Technological Stagnation

Discussion in 'Science and Technology' started by Into Darkness, Sep 9, 2013.

  1. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    The Tesla S can go about 480 kilometers on one full battery charge, about 6 dollars of electricity. Is that good enough for you Edit_XYZ?
     
  2. farmkid

    farmkid Commodore Commodore

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    I have to agree. Most people I know would rather take a bus to get to work, for example, but don't because it would require significant walking, more time, and restrictions on when you can travel. In my case, for example, if I take the bus, I have to walk 1.5 miles to the bus stop (in temperatures ranging from -20 to 100), then ride two buses for nearly an hour. On top of that, I have to hope I don't miss it, because it only runs once per hour. Or, I can drive and go whenever I want and get there in 15 minutes. Hmm, tough choice.
     
  3. DarthTom

    DarthTom Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Public transportation is great until you have to make multiple stops, go to the grocerey store and get large/bulky items or a lot, or have a family and/or young children.

    I've spoken with several friends who have young children and it's just too much effort to coordinate the transportation and the children at the same time.

    Obviously some people have no choice - but given a choice I think anyone with young children prefers a car under most circumstances.
     
  4. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    Well some modern road cars can have top speeds over 200mph, so the technology is there. As for fuel consumption it is true that you do pay a peanlty for those speeds. But if we look at F1 engines which from 2014 will be 1.6L V6 turbo engines around 600HP and they'll have to be a baout a third more efficent than the current 2.4L norm ally aspirated V8's as the fuel tank reduces from 160kg to 100kg.

    Now whilst those cars that are following might recive some fuel benefits the car in the lead won't as it'll have to work the air so that in essence others can draft them. Do you want to be the lead car?

    For it to work you woul in essence have trains of cars, where a highly aerodynamic lead car sets the pace. This might have to be run by the state. You could have seperate ones for slower moving traffic such as lorries. Which have there own uniquelt designed lead vehicle.
     
  5. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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  6. Gov Kodos

    Gov Kodos Admiral Admiral

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    Urban design would need to change as well. Our current sprawl can be attributed to private cars as much as anything. Abandoning private cars for public transit as the mainstay would force a rethink on urban and suburban planning. Whether that will happen is another thing.
     
  7. Shatnertage

    Shatnertage Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Life is definitely easier with kids if you have a car, at least where I live.

    Going back to the OP, a few months ago a guy in space (Chris Hadfield) asked a question on Twitter and I answered him in real time. I wouldn't have imagined doing that even ten years ago. I don't think we're stagnating.

    It's funny because this touches on something we were discussing in class a while back. Studying the Hoover Dam, I was skeptical that our society would have the will to launch such an ambitious and difficult engineering project today. Then a week later we learned about the Yucca Mountain Project, which, let's just say, was quite ambitious and difficult (of course, the fact that the feds canceled it does sort of speak to my original point).
     
  8. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    I suspect it will happen when it is forced to happen, which would be after we have an energy crisis from which there are no easy "outs."
     
  9. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    Public Transportation is a joke, well a joke the further away from a town or city that you live. For most people living in more rural areas a car is a neccessity not an option.
     
  10. Gov Kodos

    Gov Kodos Admiral Admiral

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    And yet, folks managed to do so before cars, they can again.
     
  11. Argus Skyhawk

    Argus Skyhawk Commodore Commodore

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    People also got along fine before telephones and electric lights, but I think most would now consider those to be necessities.
     
  12. Gov Kodos

    Gov Kodos Admiral Admiral

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    They aren't necessities either except so far as to keep life working as it currently goes. In their absence life wouldn't end, society would readjust.
     
  13. Deckerd

    Deckerd Fleet Arse Premium Member

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    Life without internet? Impossible!
     
  14. Into Darkness

    Into Darkness Captain Captain

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    If everyone moved closer to where they worked, caught the train and bus for holidays and ordered their shopping online we wouldn't need so many cars on the roads.
     
  15. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    Rural areas, tend to have limited bus routes, and are miles away from the nearest train station. So a car is needed.
     
  16. scotpens

    scotpens Professional Geek Premium Member

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    Why, it's the Model T Ford made the trouble,
    Made the people wanna go, wanna get, wanna get,
    Wanna get up and go seven, eight, nine, ten, twelve,
    fourteen, twenty-two, twenty-three miles to the county seat.
    Yes sir, yes sir
    Who's gonna patronize a little bitty two-by-four kinda store anymore?
     
  17. Into Darkness

    Into Darkness Captain Captain

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    Should petition their local council for a bus route then
     
  18. gturner

    gturner Admiral

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    That wouldn't make any sense, because then you're using a bus to drive 20 miles to pick up one passenger instead of using a small car.
     
  19. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    If you note I said limited not none (though that might be the case in some areas).

    But even with those with bus routes might only get one every couple of hours and not before 07:00 or after 23:00. Give the 24hr world in whcih we live those might not be conveniant times to get to work.

    I live in a rural area and when I was at college, it would take 3 buses and a minimum of 2 hours to get home. Longer if I had to walk the last 3.25miles along a 60mph road with no pavement. Compared against 30 mins or so in car once I could drive.

    It might be fair to say that the issues facing those that live in Urban areas differ in some respects than those that live in Rural areas. True they share some of the same issues. But sometimes unless we have actually experianced those issues it is not always easy to understand why they are important to the other side.

    Take Broadband (in the UK)for example, it is generally cheaper and faster in the more urban areas. But you know what annoys many in the rural areas not so much that they are getting a slower service, but they are paying more for it.
     
  20. farmkid

    farmkid Commodore Commodore

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    To get even close to the level of bus coverage needed to meet the needs of those living in rural areas would probably require more miles driven by the busses than are currently driven by the cars. Another serious problem is the limited amount of stuff you can transport on a bus. People in rural areas commonly go to town once every week or two at the most because it is so far. Do you really think it would be reasonable to bring home enough groceries to fill a couple of shopping carts on a bus? It would probably take at least a couple of hours to get home, so forget ever buying frozen items.

    I don't think people who have never lived in a real rural area really appreciate the realities of living in rural America. I went to high school with kids who drove an hour each way to school every day. My home county is about the size of Rhode Island, but the population is only about 15K, mostly concentrated in one corner of the county. Those on the other side of the county would routinely drive as far as 50-70 miles to go the grocery store. And my county was actually more populated and closer to cities than many others in the state. I've lived in places like that, in London (UK) and nearby areas, and in several places in between. I've seen how public transportation can work in areas of moderate to high population density and how it absolutely can't work in areas like where I grew up.