27 replies to this topic

[Shahrukh]

rpgsearcherz, on 14 July 2010 - 07:21 PM, said:

You wouldn't necessarily be able to use solar power because it depends on clouds, storms, etc. Nothing would suck more than having everyone grounded due to cloud-cover. It would affect too much of the world and would slow down production and cause other complications.

Ah...yes, I didn't count that in. They won't be operational at nights either.
But it can be used as a back-up / fail-safe to fuel running out in mid air.

rpgsearcherz, on 14 July 2010 - 07:21 PM, said:

As for the benefit, I think it's more due to clearing up traffic. In Dallas, for example, at 6 PM you can literally (and often do) spend 2 hours getting 1 mile. By allowing cars to fly, there would be more lanes open (due to layering) and it would clean up those issues.

We can make layered roads too. One underground, one on the road (the normal ones, that is) and one above the normal road on pillars or something; this can be limited to only the more crowded areas to decrease cost.

rpgsearcherz, on 14 July 2010 - 07:21 PM, said:

Though the looking cool part does factor in as well. Who doesn't want a flying car?!

Exactly.

[The Simpleton]

Fuel itself shouldn't be too big a factor. Whenever mankind is faced with a critical emergency, it comes up with an ingenious solution; so if we're going to run out of fuel then I'm sure our brightest minds will come up with a solution for it. So let's not worry about how much fuel flying cars will waste Let's just worry when these cars will be accessible to the common man.

[mahesh2k]

Quote

Whenever mankind is faced with a critical emergency, it comes up with an ingenious solution; so if we're going to run out of fuel then I'm sure our brightest minds will come up with a solution for it.

I really hate this. It's like digging well to fetch water only if you're thirsty. If we start to think in this way then i'm sure there will be no technological advancement on this planet. Sometimes we have to plan things in advance. Like there are many countries offering incentives on tax if people use solar vehicles, equipments. But just think about it if we start to get serious only when situation arises then it'll cost us more than what we do for research now. Where are those brightest mind ? It's almost 2010 and there is no alternative fuel yet. Relying on brightest minds we end up wasting fuel on F1 and water sports. So i don't think this type of thinking will help us in longer run.

[The Simpleton]

mahesh2k, on 15 July 2010 - 07:39 AM, said:

I really hate this. It's like digging well to fetch water only if you're thirsty. If we start to think in this way then i'm sure there will be no technological advancement on this planet. Sometimes we have to plan things in advance. Like there are many countries offering incentives on tax if people use solar vehicles, equipments. But just think about it if we start to get serious only when situation arises then it'll cost us more than what we do for research now. Where are those brightest mind ? It's almost 2010 and there is no alternative fuel yet. Relying on brightest minds we end up wasting fuel on F1 and water sports. So i don't think this type of thinking will help us in longer run.

Lol it's not as if I like that idea! It's like asking for a miracle each time we run into trouble and that sort of thing won't work for sure now. What I meant by 'critical emergency' was not like 'a day before the last litre of petrol!' Today's 'bright minds' are able to foresee these events and have the tendency to warn the world. I don't want to speak about other situations, but in the case of fuel, the most promising alternative is fuel cells, upon which research is improving daily. They're so effective that even a regular bus, powered with a fuel cell, can run upto 100kmph (ow was it mph? I saw it in a documentary on NGC so not sure) and it doesn't release any fumes too. Solutions like these are promising and so we can look forward to this more than conserving petrol and other fuels, which cause more harm.

[rpgsearcherz]

The Simpleton, on 15 July 2010 - 03:21 PM, said:

Lol it's not as if I like that idea! It's like asking for a miracle each time we run into trouble and that sort of thing won't work for sure now. What I meant by 'critical emergency' was not like 'a day before the last litre of petrol!' Today's 'bright minds' are able to foresee these events and have the tendency to warn the world. I don't want to speak about other situations, but in the case of fuel, the most promising alternative is fuel cells, upon which research is improving daily. They're so effective that even a regular bus, powered with a fuel cell, can run upto 100kmph (ow was it mph? I saw it in a documentary on NGC so not sure) and it doesn't release any fumes too. Solutions like these are promising and so we can look forward to this more than conserving petrol and other fuels, which cause more harm.

I'm not sure about a bus like that but there is a car that runs on electricity now (battery) that gets 240 miles per charge and takes 8 hours to charge. It also goes up to 80 MPH, allowing it to go on major highways.

That's more than enough for most people already who aren't traveling. And it's bound to get more advanced as time goes along.

There are places in the U.S. that already have charging stations set up -- I've seen a few.

[Shahrukh]

The Simpleton, on 15 July 2010 - 07:12 AM, said:

Whenever mankind is faced with a critical emergency, it comes up with an ingenious solution

Yup, we are better at cleaning up than keeping things clean.

rpgsearcherz, on 15 July 2010 - 04:05 PM, said:

I'm not sure about a bus like that but there is a car that runs on electricity now (battery) that gets 240 miles per charge and takes 8 hours to charge. It also goes up to 80 MPH, allowing it to go on major highways.

Nice! If we flying cars could go that way too, it would be very much practical. With charging stations scattered about, it would make a pretty practical solution. But how to beat gravity? Lifting requires a lot of force. Especially if we want a car that will fly higher than the building. Just hovering over the road won't be much different than current-road-rolling cars. Although, even that would look much cooler, have a much smoother drive, etc.

[Vistz]

If there is a possibility to integrate flying cars into society, I would probably be against it. First of all, the resources required to make sure this plan does not fail are immense. You need to think about what kind of "roads" they will use. Also, you need to think about how this will affect airplanes. Most likely, the flying cars will not interfere will airplanes because airplanes will be flying much higher. However, you might need to take into account for helicopters.

I feel like we could be spending our time more constructively than how to create flying cars.