1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm then executive producer with I Heart Radio, 4 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:20,920 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech and it is time 5 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: for another classic episode of text Stuff. And you know what, 6 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: I know you guys think when I'm doing these that 7 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: I'm just sort of gliding along. So what better topic 8 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: to cover than flying without fuel? What could that mean? Well, 9 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:39,560 Speaker 1: let's find out. We wanted to have a chance to 10 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 1: chat about something that I talked about in a recent 11 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 1: episode of Forward Thinking. So if you guys haven't checked 12 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: out Forward Thinking, please do. I think I think a 13 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: lot of tech Stuff fans would really enjoy that series. 14 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: Joe is the head writer on Forward Thinking and has 15 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: done amazing work. I have not written this episode, however, 16 00:00:56,760 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: this episode was I thought really cool. And it's a 17 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: about a solar powered aircraft. Yeah, which, when you think 18 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: about it, that on its face sounds pretty crazy, especially 19 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: if you have taken time to really look into solar 20 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:14,040 Speaker 1: power and not just its advantages but it's limitations. Right right, Well, 21 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 1: this is obviously not the only solar powered aircraft that's 22 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: ever been created, right, it's it's probably the coolest one 23 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:24,479 Speaker 1: ever created yet. And it is amazing that you can 24 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: take a huge, heavy thing off the ground with the 25 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: power of solar energy alone. That's just I mean, this 26 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: is what powers your calculator, right, not not an airplane. Yeah. Like, 27 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 1: for example, I have a a battery pack in my 28 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: in my backpack solar panel that it faces outward, and 29 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,039 Speaker 1: in theory, you can use solar energy to recharge the 30 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:48,560 Speaker 1: battery pack, which then you can use to recharge something 31 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: like a smartphone. Right, that's the basic premise of this backpack. 32 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: Here's the thing. If I want to recharge that battery 33 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: using solar power, I have to have it in the 34 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 1: sun for twelve consecutive of hours. One doesn't have to 35 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 1: be consecutive, but twelve hours to get a full charge. 36 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: Whereas if I were to plug it into the wall, 37 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: it's an hour and a half maybe two hours total 38 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: to charge it all the way up, maybe even less 39 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: than that. So it just shows that that solar power, 40 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:16,959 Speaker 1: you know, getting a lot of energy from it is 41 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 1: a challenge. Now, obviously the solar panel that's in my 42 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: backpack is not what you would consider bleeding edge. No, 43 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: it's probably not the best that our current science has 44 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,480 Speaker 1: to offer. It's probably not even on the top near 45 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: the top line for consumer tech right now, because what's 46 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:37,359 Speaker 1: available on the consumer side is a big drop down 47 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:40,079 Speaker 1: from the cutting edge best of the best. So, if 48 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: you are getting a solar panel that has been designed 49 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:45,959 Speaker 1: to be as efficient as possible, we're talking top of 50 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:47,800 Speaker 1: the line. This is the stuff that NASA is going 51 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: to use, right, You're going to top out somewhere around 52 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: forty to efficiency. And what you're talking about there is 53 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,680 Speaker 1: how much of the energy from the sun you're convert ing, right, 54 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: So you're you're not even starting necessarily with a very 55 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: high number. It's just how much of that solar energy 56 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: is arriving at the panels, which is obviously going to 57 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: be less than say the energy density of gasoline or 58 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:15,639 Speaker 1: something like that, far less, far less. Yeah, so you're 59 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: getting you're getting this, You're you're losing six the energy 60 00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:21,679 Speaker 1: that hits the panel ra off the bat. Then that 61 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:25,959 Speaker 1: ends up being converted into electricity, and it's not that 62 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:29,640 Speaker 1: much per solar panel, Like an individual solar panel doesn't 63 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: put out that much electricity, even if it's really efficient, 64 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: it's not putting out that much. That's why whenever you 65 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: talk about really using solar panels effectively, you're talking about 66 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: lots and lots and lots of solar panels, right, they 67 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: have individual solar cells in them, and there might be 68 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: thousands of these solar cells in one solar panel farm. Yeah, 69 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: and if you're designing an airplane that's powered by solar panels, 70 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: one of the big questions I would wonder is where 71 00:03:57,480 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: are you going to put them? I mean, when I 72 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: heard about this thing before I saw an image of it, 73 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: what I pictured in my mind was like a football 74 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: field sized flat surface with just the tiny little, you know, 75 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 1: person strapped to the bottom of it. And that's not 76 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,160 Speaker 1: that far off in a way that probably wouldn't fly. 77 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 1: But yeah, definitely sign a plane. Yeah, you've gotta have 78 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: a lot, a lot of surface area, right. You have 79 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:24,799 Speaker 1: to have a lot of surface area for multiple reasons. 80 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:27,160 Speaker 1: So the big reasons why you need a lot of 81 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: surface area, which in planes means a wide wingspan because 82 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: obviously if you made the fuselage or the body of 83 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: the plane the biggest part, then you have to figure 84 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: out how do you get something that bulky and heavy 85 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: into the air and have it have the vehicle maintain 86 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,360 Speaker 1: enough thrust to keep it in the air, because I 87 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: mean thrust is a really important part of this too. 88 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,080 Speaker 1: We we just established that solar panels aren't generating that 89 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:55,719 Speaker 1: much electricity, so they can't uh push a super powerful 90 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: electric motor, and the electric motor is what's going to 91 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: be turning the propellers that are going to provide the 92 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:03,600 Speaker 1: thrust necessary to get this plane in the air. So 93 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: you have to keep weight in mind. You can't make 94 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: it too heavy, and you still need all that service areas. 95 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: So what do you do? Well, what the folks over 96 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,160 Speaker 1: at Solar Impulse, Oh, yeah, we should have said, that's 97 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: the one we're talking about, the solar Impulse. Solar Impulse 98 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:19,159 Speaker 1: A two is specifically what we're talking about. That there 99 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: already has been a Solar Impulse one, which was kind 100 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: of a proof of concept vehicle that they built in 101 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:28,200 Speaker 1: order to test out the different engineering approaches they were 102 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:31,600 Speaker 1: going to take, because their goal is to have this circle, 103 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 1: this this solar Impulse to go all the way around 104 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: the Earth. I believe the demo of the solar Impulse 105 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: one was a transcontinental flight, right It was from the 106 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: West Coast to the United States to the east coast, 107 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 1: and they had several legs of the journey. They even 108 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:50,360 Speaker 1: had set a record for the longest number the most 109 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 1: number of flight hours consecutively for a manned solar powered aircraft. 110 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:58,840 Speaker 1: So if you're talking about unmanned aircraft, you end up 111 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:02,559 Speaker 1: having really long times because you don't have a human 112 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 1: that you haven't Yeah, you don't need to worry about 113 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:07,920 Speaker 1: a person saying goodbye to their family for two weeks 114 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: or whatever. Uh So for the manned record, we're talking, 115 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:16,160 Speaker 1: uh twenty six hours, ten minutes and nineteen seconds, so 116 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: more than a full day. And if you're thinking solar 117 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 1: power and you're thinking, how the heck were they able 118 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:23,840 Speaker 1: to fly when there was no son, we'll get to that. 119 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:27,479 Speaker 1: Uh but yeah, So so the records already been set. 120 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:30,680 Speaker 1: These were all proof of concepts that they were saying, well, 121 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 1: we need to figure out what things are required for 122 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:36,960 Speaker 1: this dream of flying a solar powered aircraft all the 123 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 1: way around the world. What's required for that to actually 124 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:43,479 Speaker 1: become a reality. So this wing span was the first thing, 125 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: and the Solar Impulse two s wingspan. It's pretty impressive. 126 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:51,279 Speaker 1: We're talking about seventy two meters, uh, so that's that's 127 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:55,480 Speaker 1: more than two and forty ft. We're talking about the uh, 128 00:06:55,520 --> 00:07:00,320 Speaker 1: the width. That's greater than say a Boeing seven. But 129 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: unlike a Bowing, it doesn't have a huge fuselage full 130 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 1: of passengers and cargo. This has a tiny, tiny little compartment. Yeah, 131 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: it's essentially a little The body of the plane is 132 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: very small. It will allow the two the pilot and 133 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: co pilot to sit side by side, just as in 134 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: a traditional aircraft that's not you know, front and back 135 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: like the old World War One and World War Two 136 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 1: aircraft were turret. Yeah, no, I'm not gonna have to 137 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: worry about that. Um. But yeah, it's it's relatively small, 138 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 1: and it's made out of carbon fiber. So carbon fiber 139 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 1: has a couple of advantages, right, It's pretty strong and 140 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:43,160 Speaker 1: it's really light compared to other materials. So you want 141 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 1: to use something that's going to be resilient so I 142 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: can withstand the rigors of air travel, and yeah, it 143 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: can't be too heavy. So carbon fiber is what they 144 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: went with. And in fact, the entire plane ends up 145 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 1: being something like I think it's twenty six hundred, no, sorry, 146 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: twenty that's around five thousand seventy pounds. That means that 147 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: there are cars on the market that are heavier than 148 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 1: this airplane. Is this airplane that has a wingspan wider 149 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 1: than a Bowing seven. That's pretty crazy, It's pretty crazy, 150 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: you know. I would imagine one reason that they can 151 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: use those kind of fibers is because this airplane goes 152 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 1: a lot slower than your standard passenger airplane, which obviously 153 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 1: the faster you go, the more turbulence and friction you're 154 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:35,080 Speaker 1: gonna have to withstand, right, and uh yeah, So so 155 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: with a Boeing example, for example, like your average commuter 156 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: airline type of thing, you're talking about speeds in the 157 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: five mile per hour range. With solar impulse too, you're 158 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: not gonna go quite that fast. The top speed is 159 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:55,679 Speaker 1: something like eight per hour, eighty eight miles per hour. Fortunately, 160 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:58,840 Speaker 1: it does not require one point twenty one jiggabats for 161 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,079 Speaker 1: it to fly, or else it would go back. How 162 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 1: many watts does it require? Not many at all? Really, 163 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: because again, all right, do you know how many solar 164 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: panels are actually on this seventeen thousand across that seventy's 165 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 1: because I don't know how big they are. They're not. 166 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:19,400 Speaker 1: It's not that they're that big. Well, I mean, think 167 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: of a seventy two wide wingspan. Um, you know, you're 168 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 1: that's pretty huge. It's not that the panels themselves are 169 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: the solar cells. I guess I should say it's not 170 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: that the solar cells are that big, because really solar 171 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:35,400 Speaker 1: cells is more accurate than panels. Panels are like a 172 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,080 Speaker 1: collection of cells. But they're not that big. But the 173 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: fact that there're seventeen thousand of them is pretty impressive. 174 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,439 Speaker 1: And they're only driving four electric motors. And like I said, 175 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: those electric motors turn electric propellers. The propellers are shaped 176 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:48,480 Speaker 1: in such a way to help provide the thrust needed 177 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: so that you maintain the speed to uh to stay 178 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:54,480 Speaker 1: in the air. Those wide wings also are able to 179 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:58,240 Speaker 1: provide a lot of lift and stability and flight, although 180 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:00,960 Speaker 1: it is kind of tricky. You can't take off in 181 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:03,600 Speaker 1: windy conditions with this thing. You would imagine not because 182 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:06,200 Speaker 1: with such a wide wing span, a little bit of 183 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: wind could easily get it to start tilting any which way. Yeah, 184 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: you have another thing I'd also imagine is that the 185 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:16,840 Speaker 1: wider wing span allows it to stay aloft at lower speeds. Yeah, yeah, 186 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:18,679 Speaker 1: that's another thing. And it's also not going to go 187 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:21,079 Speaker 1: to the same sort of altitude that you would see 188 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,840 Speaker 1: with like a commuter jet or something that's not gonna 189 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:29,720 Speaker 1: go up to thirty feet. Well, I've been cruising without 190 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:32,120 Speaker 1: fuel for a while now, I think I'll just keep 191 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:35,320 Speaker 1: on going. But uh, you you folks out there, you 192 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 1: look like you could use a little bit of a break, 193 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:48,040 Speaker 1: So we'll be right back. Okay, So we're doing around 194 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:50,840 Speaker 1: the world flight. It's at eighty eight miles per hour. 195 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 1: That means at top speed eight eight miles per that's 196 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:57,320 Speaker 1: not average speed, that's top speed. That would mean there's 197 00:10:57,320 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: going to be some stretches of this flight where the 198 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:01,240 Speaker 1: airplane is gonna have to stay in the air a 199 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:03,839 Speaker 1: really long time because there's no convenient way to land 200 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: it at night when you're over say the Ocean, right, 201 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 1: They're gonna be times where the you know, those oceans 202 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:13,000 Speaker 1: are so wide, there's no way the plane can make 203 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:17,080 Speaker 1: a trip across say the Atlantic, in a single day. 204 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:19,040 Speaker 1: Not at eighty eight miles per hour. It's gonna take 205 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:22,079 Speaker 1: multiple days and nights of flying for it to get 206 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: from one point to another where it can safely land. 207 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:27,040 Speaker 1: Because they do plan on taking this trip through several 208 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: legs where the plane will be able to land. Maintenance 209 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:32,440 Speaker 1: screws can come out and and do some repairs if necessary, 210 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:34,200 Speaker 1: that kind of thing. It's not like it's going to 211 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 1: do a full flight around the Earth without ever touching down. 212 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:40,679 Speaker 1: They will be touching down along the way and then 213 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,200 Speaker 1: taking back off and another leg of the journey. But 214 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,160 Speaker 1: still when you're over the ocean, you don't have that luxury. 215 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 1: So you've got to be able to fly at night. 216 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 1: So that's when they switched to monkey on a stationary 217 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 1: bicycle power. You know, I recommended that. I thought it's 218 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,320 Speaker 1: time has come. I mean, it's an unproven technology, I'll 219 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,080 Speaker 1: grant you, but I really think we have not tapped 220 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 1: the potential of monkey bicycles. No. I think this is 221 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:08,319 Speaker 1: they've got to be using some some pretty good batteries 222 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:11,200 Speaker 1: and that has to be a very important part of 223 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:15,079 Speaker 1: the design, right because batteries are heavy eat this airplane 224 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,560 Speaker 1: needs to be light. Yeah, they used uh, they created 225 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 1: lithium batteries. They actually had. The engineers had to look 226 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:27,240 Speaker 1: at a way to make the batteries incredibly efficient and uh, 227 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:30,280 Speaker 1: they had to be able to charge quickly because if 228 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:33,480 Speaker 1: you aren't getting a full charge throughout the day, then 229 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:36,840 Speaker 1: while you're also driving those propellers, then that could become 230 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: a problem at night, right if you want to remain aloft, 231 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: that could be a serious problem. So they experiment with 232 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:47,080 Speaker 1: different electrolytes um, which, of course, as we know from Idiocracy, 233 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:50,800 Speaker 1: is the stuff that plants crave. But no, they experiment 234 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 1: with a lot of different chemical compositions to try and 235 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:57,440 Speaker 1: make the most efficient batteries. So they went with lithium batteries. 236 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 1: They are kind of think of like a long, thin 237 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:05,200 Speaker 1: almost like a film as opposed to a big battery pack. 238 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:11,560 Speaker 1: So it it's pretty remarkable the design, and they weigh 239 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 1: The batteries weigh six thirty three k or about two 240 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:19,520 Speaker 1: thousand seventy seven pounds, which means that you know, the 241 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:23,560 Speaker 1: they weigh up little bit more than a quarter of 242 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:28,679 Speaker 1: the actual plane itself the batteries alone. So obviously batteries 243 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:31,760 Speaker 1: are heavy. They're important because you have to have that 244 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:34,760 Speaker 1: energy to tap into at night, Otherwise, once the sun 245 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:37,760 Speaker 1: starts to go down or it gets too cloudy, you're 246 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:41,160 Speaker 1: plane would plummet. And this isn't just a problem for planes, 247 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:43,760 Speaker 1: I mean it's especially a problem in planes, right, This 248 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 1: is a problem for any electric vehicle, right, is is 249 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 1: how to deal with this massive battery that's required to 250 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:52,480 Speaker 1: operate motors with this kind of power exactly, And it's 251 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:55,160 Speaker 1: something that we've seen not even not just in an 252 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 1: electric vehicles, but electronics in general. We have a little 253 00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 1: bit more to say about this interesting episode, but before 254 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:13,600 Speaker 1: we get to that, let's take another quick break. The 255 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: processing power has increased steadily over the years. We've got 256 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:21,080 Speaker 1: the whole observation of Moore's law where we're seeing it 257 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:24,280 Speaker 1: practically double every two years or so, depending upon your 258 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:29,239 Speaker 1: interpretation of the observation. Uh, well, then why haven't batteries 259 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: kept pace with that? You know, I'm seeing my my 260 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:34,320 Speaker 1: mobile devices getting more powerful, but the batteries draining faster, 261 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:36,520 Speaker 1: so it's not as useful to me as long. And 262 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 1: part of that is just because batteries aren't on that 263 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,080 Speaker 1: accelerated path. I mean, there's only so much we can 264 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 1: do with chemistry. To be fair, they have come a 265 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:45,680 Speaker 1: long way. This is also a topic we talked about 266 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:48,040 Speaker 1: not too long ago on Forward Thinking, is how far 267 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:51,040 Speaker 1: batteries have come. And it is kind of amazing what 268 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:54,360 Speaker 1: we've achieved today. I mean, your standard lithium ion battery 269 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 1: today is kind of a wonder work, it really is. Yeah. 270 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 1: The fact that you're able to recharge it so that 271 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:05,320 Speaker 1: the chemical the electrochemical reaction that's going on within the 272 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,520 Speaker 1: battery gives off electrons. I mean, that's the whole point 273 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 1: of a battery. Otherwise it would be useless. Uh. And 274 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:14,920 Speaker 1: in a in an alkaline battery, this is an irreversible 275 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 1: uh reaction, So the electrochemical reaction happens, electrons are given off. 276 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,200 Speaker 1: As a result, you can use those electrons to do work, 277 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:26,600 Speaker 1: thus electricity. But once it's drained, once that chemical reaction 278 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 1: has gone to a certain point, you're not generating enough 279 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: electrons for it to be useful anymore. You have a 280 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 1: dead battery. Whereas with these lithium rechargeable batteries. There are 281 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 1: non rechargeable types too, but with rechargeable batteries you can 282 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:42,960 Speaker 1: reverse that reaction by essentially forcing electrons back backward through 283 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,680 Speaker 1: that pathway. It's basically doing the whole thing backward. You're 284 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 1: putting work into the battery the same way you took 285 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: work out of it earlier. Yeah, So the fact that 286 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:54,880 Speaker 1: we've managed to do that and increase the efficiency even 287 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 1: a little bit. Is the reason why something like the 288 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 1: solar Impulse too is is possible. And again we're not 289 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,040 Speaker 1: going to see this actually fly around the world until 290 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 1: two thousand fifteen, but they've already proven that it works 291 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:09,480 Speaker 1: with that first proof of concept vehicle that was able 292 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: to stay up in the air for twenty six hours. 293 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:13,960 Speaker 1: The fact that it was able to charge the batteries, 294 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: fly all the way through the night and continue, Um, 295 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 1: you know they're fully certified to fly at night. It 296 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 1: shows that there's been a lot of work done here. 297 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:27,920 Speaker 1: So we've got, uh, the energy side covered. The fact 298 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:30,320 Speaker 1: that it's going to be using solar power to drive 299 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:32,720 Speaker 1: the electric motors and day switched to battery at night. 300 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 1: It's going to be able to fly really for as 301 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:40,520 Speaker 1: long as the pilot and co pid can stand. That 302 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 1: was my question. Yeah, what's this gonna be like for 303 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: the pilot incopilot? Okay, have you ever, Joe, have you 304 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 1: ever traveled first class? Oh? No, okay, so I've traveled 305 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,240 Speaker 1: first class. Not to brag, but it's prett sweet. And 306 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 1: once you traveled first class, how is the champagne and 307 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: cheese select? We didn't have champagne. We had real pain, 308 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:05,960 Speaker 1: thank you, none of this champagne you guys talk about. 309 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:10,160 Speaker 1: Um no, but but I mean it's anyone who's traveled 310 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:13,359 Speaker 1: first or business class and then goes back to travel coach, 311 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: the belly aching is unbearable, right, It's just this idea. 312 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:21,400 Speaker 1: Oh no, yeah, you can't go back, by the way. 313 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:25,479 Speaker 1: I haven't traveled first or business in years, and and frankly, 314 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:29,200 Speaker 1: I'm still amazed that planes work, so I'm happy either way. 315 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 1: But but there was a period shortly after that time 316 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 1: where I was able to travel first or business where 317 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,879 Speaker 1: I was one of those unbearable people for that particular reason. 318 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 1: I'm unbearable for many other reasons now, but for that 319 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: particular reason where I can't believe this wonderful complaining. I know, 320 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:50,320 Speaker 1: flying coach, though, would seem like an amazing luxury compared 321 00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:52,439 Speaker 1: to what the pilot and co pilot are going to 322 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,440 Speaker 1: have to be able to endure to make this round 323 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:57,760 Speaker 1: the world flight a possibility, because one of the things 324 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:00,159 Speaker 1: they're gonna have to, like I said, stay in the 325 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:03,480 Speaker 1: air for some of the estimates are as long as 326 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:07,600 Speaker 1: five days and nights, or perhaps even longer for just 327 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:11,440 Speaker 1: one leg of this journey. So for five days and nights, 328 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:15,439 Speaker 1: you are in a chair in a plane and you 329 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:19,200 Speaker 1: cannot go anywhere because there's no space. Every single ounce 330 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: matters on that plane, every single inch counts, so there's 331 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:26,479 Speaker 1: no space in the back for one person to go 332 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:30,160 Speaker 1: and and collapse while the other one flies the plane. Instead, 333 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 1: their chairs are going to be designed in such a 334 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:35,320 Speaker 1: way where they can lay back into a cot form 335 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: and you can. The plane is going to have an autopilot, 336 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:42,680 Speaker 1: so they can sit there there heading and course and 337 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:45,719 Speaker 1: both catch them z s while they need to, and 338 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:50,000 Speaker 1: then wake up and everything should be fine. Um somehow 339 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:54,040 Speaker 1: I don't suspect that will happen. Well, I think it's 340 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:56,080 Speaker 1: probably more likely that they're going to do their best 341 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:58,200 Speaker 1: to take shifts. But the nice thing is that they 342 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:00,679 Speaker 1: can set on autopilot and catch some rest if they 343 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,880 Speaker 1: need to. But alright, so we've got we've got laying 344 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 1: down to rest, and we've got sitting up to operate. 345 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:09,720 Speaker 1: But there's still one important human activity besides the whole 346 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 1: eating and drinking thing. They'll obviously have some food and 347 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,479 Speaker 1: water up there on the plane as well. There's one 348 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,080 Speaker 1: other important activity that we can't avoid. Yeah, I was 349 00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:20,680 Speaker 1: about to ask have the engineers factored into the plane's 350 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: course the fact that it might be losing a bit 351 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 1: of mass as it travels. So what we're alluding to 352 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:32,760 Speaker 1: is where do you poop? I mean, you know, it's 353 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:35,280 Speaker 1: one of the most popular questions on how stuff works, 354 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 1: as main site is all about space toilets um. In 355 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,960 Speaker 1: this case, those fancy chairs I was talking about they 356 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 1: double up as as both chairs and cots. Well, really 357 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:51,960 Speaker 1: they do triple duty because they're also lavatories. I had 358 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,480 Speaker 1: to do it. Joe. Joe is rolling his eyes, So everybody, 359 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:58,200 Speaker 1: we've already achieved some horrible pun hat trick. Everybody who 360 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:02,280 Speaker 1: misses Lauren's eye rolling, just that her spirit is living 361 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 1: in Joe right now, even though Lauren herself is not 362 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: in thet Yeah. So um, but no, it's it's true. 363 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:12,399 Speaker 1: The the actual chairs are going to do this this 364 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:15,119 Speaker 1: triple job of being the place where you sit, the 365 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: place where you sleep, in the place where you have 366 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:19,960 Speaker 1: to go to the bathroom because they couldn't incorporate a 367 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: separate lavatory because again, every single bit of weight counts. 368 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:28,480 Speaker 1: It seems like there would be ventilation shues. Yeah, I haven't. 369 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:32,920 Speaker 1: I haven't actually seen any illustrations or animations of how 370 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,280 Speaker 1: this actually works, Like, does does the does a little 371 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:38,200 Speaker 1: bit of the bottom of the chair just open up 372 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:41,960 Speaker 1: to the to the I mean, who knows? I honestly 373 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:43,880 Speaker 1: do not know the answer to that, because I haven't 374 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:47,320 Speaker 1: seen the illustrations I've seen. I've seen footage of them 375 00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: testing out the chairs, laying it back into cot form, 376 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:53,880 Speaker 1: but not the pooping. Well, here's a question I don't 377 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 1: know if you know the answer to. Is the cabin pressurized? 378 00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:59,480 Speaker 1: Are they flying at such an altitude that they don't 379 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 1: have to press size the cabin? And now the pictures 380 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:07,120 Speaker 1: I've seen, I've seen them wearing essentially air masks as well, 381 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,440 Speaker 1: so I would imagine that the cabin is not pressurized. 382 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:15,040 Speaker 1: But I also imagine they're not typically flying in an 383 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:18,760 Speaker 1: altitude where that's too much of a problem. They did, 384 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 1: as I saw, have have masks there because I saw 385 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:24,560 Speaker 1: a guy who essentially he pulls the mask aside in 386 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:27,399 Speaker 1: order to eat a little snack cake, drink a little water, 387 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 1: put the mask back on, go on his merry way. Um, 388 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:33,919 Speaker 1: But whether or not the whole thing is pressurized, I 389 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,639 Speaker 1: don't think it is because again, that would require a 390 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:38,840 Speaker 1: lot of weight to be able to put in the 391 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:42,440 Speaker 1: systems necessary. You have to seal everything off, obviously, because 392 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:44,720 Speaker 1: if if you don't seal everything off, you can't maintain 393 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:47,080 Speaker 1: a pressure, and you know, it would just be escaping 394 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:49,080 Speaker 1: the whole time. Plus then you would have to have 395 00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:52,199 Speaker 1: the mechanisms necessary to pressurize the cabin, and all of 396 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:54,919 Speaker 1: that adds weight. So really, when it comes to solar 397 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:57,600 Speaker 1: aircraft in general, not just the Solar Impulse, but any 398 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: solar aircraft, anything that's not absolutely necessary to maintain flight 399 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 1: tends to be left behind. So you don't have a 400 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 1: lot of the systems and a lot of the other niceties. 401 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 1: In fact, a lot of solar aircraft don't even have 402 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:14,440 Speaker 1: landing gear. They have they have wheels that allow them 403 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:17,640 Speaker 1: to roll around when they're before they take off. Then 404 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:21,359 Speaker 1: once they take off they jettison the wheels because that's weight, 405 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:26,120 Speaker 1: like the fuel containers on the Space shuttle. Yeah, so 406 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:28,119 Speaker 1: it means that when you're landing, you're not so much 407 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:31,159 Speaker 1: landing as you are having as controlled to crash as 408 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 1: you possibly can, which I'm sure is nerve racking, but 409 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:37,720 Speaker 1: that's part of the design. So the plane is designed 410 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:39,720 Speaker 1: to have that kind of landing. It's not, you know, 411 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:42,560 Speaker 1: an emergency type thing. This is this is standard operating 412 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 1: procedure onboard solar aircraft. And uh yeah, so, I mean 413 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:50,720 Speaker 1: it's kind of I'm curious to see really how this 414 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:55,240 Speaker 1: continues to develop, what the experience ends up really being 415 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,520 Speaker 1: like for the pilot and co pilot, what it you know, 416 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:00,480 Speaker 1: whether or not they're able to make this. By the way, 417 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:04,320 Speaker 1: I didn't mention this their plan for the entire journey. 418 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:06,720 Speaker 1: You know, we're talking about that eight eight miles per 419 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:10,080 Speaker 1: hour top speed. It's going to take them five months 420 00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:12,760 Speaker 1: to go all the way around the world, and that's 421 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 1: in various legs of the journey, so it's going to 422 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,920 Speaker 1: be lots of stopping and starting, but five months total. 423 00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:22,960 Speaker 1: So it's uh, you know, it's it's it's not something 424 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:27,080 Speaker 1: that's going to take place super fast, obviously, but I'm 425 00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:28,879 Speaker 1: really curious to see if they're able to make it 426 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:32,159 Speaker 1: all the way around the world. And one of the 427 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:36,040 Speaker 1: things I love about this is that it's and it's 428 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 1: really a pure engineering challenge, right. The whole thing was 429 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:44,920 Speaker 1: this idea of let's build a heavier than air aircraft 430 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:50,320 Speaker 1: only powered by solar energy. Um, the batteries are charged 431 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:52,600 Speaker 1: by solar energy. So that's how you can say that 432 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:54,600 Speaker 1: it's only powered by solar energy and be able to 433 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 1: fly it all the way around the world. All right, 434 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,680 Speaker 1: that's our goal. How do we achieve that? And on 435 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:01,879 Speaker 1: a sleep. When they first started thinking about this, they 436 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,480 Speaker 1: started talking about it back in when they first started 437 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:07,600 Speaker 1: thinking about it, it was not something that could have 438 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:10,080 Speaker 1: been achieved just based upon the technology they had at 439 00:24:10,119 --> 00:24:14,480 Speaker 1: their disposal. The team had to innovate and and invent 440 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,399 Speaker 1: things and tweak stuff in order for this to happen. 441 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:21,000 Speaker 1: And that's what I find so exciting because it's one 442 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,679 Speaker 1: of those projects where even if you think it's a 443 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 1: ridiculous endeavor to fly around the world in a solar 444 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,440 Speaker 1: powered aircraft, the truth is the work that they're doing 445 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:33,959 Speaker 1: can inform other industries and other technologies that end up 446 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: benefiting us in the long run. Yeah. Well, before I 447 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:39,960 Speaker 1: read about this particular story, I would have thought a 448 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:44,160 Speaker 1: solar powered aircraft was just impossible, that there's no way 449 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:47,119 Speaker 1: you can generate enough power to create the thrust you 450 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 1: need to stay aloft and heavier than air aircraft. Obviously, 451 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:53,879 Speaker 1: if you have a balloon or something. But right, yeah, 452 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:56,000 Speaker 1: and so it just blows my mind that they can 453 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:59,320 Speaker 1: do this at all. Not to mention the the extent 454 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:02,440 Speaker 1: to which there take king this technology, we should talk 455 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:07,639 Speaker 1: about how this is almost certainly not going to be 456 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:12,640 Speaker 1: the passenger plane of the future because all of the 457 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: First of all, I think all the reasons that we 458 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:17,920 Speaker 1: gave of what they had to do in order to 459 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:21,399 Speaker 1: make this possible. I'm pretty sure that your average frequent 460 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:23,920 Speaker 1: flyer doesn't want to poop in their chair, right, that 461 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:25,919 Speaker 1: would be a big one. Well, and you can't get 462 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:29,159 Speaker 1: enough people on it, it doesn't go fast enough. You 463 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,679 Speaker 1: can't pressurize it, or at least that's what I assume. 464 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:34,919 Speaker 1: I could be wrong about that. I didn't see anything 465 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:39,080 Speaker 1: about pressurization on about the solar impulse. If I'm wrong 466 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:41,320 Speaker 1: about that, that's fascinating. I would want to read more 467 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:45,360 Speaker 1: about that. How they achieve that using this lightweight approach. 468 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:47,960 Speaker 1: But well, even if you table that one, I mean, 469 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:51,240 Speaker 1: all the other concerns make this this is not going 470 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:54,399 Speaker 1: to replace the passenger jet. No, No, they What it 471 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:57,720 Speaker 1: could do is you could take a look at all 472 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:00,960 Speaker 1: the different considerations the tea made in order to make 473 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 1: the aircraft as efficient as it possibly can, and some 474 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 1: of those lessons you might be able to apply to 475 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,360 Speaker 1: aircraft designed in the future. Yeah, And I would think 476 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:10,719 Speaker 1: one thing to focus on, or at least for us 477 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:14,159 Speaker 1: to remember, is that the advances that come with this 478 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 1: kind of aircraft that are really important to future aircraft 479 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 1: that people might fly in are not necessarily like the 480 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:23,159 Speaker 1: solar panels or the solar implementation. It might be the 481 00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:27,760 Speaker 1: ways that aircraft like this use clever tricks to become 482 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:32,480 Speaker 1: lighter and still stay have enough stability in the in 483 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: the fuselage not to come apart, right right, Yeah, because 484 00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:36,840 Speaker 1: one of the things, you know, one of the big 485 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 1: reasons why this is so important is that we didn't 486 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:42,520 Speaker 1: really address this, but air travel generates a lot of pollution. 487 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:47,240 Speaker 1: Right Your standard your standard jet, like your standard commercial jet, 488 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:52,200 Speaker 1: can create as much as point forward to point six 489 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:56,520 Speaker 1: five pounds of greenhouse gas per mile travel. That all 490 00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:01,240 Speaker 1: depends on the destination and paradoxically, perhaps uh, the further 491 00:27:01,359 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 1: you go, the less you're generating per mile. But the 492 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,640 Speaker 1: reason for that is because takeoff and landing are where 493 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 1: you generate the most greenhouse gases because they require the 494 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:13,800 Speaker 1: most power. Yeah, there are people who talk about buying 495 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:18,040 Speaker 1: carbon offset credits when you take an air travel journey. 496 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:20,760 Speaker 1: That's not a bad idea, even though through through air 497 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:23,720 Speaker 1: travel it's not necessarily just carbon emissions. Is other greenhouse 498 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:28,720 Speaker 1: gas more prevalent in jet fuel exhaust? Ye, But I 499 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,760 Speaker 1: mean it's it's a huge amount. Like you're talking, you know, 500 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:35,440 Speaker 1: point forward two point six five pounds of greenhouse gases. 501 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:37,960 Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know if you've weighed a gas recently, 502 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:40,439 Speaker 1: but it takes a lot for it to make a pound, 503 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:44,120 Speaker 1: So you're talking about a truly massive amount of greenhouse 504 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:48,359 Speaker 1: gases every time an aircraft is flying. Uh. And again, 505 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:50,880 Speaker 1: depending on the type of aircraft and how far it's going, 506 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:54,879 Speaker 1: that's what tells you how much average you are generating. 507 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:58,720 Speaker 1: So if we're able to take lessons from things like 508 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:01,640 Speaker 1: the solar impulse to air craft and incorporate them into 509 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:05,199 Speaker 1: future aircraft design so that aircraft are more efficient and 510 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:09,000 Speaker 1: using less fuel than we are, having a smaller negative 511 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 1: impact on the environment overall. Yeah, And while as we said, 512 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:16,960 Speaker 1: there's probably not going to be a solely solar powered aircraft, 513 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:21,440 Speaker 1: there may be hybrid aircraft in the future. For standard commuters, 514 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 1: and you know, you can see the possibility of using 515 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:28,359 Speaker 1: solar power for things other than the thrust, right, you 516 00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:31,200 Speaker 1: can use solar panels to do things like help power 517 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:35,640 Speaker 1: some of the various systems aboard the aircraft, depending upon 518 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,280 Speaker 1: what kind of aircraft it is. I mean, you probably 519 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:41,760 Speaker 1: don't want all the avionics powered by solar power, but 520 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:45,320 Speaker 1: things like cabin lighting that kind of stuff could certainly 521 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:49,280 Speaker 1: be augmented through solar power either probably in a more 522 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,520 Speaker 1: uh analogous way to the way the solar impulse has batteries. 523 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:56,080 Speaker 1: You would probably use the solar power to charge batteries 524 00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,240 Speaker 1: and then the systems withdraw electricity from the batteries not 525 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:03,120 Speaker 1: have a direct line solar panel to system because that 526 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:06,680 Speaker 1: wouldn't be as useful in in you know, all the 527 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:09,480 Speaker 1: different situations that aircraft go in. The Other thing about 528 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 1: to keep in mind is the aircraft tend to fly 529 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:15,640 Speaker 1: higher than your your regular cloud level commercial aircraft do, 530 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:18,920 Speaker 1: so they actually have better access to sunlight than say 531 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:22,440 Speaker 1: something that can't go that high. Um. Yeah, and also 532 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:26,720 Speaker 1: we're seeing this technology being incorporated into unmanned aerial vehicles. Uh, 533 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 1: there's already proposals for u A v s that could 534 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 1: use solar panels and never have to land. They could 535 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:36,080 Speaker 1: just stay in the air perpelled, you know, until they 536 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:39,680 Speaker 1: needed some form of maintenance. So until something breaks, they're fine, 537 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:43,160 Speaker 1: in which case they'd probably just crash. Yeah, if there's 538 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 1: enough of a warning where you know something's going to 539 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:48,440 Speaker 1: end up, or you just have you know, a set 540 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: schedule or when things need to have regular maintenance, then 541 00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: you might be fine. But if you get a note saying, oh, 542 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:58,960 Speaker 1: propeller failed, and probably like, well lost that one. But 543 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:01,640 Speaker 1: it's in interesting because it could be used for all 544 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:03,440 Speaker 1: sorts of stuff, not just I mean a lot of 545 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:05,719 Speaker 1: people sit there and think of surveillance, but that's not 546 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:07,600 Speaker 1: the only use. You can use it for things like 547 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,760 Speaker 1: sending it into a dangerous area that's been hit by 548 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:14,160 Speaker 1: a disaster or other sort of calamity and get a 549 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:17,320 Speaker 1: really good idea of what's going on before you send 550 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:20,360 Speaker 1: any kind of first responders in, or in a example 551 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:25,160 Speaker 1: like the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster, you want to be 552 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:28,040 Speaker 1: able to send in you know, robots and that kind 553 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:30,560 Speaker 1: of stuff without having to put people in harm's way, 554 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:34,960 Speaker 1: because that's that's potentially a really dangerous situation. And having 555 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:39,360 Speaker 1: something that can maintain its position for a longer amount 556 00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:41,440 Speaker 1: of time is more useful than something that just gets 557 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:43,800 Speaker 1: a snapshot and then that's all. You know. The battery 558 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:46,440 Speaker 1: life is only twenty minutes or forty minutes and then 559 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:48,959 Speaker 1: you have to fly it back. Uh, that's not as useful. 560 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:52,400 Speaker 1: Having something that can maintain its presence and keep an 561 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:56,960 Speaker 1: eye on developing situations is incredibly useful. So I think 562 00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,959 Speaker 1: we're going to see that kind of technology more widely 563 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:03,600 Speaker 1: deployed over time as well. So I'm really really excited 564 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:05,640 Speaker 1: by this project. I mean, I love any kind of 565 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:10,160 Speaker 1: engineering challenge where it makes people think creatively about how 566 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,320 Speaker 1: to solve these problems. So maybe in the future will 567 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:17,320 Speaker 1: do an episode about some of the amazing DARPA challenges 568 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 1: to like some of the ones that have incredibly difficult 569 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:23,560 Speaker 1: tasks that engineering teams have to figure out how do 570 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:26,960 Speaker 1: they achieve these these goals. I like the problems that 571 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,360 Speaker 1: are specifically like this, where you're trying to squeeze every 572 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:34,600 Speaker 1: last drop of efficiency out of a mechanical system. Like 573 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:36,880 Speaker 1: the same way I might not admire the way they 574 00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:39,440 Speaker 1: drive in terms of safety reasons, but I like reading 575 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:42,200 Speaker 1: about the hyper milers, the people who try to get 576 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:46,400 Speaker 1: every possible efficiency advantage they can out of their car. Well, 577 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:50,040 Speaker 1: Joe in an in an offline conversation that we had 578 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:53,200 Speaker 1: earlier this week, we've already determined that Mrs Todd shortcut 579 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:58,000 Speaker 1: isn't interesting. King short story about you know, finding that 580 00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:02,040 Speaker 1: most efficient, most efficient route, even if it costs you 581 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:05,720 Speaker 1: your sanity. Um, yeah, but no, I agree. I mean 582 00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:09,680 Speaker 1: it's one of those things where you always think, like, 583 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:11,600 Speaker 1: there are those moments where you think, all right, we've 584 00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:15,160 Speaker 1: hit it, We've hit the pinnacle. There is no squeezing 585 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:19,560 Speaker 1: a single ounce of efficiency more out of this. Somebody 586 00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:22,480 Speaker 1: smart can probably figure something out. Yeah, which is that's 587 00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:26,040 Speaker 1: always fantastic. I mean because again, we all stand to benefit. 588 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:29,000 Speaker 1: It might not be immediate. It might not be that 589 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:31,160 Speaker 1: the next day you wake up and suddenly the world 590 00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:33,719 Speaker 1: is a magical place. But it could mean that another 591 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:36,760 Speaker 1: five or ten years down the road, technology that we 592 00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:40,800 Speaker 1: had not thought was possible is a mundane reality because 593 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:43,920 Speaker 1: of the things we learned from these engineering challenges. It's 594 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:47,720 Speaker 1: pretty cool. So yeah, I think first I want to 595 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:52,080 Speaker 1: say thank you Joe for coming on the podcast visiting 596 00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:56,240 Speaker 1: te stuff. Hell, well, you know, the hounters are all ours, 597 00:32:56,800 --> 00:32:59,200 Speaker 1: And that wraps up this classic episode of tech Stuff. 598 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:01,680 Speaker 1: Hope you enjoy aid listening to it. If you have 599 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:04,560 Speaker 1: any suggestions for future topics I should cover, or any 600 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:08,280 Speaker 1: topics that require an update or three, let me know. 601 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 1: You can reach out on Twitter the handle we uses 602 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:14,680 Speaker 1: tech stuff h s W and I'll talk to you 603 00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:22,520 Speaker 1: again really soon. Yeah. Text Stuff is an I Heart 604 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:26,320 Speaker 1: Radio production. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit 605 00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:29,479 Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 606 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:30,880 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.