In a distributed power generation, who needs power lines (technically, in any power transfer no one should use cables. As, Tesla has shown, 110 years ago, the most economical and efficient way of transferring power is using the ONE conductor with, realistically, an infinite power transfer capacity, from humanity energy use point of view: the Earth. The problem with that, is that there is no way one can SECURE this transfer, everyone with appropriate receiver ( plugged in the Ground ) can extract the current vibrations on particular frequencies, build there as standing waves. Of course, such a system, is absolutely a loosing investment (from transfer-profit point of view), and this is why no corporate (energy) entity will come close to such ideas. Interestingly, some of the new informational giants may decide to explore this now forgotten, and very little understood, art. Of course, there are garage enthusiasts that will always be ahead of everyone around (in any industry), but in order for something like this to be a game changer (for humanity), if allowed, due to its hugely disruptive force, it has to be implemented on relatively massive scale.

A ecllage degree in EE is one thing, and work in Electrical Engineering (not an office/paper/sofware pusher work) is totally different potencial all together. Working on with low power systems is one and working with high power systems, where probably most of the still original/fundamental work currently exists, is a tottaly dfferent thing. Working for joy (sort of hobby) is one thing and working for pay is another, in the EE unlimited field, of course if one is lucky to have both of them in one that is the best, but in reallity these are very selective jobs. Knowing how to solve differencial equestion, does not make one a good engineer, especaially an electrical one (as going through a medical school, and having high grades, does not make one a good medical doctor) these are the basic building blocks that are good to know (altough who knows, and with a sufficient intelligence and good funamentals one can easily pick them online, these days), but as with every knowledge knowing it (whatever that means in ones mind) does not translate to a good practical usage and even lesser to a original one. In addition, the "knowledge" pushed in the EE education, is highly tailored for maintance/support and development work a narrow direction of a vast field. The most intersting and practilcally useful work one does not learn at school but in the field, by making, blowing up and testing stuff. So, EE should be chosen because one enjoys it and not because, one needs to have a job. Technically with a good analythical skills one can get into many jobs, that requires high level of analticial thinking, but not much predefined field knowledge, after he has been in the EE field. As disclosure, I am coming from the high power EE field, although in my high school years, back in Estern Europe was designing and builidng transistor schemas, but for the past 13 or so years, I working on massively scalable software (HPC) systems, but continue doing my highly enjoyable experimental work, in the field of high power (di)electro/magneto-dynamics as a hobby. This work, although not paid ( in the standard sense), brings a lot of joy and substential amount of real savings (some times of several thousands, as off-the-grid systems design and setup) , in anything that has to do with electrical systems to me and a good number of my friends.

"If you put on weight, you eat more than _your_ body needs" - it is not necessarily true, although there is correlation. The big issues is "What one eats?" And if the food is alcain or acidic to the body, or the pH ( the potential of Hydrogen ) level of the food intake. No more and no less. And by the way, ANY ONE can prove him/her self by eating only greens, beens and nuts for about 2-3 months. If such, statements are provocative for you you, as would be for me, can educate your self via the move for alcain live-stile diet, a long movie but has tons of good info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Probably whould be helpful in all of this, if people go and read what the person, who predicted theoretically the superconductivity, or super-resistivity as he named it, actually said. So, basically, go and read Heaviside's 2 voluem "Electrial Papers", in order to understand the mass the current physics/electrical engineering is. And no, this has nothing to do with Maxwell, as Heavisde in his work, corrected and inanced Maxwell's ideas, but has to do with some subsequent characters in the sicentific history and their religious followers.

" I think that GMO food is safe" - This is exactly the problem. A good scientist ( and by the way, PhD does not make someone a good scientist, I my self am a PhD dropout from a Math/Computer Engineering program), knows that there are huge number of variables to consider, if one was to consider them in entirety the question gets to be so complex that is unsolvable/unprovable, so what scientist doe they simplify ( remove "non-influential" variables), but here is exactly when it get very tricky and results/proofs easily influenced by peoples vision/ideas/believes, for ONLY, through Natural evolution one can be sure that ALL of the important factors and the one we consider unimportant, but in reality they are actually important, are being considered, worked out through the chemical/electrical/biologic processes in Nature. For at least one thing is absolutely sure, we are not isolated from Nature, and any abrupt changes in our food chain is abrupt change in Nature itself. And I ma leaving aside the the gradual changes that will be build in our bodies, due to the change in the complexity of the molecules we are supposed to use for energy extraction (eating).

and we even have started to consider any small passing objects with trajectory intersecting the surface of the structure (PIx800^2 meters), and considering the probabilities of such impact, and the useful live of such a structure. Of course, the goal is to make 10,000 ( or x10) pictures or so, show it to the ignorant public and claim success, and let the structure it stay as garbage in space, this is different way of thinking.

As long as they are making enouph money, to keep the shareholders happy, they can explore whatever thie vision and intellect feel need to acompish. If, or when, the times come that this is not enough, then either they can make the company private, when the price fall low enough, or they change the visonaries with more dry, business/money oriented people. In one way, as a privite one, the Google culture will endure, in the other one will gradually die.

"Of course college is a stepping stone (hopefully) for a better job and living. Why else would you go to college?" - how about gaining knowledge, but I guess in the world where highly valuable knowledge is freely available on the Net ( for about $50/month ), one just needs native intelect and focus in order to educate oneslef. Of course it is totaly other matter if one whants to get a (highly priced) dipoloma (from whatever college), for that one needs to pay, for sure, but the catch is a diploma does not give you, or equate, to a high paying job, knowledge and a given skillset on the other side do. It is not conicedently that 10% of Google's workforce are with (only) high school diploma. I guess that, on many levels, they have a lot more knowledge and skills than 99.9% of the contemorary college graduates.

A simple opinion based on personal observations having passed via EE, Math and CS degrees and heaving thought core CS (math) subjects. CS degree is not something I would recommend for someone to get/invest into. It is some kind of morph between (extreamly soft) EE and (soft) Math degrees. If people are interested in ether EE,Physics or Math they should go for it, for the sake of loving the subject and experienencing the hard problems they model from the real world. If for the sake of carier safety they need to learn the CRAFT of coding, so be it, for It is highly likely that at the end 50% - 60% of these people will work in software development field anyway, But their experience and aquired knowledge of solving problems will be more valuable in the software development field when NOT coming form, what is considered, CS background.

That Musk is working on more fundamental problems is more than clear for anyone who has some core understanding of engineering and the underlying challenges when dealing with physical reality vs software based ones. Jobs was a consumer oriented/marketing/product visionary person, in contrast, Musk is looking in the future and is trying to put GROWTH in the direction of solving some of the underlying fundamental civilization problems, and this is highly admirable. Regrettably, as of lately, it seems that "Tesla" company ( and this implies Musk vision) is moving towards making their cars as difficult to modify as possible and in such is trying to undermined the growth of the only market that can compete with the NEW electric car vehicles one and that is the internal combustion engine (ICE) -to-electric conversion market. In the world there are over 700 million ICE card and everyone of them can be converted to electric, this is a huge market for the electro/mechanical shops, that will eat a big byte of the market for new electric cars. For that ICE-to-electric to grow it needs commodity parts that are easily swappable/interface-able between different brand components, this is what the electric vehicles car maker are realizing and are trying to undermine and curtail. Of course, Musk is working through the corporate structure of the business and not as an independent entrepreneur/visionary ( as he would like to be perceived), and such he has to make sure that the shareholders get their part, and this, regrettably, leads to undermining any market competition even, if in the light of it, the world, in no doubt, will be moving in the same direction (and even A LOT FASTER) as in Musk's vision, and will be a better place even without THE HIGH COST inherently present in the selling of NEW electric vehicles.

Markus Krajewski points out something that has been known for a long time in restricted circles or inqusitive intersted in energy efficiency entusiasts. As amazing as this "news" can be, it would be highly interesting, for the inquisivitve and interested in these energy efficiency matters person, to investigate the qutestion about the efficiency of the standard electrical motor and rotorry electrical motor with pulsating current and recovery of BEMF (Back EMF) or IK ( Inductive Kick ) as some people name it. There are many other examples around that are simply astonishing to note, ones one understand the levels of energy inefficiency our machinary indulges. Just for a kick start, simply 90% of the energy used the the refrigerator in a household can be saved, if only people change the habit of storring their food from upright refrigerator to a horizontal based refrigerator (such are not sold but easily converted to refrigeratros via a terperature controller, from a what is commonly known as chest freezer). In upright refigerator ones, opened the colld air mimidately starts going downstream OUT, while in a chest (horizontal) freezer converted to refrigerator the cold air, has nowhere to go so it stays whithin the walls of the refrigerator. As a refrigerator is usually about 20-25% of house hold energy usage, on everage 20% percent of the houseold energy can be immediately saved just by chaning symply our habbits and demanding (or simply creating our) energy efficiency.

It is nice to porject numbers, but it is quite different how it will play out. With the advancment of the supercaps (in any shape and form, even as the entire car frame and the internal parts of a car) the need for baterries will be going sharply down. Why one needs to store energy in (a lot of) additional weight, if one can use the car construct as an energy storage itself.

Everyone who has experimented with High Voltage 30-40KV+ will tell you that there is a thrust effect, observed. Clearly, this is due to the push against the dielectric particles of air, here on earth, but the same is true for the interplanetary space, just there the particle are fewer but of course the speeds they accelerate to a lot higher. If one reads Tesla's publications in "The Electrical Engineer" from June 10, 1892 ( and several others form the same train of publications), (s)he will realize the concepts and see that this is naturally possible phenomena, just requites clear understanding without common misconceptions.

The problem is not the law of physics, it is the technology implementation. Try using any of your electronic devices to a HV rapidly pulsating (2-3K cycles will suffice) in air (basic dielectric(, electrostatic field and you will get the idea. And lets not go to the "laws" of physics for Nature does not recognize our human defined laws about it, for ALL of them (our laws) brake, under more or less extremes conditions. And a point here it is good to go back in the pioneers of the electrical physics and engineering (Maxwell, Heaviside, Tesla, Lord Kelvin, Steinmetz, C. A. Bjerknes and several others fellows) in order to understand the present inefficiencies.

the problem is not in the solar storms, as they have been happening for billions of years, and will happen for another billions after our "civili"zation is long gone. Note that on the statistical based our observational material for the power of these storms is absolutely insignificant. The problem is our technology, or more the way it has evolved since the beginning of 20th century. Tesla had gone in totally opposite direction, looking and evolving natural way of power distribution and efficient power usage and protection and was solely designing and working with HV systems. Every appliance can be designed to work with HV and high frequency, the natural way of energy distribution, but this was not how the rest of the engineering world looked at the problem, so they and the industry when in totally the other way. Under a such storm virtually all of the Tesla's inventions will just give more power for they were naturally designed to transform such power surges. So the educated reader can go and research, and at least try to build some of these appliances, and educate other people around him/her. The more they know about Tesla and his systems the more humans have chance to face/change the problems that procrastinate our contemporary "civili"zation and as a bonus not to worry about cosmic event of a such type.