Me too. I just checked my YouTube home page and of the first 50 suggested videos, 4 of them were from traditional broadcasters or "big players" such as NASA. All the rest were from independent creators such as Scott Manley.
Also, it's pretty hard to take anyone seriously when they say YouTube is dead. Wikipedia lists it as the 2nd most popular website in the world (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_popular_websites). You may not like where it's going but to say it's dead is simply denying reality.
There is no point in an early warning system for asteroids. If one is going to hit Earth, it is going to happen.
Absolutely untrue. We already have the technology to divert an asteroid if we get enough early warning. The whole point is that the earlier the warning, the easier it is to divert the asteroid.
A more significant accomplishment would be getting the necessary space elevator counterweight corralled and parked in orbit, I think.
That would be challenging to say the least, but at least we know it's possible with existing technology. The space elevator cable effectively requires new technology, which you could argue is the bigger challenge.
The classification of "planet" is mainly for the benefit of the general public. This is a pragmatic decision that helps keep knowledge of the Universe accessible and manageable for the masses. Sorry planetary scientists but your needs are secondary. Relax, you'll survive this.
Yes, this is exactly how SkyTV in my country went from no ads, to ads for similar content, to occasional external ads, and now to basically being an ad-supported platform that you pay for.
I was addressing the question of the launch, not the mission. I don't know who designed the probe's trajectory but it seems likely that it was the probe's engineering team rather than ULA. Perhaps someone can clarify but my understanding is that the probe simply needed a high-energy launch (nothing unique about that) and then the probe itself, with various gravity assists, will determine its final flight path.
To be newsworthy it has to have some novelty factor. In the early days of SpaceX, any of their launches were novel. Likewise, early ULA launches were novel and deserved coverage.
Falcon 9 launches are no longer novel so they don't get as much coverage. The next half dozen Falcon Heavy launches will have novelty so they'll probably get a lot of coverage but eventually they'll be like the Falcon 9 and ULA's Delta IV Heavy. The reason the Delta IV isn't "font-and-center" is that it's an established launch vehicle with a pretty solid record, it's expected to succeed and, frankly, it's not particularly newsworthy.
In most cases they expel propellant to generate thrust in the same way that a chemical rocket does, but electrical systems use different propellants and different methods to do the expelling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Without getting into the metric debate, how hard is it to at least add the metric value in parentheses after the US units? Doing so means you're suddenly catering for the whole world rather than a small fraction.
If fake news is not against the rules, then the rules are flawed. There's no way the deliberate spreading of misinformation should be a permitted activity.
Doing astronomy public outreach I deal with a lot of people who are angry about the Pluto situation. It's possible that you are the angriest of them all. Are you okay?
On one hand Dotcom's last business plan was literally to steal revenue from websites like mine - the websites that feed my children. For that I wish a slow painful punishment on him.
On the other hand I love my country and seeing our government and police roll over and behave like American thug cops was very disturbing.
I honestly can't decide which is worse - Dotcom winning or the American bullies winning. It's a no-win situation from my perspective.
I think you're partially right. This kind of person is never going to succeed in business - his best hope is to get a job where other people manage his time. However that doesn't mean the entire program must fail. There will be some people who can't/won't make a UBI work but perhaps there may be enough who can/will that it provides a net benefit to society.
Whatever the eventual outcome, it's worth researching to see if some form of UBI ends up working well enough to be useful.
Actually scientists would love artificial gravity as it would solve all sorts of problems for them. What's preventing this from happening is that the engineers haven't been able to come up with a practical, economic way to create a centrifugal module.
But maybe that's just because they haven't consulted you yet. You should contact NASA and let them know you have the answers.
"Musk can't build a rocket" Later... "Okay but he can't build a cheap rocket" Later... "Okay but he can't make them reusable" Later... "Okay but he needs the military and they'll never use him" etc etc
"Electric cars will never work" Later... "Okay but they'll never have the performance of petrol cars" Later... "Okay but car manufacturers will never embrace them" Later... "Okay but Musk isn't a car manufacturer" Later... "Okay but they'll never have a range of more than 100 km" Later... "Okay but there's no practical way to charge them quickly enough" Later... "Okay but they'll never be able to mass-produce them" etc etc
The venue is space-themed so the content is about astronomy and spaceflight. At first I made my own VR videos from public-domain and stock images. This is actually easier than you might think - editing VR isn't much different to editing normal video and even shooting your own photos/video is getting easier.
Fortunately there's a lot more content available now and I don't have to make my own any more, I just buy stuff from the Oculus store. At the moment I'm using two apps:
(1) "Titans of Space" on the Samsung Gear. This is a looping tour of the Solar System. I covered the touchpad so users don't change anything. They just take it on and off as they like. Most people will go at least a few minutes and maybe 40% watch the whole 10 minutes. This is a safe, easy way for people to try VR. If they like it, they can step up to the Rift...
(2) "Mission ISS" on the Oculus Rift. This is an exploration experience set on board the International Space Station. The user has hand controls so they can point, grab and manipulate objects, and move themselves around in microgravity. It's incredible.
If you think VR is an overrated gimmick, you've never climbed into the Cupola on the ISS. Try getting that experience with a screen.
A word of warning... although it's getting better fast, finding good content for a museum is still a bit of a pain. As your friend will know, there are many considerations when you're offering turns to the public. I'd recommend starting with some simple non-interactive VR videos or even still images. You also need to understand comfort and intensity settings. It's not hard but if you get it wrong you'll have people falling over and/or throwing up.
Any product that makes at least 30% of it's owners physically sick is probably not a great investment.
This is wrong and I'm getting really tired of people trotting out this un-fact. If you don't set up the comfort settings correctly it will make you sick but it's trivially easy to to get it right so that 99% of people will feel fine. I run public VR installations and it does *not* make people sick. Right now I'm looking at the 50th person today to try VR. Not a single complaint.
There's one claim that comes up every time VR is mentioned on Slashdot - that VR is overrated, people don't actually like it, everyone gets eyestrain and nausea, etc.
I run a museum that has Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear headsets. I'm writing this at work and right now I'm looking at a queue of people waiting to use VR. It's the most popular attraction at our museum. Many of my customers come only for the VR because their friends raved about how awesome it is. Our feedback form and letters from school students consistently rate VR as the best thing here. I'm actually worried that the VR is so successful that it's threatening our physical displays - our "real" hands-on activities have become less popular since I introduced VR. Instead of investing in tactile displays I'm being forced to buy more VR headsets because my customers are demanding it.
Every day I hear people talking about how they have to get one of these things at home. What stops them is the price - *not* any disappointment with the technology itself. If I was looking for something to blame for slow sales it would be the cost of the computer, not anything at all to do with the technology or the experience it offers.
Slashdot Mirror
Me too. I just checked my YouTube home page and of the first 50 suggested videos, 4 of them were from traditional broadcasters or "big players" such as NASA. All the rest were from independent creators such as Scott Manley.
Also, it's pretty hard to take anyone seriously when they say YouTube is dead. Wikipedia lists it as the 2nd most popular website in the world (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_popular_websites). You may not like where it's going but to say it's dead is simply denying reality.
There is no point in an early warning system for asteroids. If one is going to hit Earth, it is going to happen.
Absolutely untrue. We already have the technology to divert an asteroid if we get enough early warning. The whole point is that the earlier the warning, the easier it is to divert the asteroid.
A more significant accomplishment would be getting the necessary space elevator counterweight corralled and parked in orbit, I think.
That would be challenging to say the least, but at least we know it's possible with existing technology. The space elevator cable effectively requires new technology, which you could argue is the bigger challenge.
I really don't see the point of this. VR is pretty much dead.
People keep saying that. It keeps not being true.
The classification of "planet" is mainly for the benefit of the general public. This is a pragmatic decision that helps keep knowledge of the Universe accessible and manageable for the masses. Sorry planetary scientists but your needs are secondary. Relax, you'll survive this.
Yes, this is exactly how SkyTV in my country went from no ads, to ads for similar content, to occasional external ads, and now to basically being an ad-supported platform that you pay for.
I was addressing the question of the launch, not the mission. I don't know who designed the probe's trajectory but it seems likely that it was the probe's engineering team rather than ULA. Perhaps someone can clarify but my understanding is that the probe simply needed a high-energy launch (nothing unique about that) and then the probe itself, with various gravity assists, will determine its final flight path.
Agreed. At least they could have kept the graphics going - they didn't even have to have the commentary (although it would have been nice).
To be newsworthy it has to have some novelty factor. In the early days of SpaceX, any of their launches were novel. Likewise, early ULA launches were novel and deserved coverage.
Falcon 9 launches are no longer novel so they don't get as much coverage. The next half dozen Falcon Heavy launches will have novelty so they'll probably get a lot of coverage but eventually they'll be like the Falcon 9 and ULA's Delta IV Heavy. The reason the Delta IV isn't "font-and-center" is that it's an established launch vehicle with a pretty solid record, it's expected to succeed and, frankly, it's not particularly newsworthy.
In most cases they expel propellant to generate thrust in the same way that a chemical rocket does, but electrical systems use different propellants and different methods to do the expelling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
The "Starliner" spacesuit, developed by Boeing. https://www.boeing.com/feature...
Yeah, surely for a forward-thinking developer "deprecated" has pretty much the same effect on your decision-making as "removed".
Without getting into the metric debate, how hard is it to at least add the metric value in parentheses after the US units? Doing so means you're suddenly catering for the whole world rather than a small fraction.
If fake news is not against the rules, then the rules are flawed. There's no way the deliberate spreading of misinformation should be a permitted activity.
Doing astronomy public outreach I deal with a lot of people who are angry about the Pluto situation. It's possible that you are the angriest of them all. Are you okay?
Another Kiwi here in general agreement with you.
On one hand Dotcom's last business plan was literally to steal revenue from websites like mine - the websites that feed my children. For that I wish a slow painful punishment on him.
On the other hand I love my country and seeing our government and police roll over and behave like American thug cops was very disturbing.
I honestly can't decide which is worse - Dotcom winning or the American bullies winning. It's a no-win situation from my perspective.
Yes, I know climate is not weather.
Then why do you think your current experience with weather is relevant to the climate debate?
I think you're partially right. This kind of person is never going to succeed in business - his best hope is to get a job where other people manage his time. However that doesn't mean the entire program must fail. There will be some people who can't/won't make a UBI work but perhaps there may be enough who can/will that it provides a net benefit to society.
Whatever the eventual outcome, it's worth researching to see if some form of UBI ends up working well enough to be useful.
Good idea, as long as they also get rid of this:
Sometimes you need a mobile for teaching reasons
You can't have it both ways.
Sure you can. That's exactly what my kids' school does. It works fine.
Actually scientists would love artificial gravity as it would solve all sorts of problems for them. What's preventing this from happening is that the engineers haven't been able to come up with a practical, economic way to create a centrifugal module.
But maybe that's just because they haven't consulted you yet. You should contact NASA and let them know you have the answers.
"Musk can't build a rocket"
Later... "Okay but he can't build a cheap rocket"
Later... "Okay but he can't make them reusable"
Later... "Okay but he needs the military and they'll never use him"
etc etc
"Electric cars will never work"
Later... "Okay but they'll never have the performance of petrol cars"
Later... "Okay but car manufacturers will never embrace them"
Later... "Okay but Musk isn't a car manufacturer"
Later... "Okay but they'll never have a range of more than 100 km"
Later... "Okay but there's no practical way to charge them quickly enough"
Later... "Okay but they'll never be able to mass-produce them"
etc etc
The venue is space-themed so the content is about astronomy and spaceflight. At first I made my own VR videos from public-domain and stock images. This is actually easier than you might think - editing VR isn't much different to editing normal video and even shooting your own photos/video is getting easier.
Fortunately there's a lot more content available now and I don't have to make my own any more, I just buy stuff from the Oculus store. At the moment I'm using two apps:
(1) "Titans of Space" on the Samsung Gear. This is a looping tour of the Solar System. I covered the touchpad so users don't change anything. They just take it on and off as they like. Most people will go at least a few minutes and maybe 40% watch the whole 10 minutes. This is a safe, easy way for people to try VR. If they like it, they can step up to the Rift...
(2) "Mission ISS" on the Oculus Rift. This is an exploration experience set on board the International Space Station. The user has hand controls so they can point, grab and manipulate objects, and move themselves around in microgravity. It's incredible.
If you think VR is an overrated gimmick, you've never climbed into the Cupola on the ISS. Try getting that experience with a screen.
A word of warning... although it's getting better fast, finding good content for a museum is still a bit of a pain. As your friend will know, there are many considerations when you're offering turns to the public. I'd recommend starting with some simple non-interactive VR videos or even still images. You also need to understand comfort and intensity settings. It's not hard but if you get it wrong you'll have people falling over and/or throwing up.
Any product that makes at least 30% of it's owners physically sick is probably not a great investment.
This is wrong and I'm getting really tired of people trotting out this un-fact. If you don't set up the comfort settings correctly it will make you sick but it's trivially easy to to get it right so that 99% of people will feel fine. I run public VR installations and it does *not* make people sick. Right now I'm looking at the 50th person today to try VR. Not a single complaint.
There's one claim that comes up every time VR is mentioned on Slashdot - that VR is overrated, people don't actually like it, everyone gets eyestrain and nausea, etc.
I run a museum that has Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear headsets. I'm writing this at work and right now I'm looking at a queue of people waiting to use VR. It's the most popular attraction at our museum. Many of my customers come only for the VR because their friends raved about how awesome it is. Our feedback form and letters from school students consistently rate VR as the best thing here. I'm actually worried that the VR is so successful that it's threatening our physical displays - our "real" hands-on activities have become less popular since I introduced VR. Instead of investing in tactile displays I'm being forced to buy more VR headsets because my customers are demanding it.
Every day I hear people talking about how they have to get one of these things at home. What stops them is the price - *not* any disappointment with the technology itself. If I was looking for something to blame for slow sales it would be the cost of the computer, not anything at all to do with the technology or the experience it offers.
New Zealand was started with colonists and look how badly that turned out.
You mean the 8th happiest country out of 155 measured? Ahead of Australia, the UK and the USA?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...