Interesting Links for 16-09-2016

[andrewducker]

The Design of Parliaments Has a Major Impact on Politics (tags: politics architecture design psychology ) Man arrested for speeding in DeLorean at 88mph (tags: timetravel funny cars crime ) "How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math" (tags: mathematics learning brain ) In parts of the US it makes more sense to build a solar plant than a

Comments

[drdoug]

Relatedly, I saw this YC interview with Elon Musk and laughed out loud at one point. They're talking about what's really important (in Musk's view) and the interviewer (apparently inadvertently) nerd-snipes him by saying that they would like to go to Mars except for the Internet latency, and Musk goes:: Yeah, the internet latency would be pretty significant. Mars is roughly 12 light minutes from the sun and Earth is 8 light minutes. So, the closest approach to Mars is four light minutes away. The furthest approach is 20. A little more because you can't sort of talk directly through the sun.
You can almost hear his brain spinning a little orrery while he works through the problem: he has the numbers to immediate hand (although having looked it up, Mars is closer to 13 light minutes from the sun most of the time, but that is absurdly picky), does a couple of trivial calculations, and instantly identifies a major problem with that simplified model

[gonzo21]

It's nice to see solar really coming alive in our lifetimes.

... as the UK government commits the nation to a 35 year Chinese nuclear power boondoggle to rip off consumers...

[andrewducker]

Possibly. See the discussion yesterday here:
http://andrewducker.livejournal.com/3503991.html?thread=37147511#t37147511

[gonzo21]

Well the odd thing is I am absolutely convinced of the need for nuclear power, if we want to meet our emissions targets and if we want to keep the lights and heating on in the winter times when the sun goes away and the wind drops to nothing in the midst of those big cold winter high pressure zones.

We either have nuclear energy, or we have no power and a wrecked planet within our lifetimes.

I just think this Chinese deal is a very very bad deal for the UK taxpayer.

[danieldwilliam]

I think if Britain's nuclear plan was to build ten of the South Korean AP1400 in pairs, starting now with a build programme out till 2045 at a strike price of £70 / mwh along with aggressive life extension for some of the existing nuclear fleet I'd be fine with that

[momentsmusicaux]

> The deal fits into Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk's long-term vision of transforming Tesla from an an electric car company to a clean-energy company

I can't find any mention of what the batteries are going to be charged from. (Skim-reading admittedly.)

[andrewducker]

Presumably from excess energy generated when there's loads of it about.

[drdoug]

That's my understanding

[danieldwilliam]

A limit on the use of CCGT's for grid balancing is that they can be switched on but once switched off they can't be switched any more off then zero output.

So if you are short of power you can switch a CCGT on but if you have too much and all your CCGT's are already off then you either need to switch other genetors off, or switch something on or find some storage.

When I was an energy policy wonk I searched for energy intensive process that you could switch on at short (ish) notice. There were not many good options, paticularly if you think people ought to enjoy some certainty about their employment and when they are working.

[asher63]

The article on language and mathematics learning is fascinating, and I think very true. I like Oakley's point about the value of repetition and memorization - that's too often overlooked in American schools today, I think. Thanks for sharing this.

[andrewducker]

Yes. Immersion is key, I think. I spent a lot of time in school repeating my times table, and that turns out to actually have worked well (at least, I assume so).

And certainly, the longer I've worked with computers, the more I've built up good mental models of how they function, and found it easier to understand what's worked (and what hasn't, and why not).

[kalimac]

The shape of parliamentary halls has a lot less to do with their political culture than this theorist, or many others, think

[andrewducker]

Thank you!

It seemed unlikely to me. And, if anything, more likely that the design would come from how people saw politics, rather than politics coming from the design. But having someone who knows more take it apart is very helpful.

[danieldwilliam]

Aye - I think the shape of chamber has some influence on the tone of the debate and therefore on the overall political culture.

But so do things like the design of the building, the use and orgin of revising chambers, committee structures, voting systems, history, geography and climate.

I don't think the shape of the House of Commons helps it deliver the sort of politics I want but I'd sooner change the voting system then the chamber.