X-Message-Number: 29594 From: "John de Rivaz" <> References: <> Subject: Re: Electric aeroplane concept described Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2007 12:28:20 +0100 > Talk about grasping at straws. Even the U.S. Air Force now admits that > disruptions in the increasingly vulnerable oil supply could cut off its > access to jet fuel. > That explains where the $ are coming from to develop these advanced concepts. Once developed, they can and will be applied to civilian traffic. Rather than grasping at straws, I would say that the fact that the USAF are concerned reinforces the point, by indicating that very large sums of money are available. Unlike venture capitalists DARPA does not take a slice of the equity in offering funding for projects it deems to be of merit. The American economy may have a "secret sauce": billions of federal dollars spent on research projects doled out to corporate USA. Finland does something similar to boost Finnish innovation. I suggest that those interested go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/inbusiness/inbusiness.shtml and listen to a BBC radio 4 programme about DARPA. You can listen to it as streaming audio or download an mp3 file for use on an MP3 player. But you will need to be quick, the file will be changed on 28 June. It is just a question of how one looks at the point, analogous to whether you use a stick or carrot to get people to concentrate near a particular cryonics facility. Possibly because it is more difficult to offer a carrot, Mark Plus chooses a stick. But clearly the stick isn't working, so maybe it is time to give it a rest or find a carrot. -- Sincerely, John de Rivaz: http://John.deRivaz.com for websites including Cryonics Europe, Longevity Report, The Venturists, Porthtowan, Alec Harley Reeves - inventor, Arthur Bowker - potter, de Rivaz genealogy, Nomad .. and more Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=29594