Since money’s fungible, all the teams that go over are always going to pick the most inconsequential line item and say it was due to that.

Tesla: We still don’t have a demand problem, we’re just cutting prices so that people demand our cars more. No demand problem. We just can’t sell all the cars we make unless we make them cheaper. Phenomenon entirely confined to China. Nothing to see here.

It’d be neat if the FIA could manage to run a championship normally. Masi botched it in 2021 by not following their own rules, and this one they kinda messed up here by not making it clear what their interpretation of the rules were.

It seems like the Pirelli full-wets and inters just put up too much spray. When they red-flag it, I usually don’t disagree because it looks terrifying. Even with everyone on inters it looked unraceable.

This is true, but the competition is only a little faster, so if Eviation takes away the short 1hr hops where the slow speed doesn’t matter as much, then the gas-powered competition ends up limited to ranges where their slow speed is more painful to the passengers.  I don’t mind 250kts if you’re going 1hr, but it is…

I’ve seen one.  It sounds like a standard turboprop.  Buzzzzzzz.  It’d be interesting to have one where they have a similar-size turboprop take off, and then their plane, because I assume it’s at least a little quieter.

Just ask NASA how easy cryogenic H2 is to handle. Even the Space Shuttle after 135 flights still had leaks and scrubs due to finicky H2, and SLS is 6-7 wet dress rehearsals in. The rocket industry, where weight and performance are extremely important and H2 has it in spades, is moving away from H2.

That third gear sure sounds like a law working exactly as intended.  Who knew industrial policy could actually work?  Other than the Chinese, Germans, and other huge exporters.

I really like green-white-checker, but since there’s no hot-pits refueling, F1 couldn’t do it. The cars are running on fumes once they hit race distance, so extending the distance isn’t an option.  Or else you end with a race where 20 cars sputter to a halt well short of the extended distance.

Red flags are meant as a last resort measure to ensure the safety of competitors and spectators, not to create entertainment.

It’s officially supported by Ford, so I’m guessing warranty support will be fine. Also, it’s for leased vehicles that Ford then has to deal with at the end of the lease.

Nothing about the J85 (or rather, its civilian variant) would stop them from departing a commercial airfield. After all, they’re on [notably subsonic] bizjets already. I’m sure their one-off scale demonstrator will eventually hit the skies and fly. Three+ years late.

Cost-Plus Incentives: If I guaranteed to pay you $1.10 for every dollar you spent on your car, I bet you’d spend a whole lotta money.

They’re vaporware until the big jet flies and passes regulatory scrutiny.

I’d say it’s not quite the sunk-cost fallacy, at least in terms of money.

Whether the Boom demo flies or not, it sounds like Boom lost their engine partner for their production aircraft this week, which they say will be flying in 3 years.

While you mention Boom Supersonic, it’s worth mentioning they dropped or were dropped by their prospective engine supplier (Rolls Royce) this week.

The underlying team businesses often change names, but keep the same operations (buildings/staff/history/engines/drivers). Sauber has been Alfa Romeo and BMW.

The power possible in an EV basically comes down to the power (not energy) density of the batteries. Each kg of a battery is good for 300-1500W of power. If you’ve got a bigger battery (or a chemistry optimized for the 1500W/kg instead of 300W/kg), you’ll have more power available.

That’s really cool how you can see the Kepler mission (cross-shaped blob) and then the follow-on K2 mission (less-dense cross-shaped blobs arranged in a sine-wave).