Why I’m Writing This Ancestry, genealogy, pedigree, “tracing one’s roots” — whatever you want to call it, it’s a big hobby these days, and more than a hobby for others. Companies are charging anywhere from $50 to $200 to test a sample of your DNA and tell you where your … [continued]
Forget the latest Hollywood film noir and spend some time learning about this story instead. The story is that of Reno, Nevada, and the location of the original Tesla Gigafactory. The historical drama, a true story, unfolds with twisting and dark details.
The story came to light due to the notable new podcast series The City (USA Today’s investigative podcast). Episode 4 of season 2 is titled “West World.”
As I noted in my prior article, when I wrote the first article in this series, I intended to take a quick historical look at one industry and then move on to diving into some of today’s automakers to see what risk the EV revolution had to their business. I still do intend to do that, but the comments in the first article pointing out flaws with the Kodak comparison made me want to do some further dives into historical industry disruptions.
Pop quiz: You arrive at the annual church picnic in your brand new Tesla. You park amidst a variety of gasoline, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Having the only pure electric vehicle at the event, you are soon surrounded by a crowd of gawkers, cooing and praising your beautiful automobile. A voice in the crowd inquires about the unique motor in your Tesla, and you provide an answer that has the crowd smiling and nodding their heads up and down. Sensing your mastery of all things Tesla, another onlooker asks why Tesla Motors is so closely linked with Silicon Valley.
As one of the first VW Beetle owners, my father might have been an odd entrant into the modern-day vehicle. A conservative WWII hero and vet, he made his life by keeping part of his sorrow tucked away and shut down in a corner of his mind — the war memories corner. To raise his children, he relied on a mix of conservative faith and Star Trek, and he strived to be fun. Ever the two-sided personality, his hero was Captain Kirk, and Star Trek was a dinnertime fair.
Coral reefs within US waters are unlikely to last more than a few decades more, at the most, going by many recent comments from researchers in the field. On that subject, new research has made it clear that the strict conservation measures currently being employed in some parts of Hawaii have not protected coral reefs there from rising sea temperatures.
What happened with people who sided with Hitler and the Nazis in their quest to murder countless humans? As their crowd rose to the heights of power and prestige, many people who supported them must have thought their futures were looking up and they were setting up some kind of positive family reputation for future generations. To look at things from the perspective of today, it is mind-boggling how those people could have thought that they were going in the right direction.
Experts believe that even the recent deregulation of the coal industry will not be enough to bring back coal jobs. 1923 is the past, and we are past the time when coal was booming — coal is in a rapid decline for a few reasons. The coal industry remains more a part of our country’s fast-transforming history than anything else. That’s the story of the solar industry today.
The initial Cleantech Revolution Tour conference that we held in Berlin was a lot of fun, and the presentations were packed with interesting facts, figures, charts, and jokes. We had a blast, and there’s no way to share all of the conversations, connections, and laughs (which is why I encourage you … [continued]
The Tesla Model 3 is poised to change the automotive world forever. It’s a sporty, attractive 5-passenger sedan, with at least 215 miles of range, a 0–60 MPH time of under 6 seconds, and a starting price of just $35,000. The Model 3 had 325,000 paid reservations in the week … [continued]
