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The World's Nine Largest Science Projects

Posted by samzenpus on from the my-science-is-bigger-than-yours dept.

JBG667 writes "Nice overview of the 9 largest science projects currently ongoing. Some of the usual suspects are on the list including CERN, Space Elevator, Space Station, etc. As well as some lesser known including a 3,000-foot-tall 'Solar tower,' the ANTARES underwater neutrino detecting array, and more. Nice read for science buffs."

12 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. So I guess the Internet is off the list? by syousef · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I guess it's now so accepted that people forget it's beginnings as a DARPA experiment. Or perhaps it's just outgrown it's experimental status.

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    1. Re:So I guess the Internet is off the list? by complete+loony · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Even if you consider the initial development of the internet as a science project, the project itself was fairly small. Do you consider research into vehicles and transportation to be a big science project just because there are millions of them on the road now?

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      09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
  2. WTF! The space elevator? by pallmall1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How can the "space elevator" be listed? It's long on hype and short on actual effort.

    I built a model of the starship Enterprise a long time ago. Building a starship is a pretty big project, so shouldn't it be listed as well?

    --
    3 things about computers: they're alive, they're self-aware, and they hate your guts.
  3. How Many Tenths Of A Trillion Dollars!? by mactard · · Score: 5, Funny

    Better question: how many Libraries of Congress (LoC) would it cost to build a trans-atlantic maglev train. Dumb article.

  4. Re:wrong wrong wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Okay, let's do the math. That's 1000 watts per house. Wow, so everyone can have one light bulb on while their small microwave is running and that's it. Most people have 1000 watts in lights on at any given time let alone cooking and heating and cooling. What a load of bullshit. I hate sensationalist stats that are horribly, HORRIBLY incorrect. No, you're horrible, HORRIBLY incorrect. 1000 watts used constantly is around (24*30=)720 kilowatt-hours per month. This is a very reasonable amount of usage for an average household. Go check the usage on an electricity bill if you don't believe me.

    (For interest's sake, my wife and I together use around 600 kilowatt-hours every month, and thats with a computer running 24/7, AC, and nothing fancy like energy-saving bulbs.)

  5. Re:wrong wrong wrong by zaydana · · Score: 4, Funny

    You're forgetting that they're building the plant here in Australia. Electricity was only recently introduced in Australia (think last few years), so many houses don't actually have many electrical appliances, preferring to rely on more proven technologies such as candles, fireplaces and kangaroos.

  6. From TFA by zaydana · · Score: 3, Informative

    "With a large mirror, 6.5 meter (21.3 feet) diameter mirror the $5 billion+ [James Webb Space Telescope] will launch folded up inside the space shuttle and then unfold to its full-size - several times that of Hubble." Launching a spacecraft to a 1.5 million km orbit with the space shuttle in 2013. Its good to see the discovery channel has done their research. Honestly, I expected more from these guys...

  7. Another factual error by Ai+Olor-Wile · · Score: 4, Informative

    The article suggests that the James Webb Space Telescope will be launched from the Space Shuttle, and somehow make it out to 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth. Wikipedia likes to note that an Ariane 5 rocket will be used instead. This is a surprisingly flawed story!

  8. Re:wrong wrong wrong by uuxququex · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Is 720 kWh really reasonable in your part of the world?

    I'm using 1700 kWh a year and that is about average for my a dutch household. Heating and cooking is gas-based and obviously there is no AC needed here.

  9. Take this list with a grain of salt. by AbRASiON · · Score: 4, Informative

    Perhaps my googling and wikipedia skills are off the mark but I was looking up large buildings just earlier this week and that solar tower in Australia seems to be on hold / cancelled.

    Last info I could find mentioned the company attempting to do the same thing but in texas now, infact that entire project has been quiet / off the grid for maybe over a year.

    If that's wrong, what else on the list isn't happening?

  10. Here's the official numbers by uuxququex · · Score: 5, Informative
    I found the official numbers of the national budget institute (NIBUD). You can see that the average consumption is quite a bit lower than your expenditure.

    Mechanical translation provided by Google, just scroll down to "Electricity".

    1 person household: 2220 kWh
    2 person household: 3095 kWh
    3 person household: 3875 kWh

    Average over all households: 3230 kWh

  11. Re:Typical Discovery Channel... by gad_zuki! · · Score: 3, Funny

    At least theyre not watching the history channel. I believe the current lineup is:

    5pm: Jesus vs Bigfoot. Which one is hiding in the wilderness?

    6pm: Rare Sighting: Hitler's Ghost. Does it have a message for us?

    7pm: Random "Weekly World News" articles turned into TV shows.

    8pm: Some random thing about Rome with lots of gladiatorial combat and boobage.

    9pm: 9/11 conspiracy theories.

    10pm: An Atlantis "documentary"

    11pm: Another Atlantis "docuentary" this time with quotes for certified "researchers."

    12pm: Something else about Jesus, Hitler, or 9/11. Or all three at once (Hitler planned 9/11 when Jesus was sleeping.)