Ever see the John Ritter/Harvey Korman movie Americathon? Not that I necessarily recommend watching it, but it had partly the same premise--only they intentionally parodized it.
As for real-life: 1) The Nazis almost succeeded in synthesizing motor fuel from coal. 2) The WW2 Japanese actually succeeded in synthesizing motor fuel from pine spirits. 3) Hybrid and flex-fuel vehicles are catching on, and turbine engines for big-rig trucks are also in the works.
The internal combustion engine will be around for a good long time to come. And unless something comes along that truly makes it obsolete, it'll wind up being dragged out of sight kicking and screaming.
I agree that housing technology is horrid these days. It's too labor-intensive (needlessly so) and prone to glitches. Modular pre-fab (like they do in Japan these days) is the way to go.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2007-03-12 10:40 pm (UTC)As for real-life:
1) The Nazis almost succeeded in synthesizing motor fuel from coal.
2) The WW2 Japanese actually succeeded in synthesizing motor fuel from pine spirits.
3) Hybrid and flex-fuel vehicles are catching on, and turbine engines for big-rig trucks are also in the works.
The internal combustion engine will be around for a good long time to come. And unless something comes along that truly makes it obsolete, it'll wind up being dragged out of sight kicking and screaming.
I agree that housing technology is horrid these days. It's too labor-intensive (needlessly so) and prone to glitches. Modular pre-fab (like they do in Japan these days) is the way to go.