4 ms·

This is not uniquely an American thing. Go to the Middle East in summer.

HPsquared 2y ago
Portable wearable air conditioning and sun protection, that's what you'd need to make it comfortable. Maybe like a robotic exoskeleton, we can't be far from making that affordable.
- 0_____0 2y ago
  cars are just suburban power armor
- jpadkins 2y ago
  we can also have wheels to make it energy efficient. We can call it "the mobile" or maybe the auto-mobile.
  - jodrellblank 2y ago
    Wheels might make it energy efficient but engines powered by oil from deep under the Gulf of Mexico shipped to refineries, then shipped hundreds of miles to gas stations, then people driving a ton or two of steel and plastic and rubber to the gas station so they can “efficiently” get one person 4 miles to a shop isn’t so efficient. A bicycle on flat asphalt is more efficient than a person despite person+bike moving more total mass; but still the cost of mining iron ore, making steel, making a bike for every customer, compared to just building the store and the homes close enough to walk and not doing any of that… Energy.gov says “In 2021, 52% of all trips, including all modes of transportation, were less than three miles, with 28% of trips less than one mile”, it’s daft either way that people want to use a car for such short distances or that urban spaces are designed so that things are relatively very close but juuuust too far for convenience.
- pshc 2y ago
  Singapore has covered walkways everywhere to beat the heat. Also I would love to see more covered bikeways.
  - HPsquared 2y ago
    Air conditioned suits could be a thing for E-bikes. Onboard power source.
inglor_cz 2y ago
That is why cultures in such climates tend to have a mid-day siesta when no one goes out, and a lively late night when the temperatures become bearable, the sun no longer tries to murder you with its rays, and people go outside to eat, shop and meet friends.
- TylerE 2y ago
  Nah, as someone who lives somewhere with actual humidity “mid day” is basically “whenever the sun is up”. 85 and humid here is worse than -00 and dry in Phoenix. It’s so humid your sweat can’t evaporate because the air is already saturated. It’s beyond miserable, and actively unhealthy to many.
  - inglor_cz 2y ago
    Yeah, hot and humid areas have never been particularly friendly to human civilization. Prior to the industrial era, they were mostly covered by rainforests.
    - TylerE 2y ago
      North Carolina is hardly rainforest, nor has it ever been.
      - inglor_cz 2y ago
        I don't know much about NC, but the only parrot native to the US used to live there [0], which indicates that it must have been pretty heavily forested prior to the Colombian exchange. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_parakeet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_parakeet
      - randomdata 2y ago
        The map of US rainforests shows an active rainforest along the western side of North Carolina. It is not all that hard to believe said forest could have been much larger before the human touch.

Portable wearable air conditioning and sun protection, that's what you'd need to make it comfortable. Maybe like a robotic exoskeleton, we can't be far from making that affordable.

0_____0 2y ago
cars are just suburban power armor
jpadkins 2y ago
we can also have wheels to make it energy efficient. We can call it "the mobile" or maybe the auto-mobile.
- jodrellblank 2y ago
  Wheels might make it energy efficient but engines powered by oil from deep under the Gulf of Mexico shipped to refineries, then shipped hundreds of miles to gas stations, then people driving a ton or two of steel and plastic and rubber to the gas station so they can “efficiently” get one person 4 miles to a shop isn’t so efficient. A bicycle on flat asphalt is more efficient than a person despite person+bike moving more total mass; but still the cost of mining iron ore, making steel, making a bike for every customer, compared to just building the store and the homes close enough to walk and not doing any of that… Energy.gov says “In 2021, 52% of all trips, including all modes of transportation, were less than three miles, with 28% of trips less than one mile”, it’s daft either way that people want to use a car for such short distances or that urban spaces are designed so that things are relatively very close but juuuust too far for convenience.
pshc 2y ago
Singapore has covered walkways everywhere to beat the heat. Also I would love to see more covered bikeways.
- HPsquared 2y ago
  Air conditioned suits could be a thing for E-bikes. Onboard power source.

inglor_cz 2y ago

That is why cultures in such climates tend to have a mid-day siesta when no one goes out, and a lively late night when the temperatures become bearable, the sun no longer tries to murder you with its rays, and people go outside to eat, shop and meet friends.

TylerE 2y ago
Nah, as someone who lives somewhere with actual humidity “mid day” is basically “whenever the sun is up”. 85 and humid here is worse than -00 and dry in Phoenix. It’s so humid your sweat can’t evaporate because the air is already saturated. It’s beyond miserable, and actively unhealthy to many.
- inglor_cz 2y ago
  Yeah, hot and humid areas have never been particularly friendly to human civilization. Prior to the industrial era, they were mostly covered by rainforests.
  - TylerE 2y ago
    North Carolina is hardly rainforest, nor has it ever been.
    - inglor_cz 2y ago
      I don't know much about NC, but the only parrot native to the US used to live there [0], which indicates that it must have been pretty heavily forested prior to the Colombian exchange. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_parakeet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_parakeet
    - randomdata 2y ago
      The map of US rainforests shows an active rainforest along the western side of North Carolina. It is not all that hard to believe said forest could have been much larger before the human touch.