I suspect that by the time you get to the very top of a huge organisation, you run into a problem: the number of people on the surface of the planet who have the experience, skills and ability needed are so few and far between that you'll be lucky if there's half a dozen potential candidates in the whole country.

This may be true, but looking from the performance of who actually gets hired shows that often (not always, of course) they *don't* appear to have the experience, skills, and ability needed, or are overly self-confident to the point of dismissing data that clearly shows reality is different from their assumptions. A lot of times, a company's success is due to simple common sense and selling what people actually want to buy regardless of who's running the company.

Where a Tesla has similar components and designs as other cars, the front suspension is going to be totally different than 90% of other sedans it's size.

Other than the lack of CV joints (I had thought the S was all-wheel drive, but you're correct on this point), what specifically is different regarding the front suspension? Does it not have upper/lower control arms and tie rod ends with joints that wear?

One could argue that sealed systems are less prone to wear because the dust and grit cannot get in and the grease cannot get out, but I'll skip making the obvious point.

You could argue it, but the worn (sealed) suspension parts in my '02 Sierra that I'm about to replace at 116K miles would tend to disagree with your statement (the joints in my '86 Silverado with twice the mileage are fine, but then they've been kept greased), as does the fact that almost everyone I've seen that did the replacement themselves replaces any sealed parts with greasable ones where they can. The Moog parts I'm replacing them with (which are far better than the factory parts) come with zerks - no drilling required. The worn ball joints and tie rod ends in my truck likely aren't dirty, but they *are* dry. Grease (even synthetic) doesn't last forever, and in a sealed system, once the grease wears out, the joint follows soon after and there's not anything you can do to prevent it. You're absolutely correct that most people with greasable parts don't follow the recommended maintenance schedule, and the sealed joints do last longer than an *unmaintained* part. They generally are also designed to be a royal PITA to replace (for ball joints, anyway), so most shops replace the entire control arm assembly at a much greater cost. They most definitely don't last longer than a properly maintained part with zerks though. Any decent 30-minute lube place should be taking care of anything with fittings anyway.

Not to mention the competition is in Bejing, so a lot of people would be spending several thousand dollars in travel expenses just to get the chance to win $10K, with most going home empty-handed. It's an interesting competition, but the prize money isn't enough to really encourage people IMO.

Jiffy Lube for your Tesla? What are they going to do to a Tesla? Change the oil and filter?

I mentioned it in another thread, but the Tesla's front suspension really isn't any different than any other car, and needs grease like any other car. The components may be sealed - I don't know, but I would hope not. Sealed ball joints, tie rod ends, etc. tend to wear out faster than those with zerks that are properly maintained IME.

They also have ball joints, CV joints, tie rod ends, etc. that need grease just like any other car.

One of the helo officers claims this thing went from 0-2000 ft in 2 seconds.

Even model rockets aren't that fast off the ground. About the only thing that can do that from a standstill is a bullet.

Here's a hint: a trademark has no natural expiration.

And a trademark can be lost if it's shown that you knew about the infringement but did nothing.

FTA: “Recently I applied for a patent on 3D printing,” Suarez told BBC in an interview.

Okay, give us the application number so we can actually see what you've done and see if there's any prior art. A cursory search of the USPTO application database returns nothing at all for Thomas Suarez as the inventor, nor for any Suarez in either Los Angeles or Manhattan Beach, the given (residential) address for CarrotCorp.

I really hope this kid has stumbled onto something good, but everyone seems content to just take him at his word without anything to substantiate his claims.

So, no, it isn't going to hurt like blazes.

He was referring to whatever surgery the patient had been rendrered unconscious for (say, an appendectomy), not surgery to implant a device in the brain

Then you have never looked at a ten line C program to implement a PID control loop for a servo motor.

But the controller that the loop is a part of will still be more than happy to drive whatever the motor is attached to right past its mechanical limits if a limit switch fails. :-) I've seen it happen many times myself.

Available soon: The 60" Sony LCD Panopticon!

Their primary function does not and should not supersede U.S. law.

The excuse Chief Justice Rehnquist gave in his majority opinion was that while being stopped at a checkpoint did count as "seizure" under the Fourth Amendment, it is only a "slight" intrusion which must be weighted against the importance of preventing drunk driving and the effectiveness of the roadblocks and therefore not a true violation of our Constitutional rights.

"Just the tip, okay baby?" as defined by the Supreme Court.

The operative and contested term being reasonable.

Which essentially is what the Fourth Amendment defines.

"Yeah, they broke the law, but they had good reasons!" Another useless government agency.