earlier on prevention are, what, two, three times as effective as dollars spent on punishment and incarceration? Or at least let's get rid of the privatized prisons where cost-cutting corporations have a habit of letting prisoners kill guards and each other (which IS a bad thing. These are human beings.) Ah well, at least the white collar criminals, who actually do much more harm, are housed in better conditions and for shorter terms. Yay for prisons!

Well, IIRC the USA does have one of the highest percentages of people incarcerated in prison, topping even China (who are supposed to be Evil Commie Bastards, remember?)

I'm not suggesting disbanding all prisons, but the justice system in the USA might need some reform...

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

6: Manned Spaceflight
I respectfully disagree. I think we need to get off this planet as fast as possible (I admit, first we have to work on overcoming our physiological responses to space through GE or cybernetics), simply because nobody's going to give up their nukes any time soon, and it's just a matter of time before some loony comes up with something even worse. The 21st century is going to see nanotech enter the world stage; the potential for abuse is mind-boggling. I reiterate: Get off-world now, maybe you can come back in a billion years.

And sooner or later a dinosaur-killer asteroid is going to hit us - and even a smaller one would pretty much end Human Civilization As We Know It.

And while I don't really believe all the hype about self-replicating nanites (there are some serious problems with them involving the laws of physics), humanity has proven to be amazingly inventive in the past, and there is always the chance that something will go horrendously wrong with a new technology.

Planets are very dangerous places. If the have to live on them, let's make sure we do on more than just one...

 

[Krieg]

I can't believe I am reading people actually talking about land minds as an important military option.

Tell that to a U.S. or ROK serviceman who has served on the DMZ.

What happens when the war is over and the land minds are no longer needed? Do you think the military who put them go back and clean them up?

Yes that is exactly what happens. The U.S. (and most western nations) makes a point of retrieving every land mine they have deployed. They also typically take the time to remove/destroy those landmines placed by opposing forces as well.

You don't think the two belts of land-mines placed in southern Kuwait by Iraq in 90-91 are still there do you?

No they become a hazard for years after the conflict. Maiming and killing innocents some who were not even born when the war was fought.

The problem is that land mines are cheap & easy to procure by the folks who could care less about whether their (mis)use causes damamge to non-combatants.

Irresponsible use of an item does not invalidate responsible usage.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

The problem is that land mines are cheap & easy to procure by the folks who could care less about whether their (mis)use causes damamge to non-combatants.

My instructors in basic infantry training told us why Germany had no problems with signing the treaty against anti-personnel land mines - because if there really were a major conflict on the horizon where we might need them, we could quickly discard the treaty and produce them in any number we might need...