Here is a good overview of how to use spectral data (from optical or radio telescopes) to identify molecules in space.
What the researchers in this case found was spectral lines for a single kind of molecule. That is, they found a bunch of "sugar" molecules emitting the same spectral lines. (Six lines, I think.)
As for how many you need in the cloud, well that depends on the distance to the cloud and the sensitivity of the detector. The radio sky is fairly noisy, so you need many little molecules generating signal to pull out enough signal to see it above the noise. (If I weren't so lazy, I could do the math.) In this case, I'd guess they found a whole lot of this single kind of molecule.
"Sure", he said. "They fought at least one war with asteroids. Just look at the surface of Mote Prime, all torn by overlapping circular craters. It must have damned near wiped out the planet. It scared the survivors so much they moved all the asteroids out to where they couldn't be used that way again--"
Of course what you'd really like to do is move the big rocks in, closer to the primary, where you'd have to add energy, and away from obvious gravity assist targets.
I suppose you could dump them all into the primary, but I'd hate to give up all those resources....
Actually this is a very well done deposition on Mr. Valenti's part. He manages to deny that he doesn't know anything about the subject of which he admits no knowledge. (And if you can parse that, you might have a future as a lawyer!)
If you ever have to face a hostile deposing attorney, review this transcript. Whoever prepared Valenti did a wonderful job.
No, that's Fountains of Paradise. (That's the one that's about the orbital tether.)
But seriously, Clarke did do an asteroid impact novel, Hammer of God, which wasn't nearly as good as Niven & Pournelle's Lucifer's Hammer, which in turn wasn't as good as Footfall, which included rocks as weapons, but not done as well as in Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
And I think requiring internet vendors to collect sales tax is barred by Quill (504 US 298 (1992)) anyway. The Court made it clear in that case that North Dakota was free to impose sale and use tax on mailorder purchases, but North Dakota could not compel an out of state seller to collect and remit the tax. My expectation is that The Court would apply the same reasoning to, for example, the much-maligned Amazon.com. That's the opinion of the National Center for Policy Analysis and they seem to be on firm legal ground. Few people do actually pay tax on mailorder purchases, but in most states (certainly in both PA and MD - only five do not) the purchaser does owe the tax. The National Governers Association proposes an overall sales tax simplification that would include collecting sales taxes on Internet sales, but that has made little headway in Congress. Bottom Line: The 55 MPH speed limit is the most corrupting law in US history. It created a whole generation of people who think laws are optional.
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It's here.
tc>
What the researchers in this case found was spectral lines for a single kind of molecule. That is, they found a bunch of "sugar" molecules emitting the same spectral lines. (Six lines, I think.)
As for how many you need in the cloud, well that depends on the distance to the cloud and the sensitivity of the detector. The radio sky is fairly noisy, so you need many little molecules generating signal to pull out enough signal to see it above the noise. (If I weren't so lazy, I could do the math.) In this case, I'd guess they found a whole lot of this single kind of molecule.
tc>
"Sure", he said. "They fought at least one war with asteroids. Just look at the surface of Mote Prime, all torn by overlapping circular craters. It must have damned near wiped out the planet. It scared the survivors so much they moved all the asteroids out to where they couldn't be used that way again--"
Of course what you'd really like to do is move the big rocks in, closer to the primary, where you'd have to add energy, and away from obvious gravity assist targets.
I suppose you could dump them all into the primary, but I'd hate to give up all those resources....
tc>
Actually this is a very well done deposition on Mr. Valenti's part. He manages to deny that he doesn't know anything about the subject of which he admits no knowledge. (And if you can parse that, you might have a future as a lawyer!)
If you ever have to face a hostile deposing attorney, review this transcript. Whoever prepared Valenti did a wonderful job.
tc>
No, that's Fountains of Paradise. (That's the one that's about the orbital tether.)
But seriously, Clarke did do an asteroid impact novel, Hammer of God, which wasn't nearly as good as Niven & Pournelle's Lucifer's Hammer, which in turn wasn't as good as Footfall, which included rocks as weapons, but not done as well as in Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
tc>
If you follow the IAU Circulars on comets, for example, you'll see that an awful lot of reports are from .25m telescopes and binoculars.
It's also important to remember the SL-9 lesson: Comets do hit planets. If another one hits earth, it'll get ugly.
tc>
tc>