Comment Re:Biology workbook (Score 1) 770
You're right, it's not blue. It's more of a violet, actually, but our cone cells aren't able to differentiate that from blue.
The Google car has now driven more than half a million miles without causing an accident—about twice as far as the average American driver goes before crashing. Of course, the computer has always had a human driver to take over in tight spots. Left to its own devices, Thrun says, it could go only about fifty thousand miles on freeways without a major mistake. Google calls this the dog-food stage: not quite fit for human consumption. “The risk is too high,” Thrun says. “You would never accept it.” The car has trouble in the rain, for instance, when its lasers bounce off shiny surfaces. (The first drops call forth a small icon of a cloud onscreen and a voice warning that auto-drive will soon disengage.) It can’t tell wet concrete from dry or fresh asphalt from firm. It can’t hear a traffic cop’s whistle or follow hand signals.
In the past, refrigeration did not take hold for 20+ years after it was invented due to the tight grip of the ice-houses.
It had nothing to do with "the tight grip of the ice-houses". The first commercially available home refrigerator came onto the market in 1911 (a time when the vast majority of homes did not yet have electricity) and was powered by an external motor (or steam/internal combustion engine) that was often mounted in a different room. The first self contained refrigerator came onto the market in 1923, retailing for $714 ($9,700.30 in 2013). For comparison, the average yearly wage at that time was $1,066. These weren't devices that many people could afford. Mass production didn't really begin until after World War II, reducing the cost and making refrigeration accessible to many more people.
It seems odd how they are trying to go "straight to the road". Seems like they should be having self-driving cars continually running at big businesses such as warehouses, airports, etc delivering materials, etc and see how many accidents they have
Automated fork lifts are already becoming fairly common in larger warehouses and factories. These are actually fairly easy, since you have a controlled environment and areas that can be marked as off-limits to humans. Airports have an *awful* lot going on ramp-side, so it would take a bit more effort to automate the fleet of trucks, tugs, and other service vehicles. I'd wager that self driving cars will be here before significantly automated air ports.
When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle. - Edmund Burke
