cronedog t1_j8fjnsb wrote on February 13, 2023 at 10:53 PM

Reply to comment by mhornberger in 7 international companies have teamed with the EU to form the International Hyperloop Association, the industry's first trade body. by lughnasadh

> Sure, we can just go with the idea that all of these people, even DARPA, are just really stupid.

You think no funded research initiatives are stupid? Look at how many hundreds of millions were wasted on solar roadways. Pure science research has some benefit in itself, that doesn't mean the projects will be viable.

There are reasons these projects keep failing. Just believe hard enough and the self filling water bottle will be a good idea....:S

The first link doesn't paint all that rosy a picture of the idea. 1 liter of fuel for 5 liters of water.

Darpa and Berkely are just research projects. The article ends with the dude wondering if research will ever make them worthwhile.

and for the second link

The Watergen GEN-M generators produce up to 211 gallons (800 liters) of purified drinking water per day, depending on climate conditions. The Israeli startup will monitor the project’s effectiveness in the Hard Rock Community and evaluate whether it can be replicated elsewhere within the Navajo Nation.

What are the results? How effective is it to track in big machines and hundreds of gallons of fuel? Why can they ship hundreds of gallons of fuel to waste but can't just bring water from surrounding areas?

Corrupt water mafias can take control of water convoys but not giant stationary generators or the massive amount of fuel required to run the generators?

mhornberger t1_j8fkfk4 wrote on February 13, 2023 at 10:58 PM

> Look at how many hundreds of millions were wasted on solar roadways.

Hundreds of millions? Where are you getting that number from? Even $100 million seems like it would be off by a factor of 10-20x.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Roadways

And these articles aren't about R&D projects, but about products already on the market. DARPA is also doing R&D, but that's just to push the industry forward, enable more improvement. These aren't "projects that keep failing," rather they're products that keep getting purchased and installed.

>Why can they ship hundreds of gallons of fuel to waste but can't just bring water from surrounding areas?

Or their electrical grid might be more robust than the water mains system. Or they may be using solar. Any number of reasons. That you personally think there are better options doesn't mean those buying them share your assessment. Is it really so impossible that some of these people are doing their due diligence before making the purchase decision?

cronedog t1_j8fo8dp wrote on February 13, 2023 at 11:25 PM

>Hundreds of millions? Where are you getting that number from? Even $100 million seems like it would be off by a factor of 10-20x.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Roadways

Sorry. I wasn't clear. I didn't just mean solar roadways inc, the US company. I was referring to all the projects around the world where they try to stick solar panels on roadways.

>Or their electrical grid might be more robust than the water mains system. Or they may be using solar. Any number of reasons. That you personally think there are better options doesn't mean those buying them share your assessment. Is it really so impossible that some of these people are doing their due diligence before making the purchase decision?

Yes. If the people in charge had an understanding of physics they wouldn't waste their money. I don't know why people keep falling for theranos levels of con-artistry but they do.