An orbiting object's energy is one half kinetic energy, one half potential energy, and so slowing down to zero orbital speed relative to the atmosphere still leaves you with 50% of your energy to burn off.
And you could obviously use a rocket to get rid of both. It should be straightforward to plot a powered descent trajectory that gets you to the stratosphere with minimal heating.
The nuclear plasma engines solve this problem by creating hydrogen plasma at very high velocities and are quite efficient. But the radiation shielding needed to make the crew survive negates the advantages on manned spacecraft.
But I also know that if somebody stole money from me, I can expect the police to do something about it.
That's real money in the real world. We're talking about a guy who cheated at a game to get imaginary stuff.
But he did cross that line from virtual crime to real world crime, and now he must face the courts.
The only courts that should be involved should be the civil courts. I can see the game operators suing the miscreant for breach of contract and perhaps the "victim" suing the operators but involving criminal law is ridiculous. No one was injured and no one was deprived of any non-imaginary property.
> I wonder if Microsoft will get any sympathy from > any Senator that has his/her computer distroyed > by this.
Yes. They will. The senators will want to know what new laws Microsoft needs in order to better control the "hackers" that are behind all this. To politicians "improved security" means more laws and more cops.
That won't work in the US. If the object I am offering for sale says "Sony PSP" on it I can say so (not that they might not sue anyway, just for harrassment).
It's a joke, son. I'm humorously suggesting that the men in the black helicopters have developed (or stolen it from aliens) this technology to the point of not needing seven tesla magnets.
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Think about the mechanics a bit. The spacecraft will be quickly pulled right down into the atmosphere ahead of the anchor.
Besides, your cable will melt. If there was anything it could be made of that would withstand the heat you'd just make the spacecraft out of it.
> As far as religion is concerned, evolution is a
> falsitude.
It will no doubt come as a great shock to you to learn that your local Baptist fundamentalism is not the only religion in the world.
> It's amazing how many day-to-day operations
> require the inadvertent use of Windows in our
> daily lives.
Speak for your self.
Except that the signal in a wire travels quite a bit faster than the electrons (though still slower than c).
The name of the material you are looking for is "thin edge". It comes from an Analog story of the same name published, I believe, in the 1970s.
> Linux has the backing of IBM at the moment
> because that's what suits their plans.
OpenSolaris has the backing of Sun at the moment
because that's what suits their plans.
> If Solaris serves that business better than
> Linux, they will switch.
Not without buying Sun first.
> ...in the many areas where Solaris is miles
> ahead, the Linux community will be hard
> pressed to narrow the gap...
After all, it's not as if Linux had the backing of a major computer company with a three letter name.
Oh. Wait...
That may be true of professionals such as those in the Olympics, but there are amateurs who don't use drugs.
The US law is not anywhere near as drastic as this UK one (though I'm sure it would be if they could get away with it).
> I wonder if Microsoft will get any sympathy from
> any Senator that has his/her computer distroyed
> by this.
Yes. They will. The senators will want to know what new laws Microsoft needs in order to better control the "hackers" that are behind all this. To politicians "improved security" means more laws and more cops.
You're the one who didn't think it through. It would take millions of years for enough gas to escape to matter.
> We don't want a virus hitting the human race that
> is unstoppable.
You clearly haven't a clue as to what a virus is.
Whether or not global warming is ocurring on Earth is completely irrelevant to this proposal.
> If you warm up Mars, how long before all the
> atmosphere cooks off because the gravity is
> lower?
Probably only a few hundred million years. Hardly makes it worth doing, does it?
If this is a public site tell us what agency in what state and we will arrange for them and the legislators they work for to hear from voters.
That won't work in the US. If the object I am offering for sale says "Sony PSP" on it I can say so (not that they might not sue anyway, just for harrassment).
It's a joke, son. I'm humorously suggesting that the men in the black helicopters have developed (or stolen it from aliens) this technology to the point of not needing seven tesla magnets.