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7554. thoughtful - 7/1/2008 1:44:25 PM I found this most exciting:
One of the [invention] sessions that [Bill] Gates participated in was on the possibility of resuscitating nuclear energy. “Teller had this idea way back when that you could make a very safe, passive nuclear reactor,” Myhrvold explained. “No moving parts. Proliferation-resistant. Dead simple. Every serious nuclear accident involves operator error, so you want to eliminate the operator altogether. Lowell and Rod and others wrote a paper on it once. So we did several sessions on it.”
The plant, as they conceived it, would produce something like one to three gigawatts of power, which is enough to serve a medium-sized city. The reactor core would be no more than several metres wide and about ten metres long. It would be enclosed in a sealed, armored box. The box would work for thirty years, without need for refuelling. Wood’s idea was that the box would run on thorium, which is a very common, mildly radioactive metal. (The world has roughly a hundred-thousand-year supply, he figures.) Myhrvold’s idea was that it should run on spent fuel from existing power plants. “Waste has negative cost,” Myhrvold said. “This is how we make this idea politically and regulatorily attractive. Lowell and I had a monthlong no-holds-barred nuclear-physics battle. He didn’t believe waste would work. It turns out it does.” Myhrvold grinned. “He concedes it now.”
It was a long-shot idea, easily fifteen years from reality, if it became a reality at all. It was just a tantalizing idea at this point, but who wasn’t interested in seeing where it would lead? “We have thirty guys working on it,” he went on. “I have more people doing cutting-edge nuclear work than General Electric. We’re looking for someone to partner with us, because this is a huge undertaking. We took out an ad in Nuclear News, which is the big trade journal. It looks like something from The Onion: ‘Intellectual Ventures interested in nuclear-core designer and fission specialist.’ And, no, the F.B.I. hasn’t come knocking.” He lowered his voice to a stage whisper. “Lowell is known to them.”
Full article: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05/12/080512fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=1
7555. jexster - 7/2/2008 7:48:56 PM As I've reported for the past several weeks, I am seeing more and more in my hood (just down the hill from this mash-up)
And to think, just a few short years ago McBush pushed through a 25K tax credit for SUV's
Test drive: The Smart car is revolutionary
A car small enough to alter your relationship with the city
 7556. concerned - 7/2/2008 9:31:14 PM Only 36mpg highway? Not very smart after all. 7557. concerned - 7/2/2008 9:32:06 PM Looks like it's about to be turned into a pothole patch by one of those SUVs too. 7558. jexster - 7/2/2008 9:56:32 PM 33 city
41 highway
Not sure I'd want to try highway but the guy has a point as anyone who's spent an hour trying to find a parking space around here will attest 7559. jexster - 7/3/2008 12:28:03 AM Damn. Just walked down to the corner for coffee and there was ANOTHER one of those little Mercedes
Only 14,000..still less MPG than a Prius but more legroom than a MiniCooper - probably the hottest seller, judging from what I see on the streets of San Fran
 7560. jexster - 7/3/2008 1:08:38 AM Oh the IRONY!!!
As GM sinks slowly beneath the waves at Wonkers's Regatta
Preparations for the smart fortwo began in the early 1990's with a Joint Venture between Mercedes-Benz and Swatch, the makers of Swatch watches known for their wide array of colorful designs. Nicolas Hayek, the inventor of the Swatch watch brought his ideas for an "ultra-urban" car to Mercedes-Benz.
smart remains a vital member of Mercedes-Benz Cars, a Daimler AG Company.
smart USA, a division of Penske Automotive Group, is the exclusive distributor for smart in North America and Puerto Rico. smart USA is headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The smart fortwo is already somewhat of a "star" in the United States. It has the privileged distinctions of being on display as a work of art at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City. It is the only vehicle on display at MOMA which is still in production and on sale today 7561. alistairconnor - 7/3/2008 1:00:14 PM The "smart" thing has only one useful function : easy to park (often perpendicular to the curb in a too-small space)
Need cars that size, but lighter. And all-electric. Real soon. 7562. robertjayb - 7/3/2008 8:34:37 PM Should have known the coloreds were up to something...
LUBBOCK -- A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout and one that researchers say could keep fireworks going long into the night.
Watermelons contain an ingredient called citrulline that can trigger production of a compound that helps relax the body's blood vessels, similar to what happens when a man takes Viagra, said scientists in Texas, one of the nation's top producers of the seedless variety.
Found in the flesh and rind of watermelons, citrulline reacts with the body's enzymes when consumed and is changed into arginine, an amino acid that benefits the heart, and the circulatory and immune systems.
I'm familiar with the vitamin P effect, but not the other.
7563. alistairConnor - 7/4/2008 1:53:59 AM Hey Con...
Remember our Peak Oil bet? I bet that 2005 or 2006 would see the historic peak of oil production.
These past few months, I was pretty sure I'd lost, that 2007 would beat both. I've been waiting for BP, our agreed reference, to publish their annual survey, so that I could pay out the 66 euros (that's $100 to you).
And guess what...
I haven't lost yet...
Turns out that world oil production was down 0.2% last year.
We'll see about 2008.
Thousand barrels a day
2003 77031
2004 80326
2005 81255
2006 81659
2007 81533
2008...?
7564. alistairConnor - 7/4/2008 2:02:09 AM And believe it or not... I found a sucker to take the following bet :
I wager that a barrel of oil, in inflation-adjusted terms, will cost less than $140 by July 2013. Just to be clear, that's in U.S. dollars.
As for the Euro, I bet that, by July 2013, one U.S. dollar will buy more than 0.65 of a Euro.
We upped the bet to 500 euros. The sucker's name is Pincher Martin. 7565. jexster - 7/4/2008 2:04:20 AM By 2013, we'll either all be dead or bowing 5 times a day to Mecca 7566. alistairConnor - 7/4/2008 2:12:15 AM Well, I'll take dirhams too. 7567. concerned - 7/4/2008 4:53:53 AM rejexst -
Want to bet on that? 7568. concerned - 7/4/2008 5:00:12 AM Re. 7563 -
I have seen a projection that oil production is expected to increase until about 2013. 7569. alistairconnor - 7/4/2008 8:52:41 AM Con :
And who's the projectionist? I'd they predicted an increase from 2006 to 2007 too.
But, on balance, you're probably right. I'll probably lose the bet this time next year.
Unless there are a couple of sizable hurricanes in the gulf of Mexico.
Or unless the rebels in Nigeria take out a couple of offshore platforms.
Or unless a couple of big oil projects fail to come online on schedule.
In which case, the bet will be pushed back another year.
Or, of course, unless little W and his uncle Dick get that Iran war they want so badly. In that case, 2006 is certain to be the all-time peak. And Bush will have a real legacy. 7570. alistairconnor - 7/4/2008 9:18:56 AM 
This is as good a prediction as any.
It's done by adding all known "megaprojects" (major oil developments) to existing production, then discounting the total by a global decline rate of 4.5% per year (the production rates of oil wells start declining almost as soon as they are commissioned). It predicts the peak in about 2015.
But this decline rate is now generally considered rather optimistic. Here's what it looks like if the decline rate is assumed to be 8% :
Peak in 2010.
And in both cases, projects are assumed to come on line at the date and production level advertised by their operators. However, reality is different : in particular, the Caspian fields are not performing as advertised, the biggest of them will be several years late.
It's astonishing how quickly the industry "experts" have changed their tune. In only a few months, the forecasters have abandoned their fantasy projections of oil supply expanding to meet demand for decades to come... Now they are practically parroting the positions of the peak oil crowd.
7571. jexster - 7/5/2008 1:23:52 PM When the King of Saudi Arabia talks about oil, we should listen 7572. wonkers2 - 7/5/2008 5:59:08 PM Good info, Alistair. Not encouraging. 7573. jexster - 7/5/2008 10:48:18 PM Go tell mama
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