Every three years or so the University of Michigan puts together another Solar Car. There is a great deal of engineering that goes into such an effort.

http://www.solarcar.engin.umich.edu/

 

Is research and development of new electrical machines almost dead, now that all types have been developed, or are new machines being developed as we speak?

I can say that research on those was somewhat DORMANT for a while...but with all the renewed interest in energy efficiency, research is screaming along now.

 

Exactly why is your imagination so limited. Maybe you should switch to Art History. At least there you won't be able to do quite so much damage.

That was rude, but somehow, I felt a laugh coming on.
I think the definition of, "machine" is a major obstacle here. At one point, it seems to be defined as, "component". At another moment, it seems to be a motor. "Machine" is much too large of a word to say the last one has been invented.

 

The term machine is USUALLY associated with electro-mechanical devices...and to be sure, it was long held that we had pretty well learned all we could about these. And then super magnets and the stepper motor came out, and changed all that.

 

That was rude, but somehow, I felt a laugh coming on.
I think the definition of, "machine" is a major obstacle here. At one point, it seems to be defined as, "component". At another moment, it seems to be a motor. "Machine" is much too large of a word to say the last one has been invented.

I guess I feel that the damage done by the TS/OPs attitude in the original question was worth the risk. I still believe that man's reach should exceed his grasp. Every young engineer needs to believe it as well.

I interpret machine as a generic term for a wide variety of things including but not limited to:

1. Vehicles
2. Motion Control
3. Robots
4. Communications
5. Sound processing
6. Video Processing
7. Automation

I never meant to limit my answer to a particular subset.

 

I guess I feel that the damage done by the TS/OPs attitude in the original question was worth the risk.

My head threatens to explode when people ask questions like, "Why does my machine violate the laws of Thermodynamics." or, "What shall I do, now that everything possible in the world has been completed?" There are at least a dozen people on this site with 50 years of experience, and none of them would pretend to know everything there is to know. Then a new kid comes along acting like there's nothing left unfinished.

If I didn't laugh, I would have to cry.

 

My head threatens to explode when people ask questions like, "Why does my machine violate the laws of Thermodynamics." or, "What shall I do, now that everything possible in the world has been completed?" There are at least a dozen people on this site with 50 years of experience, and none of them would pretend to know everything there is to know. Then a new kid comes along acting like there's nothing left unfinished.

If I didn't laugh, I would have to cry.

There there. I'll be happy to cry with you.

 

My head threatens to explode when people ask questions like, "Why does my machine violate the laws of Thermodynamics." or, "What shall I do, now that everything possible in the world has been completed?" There are at least a dozen people on this site with 50 years of experience, and none of them would pretend to know everything there is to know. Then a new kid comes along acting like there's nothing left unfinished.

If I didn't laugh, I would have to cry.

If they think everything that ever needed accomplishing has been done send them my way. I have about 10 lifetimes worth of things they can work on for me.

 

Didn't we stop at six?

 

Can you cite the issue of Punch in which that article appeared, please?

I believe it was either No 116 or No 117. It was "Punch's Almanak for 1899" in a section titled, "The Coming Century"

 

My head threatens to explode when people ask questions like, "Why does my machine violate the laws of Thermodynamics." or, "What shall I do, now that everything possible in the world has been completed?" There are at least a dozen people on this site with 50 years of experience, and none of them would pretend to know everything there is to know. Then a new kid comes along acting like there's nothing left unfinished.

If I didn't laugh, I would have to cry.

I think it's pretty inevitable that "new kids" can naturally take this kind of attitude -- it's the sophomore syndrome (sophisticated moron) that most of us went through to some degree or other. At some point we have learned the basics well enough that we fall into a trap thinking that we have learned everything and can now understand the world. We see this world of amazing things (that we now have a rudimentary grasp of) but our experience has not caught up with us to realize how little we actually know, even about those things that we have that rudimentary grasp of, and so we fail to realize how unbelievable huge is the realm for discovering new knowledge and new amazing things. But once that experience catches up with us, even a bit, we quickly know better.

 

Maybe you should switch to Art History. At least there you won't be able to do quite so much damage.

And yet, new techniques for the production of art are constantly being tested and developed...

 

Maybe I'm the odd man out, but the first thing I learned in College was that, no matter which field of study you choose, there are people that are decades ahead of you. Finding out how much you don't know can come as a shock, and the more you learn, the more you realize how many fields of endeavor you will never be, "The Best" at. Nobody can know it all, and all of us humans put together haven't finished knowing everything or building everything.

This is a great website for demonstrating the incredible diversity of specialties, just in electronics.
Then I look at what @cmartinez said and remember, I don't know squat about Art. I can barely tell a Monet from a Van Gogh, and that doesn't mention lithography, or even how to make paint.

R&D is almost dead?
Kid, you have a wonderful life ahead of you. Enjoy it as hard as you can.

 

Personally, I think that the greatest pleasure a human being can encounter is the experience of discovery. The delight that we get while learning new things, and the acquisition of knowledge and skills is something that's hardwired into our brains even before birth. That's how we learn how to walk and how to talk, how to swim and how to jump. But our brains usually demand more sophisticated things when we grow up, and we start looking for more complicated challenges and tasks.
Those of us who develop a taste for abstract reasoning and problem solving also learn how to appreciate the beauty of intellectual insight in others and in ourselves. Our universe grows larger every day. And that's something that (in a healthy mind) teaches you wisdom and humility.

Unfortunately, the intellectually lazy very quickly abandon that path and try to fill the void with physical pleasures and sensations. That inclination can quickly degenerate into a hedonistic view of the world. A world that gets smaller and smaller every day. And, strangely enough, the result is an attitude filled with arrogance and entitlement.

 

Personally, I think that the greatest pleasure a human being can encounter is the experience of discovery. The delight that we get while learning new things, and the acquisition of knowledge and skills is something that's hardwired into our brains even before birth. That's how we learn how to walk and how to talk, how to swim and how to jump. But our brains usually demand more sophisticated things when we grow up, and we start looking for more complicated challenges and tasks.
Those of us who develop a taste for abstract reasoning and problem solving also learn how to appreciate the beauty of intellectual insight in others and in ourselves. Our universe grows larger every day. And that's something that (in a healthy mind) teaches you wisdom and humility.

Unfortunately, the intellectually lazy very quickly abandon that path and try to fill the void with physical pleasures and sensations. That inclination can quickly degenerate into a hedonistic view of the world. A world that gets smaller and smaller every day. And, strangely enough, the result is an attitude filled with arrogance and entitlement.

This is precisely why I wrote the Opus:

https://www.amazon.com/Opus-Amateur-Radio-Knowledge-Lore/dp/0945053770

 

I once had a teacher tell me I would never amount to much, the problem was he didn't spell out how Much was!
Max.

 

If I already had them, there would be no need to develop them. Based on my knowledge of low temperature physics and the sensitive nature of the environment where superconductivity is possible I am inferring the need to control the environmental factors with speed and precision. Can you offer an argument that says this will not be required?

Certainly not, but the circuitry is already here and is used to control - among other things - the superconducting magnets on MRI machines and the SSC magnets,

The damage I referred to was convincing some bright young engineer that making the effort to design new circuits was not worth the effort.

Indeed, and that sort of convincing is just mean.

 

Everything that can be invented, has been invented! We might as well give up..

http://patentlyo.com/patent/2011/01...g-that-can-be-invented-has-been-invented.html

 

now that all types have been developed

You can say it as developing.

 

No.