Comments by "" (@BasementEngineer) on "Big Think" channel.

  1. You still need a backing plate to attach the graphene to, to conduct the electrical current. A one-atom thick sheet will vaporize like blowing a fuse. Electrochemical battery plates store much more energy per unit of surface area than capacitor plates, so the plates can be thicker, allowing both energy and power densities that are useful for powering cars. Finally, a battery maintains a useful, roughly constant voltage throughout the delivery of its charge-- a cap's voltage drops down to zero.
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  2. Adding some alcohol to gasoline reduces pollution, it promotes more complete combustion of the gasoline itself. It's not done to reduce cost or improve fuel economy, it actually makes both worse, and this is well understood by the fuel companies... They do it to reduce pollution.
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  3. That's not why hydrogen isn't used in cars. To store a useful amount of energy in practical-sized fuel tanks, the hydrogen in rockets is chilled to the point where it becomes liquid. That's not feasible for the family car! Rockets may have powerful engines that may use hydrogen, but they are *not* convenient to use and not affordable for the individual. It has nothing to do with 'having better technology'. Also, moon-shot rockets used kerosene, not hydrogen...
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  4. I never thought porn was something people were supposed to spend so much time worrying about, as long as it's made consensually. Whatever gets the job done! :)
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  5. I think most people would agree with you on that, whether you're a fan of his music or not, you have to admire Rollins' sense of adventure in life. Being a politician, even the world's most powerful one, sounds like a crashing bore really, something that's only appealing to the most profoundly sick of narcissists. I've never been in either one's place obviously, but Rollins probably has had more fun and been more 'human' than any politician!
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  6. It's always funny when people think that capacitors will somehow revolutionize electric cars. Sure, as long as you don't mind pulling an 18-foot trailer behind you full of huge capacitors! Batteries and capacitors are different devices with different applications, and electric vehicle designers focus on batteries because they can fit inside the car itself :)
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  7. Well said.
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  8. It's because generating hydrogen gas requires an energy source. Releasing hydrogen from water requires more energy input than you're able to get back out of the H2 when it's used as a fuel. H2 is also difficult and therefore expensive to store. You can also release H2 from fossil fuels, but get less energy out than you would have gotten from the original fuel. So, H2 *works*, but is very inefficient as an energy storage medium. Also, modern gasoline engines produce very little pollution :)
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  9. If any country after 1935 was chauvinistic, it was Poland. To understand this you's need to read the Polish newspapers of those times. "Witness to History" Is a good read. Poland was a military dictatorship then, and made the most outrageous intentions. All the while murdering tens of thousands of German expatriates from formerly German territory that was stolen after WW I.
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  10. The USA has more people imprisoned than any other nation on earth, based on absolute numbers and per capita. Does that make it communist, fascist or, heaven help us all, National Socialist?
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  11. Sounds like the democratic countries to me; no national socialism there.
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  12. The national Socialists in Germany liberated the gun ownership laws: Every German citizen of good standing and over the age of 18 (or possibly 21) had the right to own a firearm. The preceding laws were much more restrictive.
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  13. Lordy, lordy, another ignoramus displaying his ignorance.
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