Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

631–640 of 1001 posts

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#631

Post by asdff »

soramimo wrote: post #102
sys_64738 wrote: post #93

EVs and the ability to power your house for several days. I think the combination of solar and and EV provide the ability to store power when the sun goes down. This starts to solve one of solar's paradoxes IMO.

I thought about this too and came to the conclusion that home and EV batteries probably have different requirements. For instance, a home battery might have to be more durable (so withstand more charging cycles) but on the flip side can be heavier. That said there might be synergies by repurposing worn out EV batteries as home or grid storage batteries.

There is no chance that these corporations will allow us to repurpose our used EV batteries. Tesla doesn't even let you work on your car.

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#632

Post by riskable »

SamuelAdams wrote: post #194
throwaway787544 wrote: post #163

The stumble over abandonment of ICE vehicles. By 2030 (8 years from now) at least six manufacturers will have stopped making ICE vehicles entirely, and India claims it will ban the sale of ICE-only vehicles. By 2040 (18 years from now) over half of all new cars sold will be electric, and the UK and France claim they will ban the sale of ICE-only vehicles. However, there's still not a plan that makes all that sustaina…

Also note that “half of all new cars sold” does not mean half of all vehicles on the road. People will keep using their ICE cars for 10-20 years after their manufacture date. I’m curious to see the actual projections of cars on the road that are electric vs ICE. My guess is, by 2040, it might be 25% (in the USA).

Another way to look at it: A ton of gas stations aren't very profitable. Most don't even make any real money on the gas!

So what happens when 1/4 of all their customers disappear? Many will close and when that happens there will be less competition, driving up gas prices which will result in more people buying electric cars. It's a cycle that--once it kicks off--is going to move very quickly. Faster than people, cities, and society are prepared for, that's for sure!

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#633

Post by TrapLord_Rhodo »

kurthr wrote: post #215
throwaway787544 wrote: post #163

The stumble over abandonment of ICE vehicles. By 2030 (8 years from now) at least six manufacturers will have stopped making ICE vehicles entirely, and India claims it will ban the sale of ICE-only vehicles. By 2040 (18 years from now) over half of all new cars sold will be electric, and the UK and France claim they will ban the sale of ICE-only vehicles. However, there's still not a plan that makes all that sustaina…

Is there a reason you assume people won't simply charge at night with relatively standard 240V (or even 120V) chargers? Most cars don't average more than 60 miles a day, which is less than 20kWh. In much of the US you could install 10-15 solar panels to do that even in the winter. Now solar panels are mostly made in China (as are almost all consumer electronics), but that seems like a far more general problem to solv…

> made in China (as are almost all consumer electronics), but that seems like a far more general problem to solve.

Production does not mean capacity.

Obvious one is Tesla. has alot of solar capacity but doesn't make alot of sales since they are at the high end of the market. Same with Misson Solar and Solaria.

If we took a hard stance on trading with China it would hurt alot of the big name players, there would be alot of constraints for a while, but would give smaller, US Based manufacturers with more capacity than sales time to shine.

There is no way around the labor equation in products without effective legislation.

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#634

Post by asdff »

jazzyjackson wrote: post #13
jimbob45 wrote: post #2

Cultured meat[0] has the potential to upend the farming industry. This isn't near meat, it's actual meat and it's already here. We're simply waiting for the cost to come down from $10,000/kg or whatever crazy price it's currently at. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultured_meat

wish I remembered what podcast I was listening to... it was someone running a company developing synthetic milk and eggs explaining why meat will never scale up, the problem is the growth medium for muscle is also the perfect environment for bacteria, and we basically need to reinvent immune systems before you're going to get a cubed inch of healthy chicken to grow without contamination

Thermodynamically it doesn't even seem like cultured meat should be any better than traditional meat. Sure you are making more stuff than just meat, but like nearly 100% of the animal ends up being used in some capacity for different sources that now all need a synthetic alternative developed that happens to be better for the environment than the old way of using a cow. Call me incredulous but I feel like it would be better to just figure out how to lower the environmental costs of having the cow. You have this sytem that already works fine to generate meat and a host of other products from known inputs. Why reinvent the wheel? Just make a better wheel. Capture the methane. Farm feedcrops in sustainable ways. Treat the animal with respect over its life.

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#635

Post by arbitrary_name »

ericmcer wrote: post #402
rgrieselhuber wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of the truly rich today, can you honestly say that they are more attractive than average? I’m not seeing it. I’m not talking Hollywood level but much higher, generational wealth levels. I realize that it’s hard to get data on this but just anecdotally, there aren’t many examples that come to mind.

Have you seen Zuckerberg, Musk and Bezos?

Have you seen who they are dating?

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#637

Post by [deleted] »

ericmcer wrote: post #402
rgrieselhuber wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of the truly rich today, can you honestly say that they are more attractive than average? I’m not seeing it. I’m not talking Hollywood level but much higher, generational wealth levels. I realize that it’s hard to get data on this but just anecdotally, there aren’t many examples that come to mind.

Have you seen Zuckerberg, Musk and Bezos?

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#638

Post by TrapLord_Rhodo »

entropicgravity wrote: post #566

Personal vehicles will be getting both bigger and smaller. What's different from the past is that electric motors scale much better than IC engines. Both the world's smallest vehicles (kid's toys) and the largest vehicles (huge mining trucks) are both electric. First the small. Cities will soon start to ban all but electric vehicles in their downtown cores (already happening in some Chinese cities). The primary reaso…

Battery's DO NOT scale like you claim.

A desiel semi is much lighter than an Electric Semi is. That's why Tesla Semi hasn't launched yet. They are currently trying to change the regulation for maximum allowances on US Roads from 10k to 14k.

The Delta-V on an electric vehicle has the problem that the battery scales more proportionately to weight and range than a desiel equivelent. Desiel gas has a tremendous amount of energy stored so compactly that is impossible to match with electric batterys.

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#639

Post by ericd »

TrapLord_Rhodo wrote: post #633
kurthr wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a reason you assume people won't simply charge at night with relatively standard 240V (or even 120V) chargers? Most cars don't average more than 60 miles a day, which is less than 20kWh. In much of the US you could install 10-15 solar panels to do that even in the winter. Now solar panels are mostly made in China (as are almost all consumer electronics), but that seems like a far more general problem to solv…

> made in China (as are almost all consumer electronics), but that seems like a far more general problem to solve. Production does not mean capacity. Obvious one is Tesla. has alot of solar capacity but doesn't make alot of sales since they are at the high end of the market. Same with Misson Solar and Solaria. If we took a hard stance on trading with China it would hurt alot of the big name players, there would be al…

Eh? Tesla's the cheapest I've seen on a per-installed-watt basis, unless you mean solar roof?

Re: Ask HN: What's the next big thing that few people are talking about?

#640

Post by O__________O »

CraftingLinks wrote: post #588

Having gone through a lot of top posts in this thread, it's kind of disappointing how relatively boring these predictions for the future are. That's a sign were in a great wave of pessimism of what the future will bring. That pessimism may well be justified, but there's also an underlying 'hopelessness' emanating from the suggested unambitious 'next big thing'. Otoh, there's no shortage of CGI moonshot projects that…

Generally speaking future is more like the present than most would wish. Climate change is really the biggest change coming and one given the progress that’s been made, likely only going to get worse, not better.
Post reply on HN