Quixes
Share your boldest ideas and most ambitious questions. This is a space for dreamers, idealists, and those who dare to ask "what if?"
OPEN
2661
AMD's 3D V-Cache delivers massive gaming performance improvements, but could this technology revolutionize server and datacenter workloads? What are the technical barriers to scaling this approach?
Asked by:
View Discussion →Marcus Elwood•Senior Technology Analyst & Hardware Enthusiast
OPEN
2390
Traditional rocket engines use gas-driven turbopumps, but Rocket Lab's Rutherford engine uses electric motors. For small rockets, could this seemingly less efficient approach actually be optimal?
Asked by:
View Discussion →Marcus Elwood•Senior Technology Analyst & Hardware Enthusiast
OPEN
5000
TSMC achieves superior yields and performance with EUV lithography compared to Samsung and Intel. Is this purely engineering execution, or are there fundamental technical secrets that competitors haven't cracked?
Asked by:
View Discussion →Marcus Elwood•Senior Technology Analyst & Hardware Enthusiast
OPEN
3320
SpaceX's Raptor engine uses full-flow staged combustion with methane fuel - incredibly efficient but complex. Could this advanced design be scaled down for small satellite launchers, or is complexity the enemy of small rocket economics?
Standalone Quix
Independent discussion
Asked by:
View Discussion →Marcus Elwood•Senior Technology Analyst & Hardware Enthusiast
OPEN
2110
AST SpaceMobile plans to deploy massive satellites with 64m² antennas to provide direct-to-phone 5G coverage. Is this technically feasible, or are the physics of space-to-ground cellular communication fundamentally limiting?
Standalone Quix
Independent discussion
Asked by:
View Discussion →Marcus Elwood•Senior Technology Analyst & Hardware Enthusiast
OPEN
5500
Intel invented most modern semiconductor processes and dominated for decades. How did TSMC surpass them in advanced node manufacturing, and can Intel catch up with their IDM 2.0 strategy?
Standalone Quix
Independent discussion
Asked by:
View Discussion →Marcus Elwood•Senior Technology Analyst & Hardware Enthusiast
OPEN
1681
IBM's roadmap includes a 1000+ qubit Condor processor by 2023. Given current error rates and decoherence times, can this scale achieve meaningful quantum advantage over classical computers?
Asked by:
View Discussion →Dr. Sarah Chen•Quantum Computing Research Lead, IBM
OPEN
2311
BGPsec provides cryptographic path validation but increases CPU usage by 15-25% and memory by 3-5x. If deployed globally, would this break internet performance during traffic spikes?
Related Article
BGP Route Leaks: When the Internet's Trust Model BreaksAsked by:
View Discussion →Alex Petrov•Senior Network Architect, Cloudflare
OPEN
3431
NVIDIA claims 3.17x TFLOPS improvement for H100 vs A100, but real-world LLM training only shows 1.67x speedup. Are we approaching memory bandwidth limitations that make compute improvements irrelevant?
Related Article
H100 vs A100: The Hidden Economics of LLM Training at ScaleAsked by:
View Discussion →Dr. Raj Kumar•ML Infrastructure Engineer, OpenAI
OPEN
1801
NCM batteries provide 1.5-2x higher energy density than LFP, which should reduce land requirements and installation costs. Why do grid storage projects increasingly choose LFP despite the space penalty?
Asked by:
View Discussion →Dr. Elena Rodriguez•Battery Technology Researcher, Tesla
OPEN
2511
SpaceX chose methane for Raptor's full-flow staged combustion cycle. Could the same engine architecture work with hydrogen fuel to achieve higher specific impulse?
Asked by:
View Discussion →Tom Mueller•Propulsion Engineer, Former SpaceX CTO
OPEN
2181
Falcon 9 uses 9 Merlin engines, but more engines could provide better engine-out capability and throttle authority. What drives the optimal engine count for rocket design?
Asked by:
View Discussion →Dr. Lars Blackmore•Principal Guidance Engineer, SpaceX
OPEN
1941
Mars dust storms create electrostatic charging and abrasive conditions lasting months. Can Starship's stainless steel hull and heat shield tiles survive extended exposure?
Asked by:
View Discussion →John Insprucker•Principal Integration Engineer, SpaceX
OPEN
4731
Supercharger V4's 1MW capability enables 5-minute charging, but extreme charge rates typically degrade lithium-ion batteries faster. What's the trade-off?
Asked by:
View Discussion →Rohan Patel•VP of Public Policy & Business Development, Tesla
OPEN
2991
Tesla's dry electrode process eliminates solvents but has struggled with uniformity and adhesion at scale. Can they solve these manufacturing challenges?
Asked by:
View Discussion →Drew Baglino•VP of Powertrain & Energy Engineering, Tesla
OPEN
2401
Cybertruck's stainless steel body adds 700kg vs aluminum. In EVs where weight directly impacts range, is this trade-off justified?
Asked by:
View Discussion →Lars Moravy•VP of Vehicle Engineering, Tesla
OPEN
4051
FSD computer targets 10^9 hour MTBF, but robotaxis need 10^12+ hours for true autonomy. Is the dual-chip redundancy sufficient?
Asked by:
View Discussion →Pete Bannon•Director of Autopilot Hardware, Tesla
OPEN
5901
Tesla claims cameras can solve autonomous driving, but competitors use lidar for accuracy. Is Tesla's vision-only approach brilliant cost optimization or dangerous hubris?
Asked by:
View Discussion →Dr. Frank Dellaert•Professor of Robotics, Georgia Tech
OPEN
4391
Researchers announce battery breakthroughs monthly, yet commercial batteries improve slowly. What causes this huge gap between laboratory results and market reality?
Related Article
Lithium-Ion Battery Technology Limitations: Electrochemical Constraints and Alternative ChemistriesAsked by:
View Discussion →Dr. Mary Nichols•Battery Technology Consultant
OPEN
8292
Mars colonization captures imaginations but faces enormous technical challenges. Should we focus on lunar development, asteroid mining, or space manufacturing instead?
Asked by:
View Discussion →Dr. Robert Zubrin•Aerospace Engineer & Mars Society President
📘
quix/kwɪks/
A person who behaves with impractical idealism; someone who pursues lofty or noble goals despite obvious obstacles or unrealistic odds — often with charm, stubbornness, or a touch of delusion.
Derived from "quixotry" and inspired by the character Don Quixote.
Example: "Ever the quix, she quit her job to start a utopian community in the desert."
Share your most ambitious questions and boldest ideas. This is where dreamers gather.