261–270 of 432 posts
It is absolutely stupid to talk about this as edisons revenge. If Tesla had the modern high power transistors needed to get high voltage dc out of the ac produced from a spinning turbine he would be all for high voltage dc too. Tesla understood that high voltage was needed for efficient long range transmission. He also understood that transformers were the inly remotely efficient way to climb up to and down from thes…
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From your earlier comment, your curiosity was more about what happens after we run out. In your question you stated the running out as a given fact ("When" we run out, not "if"). If that was what you wanted to say I can't tell you, but that's definitely how it was received and thus you also got the harsh response. Since it reads a lot like doomsday thinking. (Example: Does that mean when we run out of oxygen there ar…
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I suppose that still begs the question somewhat, since the US does have 240V (2 phase) already driving many appliances. Why hasn’t it ever become standard for luxury kitchens to have a European-style outlet for use with a European kettle? I know the US already has a different 240V plug shape, so it might have to be an unlicensed installation, but surely someone wanted hot tea faster and did that calculus before?
> but surely someone wanted hot tea faster No one in the USA drinks hat tea. The choices (and it tends to be regionally-based) is sweet or unsweet tea. No need to boil a kettle quickly for that.
Still though, I don't seem to see most of those people seriously clamoring for the electric kettle to go a bit faster. The cost for the wiring difference and dealing with odd imported kettles just isn't worth it generally.
We have some old ceiling and exhaust fans, but I know those can be replaced. Our refrigerator is AC, but extended family with an off-grid home has a DC refrigerator that cycles way less, probably due to multiple design factors but I’m sure the lack of transformer heat is part of it. I’m not as sure about laundry machine or oven/cooktop options but I believe those are also running on DC in the off-grid home without inverters.
Most of these AC appliances also have transformers in them anyway for the control boards. It seems kind of insane to me that we are still doing things this way.
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From your earlier comment, your curiosity was more about what happens after we run out. In your question you stated the running out as a given fact ("When" we run out, not "if"). If that was what you wanted to say I can't tell you, but that's definitely how it was received and thus you also got the harsh response. Since it reads a lot like doomsday thinking. (Example: Does that mean when we run out of oxygen there ar…
?Why would we run out?) Of oxygen, because of rising temperatures interacting with rock weathering binding all the oxygen. Now, that's more of something to worry about at geological time scales, but Earth in fact, is not infinite.
Is there anything left in a modern home that really needs or is better on AC? We have some old ceiling and exhaust fans, but I know those can be replaced. Our refrigerator is AC, but extended family with an off-grid home has a DC refrigerator that cycles way less, probably due to multiple design factors but I’m sure the lack of transformer heat is part of it. I’m not as sure about laundry machine or oven/cooktop opti…
AC motors are using way more power than the puddly control boards in most home appliances. So you lose a little efficiency on conversion but being 80% efficient doesn’t matter much when it’s 1-5% of the devices energy budget. You generally gain way more than that from similarly priced AC motors being more efficient.
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Whilst I agree that Keanu is a most excellent human, he was hardly responsible for the concept of the Matrix. In my opinion, Philip K Dick was a major influence (I'm a fan and consider him the prophet of the modern age), though Gibson's Neuromancer was likely a big influence too. (Also, there's the old Doctor Who episode "The Deadly Assassin" which features the Matrix). It always seems to me that the far right are be…
> the far right are bereft of original ideas and always co-opt other pre-existing concepts. That's not unique to them: Good artists copy; great artists steal.
The datacenter I built in 2007 was DC. Many datacenters I'd been to at that point were already DC. Didn't think this was that new of a trend in 2026, but also acknowledge I did not visit more than a handful of datacenters since 2007. It just seemed like a undenyably logical thing to do.
I've been hearing this line for over a decade, now. "Immersion cooling will make data centers scale!" "Converting to DC at the perimeter increases density!" Yes, of course both of those things are true, and yes, some data centers do engage in those processes for their unique advantages. The issue is that aside from specialty kit designed for that use (like the AWS Outposts with their DC conversion), the rank-and-file…
It is absolutely stupid to talk about this as edisons revenge. If Tesla had the modern high power transistors needed to get high voltage dc out of the ac produced from a spinning turbine he would be all for high voltage dc too. Tesla understood that high voltage was needed for efficient long range transmission. He also understood that transformers were the inly remotely efficient way to climb up to and down from thes…
the internet really needs to stfu about tesla and get over that oatmeal comic that spawned a billion internet myths. dude was a decent inventor but suffered from chronic mental health issues and, in his lifetime, wasted so much time/energy/money and burned so many bridges with his horrible attitude. there's a reason most people didnt like him in his day, he was a depressed asshole who alienated everyone around him, a…