Hey all,

I posted this to my Twitter feed earlier and thought I would pose the same questions to everyone at the Duck.

Let's assume car's are a dying breed. What do you think the personal transportation of the future will be like?

I would really like to know what everyone thinks about this topic, I would imagine in at least the next 50 years we will really have to address it.

In the future, cars will be replaced with a new transportative device powered by the inert energies of the moon. They will be known as moon-cars. The energy is created when the sun emits solar radiation against the bare moon. Scientists will have created a massive satellite receiver on the moon to absorb this radiation, which would then be refined into super-dense electrovoltaic cells (SDECs). The SDECs would then be transported to Earth via intrastellar electromagnetic frequency modulation (IE-FM). The cells would then be implanted into the moon-cars and transportation can, thusly, take place. The moon-cars would be able to travel seven-and-a-third times faster than today's modern sedan.

How about a car powered by body heat? Don't ask me about the details; I'm sure they'll have worked it out within half a century. Just know that merely sitting in the vehicle will power it and it'll go anywhere you want. er….

Just make sure the thing is really switched off before you slink off with your significant other in the back seat…

Electric cars, cut problems with pollution and foreign oil monglers, also no more destroying natural habitats to suck up the mucky black goo beneath.

Lonnehart
Just make sure the thing is really switched off before you slink off with your significant other in the back seat…

Couldn't you just charge the batteries that way?

“This is my LOVE CAR. It runs on LOVE.”

That said, hydrogen fuel cells surely must power the cars of the future! I'll still be driving my car from 1995, though, until it falls to bits on the freeway. -_-

Skullbie
Electric cars, cut problems with pollution and foreign oil monglers, also no more destroying natural habitats to suck up the mucky black goo beneath.

Electric cars have pollution issues of their own. That battery doesn't last forever, and when it goes it's a mess to clean up.

I imagine they'll come up with cleaner batteries and/or find cleaner burning fuels. I doubt we'll jump straight to nuclear powered airships. I think in all likelihood, we'll still be burning fossil fuels or a alcohol derivative 50 years from now, but we'll be doing it a lot more efficiently than we do now.

And despite what people seem to think around here, I am willing to bet money that Ford and GM will be the ones pioneering this technology 50 years from now. They're already moving ahead on the cleaner batteries thing.

I think in the future scientists will have found a way to harness animals (say, maybe horses?) and have them pull carriages around.

For longer distances, great engines powered by steam will run on rails and be able to carry many hundreds of passengers at once.

An airplane that runs on air ..
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My lazer powered by Love! |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In the future, cars will be replaced with a new transportative device powered by the inert energies of the desert. They will be known as dune-cars. The energy is created when the sun emits solar radiation against the bare deserts of Earth. Scientists will have created a massive satellite receiver on every desert on Earth to absorb this radiation, which would then be refined into hyper-dense thermovoltaic cells (HDTCs). The HDTCs would then be transported to other cities via intraplanetary electromagnetic amplitude modulation (IE-AM). The cells would then be implanted into the dune-cars and transportation can, thusly, take place. The dune-cars would be able to travel three-and-a-seventh times faster than today's modern stationwagon.

All of these ideas are certainly creative, though DAJB is just way WAY ahead of his time :)

I am sure there will be alternative fueling methods for cars, there are right now actually, but I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on replacing cars. What brought this to my mind was the problems the car makers in the U.S. are having and I thought, “Looks like cars may be on the way out, maybe they should have focused on the next technology in transportation to replace cars.”

I have thought about it, but the rub seems to come with the fact that in addition to personal transportation devices needing to transport just one, it also needs to transport at least three others as well. That's where I get stumped.

Everyone will have a doorway. They step through the doorway and are where ever they need to be. They fold up the doorway and only open it again when they need it for their next trip.

Everyone will have the power to bend time and space with this doorway and go wherever they need to go.

With the way physics is going these days in fifty years it could happen.

Methane, and whichever drinkable or non-drinkable alcohol (I forgot which one the article mentioned) and electricity.

Methane is even worse than co2 as it helps heat up atmosphere much more than co2 does, and neither this nor the alcohol are releasing any toxic fumes or chemicals… or radioactive isotopes like coal does.

Some places aren't ready for (design wise) that but I'd like to think more people will walk or ride a bike.

I think hydrogen fuel cell electricity. No emmissions…no exotic material batteries…just clean power. Also–oceans are full of hydrogen and wave and wind energy sources enough to economically bust it all loose and compress it. Already have a nice electric car. Runs cheap too!

Walking is pretty cool. You know, it doesn't cost anything. And can get you anywhere!

Only problem is, it does not have air conditioning or heating, and it takes a lot longer.

But no pollution! Unless you have gas…of course.

I think SEGWAYS! AAAAGGgGgGggGgGgHHHHhHHHHhHhHHHh!!!!!! SEGWAYS!!!!

No, those failed, I think it will be Solar powered but better than the ones nowadays.

Or teleportation, It isn't THAT far away.

The fuel of the future is VEGEMITE!!! God knows you can't eat the shit, might as well power cars by it!

Ryan_Scott
The fuel of the future is VEGEMITE!!! God knows you can't eat the shit, might as well power cars by it!

you can eat it. You WILL eat it. YOU WILL LIKE IT!

ParkerFarker

Ryan_Scott
The fuel of the future is VEGEMITE!!! God knows you can't eat the shit, might as well power cars by it!

you can eat it. You WILL eat it. YOU WILL LIKE IT!

In the future when I am Grand High Warlord of the Western hemisphere, you shall be my chief lieutenant!

ozoneocean

ParkerFarker

Ryan_Scott
The fuel of the future is VEGEMITE!!! God knows you can't eat the shit, might as well power cars by it!

you can eat it. You WILL eat it. YOU WILL LIKE IT!

In the future when I am Grand High Warlord of the Western hemisphere, you shall be my chief lieutenant!

THCCCOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEE!

In fact, for some odd reason, it feels really good when someone tells you you will be their chief lieutenant when they take over the world (which is pretty unlikely that will happen, no offense ozone)

ParkerFarker
In fact, for some odd reason, it feels really good when someone tells you you will be their chief lieutenant when they take over the world (which is pretty unlikely that will happen, no offense ozone)

Don't question it.
You don't want to be demoted to a Marmite minion. >.<

This Marmite/Vegemite debate is going to DESTROY DD

Ryan_Scott
This Marmite/Vegemite debate is going to DESTROY DD

Where's the knight with the rubber chicken when you need him?

It'll be more like Mad Max.
My Vegemite warriors and I will scour the country in our hardcore Vegemite mobiles, kitted out with rusty spike, machine guns, chains etc…

Ryan's Marmite men will be holed up on their little green NZ island utopia, keeping us Vegemite barbarians at bay as long as possible, delaying the inevitable… >___<

Hydrogen is a brilliant alternative fuel. It's both cheap and 100% renuable.

BffSatan
Hydrogen is a brilliant alternative fuel. It's both cheap and 100% renuable.

Cheap because it's currently made from fossil fuel. -_-
VERY dangerous as well.

Getting it from seawater is harder and more expensive. With economies of scale and refinement of technology you could probably produce it very affordably with vast solar farms… But we're not there yet as far as I know. :(

You do remember what happened to the vegemite people in Mad Max right?

Laugh while you can Marmite man… -_-

ozoneocean

BffSatan
Hydrogen is a brilliant alternative fuel. It's both cheap and 100% renuable.

Cheap because it's currently made from fossil fuel. -_-
VERY dangerous as well.

Getting it from seawater is harder and more expensive. With economies of scale and refinement of technology you could probably produce it very affordably with vast solar farms… But we're not there yet as far as I know. :(

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090324171556.htm

The article basicaly describes how algae can produce hydrogen during photosynthesis in water. Looks like some very promiseing technology.

ozoneocean
It'll be more like Mad Max.
My Vegemite warriors and I will scour the country in our hardcore Vegemite mobiles, kitted out with rusty spike, machine guns, chains etc…

Ryan's Marmite men will be holed up on their little green NZ island utopia, keeping us Vegemite barbarians at bay as long as possible, delaying the inevitable… >___<

I like it. Can we have Lucy Lawless as the warrior queen? Don't forget NZ will have Peter Jackson's vintage Air force. (I hear it's bigger than the real NZ airforce) What can a rusty lance do against a collection of SE 5, Sopwith Camels Brisfits… hah hah! And how do we fit in Elephant and Foster's lager?

That's it! The fuel of the future! Beer! It built the pyramids, it can save the future! Get everyone drunk enough they'll do anything, even build a massive pile of stone.

I like the Love Car.

"Hey baby, my car's out of power, wanna' help out? "