When is that plug-in hybrid going to get here? And where is that cellulosic biofuel technology? 
When is that plug-in hybrid going to get here? And where is that cellulosic biofuel technology?
I admit to having paranoid thoughts lately. Paranoia, as anyone who has eaten one too many “special” brownies knows, can be an unpleasant mental state (especially when combined with the giggles).
Could it be true that oil companies are buying off researchers?
I can just visualize it. One day, the head researcher in your company calls in sick. A week goes by and she is still missing. You later learn that she has retired and bought a two million dollar house in Maui. Which you find odd, considering that you were paying her even less than her male counterparts!
The cars are coming. The signs are everywhere. This article talks about one branch of the growing sport of electric-vehicle racing — motorcycles. Note that the sponsor for this drag bike is the same company providing the batteries for the new line of DeWalt power tools, which were due out this month (but are now due out next month … uh oh).
I concede that there is a conflict of interest with the big carmakers in going electric. And that is why the change may be spearheaded by small businesses (screw Detroit). Electric cars are simple. The parts and motors for electric cars are sitting out there on shelves for other industrial applications. Sending a rotating power source through an existing drive train is pretty straightforward. The batteries were the weak link. I envision an era of tinkering by entrepreneurs with Detroit playing catch up, which is what they are best at anyway.
Once this new battery technology becomes available to the public, as lead-acid technology already is, you will see electric car conversions all over the place. Hey, the first airplane was built by bicycle mechanics. As I have said before, I am going to put three of these DeWalt power tool batteries in parallel on my bike first chance I get. And I will brag about them every chance I get (unless of course they blow up). But then again, that problem can be fixed with even more technology in the form of armored, flame retardant bike clothing.
