follow up

About the high speed rail idea I posted about a few days ago; instead of having over-wire electricity supplied power, I have learned from a YouTuber about sodium based batteries, they have a lower power per KG ratio compared to lithium, but they are not produced with rare elements and have better charge and discharge rates and properties, and the higher KG required can be easily managed on a train. The idea is to have an engine that moves the train and on a separate rail car attached to it, the battery rail car. Of course the battery rail car will be connected forwards to power the engine and to the rear to power the passenger rail cars.

At a few key spots throughout the high speed rail network there will be power stations where, the train comes to a stop, then the train engineer exits the train to initiate the almost fully automatic replacement of the battery; lifting the used one up and off the battery rail car to deposit it for charging, and lifting a fully charged battery up and then lowering it down on to the battery rail car. In this way a very fast recharge of the train can take place and it can be on its way again.

At these rail power stations I imagine a heavy duty gantry crane to automatically lift, lower and move these battery containers. Similarly I imagine that power station having a solar farm adjacent to it. The solar farm could feed a group of capacitors, and then once a used battery is slotted into place, the capacitors can be emptied into the battery for the next train that comes. Depending on the site, there could also be windmills to generate electricity; and finally it could also be grid tied so that in the absense of extended sun and wind we still have a charging facility. Ideally that whole system is automated so that the train engineer may just have to disconnect the old battery upon arrival, and then initiate the battery replace, and then connect the new battery once it has been installed.

About the other idea of living forever, I thought that during the decade it might be an idea to take three or four years to do an undergraduate degree at a university. This would be a way to improve my education and also get to meet people. I would find clubs and activities to participate in. Preliminary ideas I have are of degrees in things like English Literature, Philosophy, Anthropology, Geology, Psychology.

Similarly, I thought that maybe for some of those decades I could immerse myself in a new language by moving to another country for that decade. Maybe start with duolingo or the equivalent in the last year prior to the decade, and then move to Mexico, Germany, Italy, Sweden or any other country and try to get a job like at a coffee shop or at a hotel reception area, so I can learn and improve the language over time.