We have reached an informational threshold which can only be crossed by harnessing the speed of light directly. The quickest computations require the fastest possible particles moving along the shortest paths. Since the capability now exists to take our information directly from photons traveling molecular distances, the final act of the information revolution will soon be upon us.
—Academician Prokhor Zakharov,
“For I Have Tasted The Fruit”
Moreover, my cocktail napkin says that the ore value of a 1000kg chunk of typical nickel-iron meteorite is probably around USD $2000-$3000 at current prices.
So that's worth around $8,002,000 delivered to orbit, based on Falcon 9 launch prices. The point of asteroid mining isn't to deliver to Earth, but to deliver to orbit. Planetary Resources in particular is targeting selling water to NASA at less than launch cost.
Nor are they the most efficient panels by a long shot. Panels for space use can go up into the 30-40% range (multi-junction).
Perhaps these are the most efficient thin film crystal panels, or scalable-manufacturing single crystal? The article doesn't say.
If you look into Planetary Resources even a little bit, you'll see that their present goal is water-ice for consumables. NASA will be happy to buy water for $5k/kg.
The first page on their 'prospecting' site has a full page header about the H2O mining.
Interesting fact: at ~0.7c, the kinetic energy is equal to the rest mass of the ship. So if you have a photon drive running off of a perfectly efficient total conversion engine, you'll have fed more than half your ship to the converter by then.
I have a relative who is an architect, he recently purchased one of those for reviewing architectural plans. He's quite happy with it - far better than zooming in an out on his other 1080p screens, and he can easily compare to the paper.
Since Sieverts are a measure of ionizing radiation, then obviously the background levels I mentioned are ionizing radiation.
Certainly the physical distribution of the radiation sources are important, but I didn't think that was worth mentioning in a simple summary comparison. Sieverts already attempt to correct for biological effects, but yes, if the radiation source is something that can internally bioaccumulate, it will have more complex and serious effects. That is beyond a simple single-measurement comparison, however.
The highest reading mentioned in the article, 0.484uS/hr, is approximately 1.07 Denver, or 0.96 Boulder. Exact values are hard to find, but it seems Denver is around 4mSv/year, and Boulder is ~4.5mSv/year, which is about.45 and.5 uSv/hr.
Solar is dead. Most of the US doesn't get enough sun to make solar feasible.
This article has a good solar efficiency study for the entire US. In summary, there's not a lot of difference in the contiguous US - about the only place where solar is significantly worse off is Alaska.
You have to be willing to accept near-term losses in order to get long-term gains. Spoiling the 'less evil' party of your opinion may cause them to shift toward your preferred politics.
I was around on my bicycle yesterday and today; the flooding didn't seem too bad west of Broadway, except for the creek path, but there's more low-lying buildings east of there. Nothing of note on the main CU campus. Although it appears that Boulder Creek was quite a bit higher late last evening than it was when I was there. Very high debris marks and silt all over, including through a lot of the downtown streets. Also a mudslide early this morning at the opening of the canyon.
The substructure of the universe regresses infinitely towards smaller and smaller components. Behind atoms we find electrons, and behind electrons, quarks. Each layer unraveled reveals new secrets, but also new mysteries.
- Academician Prokhor Zakharov, "For I Have Tasted the Fruit"
Slashdot Mirror
We have reached an informational threshold which can only be crossed by harnessing the speed of light directly. The quickest computations require the fastest possible particles moving along the shortest paths. Since the capability now exists to take our information directly from photons traveling molecular distances, the final act of the information revolution will soon be upon us.
—Academician Prokhor Zakharov,
“For I Have Tasted The Fruit”
You apparently don't remember that the internet existed in useful form before the prevalence of intrusive advertising.
Moreover, my cocktail napkin says that the ore value of a 1000kg chunk of typical nickel-iron meteorite is probably around USD $2000-$3000 at current prices.
So that's worth around $8,002,000 delivered to orbit, based on Falcon 9 launch prices. The point of asteroid mining isn't to deliver to Earth, but to deliver to orbit. Planetary Resources in particular is targeting selling water to NASA at less than launch cost.
Nor are they the most efficient panels by a long shot. Panels for space use can go up into the 30-40% range (multi-junction). Perhaps these are the most efficient thin film crystal panels, or scalable-manufacturing single crystal? The article doesn't say.
Undoing moderation
If you look into Planetary Resources even a little bit, you'll see that their present goal is water-ice for consumables. NASA will be happy to buy water for $5k/kg. The first page on their 'prospecting' site has a full page header about the H2O mining.
They are in fact 18mm wide and 650mm long.
Solution: sink it in advance of nature doing the job. i.e. SSNs without the propulsive and weapons systems.
Interesting fact: at ~0.7c, the kinetic energy is equal to the rest mass of the ship. So if you have a photon drive running off of a perfectly efficient total conversion engine, you'll have fed more than half your ship to the converter by then.
I recall reading that at least one of the two models to be tested soon has easily-replaceable rails that need to be changed every few shots.
Are you implying that the cops are like vampires, and can drag along a human to get them in to places?
You mean like this?
I have a relative who is an architect, he recently purchased one of those for reviewing architectural plans. He's quite happy with it - far better than zooming in an out on his other 1080p screens, and he can easily compare to the paper.
Since Sieverts are a measure of ionizing radiation, then obviously the background levels I mentioned are ionizing radiation.
Certainly the physical distribution of the radiation sources are important, but I didn't think that was worth mentioning in a simple summary comparison. Sieverts already attempt to correct for biological effects, but yes, if the radiation source is something that can internally bioaccumulate, it will have more complex and serious effects. That is beyond a simple single-measurement comparison, however.
The highest reading mentioned in the article, 0.484uS/hr, is approximately 1.07 Denver, or 0.96 Boulder. Exact values are hard to find, but it seems Denver is around 4mSv/year, and Boulder is ~4.5mSv/year, which is about .45 and .5 uSv/hr.
the worst location in the continental U.S. is only a factor of two worse than the best solar location.
Solar is dead. Most of the US doesn't get enough sun to make solar feasible.
This article has a good solar efficiency study for the entire US. In summary, there's not a lot of difference in the contiguous US - about the only place where solar is significantly worse off is Alaska.
You have to be willing to accept near-term losses in order to get long-term gains. Spoiling the 'less evil' party of your opinion may cause them to shift toward your preferred politics.
[s]UA(S|V) - [small] Unmanned Aerial (System | Vehicle)
Although personally I do prefer "drone". It does afterall refer to "an unmanned aircraft or ship guided by remote control".
I was around on my bicycle yesterday and today; the flooding didn't seem too bad west of Broadway, except for the creek path, but there's more low-lying buildings east of there. Nothing of note on the main CU campus. Although it appears that Boulder Creek was quite a bit higher late last evening than it was when I was there. Very high debris marks and silt all over, including through a lot of the downtown streets. Also a mudslide early this morning at the opening of the canyon.
I have a number of pictures here (somewhat low quality), and several short videos from the same areas.
That should be easy: "Assume a spherical human"
I want to. I've been waiting for an acceptably priced HMD since they were available for many thousands in the late 90s.
Transmission line losses average only 7%
Perhaps such is the intention of our true overlords!
The substructure of the universe regresses infinitely towards smaller and smaller components. Behind atoms we find electrons, and behind electrons, quarks. Each layer unraveled reveals new secrets, but also new mysteries.
- Academician Prokhor Zakharov, "For I Have Tasted the Fruit"