Power. Except for the moon, Venus and Mercury, where solar power may be feasible, I don't see any option other than nuclear fusion for sustainably fulfilling a colony's power needs.
Wilfully blind to nuclear fission, I see.
Technically he's right, because nuclear processes are not 'sustainable', in that they use up fuel. The sun itself is not sustainable, because eventually the hydrogen will be depleted.
But since we don't know what a fusion plant will look like yet, the most likely power source for extraterrestrial use will be variations of the one we already use when space power needs exceed what sustainables can provide in a given part of the solar system.
We have recently found that 14C makes a good, long-running "nuclear battery" for applications like this. When China gets its liquid fuel reactor design going, the moderator will be solid rods of 12C. Over time, these will be irradiated into 14C and will be replaced. That's your source of space power.
And NASA's best contribution to such an effort would be to keep plugging away at the science, answering questions like 'What is the exact composition of the soil in a variety of locations?' If Elon is going to make bricks or plant anything, he needs to know this.
"Just look at how well privately owned essential infrastructure works out for the masses all over the world so far"
Because Mars will not have "masses" to be exploited by any business monopoly until colonization is already underway, by which time the inhabitants will be developing their own legal system per the UN Space Treaty. NASA performs best when it deploys scientific missions, not when it runs high-risk manned missions. Let the private sector take the manned missions and the whole 'priorities' argument against exploration goes away.
That's exactly what I do on flights, but now I'm going to have to start lugging around physical books again and squinting for the right light to read them by.
What this "you are the product" mantra means is that I'm trading off the privacy of my searches in return for free use of the software and the very fancy infrastructure it runs on. You may feel threatened somehow to see ads popping up that refer to products you have searched for in the past, but so far as I'm concerned I don't see a problem.
I can't wait to see these vehicles emulate NY road rage.
They're going to do it with a New York Language Module, preloaded with all those top-of-the-voice expressions like fakakte! and Ya talkin-a-me, pallie? A special swing-put arm will be used to signal the "New York state bird" when merging into traffic.
Reading and movies are things passengers could do on tablets. If these go too, you just have to hope the inflight entertainment will work. The way service is going these days, fat chance.
After a wave of airline-related incidents like the Dao dragging and the Schear ejection, the FAA is defusing the situation by cutting down the number of people willing to fly to and from popular tourist destinations to perhaps 50 or fewer per flight. A reduced passenger count means that people will be able to sit farther apart, most passengers will get aisle seating, there will be fewer brawls over seat reclining and toilet usage, and the security lines will be shorter.
I'll rank these companies by descending utility to me personally:
Google Apple Amazon Microsoft Facebook
Certainly, for most of my life I didn't have any of these services available to me. But those were the days when the news sites I used the most had to be printed out on big sheets of cheap paper and delivered house to house by small boys. When I shopped for anything, I had to drive around to different stores looking for the item and comparing prices. To look something up, I had to drive to a public building called a "library" and search in printed books - and have any of you young whippersnappers ever seen a Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature?
Roundabouts would be incredibly efficient if we could get turning drivers to signal in them. Too much through traffic has to hesitate on entry because you're unsure whether the oncoming or side-entering car is going to turn. Automating this kind of intersection fixes the problem and would allow the roundabout to function at maximum efficiency.
Automated cars and automated streets will evolve together.
My town (northern AZ) is also mostly roundabouts. The automation described in this article would be safer with roundabouts, including for pedestrians, than having traffic hurtle through signalized intersections at high speed. It would also make two-lane roundabouts, which befuddle our plentiful supply of tourists, a lot safer.
In 1993 the Vatican Observatory saw first light on one of the world's premier large telescopes on Mt. Graham in Arizona (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_Advanced_Technology_Telescope), a project which was almost killed off by the same Greens who are trying to prevent the Thirty Meter Telescope in Hawaii from being built, on the same excuse of "sacred to my people" that is being used now in Hawaii.
And the problem for Microsoft is that Windows has to support third-party everything. Making the hardware as well as the software would solve Redmond's reliability problems.
Why don't the Democrats have done with it and just re-convene the House Un-American Activities Committee? Given today's political alignment, this could even include restarting the old John Birch Society campaign against dental fluoride. What was old is new again.
How about we don't try to produce energy with the most toxic and deadly materials mankind has ever discovered?
Because Hanford was a WEAPONS plant. It has nothing to do with commercial application of nuclear energy. But climate engineering does, if you people sincerely believe in it.
Yes, my though is that Rachel would be a good lead-in for him. She would gas away about the latest conspiracy, after which RMS would opine on his pet hobby horses.
Slashdot Mirror
Wilfully blind to nuclear fission, I see.
Technically he's right, because nuclear processes are not 'sustainable', in that they use up fuel. The sun itself is not sustainable, because eventually the hydrogen will be depleted.
But since we don't know what a fusion plant will look like yet, the most likely power source for extraterrestrial use will be variations of the one we already use when space power needs exceed what sustainables can provide in a given part of the solar system.
We have recently found that 14C makes a good, long-running "nuclear battery" for applications like this. When China gets its liquid fuel reactor design going, the moderator will be solid rods of 12C. Over time, these will be irradiated into 14C and will be replaced. That's your source of space power.
Trump wants to take money from children to pay for science.
If it were not for science, every American would be worse off than the poorest of those children.
"He literally, like Trump, wants children to starve."
This is the 'priorities' argument. It does not exist in the private sector.
This trip is not for sane people. It's for the folks who went West not knowing whether they would be the Sutters or the Donners.
And NASA's best contribution to such an effort would be to keep plugging away at the science, answering questions like 'What is the exact composition of the soil in a variety of locations?' If Elon is going to make bricks or plant anything, he needs to know this.
"Just look at how well privately owned essential infrastructure works out for the masses all over the world so far"
Because Mars will not have "masses" to be exploited by any business monopoly until colonization is already underway, by which time the inhabitants will be developing their own legal system per the UN Space Treaty. NASA performs best when it deploys scientific missions, not when it runs high-risk manned missions. Let the private sector take the manned missions and the whole 'priorities' argument against exploration goes away.
"Maybe it would be better to start sending material and structures, and only then sending actual people."
The most powerful proof-of-concept would be landing and operating a device to make fuel from Martian atmosphere, as Zubrin proposes.
"...read a book until I get tired"
That's exactly what I do on flights, but now I'm going to have to start lugging around physical books again and squinting for the right light to read them by.
What this "you are the product" mantra means is that I'm trading off the privacy of my searches in return for free use of the software and the very fancy infrastructure it runs on. You may feel threatened somehow to see ads popping up that refer to products you have searched for in the past, but so far as I'm concerned I don't see a problem.
Because it costs me a fortune to use Google and i have to lease a big black Google machine from the company to do it.
I can't wait to see these vehicles emulate NY road rage.
They're going to do it with a New York Language Module, preloaded with all those top-of-the-voice expressions like fakakte! and Ya talkin-a-me, pallie? A special swing-put arm will be used to signal the "New York state bird" when merging into traffic.
" there's no reason to bring my money to a place that is going to great lengths to make me feel unwelcome."
This new restriction isn't even necessary. We already have the TSA to make everyone feel unwelcome, even other Americans.
I can't recall the last time a plane was lost due to a cargo area bomb.
I can: Pan Am 103.
Reading and movies are things passengers could do on tablets. If these go too, you just have to hope the inflight entertainment will work. The way service is going these days, fat chance.
After a wave of airline-related incidents like the Dao dragging and the Schear ejection, the FAA is defusing the situation by cutting down the number of people willing to fly to and from popular tourist destinations to perhaps 50 or fewer per flight. A reduced passenger count means that people will be able to sit farther apart, most passengers will get aisle seating, there will be fewer brawls over seat reclining and toilet usage, and the security lines will be shorter.
Although his server farm runs on endless power from lakes of boiling sulfur, we could probably take out his Comcast fiber.
I'll rank these companies by descending utility to me personally:
Google
Apple
Amazon
Microsoft
Facebook
Certainly, for most of my life I didn't have any of these services available to me. But those were the days when the news sites I used the most had to be printed out on big sheets of cheap paper and delivered house to house by small boys. When I shopped for anything, I had to drive around to different stores looking for the item and comparing prices. To look something up, I had to drive to a public building called a "library" and search in printed books - and have any of you young whippersnappers ever seen a Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature?
Roundabouts would be incredibly efficient if we could get turning drivers to signal in them. Too much through traffic has to hesitate on entry because you're unsure whether the oncoming or side-entering car is going to turn. Automating this kind of intersection fixes the problem and would allow the roundabout to function at maximum efficiency.
Automated cars and automated streets will evolve together.
My town (northern AZ) is also mostly roundabouts. The automation described in this article would be safer with roundabouts, including for pedestrians, than having traffic hurtle through signalized intersections at high speed. It would also make two-lane roundabouts, which befuddle our plentiful supply of tourists, a lot safer.
The Vatican has maintained an astronomy office since 1774: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... .
In 1993 the Vatican Observatory saw first light on one of the world's premier large telescopes on Mt. Graham in Arizona (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_Advanced_Technology_Telescope), a project which was almost killed off by the same Greens who are trying to prevent the Thirty Meter Telescope in Hawaii from being built, on the same excuse of "sacred to my people" that is being used now in Hawaii.
And the problem for Microsoft is that Windows has to support third-party everything. Making the hardware as well as the software would solve Redmond's reliability problems.
Why don't the Democrats have done with it and just re-convene the House Un-American Activities Committee? Given today's political alignment, this could even include restarting the old John Birch Society campaign against dental fluoride. What was old is new again.
How about we don't try to produce energy with the most toxic and deadly materials mankind has ever discovered?
Because Hanford was a WEAPONS plant. It has nothing to do with commercial application of nuclear energy. But climate engineering does, if you people sincerely believe in it.
Yes, my though is that Rachel would be a good lead-in for him. She would gas away about the latest conspiracy, after which RMS would opine on his pet hobby horses.
"It's just interesting to see how a professional organization can help like the AMA does or destroy the profession like the ABA is doing."
Yes, the AMA will do anything to ward off the threat of affordability in medicine.