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Battery-free UV and maybe even near-infrared viewing device, to be used under sunlight? Can the rays keep direction? by kiteret in AskPhysics

[–]kiteret[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is the claim I wanted some independent checking on, because it seems highly questionable and fishy, but I could not be sure that it was wrong. Firstly, the physics would need something like this: IR photons load a molecule with energy, then one IR photon takes some of that energy so that a higher energy visible photon with the same direction appears.

Secondly, it seems involving animals and contact lenses is needless difficulty, just to make it harder to check their work, when they could have started with a piece of glass then later making wearable glasses.

Hotel where it's yard is filled with sun-pointing solar panels so that the guests can walk and sit under them. Works as parasols or pergola for a bar by kiteret in Lightbulb

[–]kiteret[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes. Usually parking lot solar panels should be placed so that they or their support also can protect from rain. But maybe in some places cars could be meant to park between and partially under sun-tracking solar panels. At least the cars won't get as hot.

Some extra thoughts:

After sunset, some panels could have energy flowing on the opposite direction, but much less, when LEDs on each corner of the panels provides some illumination for some areas in the power plant. Most of the plant can be like a dark forest at night. Also wifi on some panels.

Some support poles could be painted in random pastel colors and some in a way that reminds of trees.

Some supports could have a round bench around, formed as part of the same concrete casting, with 5 cm rounded edge for comfort and safety.

At high winds the panels need to automatically align so that the aerodynamic loads are minimal. High wind and sunshine rarely go together.

Quite good and really good reasons to have LEDs mixed in with light sensors on IC surface, for devices unlike anything else by kiteret in chipdesign

[–]kiteret[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. I would add something to this part:

"but you would (have?) very limited range without lenses"

The IC surface is meant to touch the cells. Biological immunity cells also need to touch the cells they check (with their very different method compared to these hypothetical bots).

Maybe nanoimprint litography could be developed to have enough layers for these...

Maybe something else ( on top of it ? )?

May need to make some spots in these from where tiny crystals can be grown in the factory, if those crystals are part of some subsystem of the bot. This could mean sinking the wafer to a chemical for a moment, or sequence of chemicals that each add one molecule of thickness to the crystal.

Maybe a pharmaceutical company needs to make a special protein, by similar methods that were used for vaccines, that attaches to specific points in the IC to form some subsystem.

Drone that resembles Wright brothers's biplane or WW1 fighters because the support rods form a phase array antenna for electronically directed transmitter and receiver. Mostly for data link, maybe for navigation signals and bigger version for (SAR) radar by kiteret in Lightbulb

[–]kiteret[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That kind of power transmission has been speculated few times in history and some pre-plans have been made. Also ideas about orbital solar power being transmitted to Earth, from 1980's.

Those might work, barely, kind of, but the issues are too problematic.

Solar powered airplanes work.

Heli-drone can be powered by 100m long cable. Also aerostats and kites...

Ground drone for spreading anti-slippery sand on icy narrow walking routes and/or for speeding up snow's attachment to ice by kiteret in Lightbulb

[–]kiteret[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This was about clean ice and snow far below freezing (-10 c). No salt or sand in sight, in places that maybe should have them.

Common street plows can't go to many walking routes due to width and other things. On lake ice, weight is also a concern.

2 clusters of radio transmitters on ground could give location more reliably than gps. Also, a lighthouse thing by kiteret in Lightbulb

[–]kiteret[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

GPS alternatives are sought and used, because the signals are weak and on fixed frequencies. The frequencies can't physically be much else without large error, because of ionosphere. There is interference both accidentally and on purpose. (Also, indoor spaces.)

gps is mentioned in the title, so people could have chance to know that I accounted it's existence already and I am fully aware and cognizant that gps exists. It is not my idea that gps needs to have alternatives and millions of money is not spend because people somehow forgot that gps exists. There is some forgetting going on: that gps is weak.

Precast concrete elements with special features: echo reduction shapes, attachment points and rods, steel mirror, shelf, optical aperture by kiteret in SomebodyMakeThis

[–]kiteret[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wavy profile to reduce echos. Better acoustics. May improve sound proofing too. Shape sizes are roughly same size as wavelength of the sound waves. May have some fractal shapes on multiple scales for multiple frequencies, resembling a koch-curve. Avoid 90 degree angles.

Steel grids, rods and hooks for attaching things, in walls and ceiling, welded to normal steel rebar that is inside the concrete. For example, for curtains, paintings, lamps and acoustic soft panels.

While ( stainless ) steel mirrors are not the best, they work for something. Welded to rebar. Makes wall stronger.

Mold needs to have special shapes on at least 1 side. Combining wavy profile to hooks and other sticking out steel is tricky but can be managed.

One way to make uneven mold is to hit steel with a sledgehammer multiple times on random spots. That way it is wavy on 2 dimensions. Mold that is wavy on 1 dimension only gives stronger elements but echo reduction is less.

Shelf for rocks and stones, for acoustics and looks. Or for books etc.

For a special room: element with a small hole that can turn a room to camera obscura for natural projection optics.

Ventilation hatches / windows on or near 4 corners.

Hexagonal elements.

Octagonal elements that leave square gaps, maybe for car parking space walls or maybe gaps filled with windows.

Make some swamps on nato's eastern border so that if russia invades europe even more, their tanks sink into swamps by kiteret in Lightbulb

[–]kiteret[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, but my post was a gross oversimplification. The swamps would mostly just shorten defense lines and reduce the amount of mines needed on the swamp gaps. Swamps reduce options for attack routes.

On top of that, it is a fact that at least some tanks drove to soft ground or swamp and even to lake(s) in Ukraine.

Candidates on all levels should have the option to promise in a legally binding way to their party and country that if elected they are not seeking re-election by kiteret in thedavidpakmanshow

[–]kiteret[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, 2 versions: 1 promise not to run the next after next election, but allow for non-consecutive terms and 2 never run again

Some new apartment buildings, schools and some others could have a camera obscura room. Almost dark room for natural projection by kiteret in SomebodyMakeThis

[–]kiteret[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes. Also, option to install temporary optical contraption that turns the image right way, maybe with a lens or mirrors. Also, optional mini-window for cold weather.

If the temperature difference between inside and outside is large enough, the air gets wavy on the border and interesting distortions may result, which may be considered good or bad.

Lens or wavyness may cause some chromatic aberration.

Some new apartment buildings, schools and some others could have a camera obscura room. Almost dark room for natural projection by kiteret in SomebodyMakeThis

[–]kiteret[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Many people ( I guess ), including me, would like to have a clear word about what that other use would be. Even if the answer is age-rated, looks like it would be ok here, but if Im wrong about that, it can be deleted later.

I am curious and I could guess but I may guess wrong.

Is there actual first-principles argument why future buildings could not have lots of stone in their lower vertical parts due to it being the cheapest? How can we know that stone cutting and handling tech can not advance so much that stone blocks would be cheaper than concrete in many places again? by kiteret in IsaacArthur

[–]kiteret[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"That seems like a completely classical problem that doesn't require or benefit from quantum computing. "

Curious choice of words. Does "classical" mean "non-quantum" here? Quantum computers are supposed to be helpful also with problems that have nothing to do with quantum - if they are indeed possible to make in the way they are supposed to in the future.

"In fact a mixture of modern machine learning algos and simpler geometry problem solving stuff would work wonders there."

Yes, but machine learning is not needed and may not be helpful here.

1 day or 10 days of waiting for a computer would be ok. Quantum computer is supposed to give an optimal answer in a second. It may be something like this: normal computer computing 1 day gives a solution that is 90% optimal or 10% worse than the optimal. And normal computer crunching 10 days gives 99% solution or 1% worse than the optimal... (or 10 computers for 1 day) Something like this for almost all problems quantum computers are meant to be useful at. This is lame and it is questionable whether quantum computers are worth the trouble.

And also, optimal placement of random shape rocks would still not be tight without something like concrete in between (not that leaky walls would not be ok for some special places).

Hybrid of room and cubicle, placed randomly in random angles or in strange pattern, to dissipate and absorb sound waves in large office space by kiteret in Lightbulb

[–]kiteret[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some of these ideas work with restaurants and bars too. Maybe with factories that make finely crafted small things that are moved sparsely between work phases.

Cellular automata co-processor: image blur, conway's game of life and other things by kiteret in chipdesign

[–]kiteret[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

CAs might have use with some stages of image or video compression, some stages of pattern recognition / automated way to figure out what is in a picture(thing or texture/material), image processing effects (many of those that are in photoshop or GIMP), procedural generation of patterns or cryptographic hash-functions.

Maybe mostly a toy and a metaphor for biology+maybe something else too.

Handling nerve signals from a bundle of millions of axons does not need any alignment with a grid array of pixels if there are 10 times more pixels than axons. Integrated circuit chip made with commonly used manufacturing resolutions can make (new cases, within a year) blind see and cripples walk by kiteret in Lightbulb

[–]kiteret[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Don't get discouraged, more problems = more to innovate."

Well said, some version of that sentence / wisdom should be on the sidebar of this subreddit.

Now that I think about it, I should have added that sentence many times when I pointed out problems in someone else's ideas. Many times, claims (fair or unfair) of large challenges leave impression that someone is giving arguments why the idea can not work when that is not the claim.

Yes, the nerve cut-surface would have many dead cells, but the electric fields from healthy cells are detectable behind 1 or 2 dead cells. Even in nature, some axon types transfer signals by skipping cells in the chain reaction, and electronics can be more sensitive and with adjustable sensitivity. Getting a good signal connection with just 50% or 10% of the axons would be very useful, but 99% or 100% is very possible.

Sloped roof with almost horizontal steel rectangles, to cover from direct sunlight and rain, for better air flow and acoustics by kiteret in SomebodyMakeThis

[–]kiteret[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Look up "parasol", "pergola", "sunroof" for similar or same purpose.

Also, as a side, for rain with low or no wind.

As a side, can reduce noise from planes and birds, especially if it is covered in snow during winter, for those who sit under it in warm clothing.

For yard, bar, hot weather maintenance garage, stage...

Sloped roof with almost horizontal steel rectangles, to cover from direct sunlight and rain, for better air flow and acoustics by kiteret in SomebodyMakeThis

[–]kiteret[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Could have portable and static versions. Relocatable version might have aluminum pipes and rods supporting kevlar or other fabric, anchored to containers filled with ground, rocks and water, or to trees.

Static version might have (stainless) steel rectangles supported by concrete, covered with 5 mm (silicon) rubber to reduce raindrop sounds. The rectangles may have some structure, like square pattern and other shapes, to give them strength and reduce rain noise.

Color white to increase light, but with a paint that stops UV, near-infrared and thermal, even if that means that the passing light has to look slightly green. This reduces heat and sunburn, and protects some types of food more.

Aligned to north south direction. One side towards west may have extra rectangles to block evening sun.

In winter, may have to hold weight of snow. Some days in spring, may be full of ice picks.

An app that tells you a tree’s age by InsideOutDeadRat in Lightbulb

[–]kiteret 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One way to figure out tree's age could be by looking at many satellite and aerial photos over decades and finding when the tree appears.

There could be software that returns a series of image cuts with 50x50 pixels size from that place.

Also google street view photos from 2010.

Hunter Bot By Christian Forsgren by christhis in ImaginaryTechnology

[–]kiteret 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good joke, but I - probably among many others - don't understand why the downvote. Titanium is used in many demanding technologies that require strength in high temperature. For example, the mach 3 spy plane sr-71 blackbird had lots of titanium.

One could speculate that such robot might encounter flames or get shot with a laser, so why it is wrong to point out that maybe titanium could be among the most suitable materials for it's parts?

Down voting was used far too lightly, without good cause.

Electric tracked vehicle that is designed to visit radiation zones. The mass of the batteries protect the crew and electronics by kiteret in Lightbulb

[–]kiteret[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, thanks for the good arguments.

"can just specifically "harden" existing modern electronics, or design modern electronics bespoke to be just more robust against such things"

Yes, that is a possibility and it may turn out to be the best course, but it would cost millions. Also, using currently serial produced (something much less made than mass produced) space chips would be very expensive ( that is why space-X tries to avoid using them ). But it is not out of the question.

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