Why would those insulating plates isolate the electric fields? Insulators do not stop electric fields, they stop electric current.

If you look closely you see that the aluminum 80/20 frame is sitting inside a metal chamber, which is presumably the vacuum chamber.

Agreed and this point is exactly my problem with one statement in the article:

"The magnitude [10 mN] is not important, really, since anything above zero would work in space!"

Actually it is important because it's easy to get fooled by external influences when the effect is tiny. If he was measuring 50 N of force it's easy to eliminate subtle testing artifacts, e.g., interactions with Earth's magnetic field. So in this case either scaling up to larger forces or getting into space seem like the only options.

Apologies, I said "per unit energy" there and I meant "per unit power". Point still stands, if that's what they're claiming, no more evidence needed.

I generally agree with you, but the issue I'm having with your example is that it starts with something producing a certain amount of force per watt (e.g., 1 N per W). Any example starting with that will run into the paradox that you're referring to. So the more general claim is that it's impossible to create a machine that produces a constant force per unit energy expended, correct? Are the inventors claiming their "drive" can do that? If so, I don't need any more evidence to decide that it's total nonsense.

That might be the most myopic description I've ever heard of thermodynamics. That's like saying the field of electronics is all about how electrons move through copper.

Thermodynamics is an enormous field of which gas dynamics is a very tiny fraction. More generally, thermodynamics describes how energy moves between its various forms, what factors affect those changes in form, and the fundamental laws that govern those transformations. I would even hazard to say that description itself may be too narrow.

From the scant details given, it seems the technology discussed here is about converting the energy stored in electrical fields to kinetic energy. That very much involves thermodynamics, and at least the very first law of thermodynamics, that energy cannot be created nor destroyed, but only change forms.

If your motorcycle upgraded its firmware, and told it can only run on Shell gasoline

If your Samsung phone updated so you could only charge it with a Samsung-built charger

If your car updated to only start if it had Michelin tires

If your laundry machine stopped working unless it had Tide detergent in it

If your electric toothbrush stopped working unless it had Colgate toothpaste

If your coffeemaker only worked with Nescafé coffee

If your flashlight only worked with Energizer batteries

If your mechanical pencil only worked with one brand of graphite

Others?

This. He is deservedly in the Pantheon of physicists because he (and other coauthors) predicted it. But as is the case in high energy physics, experimental discovery is the culmination of the effort of hundreds (or more) scientists and engineers.

It's pretty well documented that maintenance costs are less. For example this:

https://advocacy.consumerrepor...

"Analysis of real-world maintenance and repair cost data from thousands of CR members
shows that BEV and PHEV owners are paying half as much as ICE owners are paying to
repair and maintain their vehicles."

Not mentioned here is that the lack of a complicated gearbox in an EV eliminates the need for maintenance and potential problems of a transmission.

I get that manual transmissions are fun. I suspect more EV manufacturers will adjust to include them if the market is large enough. I do hope that there's some room for engineering types and gearheads to have something to play around with in an EV-only future. As it is now, what sort of mechanical tinkering is possible with current EVs? Motor modifications? Weight shifting? Or is most tinkering happening on the electronic side?

If this is something that is +/- 1 second on a few years timescale, what systems rely on getting the earths rotational speed correct to that level over a few years? Do GPS systems require it? Maybe some geodesy studies would need to account for it?

By this logic my toddler has aged me 463 years. Feels about right.

I drive a commercial vehicle with an ELD. Incredibly useful replacement for paper-based logging. Their job is to log location, hours driven, and fuel use. I'm shocked that there are ones that have the ability to control a vehicle.

There are two mechanisms that I can think of to slow down a truck against the driver's wishes. One is if they are running low on diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), the engine drops its RPM and forces you to basically crawl along until you find a gas station. This is mandatory on commercial diesel vehicles. The second is a remote shutoff system to stop the vehicle if it's been stolen (not mandatory). I suppose those systems could be linked up to the ELD. I'm not aware of any ELDs that do that, but maybe mine is just old. I certainly wouldn't be comfortable with my ELD being able to control the truck.

I was thinking the same. I'm a scientist that would never analyze large datasets in Excel because that's not what it's made for. But it does have a lot of capability, especially for financial analysis, and is quite convenient for quick calculations (for my work, at least).

I'd like to see the history of this excel workbook. I bet this started a very long time ago as a small-ish workbook when they realized they needed to transition away from paper, and excel was easy to implement. There are many many examples of that in small business.

Sure, I do try to reduce my GHG emissions in other ways, where I can. What's your point?