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Mercedes Benz Solar Paint
This claim by Mercedes, that a car could have a solar paint job that could power it for daily use, combines two of my favorite Technovelgy items by Robert Heinlein and Larry Niven.
(Could solar paint eliminate EV charging?)
The solar-painted Mercedes Benz is similar to what science fiction author Robert Heinlein imagined in his 1940 story Coventry; he called his vehicle the Steel Tortoise:
The vehicle he had chosen was... was extremely rugged, easy to operate, and almost foolproof. It drew its power from six square yards of sunpower screens on its low curved roof. These drove a constant-load motor, or, when halted, replenished the storage battery against cloudy weather, or night travel. The bearings were 'everlasting', and every moving part, other than the caterpillar treads and the controls, were sealed up, secure from inexpert tinkering.
Steel Tortoise from 'Coventry' by Robert Heinlein)It could maintain a steady six miles per hour on smooth, level pavement. When confronted by hills, or rough terrain, it did not stop, but simply slowed until the task demanded equaled its steady power output.
(Read more about steel tortoise)
I've always like the solar power paint idea that Larry Niven described in his 1995 story The Woman in Del Rey Crater:
Black Power, they call it. It turns sunlight into electricity, just like any solar power converter, but you spray it on.
(Read more about Niven's black power)
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'So far as I could see, the thing was without a directing Martian at all.'
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'The suit stands up and starts walking, gripping me round the calves and waist, taking the bulk of my weight off my throbbing feet.'
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't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
Elon Musk Wants Data Centers In Space
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.'
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'Did you never see a moving house before?'
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'It diverts integers of the data, the fundamental message-units, so that they no longer agree.'
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It's a computer, but just barely.
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