Hacker News Reader

hoerensagenon Light without electricity? Glowing algae could make it possible

It is also relevant to something from the last three books, which haven't made it onto TV yet.

hoerensagenon A CT scanner reveals surprises inside the 386 processor's ceramic package

The PC would still heat up when started. You would need very precise temperature control to avoid that. That could be quite difficult to do

hoerensagenon Solar power has begun to transform the world’s energy system

Maybe I'm misunderstanding but the Author seems to think that the main conversion losses in electricity generation come from renewables

Edit:

I think this paragraph should be enough to show that it is not advisable to trust the author on anything to do with energy:

>Due to the weight of all this stuff, and the relatively mild heat and scattered light coming from the Sun, solar panels produce no more than 20 Watts for each kg of their mass, even on a sunny day. Meanwhile wind turbines, with their massive concrete bases and tall steel towers, generate a mere 6 Watts for every kg of their weight. (Batteries fare slightly better at 240 W/kg.) For comparison diesel fuel produces 13,000 Watts for every kg of fuel burned. A regular diesel engine weighing 150 kg can thus easily produce 110 kW of power, while the same feat would require 5.5 tons of solar panels directly lit by the Sun at noon.

hoerensagenon Solar power has begun to transform the world’s energy system

China ist still adding coal plants but their capacity factor is falling.

In fact Chinas emissions have probably already peaked.

https://www.economist.com/china/2025/05/29/chinas-carbon-emi...

https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-clean-energy-just-put-c...

https://www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/china-coal-plants

hoerensagenon Laser mapping reveals oldest Amazonian cities, built 2500 years ago (2024)

I think this video is good Ressource on the topic.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-iCIZQX9i1A

Basically Hancock show lots of interesting and fascinating archaeological sites which is great especially since a lot of these are things that most viewers didn't know about before. But sadly he chooses to use these site only to present his theory for which he's doesn't have any actual evidence.

hoerensagenon Why Is Light So Fast?

I think you might have the same misconception about the planck length that I had:

"The Planck length does not have any precise physical significance, and it is a common misconception that it is the inherent “pixel size” or smallest possible length of the universe.[1] If a length smaller than this is used in any measurement, then it has a chance of being wrong due to quantum uncertainty.[2]"

https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_length#:~:text=Th....

hoerensagenon They don't make 'em like that any more: the 3.5mm headphone jack socket

Is use it for headphones. Perfect for watching movies on train journeys.

hoerensagenon They don't make 'em like that any more: the 3.5mm headphone jack socket

Splitting audio via Bluetooth works completely fine for me. Doesn't need any extra apps or devices. But I was also very surprised when found out that this works now.

hoerensagenon Thousands of Pablo Picasso’s works in a new online archive

Why can't any serious museum create a good, simple image gallery?

I like this one: https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection?q=&Artist=Vincent...

hoerensagenon visionOS thermally throttles based on how much it hears the fans in the mics

That is definitely done for bearing in ratting machinery. You can often even pinpoint which bearing is damaged and which part of that bearing is damaged, based on the frequency spectrum.

hoerensagenon 52-Hertz Whale

Not to be confused with whale flu

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32170708/

hoerensagenon Germany gets informal EU go-ahead to support gas-fired power, sources say

"You don't need to stabilize a grid that has sufficient CO₂ free base capacity."

Yes you do. Even if all your generation is dispatch able, demand will still vary a lot.

hoerensagenon More nuclear energy means less mining

Exxon did this with a carbon tax in the US. Here is a quote of an exxon lobbyist bragging about it:

"Nobody is going to propose a tax on all Americans and the cynical side of me says, yeah, we kind of know that but it gives us a talking point that we can say, well what is ExxonMobil for? Well, we’re for a carbon tax,"

Source: https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2021/06/30/exxon-climate-ch...

hoerensagenon Lithium-free sodium batteries exit the lab and enter US production

Between 1 and 2 MWh per year isnt that unusual.

For example in Germany the average per person per year is 1.3MWh.

hoerensagenon Asteroid that broke up over Berlin was fastest-spinning one ever seen

Thase are great. here is a brilliant technology connections video about it.

https://youtu.be/t-JN2U4jHgk?feature=shared

hoerensagenon MKBHDs for Everything

>There are waaay shittier products he's reviewed.

Genuine question: Are there?

hoerensagenon MKBHDs for Everything

It didn't say that it is the worst product ever. Only the worst product he ever reviewed. of course I don't know every product he ever reviewed, but it seems plausible that a 700$ product that is extremely bad at everything it is supposed to do is actually the worst one.

hoerensagenon Tesla to lay off more than 10% of its staff

>meanwhile the German Greens are happy pushing for more coal and lignite burning (since they opposed nuclear power, and now Russian gas).

This is impressively wrong. German coal power production in 2023 was at it lowest in 60 years.

https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/germanys-coal-power-pro....

hoerensagenon Eight U.S. States Now Have Plans to Ban Sales of Gas-Powered Cars

I don't think a massive expansion of nuclear power is the only way. Sure it might play a role but why would it be the only way. Look at this study for example.

https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/100-percent-clean-electricity-...

hoerensagenon The United States has its first large offshore wind farm, with more to come

Yes but it's an offshore turbine, so it can be transported by see. I think the plane is targeting onshore turbines.

hoerensagenon How the biggest plane would supersize wind energy

160m is the rotor diameter not the radius.

hoerensagenon "Magic Balls" installed by drones may revolutionize US power grid

Yes.according to Wikipedia:

A RTO in the US is a TSO that coordinates, controls, and monitors a multi-state electric grid. The voluntary creation of RTOs was initiated by FERC Order No. 2000, issued on December 20, 1999. RTOs typically perform the same functions as ISOs but cover a larger geographic area.

hoerensagenon AI’s big rift is like a religious schism

The answer is: One if it's the gavotte

hoerensagenon World Appears on Track to Triple Renewable Power by 2030

It's inline with the net zero by 2050 path from BNEF

hoerensagenon World Appears on Track to Triple Renewable Power by 2030

solar_chase@mastodon.green - The tripling-renewable-capacity target under discussion at COP28: more than we could have hoped for ten years ago, still a stretch goal, well aligned with our modelled pathway to a net-zero future by 2050. BNEF report in front of the paywall for once!
(It is largely thanks to my co-author Meredith Annex that the whole report did not consist of "yes, 11TW is no problem, but if you're not careful it will mostly be bloomin' solar".)

https://about.bnef.com/blog/tripling-global-renewables-by-20...

Source:https://mastodon.green/@solar_chase/111448271073590445

The whole thread is very interesting

hoerensagenon BMW Ends Combustion Engine Production in Germany

Just to give a bit of context.

Global Combustion engine vehicle sales have been falling since 2017.and EVs will be 18% of new vehicle sales in 2023 which will be a 35 YoY increase.

https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2023/executive...

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/03/ev-car-sales-energy-e...

hoerensagenon To free the Baltic grid, old technology is new again

Yes?

This is about Inertia and frequency control. Not about bulk energy storage.

hoerensagenon Pingpongmap.net

I think it's mostly intended for public outdoor tables since these are hard to find on Google.

Edit:spelling

hoerensagenon New way to read data in antiferromagnets unlocks their use as computer memory

Memory runs at -68.5°C ?

hoerensagenon Electric bike, stupid love of my life

I would imagine that the efficiency of a human peddling depends on the speed. So maybe it's more efficient if the motor does most of the work to get you up to speed?