Category: Technology (Page 13 of 15)

Car makers will eventually limit the performance of all cars.

November 18, 2023 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

AutoBlog: NTSB calls for Speed Limiters on Cars

After investigating a three-vehicle accident that happened in Las Vegas in January 2022, the NTSB is again recommending a few measures to curb speeding, one of them being the “need for intelligent speed assistance (ISA) technology and countermeasures including interlock program for repeat speeding offenders.”

We already have plenty of laws, but DA’s and the DOJ choose to enforce them selectively. It is irresponsible of the NTSB to make a major policy recommendation that will effect every car buyer in America based on one horrendous car accident.

WSJ: Old Coal Mine could hold Billions in Rare Earths

November 9, 2023 / Richard Nestoff / 2 Comments

WSJ: Old Coal Mine has Billions in Rare Earths

Twelve years ago, former Wall Street banker Randall Atkins bought an old coal mine outside Sheridan, Wyo., sight unseen, for about $2 million.

Several years after Atkins bought the Brook Mine, government researchers came around asking if they could run some tests to see if the ground contained something called “rare-earth elements.”

That government researchers are looking out for America is good news. Yeah, that’s pretty cynical, but recall President Reagan’s joke.

Science Alert: China considers Moon bases in lava tubes.

September 29, 2023 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Science Alert: China interested in Moon caves

On the Moon, astronauts will need protection from a different set of hazards. They’ll have to contend with cosmic and solar radiation, meteorites, wild temperature swings, and even impact ejecta. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has found hundreds of lunar ‘skylights,’ locations where a lava tube’s ceiling has collapsed, making a natural opening into the tube.

WSJ: Electric vehicles aren’t working out like they’d hoped.

August 22, 2023 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

The Electric-Vehicle Bubble Starts to Deflate

It’s ironic, to say the least, that the U.S. is seeking to imitate China’s economic model at the moment that its industrial policy fractures. Look no further than its collapsing electric-vehicle bubble, which is a lesson in how industries built by government often also fail because of government.

Beaming energy from space. Death ray or utopian solution?

August 8, 2023 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

SciTechDaily: CalTech satellite beams energy from space.

A space solar power prototype, SSPD-1, has achieved wireless power transfer in space and transmitted power to Earth. The prototype, including MAPLE, a flexible lightweight microwave transmitter, validates the feasibility of space solar power, which can provide abundant and reliable power globally without ground-based transmission infrastructure.

This is one of those dangerous ideas that sound wonderful until you understand it.

AP News: First new nuke plant is going online.

August 3, 2023 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

AP: First New Nuke Plant

ATLANTA (AP) — The first American nuclear reactor to be built from scratch in decades is sending electricity reliably to the grid, but the cost of the Georgia power plant could discourage utilities from pursuing nuclear power as a path to a carbon-free future.

BBC: If you use air conditioning, we will turn off your electricity.

July 28, 2023 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

BBC: Summer temperature strain the grid.

Nearly 200 million Americans are under “dangerously hot conditions” alerts with temperatures expected to soar past 100F (38C) in several major cities.

Those major cities are places where it often gets above 100 F in the summer, so no real surprise.

WSJ: First smart gun goes to market. I’m not optimistic.

July 28, 2023 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

WSJ: First Smart Gun

“I’m usually an early adapter,” said Wiesen, 46 years old. “It might be the gadget part of me that made me buy it, but it’s also the safety aspect.”

Weisen is self-aware enough to know that it’s a novelty.

Fox Business: World’s first flying car

July 2, 2023 / Richard Nestoff

Making a good electric car is challenging. It’s also difficult to make a good aircraft. Making a flying car isn’t likely to be very good at either function, but it’s fun to see them try.

Fox Business: Alef gets FAA Authorization

Mr. Bean says electric cars aren’t ready for prime time.

June 5, 2023 / Richard Nestoff

Guardian: Electric Vehicles

Electric motoring is, in theory, a subject about which I should know something. My first university degree was in electrical and electronic engineering, with a subsequent master’s in control systems.

I never knew that Mr. Bean is an engineer.