Studies In Ornithopters

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Posted by Hemos on Monday September 1, 2003 @01:47AM from the he-is-the-kwisatz-haderach dept.

weileong writes "This should be of especial interest to fans of Frank Herbert's Dune (or maybe only those who preferred House Atreides) - a genuine, flexible, flapping-capable winged aircraft (by which I don't mean passenger-carrying. Yet.) has been produced by the University of Toronto's Institute for Aerospace Studies and SRI International (Washington Post article, free reg required). Advantages include everything from low speed control to efficiency. Once these things really hit "real world" usage, the V-22 Osprey really HAS no reason to exist (and all the army personnel at risk of dying in one should rejoice)."

11 of 223 comments (clear)

Talk about Recycling... by fuqqer · 2003-09-01 02:01 · Score: 3, Funny

Holy crap I knew the story was old. Slow news day? This verges on antiquity with a 2001 story date. Maybe the slashdot editors could rename the tagline - "No Gnus is nerd Gnus"

Here is the original slashdot story.

Here is a link to the ornithopter website.
Ornithopters... by jacobdp · 2003-09-01 02:06 · Score: 5, Funny

An excellent Magic card, too! 0/2 flying artifact creature for 0.

As a blocker, it can't be beat.
1. Re:Ornithopters... by Creedo · 2003-09-01 03:16 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  You mean to tell me it took this long to get a M:TG joke? They must be modded down...
  
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  All that is necessary for the triumph of good is that evil men do nothing.
evolution by Scrameustache · 2003-09-01 02:15 · Score: 4, Funny

she says, "centuries of evolution have produced structures and systems that work very well."

Centuries of evolution?

Wow! They've found a young-earth darwinist! : )

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You can't take the sky from me...
Re:The V22? by babbage · 2003-09-01 02:20 · Score: 4, Funny

They removed the problems that killed people (mostly, no a/c is perfect)

I think it's far to say that any conditioner that could ever hurt people, nevermind kill them, is very far from perfect indeed.
A/C just isn't worth dying for, I don't care how hot the summer was.

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DO NOT LEAVE IT IS NOT REAL
Washington Post excludes 106-year olds! by scruffyMark · 2003-09-01 02:45 · Score: 3, Funny

The site refused to let me in when I said I was born in 1897 - enter a valid year of birth, it insisted. Well, how is it to know I'm not in fact 106?

It was perfectly happy to let me read the article as a 101-year old though...

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What is the robbing of a bank, compared to the founding of a bank? -- Bertolt Brecht
Re:No pictures?? by Leto2 · 2003-09-01 02:51 · Score: 2, Funny

I looks nothing like the ornithopter that I used to flee into the Arrakis desert!

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<grub> Reading /. at -1 is like driving through Cracktown in a convertible that is stuck in 1st
Re:The V22? by tiled_rainbows · 2003-09-01 02:58 · Score: 2, Funny

They removed the problems that killed people (mostly, no a/c is perfect)
I think it's far to say that any conditioner that could ever hurt people, nevermind kill them, is very far from perfect indeed.

He wasn't talking about aircon, you fool.

AC stands for Anonymous Coward. They're a dangerous bunch, you know...

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evil math within Nature's Cubic Creation!
To make the Dune reference complete by sonicattack · 2003-09-01 03:43 · Score: 4, Funny

..they should rename the 'thopter from "Mentor" to "Mentat".
Re:When Idiots Comment on Military Hardware by Anonymous Coward · 2003-09-01 04:10 · Score: 2, Funny

OK OK OK. I think we all get it. You've made it clear that "slashdot has been going down" faster than a *Marine* pilot flying a V-22.
Re:Material Fatigue ? by alfredo · 2003-09-01 04:23 · Score: 3, Funny

Imagine trying to keep your drink from spilling. Or what about walking to the bathroom. One good side effect would be the inability of hijackers to get out of their seats, or once out of them, to stand up.

You want that martini shaken or shaken?

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