kaennar
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6 years ago
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on: Launch HN: Prometheus (YC W19) – Remove CO2 from Air and Turn It into Gasoline
How will this improve the global average of air quality? If you are removing the CO2 from the air then reintroducing it back into the same environment (assuming it is not repurposed in another sector e.g. jet fuel, commercial containers) wont the net effect be the same?
I understand this will concentrate the pollution significantly and may even reduce it in the short term, but wont the average effects be the same?
kaennar
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6 years ago
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on: A Quest to Make Gasoline Out of Thin Air: Prometheus (YC W19)
Except that will only work for gasoline cars and wont happen for the next 10-15 years. It seems like this guys bet (per the other thread) is that commercial gasoline for cars is the starting point, but they want to move into jet fuel, container ships, and making the basic gasoline/oil that goes into plastics.
Considering there is no commercially available electric passenger aircraft on the horizon (as of now) and that commercial containers are unlikely to convert that seems like a solid market to go after.
kaennar
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6 years ago
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on: A Quest to Make Gasoline Out of Thin Air: Prometheus (YC W19)
That sounds like a particularly interesting answer, but I wonder what the power and factory requirements would be to have something like this at a FOB or base?
Surely most operating bases use gas powered generators to run and not solar right?
kaennar
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7 years ago
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on: OpenDroneMap – Simple Images into 3D
In the lab I work in we have internal tools for doing something like this for precision agriculture, but I have never heard of an open source solution. UAVs generally don't record their orientation or GPS data without setting up a separate log file (I have no idea how you do this on Pixhawks. We use BYU's autopilot or our own autopilot).
kaennar
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7 years ago
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on: UK Releases 130 Terabytes of Oil and Gas Data
Compared to Volve this is still far better. I'm just worried it'll be all seismics, RMS projects, and .segy files. We're working on a solution for ingestion of well reports/logs with the Volve reservoir but have precious little examples from the Volve field itself. Here's to hoping this dataset is better!
kaennar
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7 years ago
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on: UK Releases 130 Terabytes of Oil and Gas Data
Interesting that this follows the Equinor release last June. We've been working on analyzing the Volve Reservoir data, but the data ingestion is getting very difficult because of the non-standard documents and data types in the repository. Should be interesting to see if the UK's data will be the same.
kaennar
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7 years ago
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on: YC 120
I'm really struggling with how to structure this kind of video from a college student's (although with only one semester left) perspective. I've worked at a lot of different companies and have two or three "dream" projects, but as for what I'm working on right now? Does literature review count? Or relevant experience? I realize that people like me are not necessarily the target audience, but it still leaves me wondering if there is a perhaps a better way for me to frame my current experience and work into this kind of format.
kaennar
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7 years ago
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on: The program to build NASA’s moon rocket could double in price to $9B
What I would wonder is how long of a staying power does this kind of relief have?
If I build a missile factory in Baghdad, Mississippi that runs for 20 years then is closed won't the same problem persist as before the missile factory was created?
I think your point that free trade is the problem is fairly evident in this kind of problem, however, I am not sure that spending on things such as military producers or even national infrastructure is a long-term solution. In the end the project always ends, the product stops being produced, and times change.
Is this just delaying the eventual wealth-death of a town/state or does this lead to a self-sufficient system?
kaennar
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7 years ago
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on: The program to build NASA’s moon rocket could double in price to $9B
And even if you do want to call it "bureaucratically neutered" travesties like the Challenger disaster explain why the bureaucracy is necessary.
kaennar
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7 years ago
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on: US Births Dip to 30-yr Low; Fertility Rate Sinks Further Below Replacement Level
I think there are a lot of good points being made, but you guys may be caught up in the math and are forgetting something fairly simple.
Sex is free, fun, and easy. The less education you have the less likely you are to understand effective birth control. The less wealthy you are the less you have to spend on contraception. Those things together with the easiest and cheapest form of entertainment would seem to cirrelate with a higher birthrate in lower income brackets.
I cant find any studies that support what Im saying right now, but the logic holds.
kaennar
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7 years ago
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on: Magnasanti: Large and Terrifying SimCity (2010)
And it doesn't even work! I took the toll a few months ago because I needed to head North for a meeting, but the thing was moving slower than actual traffic from all the people merging/leaving it.
The construction lobby strikes again I guess...
kaennar
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7 years ago
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on: Magnasanti: Large and Terrifying SimCity (2010)
Has there ever been a study of the gamification of city building? Or rather the results thereof?
E.g. give a simulator the current population and layout of NYC with the current influx of people with a budget and see what the results are? It would be fascinating to see people try and "beat" the high scores on different cities (i.e. Austin would be an easy level, Boston harder, and NYC the hardest level, etc.). Then we could collate what worked and what didn't without dumb projects like the Mopac Expressway.
Either way I'd play that game.
kaennar
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7 years ago
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on: Ask HN: Where did you learn modular electronics?
The issue with the AoE is the lack of practice problems and references when questions arise. For instance it's MOS and BJT parts glaze over how multi-stage amplifiers chain together and how the choice of one can effect the later (e.g. how your buffer effects source-follower).
Theory is good, but seeing how the implementation works is just as important and the AoE can glance over that because it's a sort of book of everything.
In short, it's a great reference manual and I have to sasy it's my favourite thing to start any question I have with, but for a beginner they need something that allows them to practice not just read about it.
kaennar
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7 years ago
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on: Airplanes that fly on electricity debut at Fresno’s Chandler Airport
But how much does that generation cost?
kaennar
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7 years ago
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on: A manufacturing process that produces long strips of high-quality graphene
Nordic?
kaennar
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7 years ago
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on: Jeff Bezos' annual shareholders letter
What's really fascinating is hearing about people that work there now that used to work with them in the early stages. I talked to a dude who was in charge of a database tool called Tango back in the day who was worried they wouldn't be able to make the yearly license cost and now he works for them.
Technology only grows more fascinating as the titans rise and fall.
kaennar
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8 years ago
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on: Ask HN: What are you working on and why is it cool?
I was implying that it would make an interesting academic paper.
kaennar
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8 years ago
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on: Building a Text Editor for a Digital-First Newsroom
One of the most truly fascinating things I learned from my father was how early 1980s word processors were designed for the magazine he worked for. The different ways to handle fonts, screen placement, and how to include data from a local database.
It was truly an awakening to the hidden wonders of the world.
kaennar
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8 years ago
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on: Ask HN: What are you working on and why is it cool?
Doing some basic image processing and tracking customers flow through the store would be fascinating.
You could categorize what people are shopping for, how long, and what buying one item tends to mean for the rest of their shopping cart.
I'd read that paper!
kaennar
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8 years ago
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on: Transparent ceramics made with aluminum
Does the fact that there is aluminum inside of the ceramic mean that it has a higher conductance? I couldn't find a reference online (there seems to be a few papers over the conductance of two very thin plates of AL203, but no characterization)
I understand this will concentrate the pollution significantly and may even reduce it in the short term, but wont the average effects be the same?