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

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

#961

Post by rewq4321 » Wed, Aug 10, 2022, 10:05 PM UTC

asdff wrote: post #612

wcoenen wrote: post #586

Using power from solar panels to synthesize food (or at least, food components like starch). It turns out this can be done much more efficiently than photosynthesis. https://phys.org/news/2021-09-chinese-scientists-starch-synt... I bet this will lead to a agricultural revolution similar in magnitude to the Haber-Bosch process. It will also soften some of the impacts from climate change, both by improving food securit…

If its cheap it will be used, doesn't matter what people think. People hate palm oil but its in everything because it has good properties and is cheaper than alternatives.

Fun fact: It's also far more environmentally friendly in terms of how much land is required to produce it: https://ourworldindata.org/palm-oil

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

#962

Post by badtension » Wed, Aug 10, 2022, 10:06 PM UTC

handelaar wrote: post #37

DC home electricity. If your future home has solar and local storage, and your domestic usage is mostly in appliances which convert back down to DC immediately behind the plug socket (most of us have this) then at some point we're going to start wanting to power our homes like houseboats or camper vans. Yes, this won't help for (eg) appliances with heating elements, I'm probably talking about a second discrete wiring…

It seems that other than a few power hungry appliances (oven, kettle, washing machine, heat pump, water heater, gaming PC) the rest are low-power digital devices that need up to about 200W (PS5 gaming console peak reported usage, even large TVs use much less than that).

I would love to see a comprehensive study of a home that would be designed and built around the concept of using two energy sources: AC and 48V DC, backed by battery storage and power grid in case of smaller installations or northern climate.

Would it make sense to do that on a large scale? Having smaller, energy efficient house should limit the need for long copper cables, we would also exclude all those AC-DC converters from today's devices - leaving us with something similar to a USB-C PD (working in the range 5-48V, which of course still is a converter but could be a standardized DC-DC one).

If I am correct then the main advantages would also include not running solar inverter all the time but only when there is a need for a lot of power (where it should be much more efficient) thus also extending its lifespan.

Having said that I do not have enough knowledge to judge whether possible gains would warrant going into this direction for future home installations. I would very much appreciate all comments and maybe some further reading material.

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

#963

Post by neon_electro » Wed, Aug 10, 2022, 10:31 PM UTC

afiori wrote: post #346

neon_electro wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does securing a WebAssembly runtime look like? Have browser developers made good strides on that front yet? Flash declined in part because of its poor security compared to the Web proper (HTML/CSS/JavaScript), so I'm curious where WebAssembly stands.

Until threads are included in WASM its security model is essentially the browser sandbox and scope limitation (WASM modules cannot access the global object nor call arbitrary functions) Essentially WASM can be transpiled to Javascript (or ASM.js more likely) almost line by line and it would have almost the same security. Flash and Java applet were so dangerous because the plugins introduced a ton of new APIs that ski…

Thank you!

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

#964

Post by badtension » Wed, Aug 10, 2022, 11:17 PM UTC

loandigger wrote: post #942

Electric RVs with level 5 self driving. Everyone talks about Teslas for self driving, but for my self driving car, I want an RV with a shower, a desk, a full kitchen, a queen sized bed and a 50" flat panel. Commuting then becomes a pleasure. I can sleep, bathe, work, relax, all without having to concentrate on traffic or driving. The RV can drive in the slow lane at 30 miles an hour for all I care. My RV drives me to…

Maybe it is a good thing to mix our bubbles, I hope I won't be too harsh.

From an European point of view and with a climate catastrophe in mind the solution you are proposing is a disaster (or a joke?). We would be much better off living smaller, closer to each other, with less energy needs. The car-centric culture in America is something I cannot fully grasp. I think the idea of suburbian life with long distance travel each day has been very damaging [1].

I hope that when (if) self driving level 5 ever happens, it would be mainly to auto-steer buses and cheap car rental for driving where public transport does not go.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s19okTYl8MA

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

#965

Post by maverick74 » Wed, Aug 10, 2022, 11:48 PM UTC

maverick74 wrote: post #237

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…

What amazes me is how little we talk about hydrogen (H2) fuel cell vehicles. Because, unless we get a tremendous breakthrough in the next 5 years, electric battery vehicles will be a very big pain. -Batteries are terribly expensive (and prices are not going down as fast as expected) -Batteries degrade too fast -Batteries take too long to charge -Electricity prices are already going up terribly fast to take advantage…

WT...?!?!

How the h... did my simple comment, based on my PERSONAL opinion on the subject got into this witch-hunt?!

Enough with the torches and forks!

This is not propaganda! It's MY PERSONAL conclusion on everything I've read! - the word -PERSONAL- is the key here.

If any of you think I don't like electric vehicles you are wrong! Anything that does not pollute is welcome(to try to undo the shirt we all did)!

But I have to say it: ATM - personal view, again - to me, electric vehicles based on batteries S-U-C-K!!! And they SUCK big time!!! I don't see them as decent alternative!!!

Sure! Environment-friendly it's the best we have! But they suck! And hydrogen has much more promise! Not developed enough? Yeah! It's not. But then again... Let me say it again: electric vehicles based on batteries suck.

And unless they get at least the first 3 points fixed you won't be changing my mind! 50.000 for a car that takes 25 min to charge and that if, for some reason, the battery goes the way of the Dodo I can expand ALMOST another 50.000?

Sorry, I'm not payed enough for that.

You guys must all have big pay checks every month... But I don't!

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

#966

Post by maverick74 » Wed, Aug 10, 2022, 11:59 PM UTC

rocket_surgeron wrote: post #510

maverick74 wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What amazes me is how little we talk about hydrogen (H2) fuel cell vehicles. Because, unless we get a tremendous breakthrough in the next 5 years, electric battery vehicles will be a very big pain. -Batteries are terribly expensive (and prices are not going down as fast as expected) -Batteries degrade too fast -Batteries take too long to charge -Electricity prices are already going up terribly fast to take advantage…

>Batteries degrade too fast What is "too fast"? Much of the fear about battery degradation was from projections and warranty terms at the very beginning of modern EV deployments. Real world observations have shown the battery packs maintaining >85% of their capacity after 150,000mi/241,000km. Also, battery components aren't rare. They're called "rare" because they are not found in large centralized deposits but rathe…

I own a car with +315.000km from 1995 (not my main car, however) that works as good as the day it was bought.

I would like to see battery degradation beat that. (yeah, the tech is new. We'll probably get there... In 10 years)...

About the materials... There is a few reports on their problems... Mining and other problems of getting it

About the battery cost: that's not what I've been reading! It seems batteries are the most expansive part...

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

#967

Post by maverick74 » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 12:18 AM UTC

adrian_b wrote: post #337

maverick74 wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What amazes me is how little we talk about hydrogen (H2) fuel cell vehicles. Because, unless we get a tremendous breakthrough in the next 5 years, electric battery vehicles will be a very big pain. -Batteries are terribly expensive (and prices are not going down as fast as expected) -Batteries degrade too fast -Batteries take too long to charge -Electricity prices are already going up terribly fast to take advantage…

Hydrogen fuel cells are more expensive than batteries, because they either work at room-temperature and they need expensive catalysts using platinum-group metals, or they work at high temperatures and then they have a short lifetime, requiring frequent replacements of most components. Also the efficiency of a cycle of storing energy into gaseous hydrogen and then recovering it is limited by fundamental reasons to low…

Now, this is a nice reply!

Enlighten me in a lot of subjects and with H2 downsides I can accept.

I confess I know a bit more about batteries that the H2...

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

#968

Post by terrycody » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 12:27 AM UTC

Organs can be replaced unlimited times thus to drastically improve human life span. Yeah, I am one of the eternal life believer. I believe this will come true in less than 20 years, but very few people think its possible, while it already shows enough signs of this.

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

#969

Post by maverick74 » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 12:28 AM UTC

JKCalhoun wrote: post #352

maverick74 wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What amazes me is how little we talk about hydrogen (H2) fuel cell vehicles. Because, unless we get a tremendous breakthrough in the next 5 years, electric battery vehicles will be a very big pain. -Batteries are terribly expensive (and prices are not going down as fast as expected) -Batteries degrade too fast -Batteries take too long to charge -Electricity prices are already going up terribly fast to take advantage…

If in the next five years electric battery vehicles become a very big pain, then I suspect you will hear about fuel cell cars ... or whatever the perceived pragmatic replacement is. That we don't hear about hydrogen fuel cell vehicles actually suggests to me that they are not a viable option. I presume, stupidly perhaps, that there are bigger thinkers than me (or certainly people in positions that have a lot more to…

Yes. The sad part is that - I think - we could (and should) already be there... But as always, money leads :(

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

#970

Post by maverick74 » Thu, Aug 11, 2022, 12:40 AM UTC

marcus0x62 wrote: post #386

maverick74 wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What amazes me is how little we talk about hydrogen (H2) fuel cell vehicles. Because, unless we get a tremendous breakthrough in the next 5 years, electric battery vehicles will be a very big pain. -Batteries are terribly expensive (and prices are not going down as fast as expected) -Batteries degrade too fast -Batteries take too long to charge -Electricity prices are already going up terribly fast to take advantage…

> Can we bet a little more on the most abundante substance on the universe? One of those problems is there is no abundant source of hydrogen in isolated form here on earth. You have to use a catalytic agent or an energy-intensive process like electrolysis to get usable hydrogen for your fuel cell.

Well, yes. You're right about that! But that's also true for every other source.

H2, from what I know is nowhere near ready as batteries are.

But I believe with more investment it can get there!