Around here, the residential trucks have hydraulic arms that grab and lift a wheeled bin into the.. hopper thing.

Probably a lot less power required than for the compacting rams, but power nonetheless.

Well, apart from sunk cost, and upgrade cost. Which is why East Germany ran some steam trains almost until reunification! (though I'd imagine they'd have been converted to oil firing by then, which brings down the work load a bit).

Coincidentally, pretty much the only place that can repair or build full size locomotive steam boilers today is in Germany. It's something of a lost art, I guess. When the UK commissioned a new steam train a few years back, they had to get the boiler made in Germany. No one left in the UK can make them, and they invented the things...

(apparently not exactly, but sort of)

Just changing to direct injection diesels with better gearboxes would be a large improvement, yet it doesn't happen. Schools are broke. The school buses around here are as old as me.

Though when a garbage truck is stopped, it's usually lifting garbage bins, with big hydraulics... which need power too. So the engine isn't entirely 'waste' when it's not moving.

Which both happen to be types of motors.

Hence, General Motors.

It was very nearly eradicated. Then the CIA had stooges in Pakistan take DNA samples during polio vaccinations to "track down bin laden", and (reasonably) there is now a suspicion that vaccines are some kind of american evil project there, and resistance. derp.

They could have buried a fake corpse at sea a few years earlier and saved a lot of lives and disability-years of life instead. I'd like to have heard the logic that came up with that plan.

A cup in the US is 1/16 gallon = 1/4 quart = 1/ pint = 8 oz. = 237ml.

Though Canada uses a "metric" cup, 250ml.

Yeah, or all of Canada in the 70's. It's impossible. Give up now.

It's flickering. When you move, the persistence of vision breaks down and the flickering becomes more obvious.

Not really, injection molding is always going to be cheaper for mass produced stuff, shipping inclusive.

Or do you think there will be a day you can 3D print a plastic chair that can support a person for $5?

Wake me up when it prints the motors, belts, and electronics.

The education department did a fine job. That's why at least half of americans call anything they don't like 'socialism', and assume it is bad thing.

The problem with obamacare is it isn't socialist enough. The US is too backward to cut out all the insurance crooks, and move to a single payer system. So instead you get forced payment to private companies. How very socialist.

Dearborn is supposedly the most Arab and muslim 'city' in the US (pop 100k, not much of a city). It's only 40% arab, and some percent of that group are Lebanese Christians (the earliest Arab immigrants to the area). Suppose there are some non-arab muslims though. I can't seem to find decent religious demographics in a quick search.

Canada has been sending a few anglo islam converts to go die in arabia lately. I have no idea what would inspire someone who grew up in Calgary or Winnipeg and got a proper first world education to go martyr themselves for Allah in the third world, but nonetheless it does happen on occasion. The amount is so minuscule it's lost in the noise though.

I suppose the same deal happens in the US on occasion.

stamped / punched stainless steel sheets would probably be about the best option, if you wan't something to really stick around. Less brittle than rock carvings too.

I'm fairly certain that had something to do with Chrome being made by an advertising company. i.e. it was never a technical restriction, but an imposed one.

Though some searching makes it look like this is no longer the case.