MarmonRzohr t1_jbjuxlk wrote
Reply to comment by pattydo in Meet The World's Cleanest Fully Electric Car That Removes Carbon Dioxide From The Air by Anderson069
Perhaps "marketing" was the wrong word and "promotion gimmick" would be correct.
The point is that it's a pointless, dead-end feature that was only implemented to generate superficial interest.
I don't really judge. Reasearchers / universities / etc. also constantly have to make use of hype to get grants / funding etc. But this is really pointless bait.
Uneedadirtnap t1_jbk3z67 wrote
If they learn from it and can transfer it to other uses it is a step forward. Cracks me up how many people dont understand research and learning. They are not building a production car they are trying new and different things to find out what works and what doesn't. In new idea developement you try things tthat are not the norm so you can push technology forward.
Jesweez t1_jbl3eyc wrote
People on reddit are incessantly critical of everything they see.
Even important advances that might be major parts of our ability to fight climate change, the comments will be entirely negative and suggesting that it was a complete waste.
Just the culture of the website I guess.
pattydo t1_jbjwxf7 wrote
It's not that either. It's just a class project. They made a car that captures more carbon than it emits.
It's incredibly cynical to think that this project was used to get money instead of teach students and build their skills. Sure, nothing here is all that useful and practical. But maybe one of these students will go on to create something that is.
And like, they accomplished it as freaking undergrads from scratch. It's not like this can't ever be improved upon.
MarmonRzohr t1_jbkwuf2 wrote
>It's incredibly cynical to think that this project was used to get money instead of teach students and build their skills.
It's not cynical at all. It's quite standard and not something bad.
It's always both with projects like these - they are both learning opportunities for students and a way to promote both your students and the skills and prestige of the university.
It's the same with all manner of student competotions and projects from the Putnam competition, the various DARPA challenges etc. The more a university promotes itself the more grant money and industry cooperation it's likely to get. It's actually good for both the students and the university as a whole.
pattydo t1_jbkydkn wrote
>It's the same with all manner of student competotions and projects from the Putnam competition, the various DARPA challenges etc. The more a university promotes itself the more grant money and industry cooperation it's likely to get. It's actually good for both the students and the university as a whole.
This is very different than what OP is saying.
>The point is that it's a pointless, dead-end feature that was only implemented to generate superficial interest.
This is what's cynical.
MarmonRzohr t1_jbl2bay wrote
>This is what's cynical.
Really ?
If the carbon filtration as a feature of the car is not a dead-end what possible research or practial purpose does it serve then ?
If it does not have a research or pratical purpose - why add it ?
The student team and their mentors would obviously know this as well. The only conclusion I can see is to add a feature to the project car that would make it more interesting in a superficial way (i.e. with no deeper technical purpose). In other words they added "something cool" - carbon removal to a carbon neutral car.
The fact that the feature is used to make the project car seem more interesting is literally in the article in the description of the team lead.
It's also a central feature they spotlight on the project page: https://www.tuecomotive.nl/our-family/zem/
>This is very different than what OP is saying.
I don't think it is. This is a decently big project with quite a few sponsors and the university team has been building cars like this since 2013. Having the knowledge and resources to maintain such a team and a string of somewhat big projects which result in vehicles that are showcases of knowledge - that's a big thing for a university. It's a great pipeline for students to industry, attracts students, offers great learning opportunities and generally generates both press and a dose of prestige, just like the other examples I used.
pattydo t1_jbo40zp wrote
I know that some education systems in the world are trash, but sometimes good ones have you do things to teach you skills, not just learn how to repeat a process.
>If it does not have a research or pratical purpose - why add it ?
They were tasked with creating a carbon neutral car. That's one of the things they did to get there.
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