Author Archive: Glenn Reynolds

STILL A FEW BUGS IN THE SYSTEM: Waymo Suspends Service in SF Amid Blackout, Driverless Cars Basically Give Up.

And block everyone else. “Traffic lights across the city were down, seemingly confusing the driverless cars — and halting them in their tracks. Riders and pedestrians posted videos of Waymos stuck at intersections, long lines of drivers behind them.” Time for a backup plan.

UPDATE: Not entirely surprising:

REMINDER: After today, the days start getting longer and the nights start getting shorter.

MORALE AMONG MANY MAGA SUPPORTERS SEEMS LOWER THAN I’D EXPECT GIVEN RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

I AGREE:

IT WAS A POLITICAL BUBBLE, INFLATED BY (MOSTLY U.S.) TAXPAYER MONEY: The Electric Vehicle Collapse: Wow, That Was Quick!

It was less than three years ago — early 2023 — that I was writing about the then-universal government and industry line that electric vehicles (EVs) would soon be taking over the American car market. In April 2022 the Biden Administration had adopted aggressive vehicle mileage standards intended to be achievable only through rapid transition to EVs. Our “climate leader” states, California and New York, had then adopted regulations in August and September 2022, respectively, mandating a phase-out of sales of combustion vehicles, to culminate in 2035, after which only EVs would be allowed. In a post in January 2023, I linked to the websites of Ford and GM, where they both touted their grand plans for rapid conversion of their companies to the manufacture of mostly or entirely EVs. At that time, Ford was claiming that it would “lead America’s shift to EVs,” and would achieve 50% of its sales in that category by 2030. GM bragged about its “path to an all-electric future” by 2035.

In a post on February 23, 2023, I expressed skepticism.

Well-founded, as it turns out.

WHEN THE OPPOSITION IS TRYING TO ORGANIZE A COUP AGAINST YOU, IT’S IMPORTANT TO PAY THE TROOPS:

OPEN THREAD: It’s all you.

FOLLOW THE SCIENCE: A Much-Needed Exposé of Academic Fraud: A new book reveals why academic-publishing incentives must change. “Perhaps the most (in)famous case of research fraud is that of Dutch professor Diederik Stapel, who published many papers on social psychology and was something of a rock star in the academic world—until he was exposed as a fraud. Bazerman writes, apropos of one of his papers, that ‘Stapel was confident his hypothesis was true, but the actual data didn’t support it. So Stapel sat at his kitchen table and began typing numbers into his computer that would produce the intended effect.’ After initially getting away with that, Stapel stopped doing any research at all, merely fabricating data to support his conclusions. When finally exposed, he admitted everything.”

NO THANK YOU: “Unintended Steering Wheel Movement.” “If you’ve noticed the steering wheel in your BMW X3 moving without you touching it, you’re not going crazy. According to a new recall submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, several thousand 2025 and 2026 BMW X3 crossovers have a problem with their steering system software that could cause the wheels to move unintentionally.”

HEH. INDEED.

HAHA. YES.