The only issue I foresee with using regular batteries as grid wide storage is cost. Many renewable sources are inherently unstable in output, so one would have to plan for potentially multi day deficits in production.
At least in my country some alternative storage solutions are being planned. One company wants to use excess wind power to produce hydrogen. That hydrogen could then be used to offset potential production deficits.
Otherwise I very much agree with your list.
Fortunately the nuclear reactor can be operated for >50 years :)
To me it seems that it would be worth it to repeat such groundbreaking tests before publishing the results just to avoid such negative press? Especially, if the material in question was relatively simple to produce.
However I know nothing about how this type of research works normally so ¯\(ツ)/¯
The fine Lucas got was from omitting the director's credit from the start of the movie. It's not like anybody was defending the guys doing the work behind the scenes.
This might be a needless nitpick, but had to bring it up, as it's not the first time I've come across this.
Yes.
Seems like the ones that find it necessary to print color references are either using fancier materials or use a ton of different colors.
I suppose it cannot. I guess my views are largely based on my own experiences.
I would still like to bring up another online activity, which is gaming. That has surely seen a huge change in culture and how the most popular games are played. 15 years ago one could show up on a public server, and after a while get to know the regulars. That served as a good stepping stone to creating online relationships.
With the advent of matchmaking, such interaction is no longer the norm. As such one has to go through the effort of finding communities, that they might want to be a part of.
It didn’t. It’s more alive than ever.
The web as a whole is more alive than ever, but many of those old school places aren't. They still exist, but most of the userbase doesn't.
I have some hobbies, which used to have a thriving online communities on forums and blogs. For the average internet user, that wanted to read up about such hobbies, they would gravitate towards those forums or blogs. This has fundamentally changed with the popularity of sites such as reddit, facebook, youtube & discord. The conversations that were had on the forums moved to the above platforms and as such a lot of the deeper nuances of conversation were lost.
A specific hobby of mine had a dozen active forums to read. Now all but one are mostly dead. The only one in my native language is also gone. My country's native communities moved to facebook, which is now only used for announcements and some simple questions being asked again and again.
There has been a complete reversal of internet discourse on many topics. Instead it's (again) back to having discussions with your friend group and building up connections locally.
What happens, when the non smart microwave finally breaks and only smart ones are being sold? You could buy used, but what happens when that used inventory is used up?
Fortunately in case of microwaves, the simpler ones have the same internal parts as smart ones, and as such some supply is most likely going to be available.
The situation in the article is for sure unique, as replacing implants with a newer version is probably not feasible. Many other simpler medical devices are different, as they could be replaced as needed.
Going bankrupt is not the only potential issue. There can also be situations, where a company makes several generations of a product, and abandons support for the old ones.
This is already a serious concern with eg. older gen chip fabrication. The machinery required for each generation was built when that gen was new, and when that machinery breaks down, it might not be economical to rebuild that capability.
Is this really a year old post? It was a good read regardless.
To comment on the topic, this is going to happen more and more, especially as proprietary stuff becomes more and more complex. With implants it's obviously more serious, but this also applies to anything from cars to game consoles.
I'm no stranger to scrounging junkyards for car parts or ebay to replace components from an old console. However that cannot go on forever, as parts get more rare. This is somewhat remedied with eg. nintendo consoles, where some reproduction parts are available (cartridges, screens etc.). With more niche and increasingly complex products this option is often not available.
My personal dream scenario is one, where renewables and nuclear become such cheap production methods, that electricity is cheap and abundant.
At that point one could just use that energy to synthesize fuel to avoid the hassle that is hydrogen storage.