Old Nick
Legendary Knight
Looks good for a bit of fun, but not regular transport
I like the idea of nuclear bikes though
Some hope opposing the electric nightmare?
- Thread starter Scrappy
- Start date
I like the idea of nuclear bikes though
Scrappy
Legendary Knight
This is the sort of thinking that will get us out of this mess at some point in the future - I can’t help but think our forebears will look back on us and electric powered transport the way we do now look back at our ancestors and their use of steam power
If its allowed to happen... The first electric vehicles were produced in the late 19th century (about 1880s), Nikola Tesla was also working on the production and delivery of wireless electricity at the end of the 19th beginning of 20th century. It is rumoured that Tesla's funding was pulled when it was discovered he would be generating "free" electricity as there would be no profit for his backers (mainly J.P. Morgan), also all his records magically disappeared from his accommodation on his death. Conspiracy theory... maybe?
MartytheMartian
Legendary Knight
While it is alleged to be the case that the funding was pulled because the backers, I think it was JP Morgan, got wind of Tesla's desire to provide free electricity, the fact is that what Tesla thought was possible, to transmit electricity in the same way as you can transmit radio through the air with the Earth acting as a return leg of the 'circuit', is fundamentally flawed as Radio wave's and electricity don't work the same way. Of course the backers knew less about this than Tesla and so didn't know it was a blind alley and they would have lost their shirts if they hadn't pulled their investment.
Tesla's papers did disappear when he died which is hardly surprising as, just like his backers on wireless electricity, American authorities had no idea that his 'Death Ray' etc. weren't possible and so would have rushed to obtain anything that might have been dangerous to the USA if it fell into the hands of others or was put up for auction to the highest bidder.
The conspiracy theories are attractive but simple logic says that there is nothing in the Tesla ones. You can bet that, if there was a way to provide 'wireless energy' the energy companies would have figured out a way to make money out of it and grabbed it with both hands. All those pylons, tonnes of copper cabling, transformers and everything else that goes into an electrical supply network cost so much to intall and maintain and they would happily ditch it if it were possible.
Tesla's papers did disappear when he died which is hardly surprising as, just like his backers on wireless electricity, American authorities had no idea that his 'Death Ray' etc. weren't possible and so would have rushed to obtain anything that might have been dangerous to the USA if it fell into the hands of others or was put up for auction to the highest bidder.
The conspiracy theories are attractive but simple logic says that there is nothing in the Tesla ones. You can bet that, if there was a way to provide 'wireless energy' the energy companies would have figured out a way to make money out of it and grabbed it with both hands. All those pylons, tonnes of copper cabling, transformers and everything else that goes into an electrical supply network cost so much to intall and maintain and they would happily ditch it if it were possible.
Scrappy
Legendary Knight
Perhaps not...
NZ to trial world-first commercial long-range, wireless power transmission
A New Zealand-based startup has developed a method of safely and wirelessly transmitting electric power across long distances without the use of copper wire, and is working on implementing it with the country's second-largest power distributor.
How Far Are We From Wireless Electricity?
The modern scientific revolution has reincarnated Tesla’s extraordinary idea which was once considered a pipe dream, and the prospects are…
MartytheMartian
Legendary Knight
Well skimming over that Emrod have a totally different, and more feasible, concept than Tesla for transmitting energy from one point to another. Tesla thought that he could create a circcuit with the air being one side of the circuit and the ground being the other, which was based on a flawed belief that Radio wave and electricity worked in the same way. It would seem that this Emrod are going to use a targeted beam, or laser fired from one point to another in 'line of sight' and the receiver would turn that focused beam back into electricity. This is all very well to transmit power from one place to another but totally unfeasible as a method of providing energy to individuals. It is to Tesla's idea as apples are to oranges. It also suggests in the article that this beam is, as one might expect, very dangerous and has to be cut immediately when birds, drones, or aircraft come within range of it along it's entirely length from point to point or it will do the thing that crosses it some damage.
I can't say I fancy the idea of high energy lances criss-crossing the landscape.
I can't say I fancy the idea of high energy lances criss-crossing the landscape.
Scrappy
Legendary Knight
But Tesla apparently did succeed in transmitting power for about 2 miles, I would say for about 120 years ago that was pretty good going, and had he been able to continue his work who knows. Seeing that most of electrical products and technology we use today are based in some part on Tesla's ideas, work and discoveries then I would not have bet against him in getting sorted. But I believe Tesla's work on electricity production was more important than transmission, as he was proposing generating electricity freely using the earths natural energy.
MartytheMartian
Legendary Knight
Re-reading the article about Emrod I see it's a microwave beam they would use so essentially a very high power focused Radar beam. I would imaging that would lose a lot of energy in the process, being pretty wasteful and would literally cook anything that got in the way. You could certainly use it to frazzle your enemies though.
I can't remember exactly how Tesla 'demonstrated' his wireless power transmission but I believe it's quite well known how it was done and it was a trick that only works over a very short range. There is no doubt that Tesla was a great innovator and inventor but he was also of his time and was operating on things about which there was little known and I very much doubt he was 'channeling' aliens or had secret knowledge of the ancients.
There are of course a goodly number of 'free' energy sources available to us on Earth and the only problem is harnessing them in a cost effective way. The Sun, Wind and Geothermal options are all literally free energy there for the taking but our problem is figuring out 'capture' in a way that is low cost, low emission and does not create as many problems as it solves. Turbines, Wave Machines, Solar capture 'farms' etc. are all far too inefficient and far too costly to create. Transmission is a major part of the problem with Solar energy as the ideal would be solar capture plants in orbit around the Earth but. although they would capture loads of solar energy no matter what the weather or time of day on Earth, how in hell do you get the energy down to Earth safely? With wind we could have high altitude windfarms, basically giant kites, generating electricity from the winds up there but, again, how the hell do you get that energy down? Geothermal of course presents a different problem - If there isn't a locally occurring access point, Volcano or hot spring, how do you drill down the many miles into the crust to access it? Wave power has both generation and transmission problems. So far we are a long long way from a solution to how to harness the power not to generate it.
I can't remember exactly how Tesla 'demonstrated' his wireless power transmission but I believe it's quite well known how it was done and it was a trick that only works over a very short range. There is no doubt that Tesla was a great innovator and inventor but he was also of his time and was operating on things about which there was little known and I very much doubt he was 'channeling' aliens or had secret knowledge of the ancients.
There are of course a goodly number of 'free' energy sources available to us on Earth and the only problem is harnessing them in a cost effective way. The Sun, Wind and Geothermal options are all literally free energy there for the taking but our problem is figuring out 'capture' in a way that is low cost, low emission and does not create as many problems as it solves. Turbines, Wave Machines, Solar capture 'farms' etc. are all far too inefficient and far too costly to create. Transmission is a major part of the problem with Solar energy as the ideal would be solar capture plants in orbit around the Earth but. although they would capture loads of solar energy no matter what the weather or time of day on Earth, how in hell do you get the energy down to Earth safely? With wind we could have high altitude windfarms, basically giant kites, generating electricity from the winds up there but, again, how the hell do you get that energy down? Geothermal of course presents a different problem - If there isn't a locally occurring access point, Volcano or hot spring, how do you drill down the many miles into the crust to access it? Wave power has both generation and transmission problems. So far we are a long long way from a solution to how to harness the power not to generate it.
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Sarky B’stard
Legendary Knight
Your electric toothbrush (for the limp wristed) 'transmits' power by using an energised coil to induce current. I bet you've even got them in your wrist exerciser (throttle machine bike thingy).
MartytheMartian
Legendary Knight
Not me @Sarky B’stard I ain't got an electric toothbrush (induction charging or otherwise) and my bikes are all cable throttled. I don't fancy that fly by wire throttle tech at all however I think you are right and Tesla's wireless lightbulb was a simple induction trick.
I hope you've asked her to hide it round the corner!Mrs DD brought one of these home tonight...
View attachment 15682
View attachment 15683
What a hideous little thing it is!
Made even worse by the price!
There's a pre registered one on Fleabay for £36,450
MICK60
Legendary Knight
It sure am ugly.Mrs DD brought one of these home tonight...
View attachment 15682
View attachment 15683
What a hideous little thing it is!
Made even worse by the price!
There's a pre registered one on Fleabay for £36,450
Thankfully it'll be gone tomorrow morning mate.
Hopefully never to return!
Its only minor saving grace is a very clever dashboard.
I got dragged outside for a look & told to touch the icon that said "Aquarium"
The huge dashboard then became a virtual fish tank. You can even feed the fish by tapping the screen which drops food into the water & the fish swim towards it.
Clever, but utterly pointless
Imagine filling in an insurance claim form. And saying the accident was caused by you feeding the fish FFS!
In case you think I'm pulling your leg?..
MICK60
Legendary Knight
Who the fuck thought of putting that in a car ffs.Thankfully it'll be gone tomorrow morning mate.
Hopefully never to return!
Its only minor saving grace is a very clever dashboard.
I got dragged outside for a look & told to touch the icon that said "Aquarium"
The huge dashboard then became a virtual fish tank. You can even feed the fish by tapping the screen which drops food into the water & the fish swim towards it.
Clever, but utterly pointless
Imagine filling in an insurance claim form. And saying the accident was caused by you feeding the fish FFS!
In case you think I'm pulling your leg?..
chas
Legendary Knight
What I find weird about leccy motors I've encountered is the amount of whizzbang energy draining leccy stuff that is on the dash.
I'm glad my 20 year old motor has an option to turn off the AC pump on the dash that saves me grubbing underneath it and disconnecting the belt that drives the pump.
Why do teslas (lack of capital intentional) draw 20% of their juice to drive the bloody stuff a 'driver' doesn't look at anyhow?
I'm glad my 20 year old motor has an option to turn off the AC pump on the dash that saves me grubbing underneath it and disconnecting the belt that drives the pump.
Why do teslas (lack of capital intentional) draw 20% of their juice to drive the bloody stuff a 'driver' doesn't look at anyhow?
Ford Patents Hydrogen-Fueled Combustion Engine
MCT reports that, at least on paper, the company’s hydrogen engine should be capable of operating across a wide range of air/fuel lambda values.
www.google.co.uk
Sarky B’stard
Legendary Knight
Well Ford bet on small capacity, lean burn turbocharged engines when the Germans tugged sleeves and greased palms in Brussels with diesel and that well known driver G Brown bit 
too.
Who won out? Ford must be confident in a hydrogen future and it makes environmental and economic sense.
too.Who won out? Ford must be confident in a hydrogen future and it makes environmental and economic sense.
Synthetic fuels sound like an interesting proposition...
www.thisismoney.co.uk
Only EVs from 2035 is the 'wrong way to go', say engineering experts
Mechanical Engineering Industry Association say the internal combustion engine is 'ecological and economically advantageous' and should be retained with e-fuels.
Don the Don
Legendary Knight
If only the powers that be will listen, it seems they are hell bent to go down the EV route at any cost and we all know they do not like to be proven wrong. lets hope these alternative fuels will be a reality because lets face it what proportion of society is going to be electric by the proposed date, not that many as after all this cost of living mess who could afford EV transport, only the well offSynthetic fuels sound like an interesting proposition...
Only EVs from 2035 is the 'wrong way to go', say engineering experts
Mechanical Engineering Industry Association say the internal combustion engine is 'ecological and economically advantageous' and should be retained with e-fuels.