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Air car vs Electric car
Released Radiation
#26
/QUOTE/
check out atomic power vs. coal power, especially on radiation levels.. you might be surprised.
/ENDQUOTE/
Yes I know the first time I saw those statistics comparing the radiation released it floored me.
In hindsight given the very large tonnages of coal burned it should have been obvious.
Another possible exposure source of radioactive materials that we don't normally think about is caused by normal mining operations for "non-radioactive" metals like copper, or Iron and other metal ores.
We might call a metal ore "Iron" or "copper" because that is the major metal commercially extracted, but often times the same process that collected the desired metal also collects "trace" amounts of other materials including radioactive materials.
In many situations these "inclusions" of other metals aren't worth seperating the copper or Iron and remain present even in the end product.
This can lead to rare instances where you have consumer goods "contaminated" with natural radioactive materials.
Most any consumer item with metal parts from Arrowheads to Zippers has a slight chance of being radioactive.
I had a engineering professor that told the story of playing with a civil defense radiation counter in his home and discovering that several family cast iron heirlooms were "warm" in a radioactive sense.
He did a little research and discovered that while such things are considered rare it was a common enough occurance to make him slightly worried.
One story or example that I remember hearing about was the story of a engineer or technician at an atomic power plant who took a week's vacation and finally moved some of his inlaws heirloom furniture into the house for his wife.
He came back to work after a week and the radiation alarms went wild as he came in.
They finally tracked the radiation contamination to a family heirloom that was from his wife's family.
If I'm remembering right it was a ornate metal bedstead that was "hotter" than much of the contaminated materials coming from the Atomic powerplant and had it come out of the power plant it would have required special handling and disposal encased in a shielding material.
howard melton
God bless
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An interesting development.
#27
I heard this mentioned on the radio recently: www.huffingtonpost.com/hu...ess-power/
The person talking suggested that eventually electric cars could be made using this sort of technology that would have an effectively infinite range... but looking at what's actually accomplished, there's still a lot of hurdles to be leapt first.
Still, it's interesting.
-Morgan."Mikuru-chan molested me! I'm... so happy!"
-Haruhi, "The Ecchi of Haruhi Suzumiya"
---(Not really)
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Re: An interesting development.
#28
dansdata.blogsome.com/200...ournalism/

I'm not nearly as negative as Dan though - I think that technological advancement, by and large, is a good thing. We may not immediately jump into SUPAH ELECTRIC CARLAND, but taking a step here may result in _very_ interesting applications elsewhere. Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979
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Re: An interesting development.
#29
My question on all of these vehicle designs is as follows: how many are capable of functioning in arctic or sub-arctic conditions, such as when the temperatures can run at -20 F during the morning commute in the winter months, like here in Anchorage, Alaska? And how many can make trips of 220+ miles, with fuel/service stations sometimes more than 80 miles apart, without taking several days (as opposed to the approximately 5 hours it takes with a current internal combustion vehicle)?
--The Twisted One"Welcome to Fanboy Hell. You will be spending eternity here, in a small room with Jar-Jar Binks and Dobby the house-elf."
"If you
wish to converse with me, define your
terms."

--Voltaire
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Re: An interesting development.
#30
did you say Anchorage, Alaska?Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979
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Re: An interesting development.
#31
Yes, Kokuten, I did. I was born here in Anchorage in November of '81, and aside from getting my physics B.S. from Caltech, and one unsuccesful semeter of grad school in Ohio, I've lived in Alaska, either Anchorage or Kenny Lake (near Chitna; the 220 mile drive I mentioned).
--The Twisted One"Welcome to Fanboy Hell. You will be spending eternity here, in a small room with Jar-Jar Binks and Dobby the house-elf."
"If you
wish to converse with me, define your
terms."

--Voltaire
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Tough row to hoe
#32
Getting a electric car to work safely in Alaska's conditions is a very tough engineering problem.
Extreme cold is not kind to battery's and failure in alaska's normal enviroments is often life threatening.
The conditions are also very rough on normal internal combustion engines.
I had a relative transfer from a airforce base in Hawaii to a base in Alaska and when thier cars were unloaded from the transport the Alaska base wouldn't let them have the cars until the base mechanics had gone through them modifying them for the conditions.
From thier account it wasn't simply adding antifreeze as they had thought.
They also got a small book detailing "how to survive" in Alaska, that had them scared up.(They were city slickers raised on walt disney nature shows.) and the cold hard talk of what bears and wolves could actually be like frightened them.

howard melton
God bless
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Re: Tough row to hoe
#33
huh. If you're in Anchorage at the moment, I'll buy you a dinner, just for the hell of it.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979
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Re: Tough row to hoe
#34
Quote:
I had a relative transfer from a airforce base in Hawaii to a base in Alaska and when thier cars were unloaded from the transport the Alaska base wouldn't let them have the cars until the base mechanics had gone through them modifying them for the conditions.
Change antifreeze, change oil, add block heater, instruct owner on use. In Fairbanks, add on a pan heater and possibly a transmission heater, possibly change differential oil as well.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979
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