darthfader

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Posts by darthfader

• 
  37

  So, do you still think that nuclear power plants are a good idea?

  by I quit! in

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  darthfader

  Oh and electrolysis of water is much more efficient if done at high temperature and pressure: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-temperature_electrolysis
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  37

  So, do you still think that nuclear power plants are a good idea?

  by I quit! in

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  2. friends
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  darthfader

  Three words for you: Pebble Bed Reactor - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_bed_reactor

  Or how about three more words: Thorium Nuclear Reactor - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium#Thorium_as_a_nuclear_fuel

  Both of these solutions are much safer.

  The challenge is the cost of building an entirely new reactor from the ground up. Coal and Natural Gas energy are still to cheap to allow the construction of newer reactors.

  We will poision ourselves with the airborne toxins from coal plants far worse than from nuclear reactors.
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  45

  Happy Pi Day!

  by Twitch in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  and now for something completely nerdy,.... http://www.piday.org/.

  lmao.

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  darthfader

  In high school, I remembered Pi to 50 (at that time it was hard to find any references beyond 23 digits) decimal places that along with solving the Rubick's Cube in under 3 minutes vaulted me to the top of the geeky group...
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  3

  Legendary Jazz drummer Joe Morello dies at 82

  by darthfader in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obit_morello.

  amazing swing and feel even in the most "simplistic patterns".

  his influence was wide reaching, may he rest in peace.. .

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  darthfader

  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obit_morello

  Amazing swing and feel even in the most "simplistic patterns". His influence was wide reaching, may he rest in peace.
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  Second Nature

  by darthfader in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in light if the current political climate i thought these lyrics were appropriate... a memo to a higher office.

  open letter to the powers that be.

  to a god, a king, a head of state.

• 

  darthfader

  In light if the current political climate I thought these lyrics were appropriate..

  A memo to a higher office
  Open letter to the powers that be
  To a god, a king, a head of state
  A captain of industry
  To the movers and the shakers...
  Can't everybody see?
  
  It ought to be second nature
  I mean, the places where we live
  Let's talk about this sensibly
  We're not insensitive
  I know progress has no patience
  But something's got to give
  
  I know you're different
  You know I'm the same
  We're both too busy
  To be taking the blame
  I'd like some changes
  But you don't have the time
  We can't go on thinking
  It's a victimless crime
  No one is blameless
  But we're all without shame
  We fight the fire while we're feeding the flames
  
  Folks have got to make choices
  And choices got to have voices
  Folks are basically decent
  Conventional wisdom would say
  But we read about the exceptions
  In the papers every day
  
  It ought to be second nature
  At least, that's what I feel
  Now I lay me down in Dreamland
  I know perfect's not for real
  I thought we might get closer
  But I'm ready to make a deal
  
  Today is different, and tomorrow the same
  It's hard to take the world the way that it came
  Too many rapids keep us sweeping along
  Too many captains keep on steering us wrong
  It's hard to take the heat
  It's hard to lay blame
  To fight the fire while we're feeding the flames
• 
  18

  Nerdy news of the day: Solar energy higher efficiency at parity with fossil fuels?

  by darthfader in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://www.ispyce.com/2011/03/solar-energy-telescopeare-are-efficient.html.

  a university of arizona engineering team led by roger angel has designed a new type of solar concentrator that uses half the area of solar (pv) cells used by other optical devices and delivers a light output/concentration that is over 1000 times more concentrated before it even hits the cells.

  this comes as a result of a broader goal to make solar energy cost competitive with fossil fuels (target = 1$/w) without the need for government subsidization.. .

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  darthfader

  We dont use them in Arizona because the cost of electricity is low. There are a few pilot projects here and there, but it's just not $ wise to install them. I know a number of people in California who are looking at them because of the high cost of electricity. They make financial sense there.
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  18

  Nerdy news of the day: Solar energy higher efficiency at parity with fossil fuels?

  by darthfader in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://www.ispyce.com/2011/03/solar-energy-telescopeare-are-efficient.html.

  a university of arizona engineering team led by roger angel has designed a new type of solar concentrator that uses half the area of solar (pv) cells used by other optical devices and delivers a light output/concentration that is over 1000 times more concentrated before it even hits the cells.

  this comes as a result of a broader goal to make solar energy cost competitive with fossil fuels (target = 1$/w) without the need for government subsidization.. .

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  darthfader

  If you really want to make the hydrogen into something useable by current cars (think natural gas conversions) there is a process for converting hydrogen and Co2 into Methane ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabatier_process ). I think it’s still experimental, but the chemistry is pretty straight forward.
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  18

  Nerdy news of the day: Solar energy higher efficiency at parity with fossil fuels?

  by darthfader in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://www.ispyce.com/2011/03/solar-energy-telescopeare-are-efficient.html.

  a university of arizona engineering team led by roger angel has designed a new type of solar concentrator that uses half the area of solar (pv) cells used by other optical devices and delivers a light output/concentration that is over 1000 times more concentrated before it even hits the cells.

  this comes as a result of a broader goal to make solar energy cost competitive with fossil fuels (target = 1$/w) without the need for government subsidization.. .

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  darthfader

  Any system that consumes natural gas, coal or other fossil fuels will eventually consume the fixed amount we have on earth. Even converting natural gas into electricity using Bloom Energy's fuel cell produces CO2 (yes it's really limited, but it adds to the total CO2 in the atmosphere).

  I'm not a big advocate of photovoltaic cells. Their efficiency is still too low (about 15%) to be really cost effective. Instead, I think Solar Dish Stirling ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine ) is a more approachable solutions. Basically it's a heat differential engine - keep one side hot (focused sunlight) and the other side cool (in the shade with radiator fans) and you get movement which can turn a generator for electricity. These run at about 35% to 40% efficiency.

  If you need energy for running vehicles (not our current gas guzzlers, but proton exchange membrane fuel cells) then you can generate hydrogen using high temperature electrolysis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-temperature_electrolysis ) to crack water into O2 and H. Using concentrated solar power (again mirrored dishes or troughs) and a lot less electricity, you can get a conversion ratio of about 40% to 64%. This hydrogen can be bottled and placed into cars.
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  18

  Nerdy news of the day: Solar energy higher efficiency at parity with fossil fuels?

  by darthfader in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://www.ispyce.com/2011/03/solar-energy-telescopeare-are-efficient.html.

  a university of arizona engineering team led by roger angel has designed a new type of solar concentrator that uses half the area of solar (pv) cells used by other optical devices and delivers a light output/concentration that is over 1000 times more concentrated before it even hits the cells.

  this comes as a result of a broader goal to make solar energy cost competitive with fossil fuels (target = 1$/w) without the need for government subsidization.. .

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  2. 
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  darthfader

  http://www.ispyce.com/2011/03/solar-energy-telescopeare-are-efficient.html

  A University of Arizona engineering team led by Roger Angel has designed a new type of solar concentrator that uses half the area of solar (PV) cells used by other optical devices and delivers a light output/concentration that is over 1000 times more concentrated before it even hits the cells. This comes as a result of a broader goal to make solar energy cost competitive with fossil fuels (target = 1$/W) without the “need for government subsidization.”
  
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  5

  NASA scientist finds evidence of alien life

  by darthfader in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/nasascientistfindsevidenceofalienlife.

  that astonishingly awesome claim comes from dr. richard b. hoover, an astrobiologist at nasas marshall space flight center, who says he has found conclusive evidence of alien life fossils of bacteria found in an extremely rare class of meteorite called ci1 carbonaceous chondrites.

  (there are only nine such meteorites on planet earth.

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  darthfader

  Villa, I always thought that NASA put up the HST to spy in me... now that I've seen your images.. I know they are :)

  cheers