Tech Company To Build Science Ghost Town In New Mexico

Charliemopps sends this excerpt from an AP report: "New Mexico, home to several of the nation’s premier scientific, nuclear and military institutions, is planning to take part in an unprecedented science project — a 20-square-mile model of a small U.S. city. A Washington, D.C.-based technology company announced plans Tuesday to build the state’s newest ghost town to test everything from renewable energy innovations to intelligent traffic systems, next-generation wireless networks and smart-grid cyber security systems. Although no one will live there, the replica city will be modeled after a typical American town of 35,000 people, complete with highways, houses and commercial buildings, old and new."

Re:Hmm

[SomePgmr]

Because burning down 35,000 real homes when your molten salt solar energy storage system fails, or having your water recycling system backflow bad water through the tap is a bigger problem when you fill them with families of 4?

Just a guess. :)

Test value?

[argStyopa]

How will they actually test the viability of 'intelligent traffic systems' with no traffic?

In fact, most of those mentioned systems are about the interaction of that technology WITH PEOPLE in an urban environment. Just an empty urban environment doesn't get you much?

Re:It will be a magnet...

[GauteL]

"How will they be kept out of all those uninhabited buildings? They may look uninhabitable to people with a place to live, but to the homeless, they might look not too bad."

Hippie communes, perhaps. But regular hobos or homeless need food and alcohol, and they need other inhabitants to get those things. So they tend to gather where there are people.

Re:It will be a magnet...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm homeless, I've been homeless for 9 years, and I don't "need alcohol".

You sedentary, uppity rich douchebags and your stereotypical stereotyping behaviour are half the problem.

I can guess what they'll discover...

[grumling]

1) solar will be recommended. NM gets a ton of sunlight and it's a friggin' desert.
2) Insulation and sealing up the shell will have the biggest impact on energy efficiency.
3) Setting the thermostat to just above/below "uncomfortable" will be the second.
4) LED lighting will be the third.
5) The capital outlay will exceed the amount of money saved for the first 4-6 years... but only because energy production is subsidized in this country.

How much experimentation do we need? This ain't rocket science. Dad was right, turn down the heat and turn off the AC. Shut off the lights when you leave the room. You think I'm made of money or something?