Will electric planes eventually replace fuel based aircraft ?
Nov 23, 2016 | 6:54 am
#31
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When I was studying Computer Science in the 80's the very idea that a passable video stream over a copper phone line was science fiction - both with bandwidth and the compression technology required at both ends.
Things have certainly changed, battery technology can't be so far behind.
Things have certainly changed, battery technology can't be so far behind.
Putting video over a copper line is largely a software advance.
Getting heavy objects into the air and keeping them there is mechanics and progress will be incremental and slow by comparison.
Nov 23, 2016 | 10:37 am
#32
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Currently, progress is not as fast. We still type with the same qwerty keyboard as in the 1860s. Since the flat screen, display technology is not gone so fast anymore the last 10 years as they still have glare problems in daylight and are not reflective.
But other technologies as well. In the 1970s, a permanent lunar base was expected around 2000, and manned flights to Mars were already done.
So, we really don't know how we fly in the 2040s and beyond. I bet the same jet engine technology, but with even less fuel consumption per passenger distance. And probably (partly) renewable energy.
Nov 23, 2016 | 11:36 am
#33
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Advances in data transmission - and computer techology, AFAIK, have not breached any laws of physics.
Alternative propulsion for flight still have hard and fast laws against them, of weight/mass, friction, thermodynamics, among many. It may be possible to develop a very energy-dense battery, and it may be possible to beam energy in waves, and it may be possible to make synthetic fuels relatively affordable but all those laws have to be observed.
I did observe with interest that NASA has supposedly proven in theory a rocket engine that defies Newton's 3rd Law of Motion.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/201...tion-or-sci-fi
Alternative propulsion for flight still have hard and fast laws against them, of weight/mass, friction, thermodynamics, among many. It may be possible to develop a very energy-dense battery, and it may be possible to beam energy in waves, and it may be possible to make synthetic fuels relatively affordable but all those laws have to be observed.
I did observe with interest that NASA has supposedly proven in theory a rocket engine that defies Newton's 3rd Law of Motion.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/201...tion-or-sci-fi
Nov 23, 2016 | 11:56 am
#34
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Nov 23, 2016 | 1:41 pm
#35
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Data limits through copper might well have increased. But what really changed to allow video and audio was compression technology - i.e software solutions.
The incredible advances made through applying software solutions have led many commentators to be over-optimistic about material solutions.
Or, as Scotty allegedly said, "ye canna change the laws of physics".
The incredible advances made through applying software solutions have led many commentators to be over-optimistic about material solutions.
Or, as Scotty allegedly said, "ye canna change the laws of physics".
Nov 23, 2016 | 2:38 pm
#36
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Once the physics and electronics are in place, it's up to the software to exploit them.
Nov 23, 2016 | 4:00 pm
#37
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They advanced together ajGoes, so yes, some of each.
The Germans who invented mp3 (and AAC too, not lot of people know that) had to wait about 20 years for certain technical improvements and market conditions, like more widespread broadband and mass market mp3 players , before their invention really gained momentum.
So even that "sudden" revolution took about 25 years in total, and against a lot of resistance.
Part of their story told in the book How Music Got Free , which you have probably read. Well worth it if you haven't.
The Germans who invented mp3 (and AAC too, not lot of people know that) had to wait about 20 years for certain technical improvements and market conditions, like more widespread broadband and mass market mp3 players , before their invention really gained momentum.
So even that "sudden" revolution took about 25 years in total, and against a lot of resistance.
Part of their story told in the book How Music Got Free , which you have probably read. Well worth it if you haven't.
Nov 23, 2016 | 5:06 pm
#38
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The Germans who invented mp3 (and AAC too, not lot of people know that) had to wait about 20 years for certain technical improvements and market conditions, like more widespread broadband and mass market mp3 players , before their invention really gained momentum.
So even that "sudden" revolution took about 25 years in total, and against a lot of resistance.
So even that "sudden" revolution took about 25 years in total, and against a lot of resistance.
There are a lot of inventions that are theoretically possible but engineering knowledge and material science haven't allowed their development to be economically (or technologically) feasible.
Though supermagnets have been commercially developed and are available, a lot of spinoffs from Strategic Defense Initiative (a.k.a. "star wars") R&D spending of the '80s still haven't been developed into commercial technology.
As for what the future could hold, think space elevator, or more appropriately for air transport, SCRAMjets.
Nov 24, 2016 | 4:53 am
#39
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