- Set up the infrastructure for EVs and Hyrids
- Set up the electric grid for more power consumption
- Stop buying EV batteries from China
Tuesday, March 28
Saving My Money
Quantum Information Between Technologies
A niobium superconducting cavity. The holes lead to tunnels which intersect to trap light and atoms. Credit: Aishwarya Kumar
The research was published in the journal Nature on Wednesday. It represents a new way to convert quantum information from the format used by quantum computers to the format needed for quantum communication.
Photons—particles of light—are essential for quantum information technologies, but different technologies use them at different frequencies. For example, some of the most common quantum computing technology is based on superconducting qubits, such as those used by tech giants Google and IBM; these qubits store quantum information in photons that move at microwave frequencies.
But if you want to build a quantum network, or connect quantum computers, you can't send around microwave photons because their grip on their quantum information is too weak to survive the trip.
"A lot of the technologies that we use for classical communication—cell phones, Wi-Fi, GPS and things like that—all use microwave frequencies of light," said Aishwarya Kumar, a postdoc at the James Franck Institute at University of Chicago and lead author on the paper. "But you can't do that for quantum communication because the quantum information you need is in a single photon. And at microwave frequencies, that information will get buried in thermal noise."
The solution is to transfer the quantum information to a higher-frequency photon, called an optical photon, which is much more resilient against ambient noise.
Monday, March 27
Heatwaves at the Bottom of the Ocean
In 2013, a monstrous marine heatwave known as 'The Blob' developed off the coast of Alaska and soon stretched as far south as Mexico along the Pacific coast of North America.
It lingered far longer than anyone expected, decimating fisheries, triggering toxic algal blooms, disturbing kelp forests, and starving sea birds of food.
At one point, a buoy bobbing atop the ocean near Oregon detected frightening jumps in temperature of up to seven degrees Celsius in less than an hour. The ocean was sweltering.
But scientists, with their attention fixed on temperature data streaming in from ocean surfaces, had little idea what was transpiring in the depths below.
Now, new modeling led by researchers at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows that marine heatwaves can unfold deep underwater, too – sometimes in tandem with heatwaves that ripple across the ocean surface or else when there is no detectable warming signal above.
The new analysis, of continental shelf waters surrounding North America, also finds these so-called bottom marine heatwaves can be more intense and last longer than hot spells at the ocean surface, though it varies from coast to coast.
"Researchers have been investigating marine heat waves at the sea surface for over a decade now," says lead author Dillon Amaya, a climate scientist with NOAA's Physical Science Laboratory.
But they have been limited to the cache of data on temperature extremes at the ocean surface, logged by floating buoys or detected by ships or overhead satellites. It's much harder to probe ocean temperatures further down the water column and along continental shelves.
Some data exist, but the researchers behind this latest study mostly had to extrapolate from ocean surface observations, inputting that data into computer models to simulate ocean currents that upwell from the deep, bringing essential nutrients to coastal waters. READ MORE...
Mondays
However, if you look at the Monthy Calendars, they always begin on SUNDAYS and end on SATURDAYS.
So, does that mean they are right?
I suppose beginnng the week on Sunday makes sense from a religious standpoint... so that we can infuse our religious teachings into how we work rather than informing us as to how we should have lived.
Still, it bothers me somehow that we begin a work week with a day off and end our work week with a day off... Beginning with a day off does not seem to instill a strong work ethic... although, some could argue that the day off is to prepare ourselves mentally for a hard week of work.
I suppose that makes sense. But, my parents always told me to work first, then rest. And, that still makes me think the week should start on Monday.
However, another logical conclusion to draw is that both Saturday and Sunday begin with "S"... therefore and to avoid confusion, one should place one "S" on one side of the week and the other "S" on the other side...
I have always had the notion that you work for 5 days and have two days off... sometimes you work for 6 days and have one day off... it makes very little sense to have a day off, then work for five days and have a day off.
BUT... this is just my weird way of looking at it.
Future Shock
From an anonymous Wisconsin State Trooper
Electric vehicles have too many variables affecting battery consumption. Definitely not suited for cold climates. The following experience just cements my distaste for EV’s, especially Teslas.
I get sent to a motorist assist the other day, at the start of our snowstorm. Tesla on the side of the interstate, dead battery. So, I arrive on scene and the occupants have the right-front door open. They tell me that they can’t open any other doors, because the battery is dead.
They said they had 10% battery left, should’ve been plenty to get from that location to the charging station nearby. Then all of a sudden, the whole car shut off and they coasted to the shoulder.
So now I have to find them a tow. No one wants to tow EV’s. Finally found one company to do it. 8-mile trip to the charging station in Tomah. $1,000! Normal vehicle on the flatbed would’ve been $150.
So now we’re at the Tesla superchargers. Guess what. Can’t open the f’n charging port because the battery is dead!!! The ports open, you guessed it, electronically!!! . And we also can’t open the doors now (had to close the one open door when it was loaded onto the wrecker). The owner's manual is in the on-board computer, but the battery is dead.
I got the occupants to a store where they’d be warm while calling the rental company to figure out how to charge this POS, so I’m not sure of the outcome. I had to leave for a crash report.
EV’s may be the way, someday, but certainly not today!! I’ll stick with my dinosaur burner.
A Hole in the Sun
A giant, black region of the sun — called a coronal hole — was spotted on Monday by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Despite the name, however, this isn't a physical hole in the solar surface; coronal holes are cooler in temperature, so they don't glow as bright as other areas of the sun and therefore look black.
"The current coronal hole, the big one right now, is about 300,000 to 400,000 kilometers across," Alex Young, the associate director for science at NASA Goddard's Heliophysics Science Division, told Insider over email. "That is about 20-30 Earths lined up back-to-back."
Coronal holes are common; there is "nothing unusual here," Scott McIntosh, a solar physicist and the deputy director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, told Insider in an email.
Holes like this are part of the sun's normal activity, but McIntosh said that they are "not well understood" and called these events "the 'dark side' of solar activity."
Coronal holes are the source of rapid solar winds, which reach speeds of about 500-800 km per second, Young wrote — The solar winds from this coronal hole are scheduled to reach Earth by the end of this week. READ MORE...
Sunday, March 26
A White Southerner's Perspective
The end of March has also put me into a position where I had to mow the lawn which might be a couple of weeks early this year. But again, more outside time.
Before I got as old as I am, I preferred warm weather to cold but the heat of humidity forces me inside... except when I am at Myrtle Beach as there is always a breeze and the humidity does not bother me...
It is hard to say how many Americans prefer warm to cold weather as there are still tons of people living up north... and, as far as I am concerned they can stay up north.
I guess I am prejudice when it comes to northerners and southerners as my preference is with the latter. The former are typically impolite and very rude and more often than not, are egotistical and stuck up with theirselves...
Does that make me racist? Or, is being a racist just between blacks and whites? For what it's worth, I think we have more blacks down south than in the north... and, I wonder if making that statement makes me a racist?
Someone, not too long ago said Blacks could not be racist... ONLY WHITES... blacks act the way they do because it is a white society in the US of A...
Well, that shit got me to wondering... and, it appears that Blacks only represent 12% of the population and whites represent 60%... That breakdown has nothing to do with slavery... what it means is that less blacks were brought to America than whites... ERGO - it will always be a white society... until the black population becomes greater than the white population...
Right now, Hispanics at 18% are more likely to challenge the whites than blacks are. Then, we have the Asians who are building up their ranks as well...
HOWEVER, due to illegal immigration, Hispanics will now grow substantially faster than blacks... so, I will be really interested in the new demographics data.
I know more northern whites than northern blacks so I am not really sure that the negative feeling held towards northerners actually applies to blacks. What is interestingly curious is that I have no feeling at all towards southern blacks.
The only time I ever think about blacks at all is when BLM is bitching about whites not doing what they are demanding whites to do fast enough. Personally, I am not going to do a damn thing for blacks, except be nice and respectful to them.
Will I ever invite them over to dinner? Probably not.
Will I ever want to go to a black church with them? Probably not.
Will I ever go vacationing with them? Probably not.
Will I ever play golf with them? I don't play golf.
When my wife gets a tan in the summer and changes her skin color from white to a dark tan, is she being a RACIST?
I never thought about it being a black face... but I suppose one could argue that it is...
Is she making fun of blacks when she gets a summer tan?