People use a lot of water from underground sources, i.e. aquifers. water moves very slowly through some soil types. in some cases, the water that is being used is many many centuries old. think glacial melt water from the last ice age and the remainder of the in-land sea in the u.s. And we are pulling much more out than can be replenished naturally. when that's gone there will be no water to irrigate crops in the mid-west. if there's no water in the ground, there's no evaporation to bring rain, and so there's no rain. There'll still be rain by the coasts, but a whole lot of that rain water flows right back into the ocean. if there's no water in-land, people move to the coasts and water use increases there. if we were to capture a majority of that water to prevent it from getting all salty, say good-bye to rivers and streams. no more fly fishing, etc. if you want water from the sea, you need lots of power to make is less salty.
so wasted water gets all salty, and we'll have to waste lots of energy to make it drinkable do you understand now?
yes, "there are no tokamak power plants" was what i was implying. and by that implication i'm saying "$20 billion is an awful lot of money just to get to this point."
there are other gadgets out there that fuse atoms and create neutrons, and if this is all you care about then a tokamak is overkill. if your purpose is to actually generate electricity, then i would say that fusion power is science fiction, for now.
and in 'TFA' even though it's a video, he shows slides depicting how his reactor could be integrated into existing power plants, using their cooling towers and piping and such, and just disconnecting all the fossil fuel bits. So, actually, i think using them for power is exactly what he was proposing.
i will grant you that he does seem to think that engineering is some sort of trivial task. theoretically a tokamak can work, but the engineering has been the stumbling block
I'm no physicist, but in the video he outlines 3 reactions in particular that would be perferable for fusion. one reaction in particular would be clean,(it was a long video and i couldn't read the slides so some of this might be incorect) producing no neutrons. this is the pb (proton/boron) reaction, which only produces helium atoms
If you are going to attack a respected and learned person, it carries much more weight if you aren't an anonymous coward
as you can see for yourself on the video, he says that while his team owns the patent, that wouldn't prevent anyone from building one for research purposes. build one yourself so that you can refute the pitiful ravings of this senile old man and he can die in disgrace.
also, i don't see many working tokamak reactors around my town either, so technically they are still science fiction too.
Seems to me that Clinton (and even Bush Senior) realized, as any qued in politico realized, that there was no good way to get rid of Saddam. Iraq has aways been a tangled ball of string. Bush junior thought he could untangle it, and so now we're all wrapped up in this mess.
Sure, book learnin's all well and good, but nothing surpasses experience. I wonder how many people are still alive that have hands on experience with ALL the engine designs that john has tried, or has yet to try?
since he doesn't have an aerospace engineering degree(or any degree, for that mater. book learnin' ain't for everybody), I think he is doing pretty well for himself.
i'm not down on robots, but your idea, extreme environment construction robots that work together, is 50 years away at least, especially for reasonable priced, mass producable versions. something like that would have inumerable value, but is a project as difficult as the space elavator, which is the goal at hand.
if you are trying to say that anything is posible with enough inginuity, i'd agree. however, there are pratical constraints to that statement. you don't want to add to the complexity of an already difficult problem.
a space elavator? sure, it will be worked out it good time. i can wait for the nanotube cables to be perfected. but building a pyramid so that you can use existing tether materials in an attempt to be the first with an elevator is assinine. it's assinine because it would fail to accomplish that goal. it would take them so long to engineer and construct the damn thing that by the time they got the first 5 % done the nanotube cable would be worked out.
i can go on and on about problems you would encounter that have nothing to do with engineering, too. red tape, supply lines, environmental impact studies, etc.
also, when i said 'the foundation' i ment the physical foundation like on a house, not some body of knowledge that would make it all worth while. regardless a structure this massive would deform the techtonic plate it sits upon. everest already does, and is nowhere near the size of this 'space pyramid'.
but hey if you wanna build it don't let my logic stop you
And that's just the technical side of the problem. there are plenty of down to earth problems, too. If some equitorial country with 500 km^2 of uninhabited, unprotected land and a trillion USD to spend wanted to build this they would have even more problems. For the first 15 to ~20 km construction would be relatively easy. mainly standard construction pratices. However, most climbers above 8000 M use suplimental oxygen to prevent hypoxia. so not even 10% done and already the costs skyrocket. not to mention other expensive equipment like extreme low temperature clothing, etc. that goes along with this type of project. just imagine the hazard pay for, who knows, 50,000 employees?
if they managed to keep going steadily with the temparature and air pressure droping the higher they go, and battling the weather every inch, before a stronger teather is created, that will be a sad day for nanotube researchers.
now, we dont have robots that can build skyscrapers single handedly (hell they can't even do it in groups). so don't say that we can just use robots, cause as i welcome our new robot overlords, they wiill not be here before, again, a better teather is created.
p.s. the foundation alone would be hell to engineer and would take years and years to complete
How is google suposed to know that those clicks didn't generate any revinue for the company? they have no access to the company's books. in fact, if they didn't require proof, it would be quite easy to scam google.
off the top of my head i can think of one. a company starts using google for ads, but doesn't notice much improvement in business dispite increased traffic. so the owner sets up a dummy computer to generate imposible amounts of clicks. he then demands a full refund for all the clicks since they started business with google.
what is the goal here? it is to get men and payloads into orbit, cheaply, safely, and fast. a reusable rocket moniker has a lot of nice environmentalist, green goodness, but it would save a lot more trees if we all switched to hybrids.
if you wanna get people out to the moon and mars within the next 15 years, then they don't have time to wait for new propulsion method to mature.
and what is the other opion anyway? atlas boosters? whatever it is it's gonna be a rocket, and not a space plane or a nuclear rocket. we need something for the next 10-15 years, until the curent aversion to 'nuclear' smooths over, or pulse-detonation jet engines are ironed out. if, in the meantime, a lot of exciting stuff is being done in space by this frankenstein rocket, then maybe it will drive inovation faster.
the bottom line is that there isn't anything new and exciting in the pipeline for the next 20 years comming from NASA. maybe the upstarts (the spaceship co., blue origins) will have some suprises up there sleeves
your idea of an ion engine is a bit distorted. ion engines have no chemical bonds to break. the use ionized gas to accelerate the particles toward the grid, which in turn accelerates the ship in the opposite direction. the only reason they spew electrons out the back is so that the particles don't try to go backwards through the grid and slow the ship down.
it's true that in chemical rockets you are constrained by the bonds. but the reactive paint doesn't have to rely on the bonds. remember that heat equals velocity on the microscopic scale. so you want the paint to get as hot as posible before vaporizing. also the mass the heated particle has the more push it will have.
of course, whatever system you use you would have to make sure the underlying sail was still undamaged.
why don't you register them and make sure they are taxed too? They are already here, and since they arn't registered, employers can take advantage of them. Why not just make those illegal immigrants legal immigrants?
The number one problem with driving is the other drivers. therefore the only solution would be to get rid of drivers. why put so much effort into monitoring the driver, when a driverless world could be realized with current technology.
for example you would need gps units in each car with detailed maps of all the roads and addresses. the cars would also need appropriate sensors like those used in addaptive cruise control. for extra precision throw in some in-road or next-to-road things that the car could sense. next, use some form of wireless connection to network all the cars together. finaly, mix in some government to regulate it all with some infastructure and software that monitors and control the network.
cars like this could go 100 mph, or as fast as the road allows. they could be sent to park themselves, maybe a mile away, after droping you off. driving drunk won't be a problem, and insurance costs should be lower. when there is an accident, all the cars would automatically know and reroute themselves. as more and more cars became like this highways could be made thiner, 2 or 4 lanes down from 6 or 8.
of course there are downsides. taxi drivers would lose their jobs, as would truck drivers, parking vallets, meter maids, etc.
video games are, for the most part, made by a team of people. so are movies, music, plays, etc.
Sure, some of those people should know a thing or two about the world in general, and maybe have some culture. However, all those plays on Broadway would be nothing without the sound and lighting crews. everyone has their own job to do, and some are more technical than others.
Perhaps game studios should be like movie studios, buying scripts and having a director shape it into a playable and fun game. but the most important thing about a good game is that it runs well on my current system without crashing. To do this you need good programers, no matter what else they are.
Anyway, in a hundred years current games WILL be art, regardless.
I have the same problem with my pc. I've had it since july, and i think it is based on humidity. when i crank the AC up in my room and close the door, it will take about 20-30 mins before it will start. it's not the temperature because it can be 60 degrees in the room, but will still not start if the humidity is too high.
sounds like the image capture features of this chip might overlap the abilities on intel's next xscale processor, which has some sort of ccd controler built in.
That might make this chip more prominent in devices with samsung processors, whith intel new Bulverde processor pairing with ati.
Slashdot Mirror
People use a lot of water from underground sources, i.e. aquifers. water moves very slowly through some soil types. in some cases, the water that is being used is many many centuries old. think glacial melt water from the last ice age and the remainder of the in-land sea in the u.s. And we are pulling much more out than can be replenished naturally. when that's gone there will be no water to irrigate crops in the mid-west. if there's no water in the ground, there's no evaporation to bring rain, and so there's no rain.
There'll still be rain by the coasts, but a whole lot of that rain water flows right back into the ocean. if there's no water in-land, people move to the coasts and water use increases there. if we were to capture a majority of that water to prevent it from getting all salty, say good-bye to rivers and streams. no more fly fishing, etc.
if you want water from the sea, you need lots of power to make is less salty.
so wasted water gets all salty, and we'll have to waste lots of energy to make it drinkable
do you understand now?
yes, "there are no tokamak power plants" was what i was implying. and by that implication i'm saying "$20 billion is an awful lot of money just to get to this point."
there are other gadgets out there that fuse atoms and create neutrons, and if this is all you care about then a tokamak is overkill. if your purpose is to actually generate electricity, then i would say that fusion power is science fiction, for now.
and in 'TFA' even though it's a video, he shows slides depicting how his reactor could be integrated into existing power plants, using their cooling towers and piping and such, and just disconnecting all the fossil fuel bits. So, actually, i think using them for power is exactly what he was proposing.
i will grant you that he does seem to think that engineering is some sort of trivial task. theoretically a tokamak can work, but the engineering has been the stumbling block
I'm no physicist, but in the video he outlines 3 reactions in particular that would be perferable for fusion. one reaction in particular would be clean,(it was a long video and i couldn't read the slides so some of this might be incorect) producing no neutrons. this is the pb (proton/boron) reaction, which only produces helium atoms
If you are going to attack a respected and learned person, it carries much more weight if you aren't an anonymous coward
as you can see for yourself on the video, he says that while his team owns the patent, that wouldn't prevent anyone from building one for research purposes. build one yourself so that you can refute the pitiful ravings of this senile old man and he can die in disgrace.
also, i don't see many working tokamak reactors around my town either, so technically they are still science fiction too.
nt
Seems to me that Clinton (and even Bush Senior) realized, as any qued in politico realized, that there was no good way to get rid of Saddam. Iraq has aways been a tangled ball of string. Bush junior thought he could untangle it, and so now we're all wrapped up in this mess.
Sure, book learnin's all well and good, but nothing surpasses experience. I wonder how many people are still alive that have hands on experience with ALL the engine designs that john has tried, or has yet to try?
since he doesn't have an aerospace engineering degree(or any degree, for that mater. book learnin' ain't for everybody), I think he is doing pretty well for himself.
then how come people who have been with a company the longest often get the promotion or the good office? seems like a real world example to me.
i'm not down on robots, but your idea, extreme environment construction robots that work together, is 50 years away at least, especially for reasonable priced, mass producable versions. something like that would have inumerable value, but is a project as difficult as the space elavator, which is the goal at hand.
if you are trying to say that anything is posible with enough inginuity, i'd agree. however, there are pratical constraints to that statement. you don't want to add to the complexity of an already difficult problem.
a space elavator? sure, it will be worked out it good time. i can wait for the nanotube cables to be perfected. but building a pyramid so that you can use existing tether materials in an attempt to be the first with an elevator is assinine. it's assinine because it would fail to accomplish that goal. it would take them so long to engineer and construct the damn thing that by the time they got the first 5 % done the nanotube cable would be worked out.
i can go on and on about problems you would encounter that have nothing to do with engineering, too. red tape, supply lines, environmental impact studies, etc.
also, when i said 'the foundation' i ment the physical foundation like on a house, not some body of knowledge that would make it all worth while. regardless a structure this massive would deform the techtonic plate it sits upon. everest already does, and is nowhere near the size of this 'space pyramid'.
but hey if you wanna build it don't let my logic stop you
And that's just the technical side of the problem. there are plenty of down to earth problems, too. If some equitorial country with 500 km^2 of uninhabited, unprotected land and a trillion USD to spend wanted to build this they would have even more problems. For the first 15 to ~20 km construction would be relatively easy. mainly standard construction pratices. However, most climbers above 8000 M use suplimental oxygen to prevent hypoxia. so not even 10% done and already the costs skyrocket. not to mention other expensive equipment like extreme low temperature clothing, etc. that goes along with this type of project.
just imagine the hazard pay for, who knows, 50,000 employees?
if they managed to keep going steadily with the temparature and air pressure droping the higher they go, and battling the weather every inch, before a stronger teather is created, that will be a sad day for nanotube researchers.
now, we dont have robots that can build skyscrapers single handedly (hell they can't even do it in groups). so don't say that we can just use robots, cause as i welcome our new robot overlords, they wiill not be here before, again, a better teather is created.
p.s. the foundation alone would be hell to engineer and would take years and years to complete
And in case you were wondering what this saying means:
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mhear.html
p.s. The more I learn the more brilliant The Simpsons becomes
How is google suposed to know that those clicks didn't generate any revinue for the company? they have no access to the company's books. in fact, if they didn't require proof, it would be quite easy to scam google.
off the top of my head i can think of one. a company starts using google for ads, but doesn't notice much improvement in business dispite increased traffic. so the owner sets up a dummy computer to generate imposible amounts of clicks. he then demands a full refund for all the clicks since they started business with google.
crude and flawed, but i only had a minute.
I totaly misread that headline and had myself a good laugh.
If I'm drunk and alone in a bar parking lot, I would be praying for an autodrive car, 'cause it would have a better chance of getting me home safe.
Best Slashdot story ever
what is the goal here? it is to get men and payloads into orbit, cheaply, safely, and fast. a reusable rocket moniker has a lot of nice environmentalist, green goodness, but it would save a lot more trees if we all switched to hybrids.
if you wanna get people out to the moon and mars within the next 15 years, then they don't have time to wait for new propulsion method to mature.
and what is the other opion anyway? atlas boosters? whatever it is it's gonna be a rocket, and not a space plane or a nuclear rocket. we need something for the next 10-15 years, until the curent aversion to 'nuclear' smooths over, or pulse-detonation jet engines are ironed out. if, in the meantime, a lot of exciting stuff is being done in space by this frankenstein rocket, then maybe it will drive inovation faster.
the bottom line is that there isn't anything new and exciting in the pipeline for the next 20 years comming from NASA. maybe the upstarts (the spaceship co., blue origins) will have some suprises up there sleeves
your idea of an ion engine is a bit distorted. ion engines have no chemical bonds to break. the use ionized gas to accelerate the particles toward the grid, which in turn accelerates the ship in the opposite direction. the only reason they spew electrons out the back is so that the particles don't try to go backwards through the grid and slow the ship down.
it's true that in chemical rockets you are constrained by the bonds. but the reactive paint doesn't have to rely on the bonds. remember that heat equals velocity on the microscopic scale. so you want the paint to get as hot as posible before vaporizing. also the mass the heated particle has the more push it will have.
of course, whatever system you use you would have to make sure the underlying sail was still undamaged.
why don't you register them and make sure they are taxed too? They are already here, and since they arn't registered, employers can take advantage of them. Why not just make those illegal immigrants legal immigrants?
you can't legally sell organs so i don't see why this would be legal.
There is no need to resort to cloning to spread a cure like this. Just use gene therapy.
While this technology is still being researched, it holds as much promise as stem cells.
The number one problem with driving is the other drivers. therefore the only solution would be to get rid of drivers. why put so much effort into monitoring the driver, when a driverless world could be realized with current technology.
for example you would need gps units in each car with detailed maps of all the roads and addresses. the cars would also need appropriate sensors like those used in addaptive cruise control. for extra precision throw in some in-road or next-to-road things that the car could sense. next, use some form of wireless connection to network all the cars together. finaly, mix in some government to regulate it all with some infastructure and software that monitors and control the network.
cars like this could go 100 mph, or as fast as the road allows. they could be sent to park themselves, maybe a mile away, after droping you off. driving drunk won't be a problem, and insurance costs should be lower. when there is an accident, all the cars would automatically know and reroute themselves. as more and more cars became like this highways could be made thiner, 2 or 4 lanes down from 6 or 8.
of course there are downsides. taxi drivers would lose their jobs, as would truck drivers, parking vallets, meter maids, etc.
video games are, for the most part, made by a team of people. so are movies, music, plays, etc.
Sure, some of those people should know a thing or two about the world in general, and maybe have some culture. However, all those plays on Broadway would be nothing without the sound and lighting crews. everyone has their own job to do, and some are more technical than others.
Perhaps game studios should be like movie studios, buying scripts and having a director shape it into a playable and fun game. but the most important thing about a good game is that it runs well on my current system without crashing. To do this you need good programers, no matter what else they are.
Anyway, in a hundred years current games WILL be art, regardless.
Hurrah! down with the standard model!
Warp speed and time travel might yet be possible!
I have the same problem with my pc. I've had it since july, and i think it is based on humidity. when i crank the AC up in my room and close the door, it will take about 20-30 mins before it will start. it's not the temperature because it can be 60 degrees in the room, but will still not start if the humidity is too high.
sounds like the image capture features of this chip might overlap the abilities on intel's next xscale processor, which has some sort of ccd controler built in.
That might make this chip more prominent in devices with samsung processors, whith intel new Bulverde processor pairing with ati.