Title is editorializing, there's no mention of the tic tac UFO in the patent. Also Pais has a number of crazy patent applications like this that have yet to see any real world implementation.
They didn't get the chance, just like I didn't get the chance for this and a million other benefits. The trolley ran them over but we can still divert it to prevent harming others.
Most forms of municipal power generation are much lower emission than a piston engine. Hydro, wind, and nuclear especially. Just having the generation take place with a near-constant RPM steam turbine is vastly more efficient than a stop-n-go motor.
A well-run charity is like a force multiplier for money. For example, you give your money to a food bank, and they can buy food in bulk to help far more people than you could on your own.
Is YC spreading this announcement anywhere else? Seems like Engineers Without Borders might be a good audience (which is mostly civil/environmental/mechanical engineers IME).
What kinds of companies were these? In many industries you'd seriously compromise your hiring if you ruled out all the experienced 40+ year old candidates who don't care for FB accounts. Mechanical engineering and defense work especially.
It's well established from census data that SF has a surplus of single men, not women. More political incorrectness: women in SF should "woman up" and initiate the approach. Why must they play the passive role? Also, guys naturally are less likely to approach a woman who's out of their league.