John Curl's Blowtorch preamplifier part II

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I knew a radiation safety physicist who agree to be interviewed by a newspaper reporter. He said he would never do it again. They made him sound like some kind of radiation cowboy and quoted him saying things he never said. Sensationalism helps to sell newspapers for one thing.

It turns out it is legal for reporters to use quotes around words nobody ever said. The law goes back to the days when reporters used notepads to jot down notes or relied on memory when interviewing. The courts held that meaning of the words has to about like whatever the person being quoted said, but not exactly. Also, proving a reporter made something up entirely is hard to do when it is a case of he said, she said. If an interview was recorded and preserved, then perhaps something could be proven.
 
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Yeah, every time I read a news article for something in my field, I die a little inside. Especially if you go read the original work.

And while things like MIT technical review are better than most, it's still usually way off mark.

That is also my experience. If you read an article about a field you know something about, there are almost always glaring errors and plain BS. By extension, articles about fields you don't know anything about also have glaring errors and plain BS, but you don't realize it.
A sobering thought that many of the things you pick up are glaring errors and plain BS....

Jan
 
I have to admit I have not seen much on the battery alternatives lately, in the past there were water towers, flywheels, fuel cells, I guess none have panned out. At least the flywheels were seriously scary.

Were they what? I seem to recall reading that they had to operate in a vacuum, because the perimeter speed was in excess of the speed of sound? Also, to reduce friction. Or did I dream that bit?
 

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I have to admit I have not seen much on the battery alternatives lately, in the past there were water towers, flywheels, fuel cells, I guess none have panned out. At least the flywheels were seriously scary.

That isnt exactly true.

Some cities have been adopting tubes that have spinning carbon-fiber thick tubes inside, in a vacuum. They store energy at something like 45krpm, when the city is between peaks that force up energy use. That way they can prevent waste by storing what they dont use, and using it when they need it without having to ramp up the supplies supply so much, so fast.
 
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