Among the safety innovations of this rocket is that a single fiber optic cable is wound around and around the tank, so that if it ruptures anyplace it will cut the cable, and the rocket will be shut down immediately.
Actually, this is standard in a lot of rocketry situations. On the space shuttle, the electrical wire that controls the hydrazine valve to the thruster is wrapped around the thruster bell. If something goes wrong, and the bell fails, it will cut power to the control valve, causing it to close, and thus shutting down the thruster.
This is the basic principle of "Fail Safe" design. To me, the problem with the fiber optic cable is that the fiber cable is just a data control. It would be better if they wrapped the power line around it, so that a failure would cut the power, and thus cause it to go safe.
On my Jetta, at least, all I need other than the cable is a metric socket set (for most things). And a few different adjustable wrenches. There are a few specialized tools that I'd need, but those primarily come up when you do things that require the engine being dropped out of the bay... something I can't do at home anyhow. (Clutch replacement (double wet clutch oh joy) and so forth).
It's also a diesel, so ther eare other bits to toy with.
To me, modern vehicles are eminently more reparable than the old ones, but that's because I'm an electronics geek I suppose. Because the thing is mostly fly-by-wire, it's dead easy for me to go in with a laptop and dump the codes to figure out what's wrong with the system.
Take for example my friend's VW Bug... Engine was running rather roughly, and showing the "check engine light". Plugged in my laptop, dumped the codes, and one of the diagnostic codes was showing a vacuum line failure. Sure enough, we replace the appropriate vacuum line, engine runs fine after that. Sure, a seasoned mechanic would probably have figured that one out immediately, but to an office geek like me, the electronic diagnostics were a godsend.
The primary difference between modern vehicles and the ones from the days of yore is that there is a different skill set required to work on them. Now, on top of being able to turn a wrench, you need electronics and computing experience.
Re:technologist needs to use technology?
on
Jim Gray Is Missing
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· Score: 4, Informative
If he was going offshore, he either had or should have had an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. In effect, when deployed they transmit a beacon signal at 406MHz that contains a unique identifier, and can also include GPS coordinates.
These signals are picked up by either the INMARSAT geostationary satellites, or also passing weather satellites. Without a GPS position, the weather satellites can locate the beacon to within about 50 miles. With an integrated GPS receiver, the position will be reported to about 2 miles or so. (The message format doesn't have the space to transmit full resolution).
I was once working for a company that made portable satellite terminals. At one point, we had two buildings separated by about 80 feet and one day the inter-building goes down. Unfortunately they were on either side of a parkade. Our IT guy tries to get it back up, but the building manager gave us the cold shoulder and said it would be a few days before they could send someone out. So, as a stop-gap, we pulled out two satellite units and went up on the air. The data was making a 50 000 mile round trip to go all of 80 feet.:) Speeds were pretty good, but the latency was a bitch.
I used it on a Lufthansa flight from the west coast to Kuwait. Given that it was a 23 hour flight (with connections) I hapilly paid the $26 to have broadband for my whole flight rather than watching the lamely edited movies on the plane. Heck, after my iPod ran out of power, I just flipped my laptop to Radio Paradise, and listend to it while flying over Iraq and into Kuwait.
On the other hand, the only way I can see them having spent this kind of dough is on the aircraft transmitters. The satellite time itself is rather cheap, figure $75 an hour for a connection in the amount of bulk that Boeing was buying it in.
Actually, the HWR in OS X *IS* the very same Rosetta HWR engine that was in the MP 2100 (The printed/mixed engine). It even has the same easter eggs as the Newton does. Just write "Rosetta! Rosetta! Rosetta!" and it will recognize it as "Rosetta! Rosetta! Hey that's me!"
Unlike the cursive recognizer, which was developed in Russia, the Rosetta engine was written and developed in-house by Apple. If you do a search, I think that you can still find the ACM papers written by the guys who developed the engine. It's an interesting mix of Neural Nets, traditional HWR, and dictionary based guessing of the words.
The mechanics for the rovers were built inhouse at the JPL in Pasedena. JPL has a rather extensive machine shop with many expert machinists trained for exactly this kind of thing. As far as the instrumentation, several parts of it (such as MINI-TES) were developed at other universities, then integrated at the JPL facility.
Unlike the two previous failed missions (Polar Lander and climate orbiter) which were built under contract with rockwell, these were built in-house, so as to avoid the problems that sank the previous missions.
The physics of the matter are pretty easy; any college physics student could figure them out. What is hard is the fluid dynamics required to make an implosion type device work. Remember, the hot gasses of the chemical explosives are described by the Navier-Stokes equations, which are highly non-linear, and thus incredibly nasty to work with.
This is not only a physics challenge, but also a materials science problem. The explosion of the chemical explosives around the plutonium pit must be absolutely precise. If not, the explosives will simply blow the plutonium apart, rather then cause a nuclear detonation. The explosives must burn at an exactly even and known rate and they must be initiated from enough points around the device to make the explosion travel inwards in a spherical shockwave
In reality the Manhattan project was about two things: the chemistry to extract the plutonium needed for the bomb, and the fluid dynamics required to make the explosion actually work and detonate
Actually, the reason why there are so many empty broadcast stations on VHF (ie channels 2 through 13) is that they need to be dispersed enough so that they do not interfere with each other.
This has to do with graph colouring (namely the four colour theory), in that you can not have two ajacent stations broadcasting on the same frequency. Ajacency is defined as overlap between the broadcast range of the various stations.
When RCA proposed the current channel system, they set it up so that every point in the continent would be able to (theoretically) recieve 3 channels, and major centers would have 4. This would have required 13 channels (1 through 13). However, the head of the FCC at the time was upset with RCA and their strong-arm tactics, and gave a good chunk of the spectrum, that would have been needed to channel 1, to FM Radio.
Actually, as a side note, most people who suffer from ADD/ADHD are not affected much by caffiene. I can drink a three shot latte, and then promptly hit the rack, even if I haven't had any coffee or tea in weeks. Also, I often will go off coffee for weeks at a time with no ill effects, which indicates to me that I'm not addicted to it.:)
Another one is to look at old workhorse office lasers that can be had used. I paid $50 (CAD) for m Laerjet 4si, which currently has 800 000 pages on the engine, and it's still going strong. From what I have heard, it's probably good for another 3 million or so. Yes, it weighs 123 lbs, and eats up a desk of its own, but damn the output is nice, it has postscript, and it duplexes.:)
Hmm? I drink my coffee at 180F.. right on the edge of scalding, like it should be. Every time I go buy coffee, I have to tell 'em to make it 180 degrees, otherwise it's just too cold.
Seems to me this is the exact same thing that the studios said back when television became common, and said again when VCRs became commonplace. Yet, the studios continue to rake in huge profits at the box office.
Quite frankly, I don't think that a home theatre can ever replace the theatre experience. Until my home theatre has a 6 story screen, and a 50 000 watt, 12 channel audio system, I think I will continue to spend the money to see good movies in the theatre.
Now, if Hollywood wants to get more profits from the Box Office, they really ought to start producing better movies, but that's a whole other ball of wax.
Online voting? nah, we use a far more reliable system. Consists of a piece of paper with the candidate's name, a wonderful invention called "The Pencil" and a box. When you vote, you place a checkmark or an X next to the candidate, and place said ballot in the box. These ballots are then counted twice by hand, under the watchful eye of scroutineers from each of the parties involved. The results are then reported.
As simple and non high-tech as it is, it's extremely accurate (there are rarely any recounts, and when there are, the results don't change much), and results are usually ready within 4 hours of the close of the polls.
Remember folks, counting by hand is an operation that scales very well.
People are actually already doing this. In my home town, the fairgrounds are built on top of the old city dump. They use the methane taken from wells to heat the various buildings on the site (show barns, offices, ect...). The technology to do it isn't that complex; all you have to do is filter it properly.
In Canada, we use this incredible invention called the "Pencil" and another called "Paper" to conduct our elections. These wonderous inventions are then counted by "hand." Amazingly, we can count 15 000 000 votes in under 4 hours, and there is rarely, if ever, a recount. You see folks, sometimes the low-tech solution works best.
The Software patent issues are only valid if you live in a jurisdiction where said software patents are valid. As long as the developers live in a jurisdiction without the oppressive laws of the USA, it's perfectly legal.
Uh, what do you mean, "inevitably get to play by government rules"? In case you didn't notice, it's the USAnian government that thought up the clipper chip, the V-chip, the DMCA, and the UCITA. Canada doesn't have that stuff.
Hehe. You do realize that the V-Chip was invented, and patented by Tim Colins, a lab engineer in the Engineering Department at Simon Fraser University, in Burnaby BC right? And besides, imho there's nothing wrong with the V-Chip, since, well, the control rests with the parents, not with any larger organization.
Sounds sort of like computer collecting.. However, in my case, it's not as expensive because classic computers can usually be had for almost nothing.:) (My current collection consists of an '040 NeXT Cube, Apple Newton Messagepad 2100, and an SGI Crimson among others)
Sounds a lot like Copy Code on DATs, however it allowed you to make only a first generation copy from the master. You could not copy the copy, only the master. Of course, any DAT deck worth its salt (TASCAM comes to mind) had a jumper on the logic board that you could close to disable Copy Code. Tascam even included the jumper half on the jumper block.
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Actually, this is standard in a lot of rocketry situations. On the space shuttle, the electrical wire that controls the hydrazine valve to the thruster is wrapped around the thruster bell. If something goes wrong, and the bell fails, it will cut power to the control valve, causing it to close, and thus shutting down the thruster.
This is the basic principle of "Fail Safe" design. To me, the problem with the fiber optic cable is that the fiber cable is just a data control. It would be better if they wrapped the power line around it, so that a failure would cut the power, and thus cause it to go safe.
On my Jetta, at least, all I need other than the cable is a metric socket set (for most things). And a few different adjustable wrenches. There are a few specialized tools that I'd need, but those primarily come up when you do things that require the engine being dropped out of the bay... something I can't do at home anyhow. (Clutch replacement (double wet clutch oh joy) and so forth).
It's also a diesel, so ther eare other bits to toy with.
To me, modern vehicles are eminently more reparable than the old ones, but that's because I'm an electronics geek I suppose. Because the thing is mostly fly-by-wire, it's dead easy for me to go in with a laptop and dump the codes to figure out what's wrong with the system.
Take for example my friend's VW Bug... Engine was running rather roughly, and showing the "check engine light". Plugged in my laptop, dumped the codes, and one of the diagnostic codes was showing a vacuum line failure. Sure enough, we replace the appropriate vacuum line, engine runs fine after that. Sure, a seasoned mechanic would probably have figured that one out immediately, but to an office geek like me, the electronic diagnostics were a godsend.
The primary difference between modern vehicles and the ones from the days of yore is that there is a different skill set required to work on them. Now, on top of being able to turn a wrench, you need electronics and computing experience.
If he was going offshore, he either had or should have had an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. In effect, when deployed they transmit a beacon signal at 406MHz that contains a unique identifier, and can also include GPS coordinates.
These signals are picked up by either the INMARSAT geostationary satellites, or also passing weather satellites. Without a GPS position, the weather satellites can locate the beacon to within about 50 miles. With an integrated GPS receiver, the position will be reported to about 2 miles or so. (The message format doesn't have the space to transmit full resolution).
I was once working for a company that made portable satellite terminals. At one point, we had two buildings separated by about 80 feet and one day the inter-building goes down. Unfortunately they were on either side of a parkade. Our IT guy tries to get it back up, but the building manager gave us the cold shoulder and said it would be a few days before they could send someone out. So, as a stop-gap, we pulled out two satellite units and went up on the air. The data was making a 50 000 mile round trip to go all of 80 feet. :) Speeds were pretty good, but the latency was a bitch.
I used it on a Lufthansa flight from the west coast to Kuwait. Given that it was a 23 hour flight (with connections) I hapilly paid the $26 to have broadband for my whole flight rather than watching the lamely edited movies on the plane. Heck, after my iPod ran out of power, I just flipped my laptop to Radio Paradise, and listend to it while flying over Iraq and into Kuwait.
On the other hand, the only way I can see them having spent this kind of dough is on the aircraft transmitters. The satellite time itself is rather cheap, figure $75 an hour for a connection in the amount of bulk that Boeing was buying it in.
Check it out! It's a spaghetti musical western set in space! what more could you want?
Actually, the HWR in OS X *IS* the very same Rosetta HWR engine that was in the MP 2100 (The printed/mixed engine). It even has the same easter eggs as the Newton does. Just write "Rosetta! Rosetta! Rosetta!" and it will recognize it as "Rosetta! Rosetta! Hey that's me!"
Unlike the cursive recognizer, which was developed in Russia, the Rosetta engine was written and developed in-house by Apple. If you do a search, I think that you can still find the ACM papers written by the guys who developed the engine. It's an interesting mix of Neural Nets, traditional HWR, and dictionary based guessing of the words.
The mechanics for the rovers were built inhouse at the JPL in Pasedena. JPL has a rather extensive machine shop with many expert machinists trained for exactly this kind of thing. As far as the instrumentation, several parts of it (such as MINI-TES) were developed at other universities, then integrated at the JPL facility.
Unlike the two previous failed missions (Polar Lander and climate orbiter) which were built under contract with rockwell, these were built in-house, so as to avoid the problems that sank the previous missions.
The physics of the matter are pretty easy; any college physics student could figure them out. What is hard is the fluid dynamics required to make an implosion type device work. Remember, the hot gasses of the chemical explosives are described by the Navier-Stokes equations, which are highly non-linear, and thus incredibly nasty to work with.
This is not only a physics challenge, but also a materials science problem. The explosion of the chemical explosives around the plutonium pit must be absolutely precise. If not, the explosives will simply blow the plutonium apart, rather then cause a nuclear detonation. The explosives must burn at an exactly even and known rate and they must be initiated from enough points around the device to make the explosion travel inwards in a spherical shockwave
In reality the Manhattan project was about two things: the chemistry to extract the plutonium needed for the bomb, and the fluid dynamics required to make the explosion actually work and detonate
Actually, the reason why there are so many empty broadcast stations on VHF (ie channels 2 through 13) is that they need to be dispersed enough so that they do not interfere with each other.
This has to do with graph colouring (namely the four colour theory), in that you can not have two ajacent stations broadcasting on the same frequency. Ajacency is defined as overlap between the broadcast range of the various stations.
When RCA proposed the current channel system, they set it up so that every point in the continent would be able to (theoretically) recieve 3 channels, and major centers would have 4. This would have required 13 channels (1 through 13). However, the head of the FCC at the time was upset with RCA and their strong-arm tactics, and gave a good chunk of the spectrum, that would have been needed to channel 1, to FM Radio.
Actually, as a side note, most people who suffer from ADD/ADHD are not affected much by caffiene. I can drink a three shot latte, and then promptly hit the rack, even if I haven't had any coffee or tea in weeks. Also, I often will go off coffee for weeks at a time with no ill effects, which indicates to me that I'm not addicted to it. :)
Another one is to look at old workhorse office lasers that can be had used. I paid $50 (CAD) for m Laerjet 4si, which currently has 800 000 pages on the engine, and it's still going strong. From what I have heard, it's probably good for another 3 million or so. Yes, it weighs 123 lbs, and eats up a desk of its own, but damn the output is nice, it has postscript, and it duplexes. :)
Hmm? I drink my coffee at 180F.. right on the edge of scalding, like it should be. Every time I go buy coffee, I have to tell 'em to make it 180 degrees, otherwise it's just too cold.
Seems to me this is the exact same thing that the studios said back when television became common, and said again when VCRs became commonplace. Yet, the studios continue to rake in huge profits at the box office.
Quite frankly, I don't think that a home theatre can ever replace the theatre experience. Until my home theatre has a 6 story screen, and a 50 000 watt, 12 channel audio system, I think I will continue to spend the money to see good movies in the theatre.
Now, if Hollywood wants to get more profits from the Box Office, they really ought to start producing better movies, but that's a whole other ball of wax.
Online voting? nah, we use a far more reliable system. Consists of a piece of paper with the candidate's name, a wonderful invention called "The Pencil" and a box. When you vote, you place a checkmark or an X next to the candidate, and place said ballot in the box. These ballots are then counted twice by hand, under the watchful eye of scroutineers from each of the parties involved. The results are then reported.
As simple and non high-tech as it is, it's extremely accurate (there are rarely any recounts, and when there are, the results don't change much), and results are usually ready within 4 hours of the close of the polls.
Remember folks, counting by hand is an operation that scales very well.
People are actually already doing this. In my home town, the fairgrounds are built on top of the old city dump. They use the methane taken from wells to heat the various buildings on the site (show barns, offices, ect...). The technology to do it isn't that complex; all you have to do is filter it properly.
In Canada, we use this incredible invention called the "Pencil" and another called "Paper" to conduct our elections. These wonderous inventions are then counted by "hand." Amazingly, we can count 15 000 000 votes in under 4 hours, and there is rarely, if ever, a recount. You see folks, sometimes the low-tech solution works best.
I dunno, my Cube makes a nice foot stool, and the machine itself is a great smart terminal, once you compile OpenSSH on it. :)
Cocoa owes everything to the NeXTStep API. Without much relabling either. Everything is still derived from NSObject. :)
The Software patent issues are only valid if you live in a jurisdiction where said software patents are valid. As long as the developers live in a jurisdiction without the oppressive laws of the USA, it's perfectly legal.
Yet.
Hehe. You do realize that the V-Chip was invented, and patented by Tim Colins, a lab engineer in the Engineering Department at Simon Fraser University, in Burnaby BC right? And besides, imho there's nothing wrong with the V-Chip, since, well, the control rests with the parents, not with any larger organization.
Sounds sort of like computer collecting.. However, in my case, it's not as expensive because classic computers can usually be had for almost nothing. :) (My current collection consists of an '040 NeXT Cube, Apple Newton Messagepad 2100, and an SGI Crimson among others)
Sounds a lot like Copy Code on DATs, however it allowed you to make only a first generation copy from the master. You could not copy the copy, only the master. Of course, any DAT deck worth its salt (TASCAM comes to mind) had a jumper on the logic board that you could close to disable Copy Code. Tascam even included the jumper half on the jumper block.