[LINK] Waitbutwhy article on the history and future of space exploration, SpaceX and more

LizzardWizzard

Epic work, it's always fascinates me when author explores the topic so deep, that doesn't know where to begin, so finally starts with the whole history of the universe or the existence of human race.

http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/08/how-and-why-spacex-will-colonize-mars.html

Epic work, it's always fascinates me when author explores the topic so deep, that doesn't know where to begin, so finally starts with the whole history of the universe or the existence of human race.

http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/08/how-and-why-spacex-will-colonize-mars.html

Did Tesla achieve that or did they just use bigger and more expensive Li-ion batteries?

I do know that battery technology steadily, if unflashily, improves over time; from my evernotes, see for example the Performance Curves Database for some charts or https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-battery-energy-density-improves-5-8-per-year or http://rameznaam.com/2015/04/30/tesla-powerwall-battery-economics-almost-there/

If I understand correctly, there isn't enough easily recoverable lithium in the world

I don't know about this specifically, but that sounds surprising: isn't lithium one of the most common elements in the universe?

I don't know about this specifically, but that sounds surprising: isn't lithium one of the most common elements in the universe?

Hydrogen is even more common than lithium, but good luck mining it.

9Vaniver11y

This was a minor point in Watchmen, which is where I first heard of it, so this has been the popular perception for why EVs didn't happen for at least 30 years. It appears to be a somewhat serious concern, but as our experience with oil shows, provable known reserves track price to a degree that pessimistic calculations rarely take into account. (Lithium ion batteries also appear to be easily but expensively recyclable, meaning that once the price gets high enough, the total amount of active lithium is the issue, not the demand for new lithium each year.)