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Bill Nye Says NASCAR Should Lead Way To All-Electric Cars - Perhaps With Teslas

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Nye is a boring pencil-necked geek who obviously knows nothing about NASCAR, probably never even been to a race. To make statements about what they *should* do reflects on his pseudo-intellectual persona...yeah i'm a redneck and i like racin'

Wish he'd be a little more careful, the above criticism seems a little too solid.

What Nye SHOULD do is gain a first principles level understanding of NASCAR, then set out to think about how to move it forward. Or better yet, simply have a brainstorm conversation with an interested subject matter expert like Leilani.
 
NASCAR would not be a good fit for the level of EV technology today, but ...

Some kind of racing that could be done inside a stadium. No emissions, lots of laps per charge.

Offroad? Drifting? Sprint cars?
 
People have pointed out that the Tesla would power limit after a lap. But more importantly a stock car of any type, never mind Tesla, would simply not be safe. NASCARs are tube frame construction with an armored cockpit. They wrap an Impala body or whatever around that, but it's just a flimsy lookalike cover added mainly for aerodynamic purposes.
 
Nye is a boring pencil-necked geek...
Attacking someone for their appearance is juvenile. Yes Bill Nye is skinny. So what? He's extremely smart and does a terrific job getting people interested in and excited about science, a very worthwhile endeavor.
He probably doesn't know much about NASCAR. But he knows a hell of a lot about issues that are critical to the survival of life on this planet. Which is more important? The answer is obvious.
 
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Bill Nye first came to prominence on a locally produced skit show in Seattle called Almost Live. He did science bits like Mr Wizard and also did participated in some of the skits. I met a couple of the cast and had a quite lengthy talk with one of them once. He said Bill Nye was a very weird guy.

Bill Nye also doesn't have a degree in science, he's a Mechanical Engineer by training who was working at Boeing when he started appearing on Almost Live. Any engineer worth their salt should know quite a bit about science, in my Electronic Engineering program I had to take 2 years of Physics, over 2 years of advanced math Calculus, differential equations, partial differential equations, and Fourier math), and some Chemistry and Biology. I could have gotten a double major in Physics with only a few more courses, but I was ready to move on. I checked Cornell's requirements (Nye's alma mater) and it looks similar to my school.

Neither here nor there, it just irritates me a bit when people celebrate him as a scientist. He does a decent job of watering down science so it can be understood by non-scientists, and he seems to think more like a scientist than an engineer, but he doesn't have a degree in science.
 
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Bill Nye first came to prominence on a locally produced skit show in Seattle called Almost Live. He did science bits like Mr Wizard and also did participated in some of the skits. I met a couple of the cast and had a quite lengthy talk with one of them once. He said Bill Nye was a very weird guy.

Bill Nye also doesn't have a degree in science, he's a Mechanical Engineer by training who was working at Boeing when he started appearing on Almost Live. Any engineer worth their salt should know quite a bit about science, in my Electronic Engineering program I had to take 2 years of Physics, over 2 years of advanced math Calculus, differential equations, partial differential equations, and Fourier math), and some Chemistry and Biology. I could have gotten a double major in Physics with only a few more courses, but I was ready to move on. I checked Cornell's requirements (Nye's alma mater) and it looks similar to my school.

Neither here nor there, it just irritates me a bit when people celebrate him as a scientist. He does a decent job of watering down science so it can be understood by non-scientists, and he seems to think more like a scientist than an engineer, but he doesn't have a degree in science.
It appears your definition of 'science' is somewhat limited.
 
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Anyone dissing NASCAR needs to go sit down at the entrance to a turn at one of the tight tracks and watch them hang them sideways to scrub off speed as someone in front gets loose. It is synchronized mayhem executed by some gals/guys with unbelievable car control. I'm no fan of driving a 3200 lb barge with a dead axel at 200 mph but there is no denying there is a tremendous amount of skill in that pack.

As for racing electric cars, Formula E may have better ratings than F1 but so does the Donald. FE simply puts me to sleep. I must not be their target audience.

MS in NASCAR would drive down repair costs if they kept the car's unibody :)
 
It appears your definition of 'science' is somewhat limited.

Not at all. I just have a problem with people thinking Bill Nye has a degree in science like other spokespeople for science like Carl Sagan, Neil deGrass Tyson, and Michio Kaku who all have/had PhDs in the subjects they educate the public about. Bill Nye is essentially the modern Mr. Wizard.

Anyone can learn science and many people who don't have advanced degrees in it can educate others on the basics of science, but they are more likely to have more holes in their knowledge than someone who studied a scientific discipline for around 9 years.
 
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Not at all. I just have a problem with people thinking Bill Nye has a degree in science like other spokespeople for science like Carl Sagan, Neil deGrass Tyson, and Michio Kaku who all have/had PhDs in the subjects they educate the public about. Bill Nye is essentially the modern Mr. Wizard.

Anyone can learn science and many people who don't have advanced degrees in it can educate others on the basics of science, but they are more likely to have more holes in their knowledge than someone who studied a scientific discipline for around 9 years.

Okay I completely disagree with your position on this. Engineering is applied science. Engineers learn about basic physics, chemistry, mathematics, laboratory work, the scientific method, etc., and also learn how to apply that knowledge. Depending on the program they may graduate with a substantial parity with physics graduates in knowledge about science, though probably with different emphasis on the specific topics.

Once you go on to masters and doctorate degrees, you don't learn more about science in the broad sense. You narrow your focus and learn in much greater degree about a smaller and smaller part of the overall subject of science. Surely this would only incrementally help in honing your abilities to understand broad scientific topics or disseminate knowledge about science to the general public.

If you ask a particle physicist to comment on chemistry issues, he'll be able to discuss it to a certain level, but no better or worse than Bill Nye.

Bill Nye obviously doesn't know much about NASCAR. But I bet Carl Sagan didn't either.
 
Okay I completely disagree with your position on this. Engineering is applied science. Engineers learn about basic physics, chemistry, mathematics, laboratory work, the scientific method, etc., and also learn how to apply that knowledge. Depending on the program they may graduate with a substantial parity with physics graduates in knowledge about science, though probably with different emphasis on the specific topics.

Once you go on to masters and doctorate degrees, you don't learn more about science in the broad sense. You narrow your focus and learn in much greater degree about a smaller and smaller part of the overall subject of science. Surely this would only incrementally help in honing your abilities to understand broad scientific topics or disseminate knowledge about science to the general public.

If you ask a particle physicist to comment on chemistry issues, he'll be able to discuss it to a certain level, but no better or worse than Bill Nye.

Bill Nye obviously doesn't know much about NASCAR. But I bet Carl Sagan didn't either.

I know, I have the same educational qualifications to opine about science as Bill Nye, we both have BSs in engineering, though my degree is in Electronic Engineering. I thought about it and I think what really bothers me is the way some people in the media fawn over him as the last word in science and Nye's attitude compared to the Tyson and Kaku. I saw an interview once with another PhD Physicist who had some controversial ideas and the interviewer asked him about how his colleagues treated him. He said he knew quite a few other scientists and many of the top scientists in the world had quietly told him that he might be on to something and shared similar views, but they didn't want to threaten their grants by publicly saying anything. He said he ran into the most trouble from the high school Physics teachers and others who acted like all of science was settled and there were no questions left to answer. Nye behaves too much like the high school Physics teacher type. I guess that's at the nub of what bothers me rather than education level.

Einstein said "The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know"

and Newton said "I am only a child playing on the beach while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me"
 
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Teslas off the showroom floor did expose Nye, as naive. In this environment we're only at mechanical and heat energy recovery systems (MGH/MGU), which convert kinetic energy back to electricity. I believe some of these technical challenges aren't just a front, to preserve ICE.

My 2c - Next step would be a racing series allowing 3-5kwh batteries to show up charged, and to allow unlimited charge rates in the pit lane. With fuel restrictions (which just went down 30%, in F1), the development could follow a path toward compelling "REx Racers" in a few years. Right now, I am not aware LMP1, or F1, allows cars arriving at the grid with any state of charge >0.
 
So here's the plan. All stock Teslas. Quick change battery station in each pit. Each team has four batteries. What could be simpler?
Now, since there will no fans in the stands to watch watch a silent, odorless and utterly boring race, let's spice it up by making it figure 8 race, with an optional center jump. Oh, and put playing cards in the wheel spokes to make some noise. Daytona Figure 8 Electric Classic 500. Wow!
Seriously, NASCAR, let's don't. But lets DO do Pike's Peak (Love to see a modified P90D streaking up that course) and continue to have fun at the drag strips.
 
So here's the plan. All stock Teslas. Quick change battery station in each pit. Each team has four batteries. What could be simpler?
Now, since there will no fans in the stands to watch watch a silent, odorless and utterly boring race, let's spice it up by making it figure 8 race, with an optional center jump. Oh, and put playing cards in the wheel spokes to make some noise. Daytona Figure 8 Electric Classic 500. Wow!
Seriously, NASCAR, let's don't. But lets DO do Pike's Peak (Love to see a modified P90D streaking up that course) and continue to have fun at the drag strips.

Why not just have the cars play recordings of NASCARs?
 
I saw my first Formula E race last Saturday, and was surprised to find out they do an entire car swap halfway through the race because the cars just don't have the range when run at such demanding performance levels! Advances in battery storage capacity are their main goal for the end of the second season in efforts to achieve a battery that can last the entire race, but in the meantime I too agree a battery swap or (more expensively, a car swap) will be necessary until such time. I do like the rate at which the cars take off, and next to a Formula 1 or Indycar I think off the mark they could give them a run for their money, but I acknowledge range and endurance still require further development to become truly worthy of taking on the petrol based industry today.
 
NASCAR would not be a good fit for the level of EV technology today, but ...

Some kind of racing that could be done inside a stadium. No emissions, lots of laps per charge.

Offroad? Drifting? Sprint cars?
This is an interesting suggestion. One advantage of electrics is you can race in an enclosed arena, both noise and exhaust issues are absent. With battery swap pit stops there's no issue with total charge. Top speeds are inherently limited.

Interesting possibilities.