Modular Power Packs ?

Saw a Tesla the other day (in Oslo) and instantly recognized its Lotus / VX heritage in an electric powered sports. I’ve been driving VX/GM sports for the last 8 or 9 years, so my initial reaction was I’d like one of those. But it’s 3 or 4 times the cost of a petrol-powered equivalent – silly money. But that’s not even the main problem.

Surely too, the recharge problem must be solved. The thing about fluid/liquid fuel is its portability at high power density. Surely electric cars need recharge stations where you pit stop, slot in a pre-charged power pack and leave the dead one behind on charge ?

[Post Note : Are Hydrogen Fuel Cell / Electric drives the answer ? Is the hydrogen mass distribution and tankage practical – answers from California please ? If we use methanol, how do the carbon emissions compare ? What is the eco-balance of hydrogen-production / battery-production and electricity generation ?]

Science Reduced

Marilynne Robinson on (the same edition of) Thinking Allowed.

The Dawkinsian approach reduces science itself she says. Hooray. (It’s a pity that sound minds like Harris, Dennett and Hitchens got hitched to the nutter Dawkins by the “four horsemen” meme I say, but para-science is an interesting idea).

In a nutshell. Positivism pervades patterns of thought and behaviour in science even though discredited as a metaphysics, and leads to hypocrisies such as even entertaining untestable ideas like multiverses, in a science that dismisses the metaphysical. Maxwell’s scientific neurosis. Wake up, science.

Must add “Absence of Mind: The Dispelling of Inwardness from the Modern Myth of the Self.” to the Christmas list.

Pragmatic Capitalism

Ha-Joon Chang on Thinking Allowed.

Socialising Science

A post to capture a link collection from Johnnie Moore …. not had chance to digest yet.

Excluded Middle Again

Division rather than integration is the verdict on the holy site of Ayodhya. Missed opportunity.

Separating Functions

Interesting in this latest post-Deepwater Horizon BP story, not just creating an independent safety group with teeth (which I’m not sure about, being seen to do something decisive I guess), but more importantly re-organizing E&P into three separate operations Exploration, Drilling and Production.

Mentioned in my earlier post on BP’s accident report [the second post-note] that there must be some cultural hangover between wild-catters and producers in terms of who takes what kinds of risks to get their respective jobs done. BP takes corporate responsibility for the whole, but behaviour patterns within the whole are complex and culturally conditioned by local history. Separating the areas may allow greater focus on the systemic problems of each.

Doubled in one day

Only just noticed this – that Microsoft (MSN / Live Spaces) is migrating all users to WordPress. Wow.

Personally I think it is healthy that Google still offers the hosted Blogger option for simpler blogs where users don’t want to be bothered with configuration of many optional plug-in functions and separate ISP provision of other content management. (Even though of course, WordPress itself offers pretty well any content management as a hosted service too.) Can’t see any natural reason for a monopoly in this space. Interesting move.

For Walking

Utopia is on the horizon; I walk two steps, it takes two steps back. I walk ten steps, and it is ten steps further away. What is utopia for? It is for this, for walking. – Eduardo Galeano

I like that. Via Euan Semple.

Rent a Nutter

I see my view of Dawkins is becoming more widely accepted. [via Sam]

[Post Note: Science vs Religion and Dawkins piece in this “Capitalism4.0” edition of Thinking Allowed. Ha-Joon Chang, the pragmatic capitalist, I like.]

Arctic Struggle

Arctic Oil & Gas makes mainstream media.