4 ms·

There are usually multiple sane reasons why these ideas don't make it; either technological, practical, business or social hurdles. Conformism is one of them. T

There are usually multiple sane reasons why these ideas don't make it; either technological, practical, business or social hurdles. Conformism is one of them. They aren't actually better than what they are going against until they overcome that, or offer some kind of massive advantage that makes it dumb not to switch.

carapace 6y ago
I've heard that, I don't buy it. I think we are just stupid and crazy. Biodegradable plastic has been a thing for over half a century yet the whole planet is choking on discarded plastic. Where's the sane reason for that? Cars! Cars aren't sane, we had to convince ourselves that they were though a deliberate campaign of domestic propaganda![1] Cars kill hella people (I don't have stats for the rest of the world but more Americans have been killed by cars than have died in all the wars we've fought!) And that's just the people that get hit. There's air pollution (car exhaust is a deadly poison) and tires are constantly wearing down and giving off vulcanized rubber particles. I won't deny their convenience, but you'll never convince we they're sane. Or my old pet peeve: refrigerators. They open like cabinets instead of like drawers. The cold air goes out, the warm air goes in, and you get to pay for the energy to cool it off. Why not make them like a chest of drawers? Sanity? I think not. [1] "The Real Reason Jaywalking Is A Crime" (Adam Ruins Everything) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxopfjXkArM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxopfjXkArM) Replying here to the other fella: > The vaneless ion generator is >5x less efficient. C'mon, less efficient by what metrics? Total cost over the lifetime of the structure, including maintenance? Killing eagles? In re: Molten Salt reactors there's a old page[1] about Molten Salt tech in general that talks about reactors towards the end: > The second MSR was a civilian power plant prototype, the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE)7. Hugely successful, it was ignored by the US Atomic Energy Commission (US AEC), which had decided to favor the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR). The Director of ORNL, Dr. Alvin Weinberg, pushed for the MSR, but was fired for his efforts 8. > 8. Pages 198 - 200, "The First Nuclear Era : The Life and Times of a Technological Fixer", by Alvin Martin Weinberg (1994). I've read a longer history of Molten Salt reactors that described the events referenced in the above quote. Evidently both kinds of reactor showed promise early on (MS and LMFB) but for bureaucratic reasons the one was passed over for the other. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20040602210408/http://home.earthlink.net/~bhoglund/whatsMoltenSal.html https://web.archive.org/web/20040602210408/http://home.earth...
- jackpirate 6y ago
  Or my old pet peeve: refrigerators. They open like cabinets instead of like drawers. The cold air goes out, the warm air goes in, and you get to pay for the energy to cool it off. Why not make them like a chest of drawers? This one has an easy answer. If you want to isolate each of the drawers so that opening one does not result in the warming of the others, then you'll need a separate mechanism for blowing cold air into each drawer. (Or worse, a separate cooling coil for each drawer.) These are expensive mechanical components prone to failure, and each of these mechanisms takes up valuable space in the fridge. They may provide some long term amortized savings over the energy cost if done correctly, but it's not at all obvious to me that would be the case without seeing the math worked out.
  - jxramos 6y ago
    Newer designs are actually integrating drawers of all sorts of configurations and even mini limited drawers/access for guests while entertaining and what not.
- sitkack 6y ago
  Speaking of refrigerators, they should pull cold air from outside and vent hot air into the house. For roughly half the year where we are, a fridge would just cycle outside air. But no, it has to fight the internal house temp for the whole year. Sanity? I think not.
  - ricardobeat 6y ago
    See, this is exactly the point. When something that seems obvious is not happening, most of the time it just means there is a gap in your understanding. Unless you live in the north pole and get outside temps in the 3°C range, this idea is already a no-go. Refrigerators are pretty efficient, using the same energy as a single incandescent lamp. They are not fighting the internal house temperature at all - compressors/heat pumps actually get less efficient at colder temperatures, and the heat it sheds off is offsetting your heating costs.

carapace 6y ago

I've heard that, I don't buy it. I think we are just stupid and crazy. Biodegradable plastic has been a thing for over half a century yet the whole planet is choking on discarded plastic. Where's the sane reason for that? Cars! Cars aren't sane, we had to convince ourselves that they were though a deliberate campaign of domestic propaganda![1] Cars kill hella people (I don't have stats for the rest of the world but more Americans have been killed by cars than have died in all the wars we've fought!) And that's just the people that get hit. There's air pollution (car exhaust is a deadly poison) and tires are constantly wearing down and giving off vulcanized rubber particles. I won't deny their convenience, but you'll never convince we they're sane. Or my old pet peeve: refrigerators. They open like cabinets instead of like drawers. The cold air goes out, the warm air goes in, and you get to pay for the energy to cool it off. Why not make them like a chest of drawers? Sanity? I think not. [1] "The Real Reason Jaywalking Is A Crime" (Adam Ruins Everything) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxopfjXkArM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxopfjXkArM) Replying here to the other fella: > The vaneless ion generator is >5x less efficient. C'mon, less efficient by what metrics? Total cost over the lifetime of the structure, including maintenance? Killing eagles? In re: Molten Salt reactors there's a old page[1] about Molten Salt tech in general that talks about reactors towards the end: > The second MSR was a civilian power plant prototype, the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE)7. Hugely successful, it was ignored by the US Atomic Energy Commission (US AEC), which had decided to favor the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR). The Director of ORNL, Dr. Alvin Weinberg, pushed for the MSR, but was fired for his efforts 8. > 8. Pages 198 - 200, "The First Nuclear Era : The Life and Times of a Technological Fixer", by Alvin Martin Weinberg (1994). I've read a longer history of Molten Salt reactors that described the events referenced in the above quote. Evidently both kinds of reactor showed promise early on (MS and LMFB) but for bureaucratic reasons the one was passed over for the other. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20040602210408/http://home.earthlink.net/~bhoglund/whatsMoltenSal.html https://web.archive.org/web/20040602210408/http://home.earth...

jackpirate 6y ago
Or my old pet peeve: refrigerators. They open like cabinets instead of like drawers. The cold air goes out, the warm air goes in, and you get to pay for the energy to cool it off. Why not make them like a chest of drawers? This one has an easy answer. If you want to isolate each of the drawers so that opening one does not result in the warming of the others, then you'll need a separate mechanism for blowing cold air into each drawer. (Or worse, a separate cooling coil for each drawer.) These are expensive mechanical components prone to failure, and each of these mechanisms takes up valuable space in the fridge. They may provide some long term amortized savings over the energy cost if done correctly, but it's not at all obvious to me that would be the case without seeing the math worked out.
- jxramos 6y ago
  Newer designs are actually integrating drawers of all sorts of configurations and even mini limited drawers/access for guests while entertaining and what not.
sitkack 6y ago
Speaking of refrigerators, they should pull cold air from outside and vent hot air into the house. For roughly half the year where we are, a fridge would just cycle outside air. But no, it has to fight the internal house temp for the whole year. Sanity? I think not.
- ricardobeat 6y ago
  See, this is exactly the point. When something that seems obvious is not happening, most of the time it just means there is a gap in your understanding. Unless you live in the north pole and get outside temps in the 3°C range, this idea is already a no-go. Refrigerators are pretty efficient, using the same energy as a single incandescent lamp. They are not fighting the internal house temperature at all - compressors/heat pumps actually get less efficient at colder temperatures, and the heat it sheds off is offsetting your heating costs.