could you imagine having that happen and the only way to make it stop is to come around and try again... especially if fuel is getting low? damn, no thanks.

its the same arraignment in Brazil with soy. soy ethanol is put into vehicle fuel as a subsidy. soy is more productive than corn though.

Interesting - thanks for sharing! Shame it didn't work out better, and I have to wonder if the outcome would be different now with the increased focus on fuel economy / climate change mitigation.

The technical term is a rear crash attenuator.
I worked for a friend with a patent on foam cured carbon fiber manufacturing, using the heat and pressure of an expanding foam core to cure the carbon fiber without vacuum bagging or autoclaving....I helped with designing, and personally designed and built the molds, and built a number of test attenuators meant to replace the huge yellow plastic boxes on cal trans trucks. Basically an approximately 3x4x6' carbon fiber box with a dense foam core containing multiple tuned air chambers. We had to tune the chambers to stop vehicles at 60 mph without exceeding certain g forces. In the end, he lost the contract, but not because the device didn't work, I think it was too expensive, and my friend was not a great businessman. Ours was far lighter than the plastic versions, and was meant to pay for itself in fuel savings hauling it around.

My understanding was that the areas that rely on wind for up to 25% of their power were not the areas that had power shortages but on the contrary were some of the only generation still happening in the state....of course, if Texas wasn't so obstinate they would agree to meet federal standards, would have upgraded both their wind and fossil fuel generation to withstand hard freezes, and would have had access to power from their neighbors if they still failed, and would have had billions of federal dollars to make it happen, but noooooo.....

Truth be told, Texas expected only 7% of total winter generation to be renewable/wind and got much more than that. They lost nearly half of their wind generation capabilities temporarily at the peak of the freeze, 16GW, but that loss was only half what was lost from natural gas and nuclear coolant freezing, 30+GW, and it was down longer.

(btw, I was born and raised in Texas)

The bullshit lie Texan politicians sold was that wind turbines don't work in the cold. They do.

In Texas, the good old fossil fuel plants failed before the wind turbines and for longer....so couldn't pick up the slack. Had all the turbines been retrofitted to operate in cold, a simple fix strongly suggested the last time their grid failed from cold, they could have taken up the slack from the failed fossil fuel plants and kept Texas out of the dark.

They might work in the cold but they don't work when it isn't windy. Then they have good old fossil fuels to pick up the slack, yay.

Depends on your definition of "need", and your definition of "stopping" climate change.

Because I'm convinced enough natural feedback loops are in effect that there's no chance at all of stopping further climate change, and only a slight chance of slowing the rate of change and only if humanity fundamentally changes first, I find the question flawed.

I find it odd that tidal energy (different from hydro) is never considered in these debates. It's simple, relatively cheap, easy to maintain, and best of all predictable and consistent. All you need is a shoreline with a relatively large tide swing, a small inlet, and a tidal flat.

At best, nuclear is a stop gap measure that trades one planetary poison for another.....largely because we aren't responsible with it....building on shores in earthquake zones for convenience, banning fuel recycling, having no long term waste plan and handling waste insanely (Japan, I'm looking at you and your plans to dump Fukushima irradiated water into the ocean)....It's far from "green" the way we do it.

Landing rockets is hard. Really hard. Make your brain hurt from thinking hard. I wonder what actually happened? Sounds like the post-landing fuel venting--created a pool of explosive vapor and stuff came in contact with an ignition source?

Next time it lands, I'm sure we'll see it bathed in a fine aqueous mist.

I would love an EV, but I don't plan to buy a new car as long as my current one works. I used to drive a lot, but I don't drive as much these days, typically just around town and the occasional ~100 miles to a neighboring city that has things my little town doesn't have. An EV with 150 mile range and charging at home would suite me just fine for day to day use, and if I needed to go somewhere farther, I could rent, borrow or ride with a friend or family member if they're going too.

The two problems for me are, I don't have a garage, so I would have to install some ugly charging station in my yard next to the driveway. Then there is the cost, both the cost of the car and the cost of installing a charging station. I can't justify spending $30-35K on a new EV, when for less than half that I can buy a new gas car, and probably not even spend the difference in cost between the two in fuel over the life of the vehicle.

Arson plain and simple. They should be charged with murder 1 for any deaths, and all 8 million in damages....not just the one guy who fired the shot but everyone involved in setting up the firebomb.

They went to a bone dry field of brush to create an explosion in the middle of waist high dead grass without clearing the fuel from the site and without bringing any fire suppression equipment, not even a wet towel, that makes it intentional arson....or a case of being too dumb to be allowed to live.

No reasonable person could NOT foresee that a huge tannerite explosion in a <2% humidity field of fuel would start a fire, and running away without even trying to put it out makes it again 100% intentional.
This moron and his family should just be harvested for organs, it's the closest they could get to actual restitution. This $500 a month nonsense is outrageous. 100% of the family's assets should be forfeited, including houses, cars, pensions, anything of value...and left with < $1500 a month from his salary....a fourth year agent makes an average of $125000 a year plus 64 days of paid time off, family health and life insurance, retirement starting at 50 with full benefits, employer matched savings, pension, etc. $500 a month ($6000 a year) is insulting and not even noticeable to his finances considering his salary, $5000 a month isn't enough, and would still leave him with $65000per year + all those benefits....not to mention whatever his wife brings in. That's absolutely outrageous. I feel like restitution of $100000 a year until it's fully paid off is being generous considering the damage he caused.
Side note, this is the level of intelligence the border control agency accepts. We need an IQ minimum for public servants, I'm pissed one penny of my tax dollars go to pay brain dead slugs like him, and that total morons like him are armed and given authority is asinine.

If YOU would like some truth......my source is the Department of Homeland Security, not a disgraced propaganda site.
Right wing domestic terrorism is the most dangerous issue in America today besides the Trump pandemic.



The Department of Homeland Security issued a warning Wednesday to alert the public about a growing risk of attacks by “ideologically-motivated violent extremists” agitated about President Biden’s inauguration and “perceived grievances fueled by false narratives.”

DHS periodically issues such advisories through its National Terrorism Advisory System, but the warnings have typically been generated by elevated concerns about attacks by foreign governments or radical groups, not domestic extremists.

"violent riots have continued in recent days and we remain concerned that individuals frustrated with the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances and ideological causes fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize a broad range of ideologically-motivated actors to incite or commit violence,” the statement read.

The most recent bulletins DHS has issued — both this month — warned the public about an elevated threat from Iran. No other bulletin in recent years has been issued to alert Americans about violence by domestic extremists.

“Throughout 2020, Domestic Violent Extremists (DVEs) targeted individuals with opposing views engaged in First Amendment-protected, nonviolent protest activity,” the bulletin states. “DVEs motivated by a range of issues, including anger over covid-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results, and police use of force have plotted and on occasion carried out attacks against government facilities.”

It added: “DHS is concerned these same drivers to violence will remain through early 2021 and some DVEs may be emboldened by the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. to target elected officials and government facilities.”

The new bulletin will remain in place through April 30.

Don't let Cyriak get a hold of this, the result could only be nightmare fuel.

looked "mostly peaceful" to me - why is this so abhorrent when burning of city centers and attacking municipal buildings is considered acceptable protest?

They are both incredibly wrong and sanctimoniously defending one while disparaging the other only adds fuel to the decisiveness that permeates our political environment.