Wouldn’t that make it a perpetual motion machine?
1 Like
Takes energy to load it up with iron.
1 Like
If it has regenerative braking (which I think all electric cars do), then this is normal and expected behavior.
Yes, regenerative braking. Sometimes referred to as one pedal driving. Most if not all EVs have some amount of regen capability. And while it’s strongest going down hill, you will recapture some energy any time you slow down or “brake” using one pedal driving.
Showbiz and Chuck E. Cheese came from the same seed. A business disagreement let to two seperate paths. Saw a mini documentary on it on YouTube once.
2 Likes
It does. But that’s not where the energy comes from.
It’s converting potential energy in the rocks being at height into electrical energy in the battery to move the train up hill.
2 Likes
Funny that Chuck E. Cheese was supposed to be a snarky Don Rickles-esque insult comic and then turned into a kiddie mascot.
1 Like
Yes I get that from what I can remember of my school physics lessons. Isn’t it the case that the potential energy is only available because the iron is now in the train, moved there either by human hand or by some other process?
Even if there were some sort of automated hopper of rocks that dumps them into the train using only the potential energy of elevated rocks, this wouldn’t constitute a perpetual motion machine simply because there is a finite amount of rocks. There’s energy loss inherent to the system because some portion of the rocks ends up at the bottom of the hill every time, lessening the overall potential energy that is stored in the rocks in the mine, even after the train returns to the top. So, it’s not really an infinity train. It’s a “how many rocks we have” train.
4 Likes
It would be closer to perpetual motion if it filled with rain at the top, and there was an ever present rain cloud right over the top station. Even then wouldn’t really be perpetual motion because you are adding more outside energy each time you refill the weight.
The change in potential energy comes from the iron ore going from a higher elevation to a lower elevation. This is what charges the battery. Think of the iron ore as being analogous to water at a conventional hydroelectric dam.
2 Likes
In that case the energy would come from the rain, where the water is lifted to the clouds by the energy from the sun.
Yes and no. The energy is always there (conservation of energy principal). A rock slide for instance, without any human intervention, would be releasing of potential energy and converting it to kinetic energy, noise, heat, etc.
Haha. I love this. I’ll write them a note.
Dear Sirs. It has come to my attention that your so called infinity train is misleading advertising. Im suggesting you rename it the “until the rocks run out” train
8 Likes
And the overall lesson from this is that if @suzzer99 can find 4 friends to take down from the Alps every trip he won’t need to pay for gas for his hybrid.
2 Likes
Step 1: Downhill only taxi service
Step 2: free rides uphill
Step 3: ?
Step 4: profit
One minor but major correction: no one cares about the data. It’s just an afterthought for these weirdos who suffer from delusions of grandeur, and they make this clear right away in a phd program. It’s all about bullshit theories. Cutesy, complicated, and counterintuitive theories that produce impossible effect sizes. Once you figure out the dumb pattern that the journals want it’s easy to ad-lib one:
Across six controlled studies, the authors demonstrate that drinking your own piss leads to significant increases in chronic regulatory focus, but only for subjects with high masturbation frequency. We also find substantial evidence for a moderating effect of substance abuse. Specifically, positive CRF differentials were maximized in subjects nosing paint thinner four to seven times per week (but no more or less). Contrary to prior research, this suggests a “Goldilocks zone” for inhalant use. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.
Now here’s a real one that was completely fake and retracted.
Body Mass Indices and obesity rates are increasing worldwide, and one way to reduce caloric intake is to reduce portion size choice. In this research, the authors develop a behavioral intervention aimed at reducing portion size choices in the context of online food ordering. In eight experiments (including a field experiment), the authors show that the sequential presentation of two food images that move from partial to whole reduces hunger perceptions and portion size choices relative to all comparable sequences. This effect occurs because the partial-to-whole image presentation primes the concept of reaching fullness, which in turn reduces perceptions of hunger and portion size choices. The effect of image sequence on both hunger perceptions and portion size choices is mediated by the accessibility of the concept full and is attenuated when visualization of the dynamic sequence (partial-to-whole) is inhibited. The partial-to-whole sequence effect is observed even when the sequential images are unrelated to food, and is robust across languages, age groups, food type, and choice contexts. The brief, low-cost intervention can be implemented across several online food-ordering contexts (e.g., school cafeteria apps, diet apps) and has important public policy implications.
Just got back to my (very cheap) apartment in Shanghai after being away for a month and a half.
Something doesn’t look right, imo.
7 Likes
Man, you’re right.
Your shaving cream can is facing the wrong way
5 Likes
It’s been talked about a fair bit how inconvenient China has become for foreign visitors because of cash being rarely used and credit cards not being accepted virtually anywhere.
The Shanghai Pudong airport is cognizant of this and kindly offers a service where you can prepay a taxi with your foreign credit card. To add to the convenience it’s a flat fee regardless of where in Shanghai you are headed.
(Roughly twice as much as you’d end up normally paying to get to the opposite outskirts of the city.)