Solar Sailing and Physics

Roland Piquepaille writes "In this article, the New Scientist writes that the next generation of spacecraft might be propelled with the help of the sun. "Both NASA and the European Space Agency are developing solar sails and, although never tested, the concept is quite simple. A solar sail is essentially a giant mirror that reflects photons of sunlight back in the direction they came from." But Thomas Gold from Cornell University in New York says the proponents of solar sailing have forgotten about thermodynamics, the branch of physics governing heat transfer." And this is where it's becoming interesting. Gold's paper, "The solar sail and the mirror," states that "either Carnot's accepted rule is in error, or the solar sail proposal will not work at all." So, as this illustration from New Scientist shows, the real question is: "Can it really sail away?" We'll know it in September when the first tests are done. In the mean time, read this summary for more details and read the original stories for far more information."

Comments

Yes, about my clitoris.

[Anonymous Coward]

Please lick it. Also, Mr. "fish," your handle is stupid. You can lick me too.

Re:Yes, about my clitoris.

[Anonymous Coward]

Shutters click as cameras capture the publicity stills, the pictures that will be on the cover of every magazine this week. This is how the world will remember the Olsen twins: matching tight pink blouses highlighting firm, buoyant adolescent breasts, tight black jeans suggesting a level of sexual experience which the twins do not, in fact, possess.

When the pictures are complete, the twins are turned so that they stand facing one another. Their arms are held behind their backs. The bailiffs bring a pair of cuffs for each girl. The cuffs have no keyholes; they are not designed to be removed. This fact is not lost on the girls, who begin to sob helplessly as they feel sharp steel close around their slender wrists.

Twin winches hum to life, pulling the girls up onto the balls of their naked feet. They begin to strangle almost immediately. They emit tormented gurgling sounds as boiled hemp digs into their tender throats. Quivering lips strip a couple more years off their apparent age. Their increasingly desperate facial expressions confirm that the Olsen girls are in no way prepared for the sudden pain. They have led lives of comfort and pampered privilege. They have never known suffering, until now.

The winches fall quiet, their cruel work done. This is where the girls will remain: in that place where the pain is psychologically overwhelming but not physically dangerous, in that horrible place where they could, perhaps, remain forever.

Still, this is an execution. And so the girls must not remain on their toes forever. They listen carefully as the announcer explains the rules of the game. He makes it sound erotic and exciting, and that is surely how the audience sees it. But it does not sound erotic and exciting to Ashley or Mary-Kate. Indeed, it fills their hearts with an almost limitless dread.

If nothing else happens, then in one hour's time, twin trapdoors will open beneath the girls' feet. Because they are already on their toes, there's no chance that their necks will snap. They will have to dance themselves to death--a process which, the announcer explains, could take up to an hour, because the twins don't weigh very much, and because their nooses have been tied loose.

If, on the other hand, one of the girls chooses to take action, she can buy herself a quick, easy death. As the announcer speaks, bailiffs slip small cylindrical remote control units into Ashley's right hand and Mary-Kate's left. If either girl pushes her button, then her winch will lower her down onto the gallows platform, while the trapdoor drops out from under her sister's feet. She may watch in comfort, her breathing perfectly unrestricted, while her sister endures a terminal slow hang. The girl who pushed her button will then have earned a neck-snapping long drop.

The moment the announcer finishes his introduction, the twins begin to negotiate through their tears. At first they are selfless, altruistic:

"You have to drop me, Mary-Kate," Ashley whimpers. Her voice is thick and rough. The noose is tight, and it hurts to speak. "You're my baby sister. I have to take care of you. I can't bear to watch you hang!"

"Baby sister? You're two minutes older than me, Ashley! And how do you think I'd feel, if I had to watch you spend an hour strangling to death? No way! We'll die together!"

"Don't be stupid, Mary." A little anger surfaces now, through the pain, through the laborious breathing which is required to get even a few words out. "Do you know how much that'll hurt?

"Hurts now," Mary-Kate replies. She is being economical with her words, for each one costs her dearly.

"Yes. And we're still on our toes. Airdance...much worse."

"Scared," says Mary-Kate.

"Then push the button."

The girls perspire as they suffer. The thin pink cotton of their tight tops sticks to their skin; the wet fabric is slightly translucent. Naturally, they wear no bras. Their taut, pouting young breasts press up through their blouses, yearning towards the heaven th

IMPORTANT! THE LINUX GAY CONSPIRACY!

[Anonymous Coward]

Update: "Fist Sport" explained. (05/17/01)

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It has come to my attention that the entire Linux community is a hotbed of so called 'alternative sexuality,' which includes anything from hedonistic orgies to homosexuality to pedophilia.

What better way of demonstrating this than by looking at the hidden messages contained within the names of some of Linux's most outspoken advocates:

Linus Torvalds is an anagram of SLIT ANUS OR VD 'L,' clearly referring to himself by the first initial.

Richard M. Stallman , spokespervert for the Gaysex is Not Unusual 'movement' is an anagram of MANS CRAM THRILL AD.

Alan Cox is barely an anagram of ANAL COX which is just so filthy and unchristian it unnerves me.

I'm sure that Eric S. Raymond, composer of the satanic homosexual propaganda diatribe The Cathedral and the Bizarre, [Buy At Amazon] is probably an anagram of something queer, but we don't need to look that far as we know he's always shoving a gun up some poor little boy's rectum. Update: Eric S. Raymond is actually an anagram for SECONDARY RIM and CORD IN MY ARSE. It just goes to show you that he is indeed queer.

Update the Second: It is also documented that Evil Sicko Gaymond is responsible for a nauseating piece of code called Fetchmail, which is obviously sinister sodomite slang for "Felch Male" - a disgusting practise. For those not in the know, "felching" is the act performed by two perverts wherein one sucks their own post-coital ejaculate out of the other's rectum. In fact, it appears that the dirty Linux faggots set out to undermine the good Republican institution of e-mail, turning it into "e-male."

As far as Richard "(cock)Master" Stallman goes, that filthy fudge-packer was actually quoted on leftist commie propaganda site Salon.com as saying the following:

RMS: "I've been resistant to the pressure to conform in any circumstance," he says. "It's about being able to question conventional wisdom," he asserts. "I believe in love, but not monogamy," he says plainly.

And this isn't a made up troll bullshit either! He actually stated this tripe, which makes it obvious that he is trying to politely say that he's a flaming homo slut!

Speaking about "flaming," who better to point out as a filthy chutney ferret than Slashdot's very own self-confessed pederast Jon Katz. Although an obvious deviant anagram cannot be found from his name, he has already confessed, nay boasted of the homosexual perversion of corrupting the innocence of young children. To quote from the article linked:

"I've got a rare kidney disease,' I told her. 'I have to go to the bathroom a lot. You can come with me if you want, but it takes a while. Is that okay with you? Do you want a note from my doctor?'

Is this why you were touching your penis in

Solar Sails

[Anonymous Coward]

Hi Slashdot,

Check this out- I discovered a new audio file format called WMA. It works really great because the compression is better than MP3, and it sounds better too. Also you can record WMA files in your media player without having to buy an add-on.

Sorry, just so excited that I had to share this with other people like me!