[ExI] super soldier ants and the tata nano

[spike]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
[mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Kelly Anderson
...

>...Air bags do save lives, and I'm glad for that. However, they are also
dangerous and do also take a small number of lives. If you had an ape hauler
for two apes, then you would not be able to carry micro-apes in that car...
-Kelly


Ja good point.  The notion would be that these kinds of cars are special
purpose.  I would even recommend they be single-seaters.  We know they don't
do everything, but they do one thing really well: haul a single ape
arbitrarily far for very low cost.  If single seat, there is a good dead
space either side of the single seat for effective side airbags.  For what I
have in mind, the weight goes way down if you make it a single seat vehicle
right up front.  If you think about it, that kind of vehicle has plenty of
applications.

Regarding your question of fast foam, I don't see how such a thing could
work.  The fact that it isn't currently available on the market is further
evidence that it isn't practical.

Currently, these kinds of ideas are held down for the wrong reasons, such as
license fees.  In the US generally, each conveyance needs its own license
tag and fees.  If you have a specialty low cost vehicle that gets 80 mpg, it
doesn't make sense if the vehicle itself is expensive or if it has much of a
license fee.  So I would propose a super light weight, very simple, single
seat specialty vehicle with the government supporting it by having a very
minimal license fee.  If we argue that license fees help pay for roads, that
works: light vehicles mean light wear on pavement.  If we argue that license
fees help pay for cops to chase down stolen ape haulers, then we recognize
that a vehicle that tops out at 50 mph is not an attractive theft item.

We can further reduce size perhaps by doing away with the traditional notion
of side doors.  We can have the thing open like a clamshell.  The driver
steps in and out from the front.

I can imagine something like this being built for 5k USD, and weigh in at
about 400kg.  Perhaps half of that cost would be in airbags.  It would not
keep you warm in winter or cool in summer.  Your kids cannot go along.  You
can get groceries in it, if you buy only two bags.

spike