The ultimate definition of "mistake" is a move that turns a winning position into a draw or loss, or a drawn position into a loss. If you have a winning position, with 3 winning moves, any of those 3 moves is good, and the rest are bad. A top player is more likely to pick one of the good moves, and thus make fewer mistakes overall.
Why is that a silly demand ? Beach front property is an example of a highly desirable, yet scarce resource. Claiming that scarcity does not exist, or will not exist in the future, is bullshit.
Not at all. The project leaders will just pocket the money, and disappear. Nothing will ever be launched (or built for that matter), and nobody's going to die of asphyxia. Happy now ?
Total lack of a viable landing sequence is another. Anything that requires dropping a human on Mars without instantly killing him, and leaving him with enough supplies to last a while, would require a much more massive craft than anything we have landed on Mars before.
We're probably already past conventional peak oil. People haven't noticed because of the glut of shale oil, but shale oil only provides a very short term solution.
In other words: even with insane cost reduction, only rich people can afford to make a trip to a location that would make the Sahara desert look like a luxury resort.
I suspect we'll see a system not unlike the indentured servitude that gave so many poor Europeans the opportunity to travel to the Americas back when crossing oceans was a ridiculous expense.
Travel to the Americas was much cheaper than a trip to Mars will ever be, and still only a few percent of Europeans made the trip.
Lots of water, CO2, and sand to provide an immensity of raw materials
Less water and CO2 than on Earth. And the sand isn't a good source of high grade ores. Also, no useful atmosphere and no magnetic field to protect against the Sun's hard radiation, and too far from the Sun to get good light and heat. And it's a small planet too. Only a quarter of the Earth's surface area. You could put more people on floating rafts on the ocean than you can put on Mars.
Slashdot Mirror
Or where you pay for an illusion of privacy, since there's no reason why you could trust a 3rd party device or application.
Any free market will get corrupted. It's inevitable.
You don't need the worlds best chess engine to find blunders.
You do, if you want to do it accurately. There may have been a number of moves that Crafty thought were blunders, but they were actually good moves.
The ultimate definition of "mistake" is a move that turns a winning position into a draw or loss, or a drawn position into a loss. If you have a winning position, with 3 winning moves, any of those 3 moves is good, and the rest are bad. A top player is more likely to pick one of the good moves, and thus make fewer mistakes overall.
I've seen some VPNs as cheap as 5 USD a month.
They can be so cheap because they sell your data.
As Douglas Adams said it aptly: "We don't care. We don't have to. We're the phone company"
Fitness of a species is not relevant. It's all about fitness of individual genes. Read The Selfish Gene.
Why is that a silly demand ? Beach front property is an example of a highly desirable, yet scarce resource. Claiming that scarcity does not exist, or will not exist in the future, is bullshit.
I would consider that a trivial variation on the killer asteroid theme.
At least Columbus had a seaworthy boat. These guys have nothing but grandiose plans and a box for donations.
We have the ability to create food that lasts for many years, so that shouldn't be much of an issue.
Except for the quantity required. And how about the habitat and/or a means of transportation ? Water, energy, heaters ? The mass quickly adds up.
That's essentially what it is.
Not at all. The project leaders will just pocket the money, and disappear. Nothing will ever be launched (or built for that matter), and nobody's going to die of asphyxia. Happy now ?
Don't worry, they are only scammed out of their money. It will not affect their time of death.
So, only standard level sociopaths required to lead this project.
as if material scarcity was still a major concern
I'd like a mansion on a 10-acre beach front property in a nice sunny climate, please.
Total lack of a viable landing sequence is another. Anything that requires dropping a human on Mars without instantly killing him, and leaving him with enough supplies to last a while, would require a much more massive craft than anything we have landed on Mars before.
That's because reality is more complex than extending a trend line with a ruler. And that goes both ways.
I wonder how many TV companies would shovel over billions for the rights
They might, if there was a solid and detailed business plan.
I'll be amazed if they ever see the inside of a rocket.
If current trends continue
When has extrapolating population trend lines ever been a proven technique ?
We're probably already past conventional peak oil. People haven't noticed because of the glut of shale oil, but shale oil only provides a very short term solution.
You'd be solving the wrong problem. They shouldn't be eating junk food in the first place.
But it didn't hurt to wait for Java to prove itself.
we are looking at $400K per person
In other words: even with insane cost reduction, only rich people can afford to make a trip to a location that would make the Sahara desert look like a luxury resort.
I suspect we'll see a system not unlike the indentured servitude that gave so many poor Europeans the opportunity to travel to the Americas back when crossing oceans was a ridiculous expense.
Travel to the Americas was much cheaper than a trip to Mars will ever be, and still only a few percent of Europeans made the trip.
Lots of water, CO2, and sand to provide an immensity of raw materials
Less water and CO2 than on Earth. And the sand isn't a good source of high grade ores. Also, no useful atmosphere and no magnetic field to protect against the Sun's hard radiation, and too far from the Sun to get good light and heat. And it's a small planet too. Only a quarter of the Earth's surface area. You could put more people on floating rafts on the ocean than you can put on Mars.
Free orbital spaces - rotating terraria - could be built out of asteroidal or lunar material
Too expensive. When faced with resource struggles due to overpopulation, people aren't going to build rockets. They'll just kill each other.