Comment by sundialbill on 05/11/2014 at 19:48 UTC

2096 upvotes, 28 direct replies (showing 25)

View submission: Bill Nye, UNDENIABLY back. AMA.

As intriguing as that sounds, I would prefer to be part of the *next* scientific discovery, which I hope involves low-energy desalinization of water, better batteries, or the true nature of dark energy and dark matter.

Replies

Comment by i_always_disagree at 05/11/2014 at 20:30 UTC

32 upvotes, 1 direct replies

I've recently taken up interest in more distributed and energy efficient means of water desalinization. Would be cool to work on solar powered device that is portable to achieve this.

Comment by d4rch0n at 05/11/2014 at 21:44 UTC

4 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Battery energy density really is the bottleneck in moving away from fossil fuels, right?

Until we can at least match oil energy density, our industrial equipment is pretty much tied to fossil fuels and even solar, wind, hydro and nuclear can only help so much.

Comment by BizzyM at 05/11/2014 at 20:46 UTC

8 upvotes, 1 direct replies

what about Dean Kamen's Slingshot??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slingshot_(water_vapor_distillation_system[1])

1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slingshot_(water_vapor_distillation_system

Comment by [deleted] at 05/11/2014 at 20:32 UTC

23 upvotes, 1 direct replies

What about dark magic?

Comment by Ahhhsi at 05/11/2014 at 20:15 UTC

9 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I feel the same way. As much as it would be awesome to go back and see some of histories greatest discoveries. I really want to see us unlock the true nature of dark energy and dark matter. I feel like that will unlock so much for us. Also, a better battery for my phone wouldn't hurt either.

Comment by [deleted] at 05/11/2014 at 20:46 UTC

5 upvotes, 0 direct replies

;) What about those of us in fusion?

Comment by rambouhh at 05/11/2014 at 21:57 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I think people would be surprised how cheap it is in energy to desalinate water. Around 3 bucks per 1000 gallons (ocean water). There are a lot more obstacles to overcome however besides lowering energy costs, that would make it feasible on a very large scale, but there are countries like Israel who get around 40% of all the water they consume through desalination. I also believe there won't be a break through, but rather a slow process where people are constantly making existing tech better.

Comment by onlyHUWMAN at 06/11/2014 at 00:32 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

What about sustainable fusion reactors?

Comment by electrodork at 05/11/2014 at 20:48 UTC

6 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Desalinization <3

Comment by Bunslow at 05/11/2014 at 22:26 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Or fusion. That would be insane.

Comment by TjeumahsSrevruc at 05/11/2014 at 21:03 UTC

3 upvotes, 1 direct replies

water

batteries

dark matter

One of these things is not like the other

Comment by flugsibinator at 05/11/2014 at 22:52 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Didn't some company just come out with really good batteries? I'll try to find the article.

Edit: Found it. http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20141410-26327.html

Comment by TailorMoon at 05/11/2014 at 23:51 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

This is a great answer. The nature of science is not to reflect on the past, but to look toward the future. When you are seeking knowledge, the questions never end.

Comment by [deleted] at 05/11/2014 at 21:32 UTC

1 upvotes, 1 direct replies

I'll hopefully be working on desalination research over in Australia this summer. Glad to see you share my interest in the subject.

Comment by whenyouthinkyouknow at 05/11/2014 at 21:14 UTC

1 upvotes, 1 direct replies

i wish you would/could elaborate more on this dark energy and dark matter you speak of :( i'm intrigued

Comment by capilot at 05/11/2014 at 23:43 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

The first two would be life-changing for the entire planet. Definitely go for one of those.

Comment by haagiboy at 05/11/2014 at 22:38 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Cool! I share lab space with a PhD student who works on graphene and batteries :)

Comment by mykarmadoesntmatter at 05/11/2014 at 23:36 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

The true nature of dark energy doesn't make my Xbox 360 controller work.

Comment by TreyWalker at 05/11/2014 at 20:59 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Which do you think we're on the verge of?

I'm betting better batteries.

Comment by arizonajill at 05/11/2014 at 20:49 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

One word. Graphene. :) http://mappingignorance.org/2014/07/28/sieving-nanoscale-desalination-seawater-nanoporous-graphene/