The reason we use government funding to incentivize things is because we as a public want people to do/build/invent/fix those things and are willing to pay for that to happen.
So that's what happened to the disappearance albuterol, and the tripling or more of the price of its replacements. From your link I note, "Hendeles noted that CFC inhalers release negligible amounts of the propellant, and do not pose a threat to ozone depletion. However, the United States joined more than 185 other countries in signing the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty requiring complete withdrawal of all CFC products."
I'm going to have to look up my old copy of that. That story stirred a few dregs of xenophobia in me. A ring of rocks around the solar system; just perfect for flinging onto a world. In a few centuries, we may have that ability.
And how about a battleship in space? Or a train in space? It reminds me of our patent office, where any everyday thing "but on the internet" gets you a shiny new long number.
C.J. Cherryh has a universe of space stations and ships. While reading one of them, I enjoyed the realistic depiction of life aboard a corvette. I eventually came to realize that it was a lot like the books I've read about life aboard sailing man-o-wars. Which makes sense, as the parallels are there, and she's just describing how a lot of humans react in the same situations.
In one of Larry Niven's books, a small group of protectors have a space battle that takes months, as they don't have FTL. He compresses the hell out of the timeline and makes it interesting, of course, including a slingshot maneuver around a neutron star.
Sounds good, and that's more or less the way ships are really designed. Instead of a points pool, there's the budget and resources. Whether or not they're called classes, you're going to have a largest and a smallest. Once you have that, you can have something in the middle. With more fine tuning one ends up with a small-medium group, and a medium-large, for certain mission types or budgets. So I think your 5 groupings is spot on.
Regarding designers doing dumb things, history is littered with "classes" of only one or two ships. And, of course, we can't always blame the designers; often they're directed to do things that they do by other people/organizations.
My 2nd thought was that this looks like a field of dicks. It may be a way to win over powerful nimby types who look and find that there's something, er, aesthetically pleasing about them.
...80 foot high joints balanced over a moody desert scene. You half expect Johnnie Depp to come running on to the stage shooting randomly at non existent bats.
That certainly makes more sense. I read about a fight someone in Oregon has been having for years. I think what got him was the type of caveat above: "and has not been previously been put to beneficial use".
"If somebody brought a model of that to school in the 50's as a lunar lander project, it would be laughed at, smashed, and given an "F", not necessarily in that order."
Yeah, pretty much. I guess it was in the 60's when people in general started realizing that "no air in space" means "no aerodynamics needed".
Of course if SpaceX et. al. have their way, perhaps we'll dust off ol' Bonestells blueprints in the future.
Slashdot Mirror
The reason we use government funding to incentivize things is because we as a public want people to do/build/invent/fix those things and are willing to pay for that to happen.
That's what a market does...
Incorrect.
...we need to defend science and its applications from the yahoos out there.
And the googles.
sr
“My Eyes! The googles do nothing!”
Glad I didn't have coffee in my mouth when I read this.
I did (wipes screen).
Hah! Excellent summary of a free press!
So that's what happened to the disappearance albuterol, and the tripling or more of the price of its replacements. From your link I note, "Hendeles noted that CFC inhalers release negligible amounts of the propellant, and do not pose a threat to ozone depletion. However, the United States joined more than 185 other countries in signing the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty requiring complete withdrawal of all CFC products."
Hmm. Mommy-state and Daddy-state. The Ying and Yang of how we control ourselves. Or, would that be better described as "Bi-polar"?
I'm going to have to look up my old copy of that. That story stirred a few dregs of xenophobia in me. A ring of rocks around the solar system; just perfect for flinging onto a world. In a few centuries, we may have that ability.
Now i'm really scared...
Or turn it into an art installation. Get someone old school like Andy Warhol. If you got someone modern they *would* paint them like dicks.
Thank you. I needed that.
I'll find you a link to a video of the posting.
And how about a battleship in space? Or a train in space? It reminds me of our patent office, where any everyday thing "but on the internet" gets you a shiny new long number.
C.J. Cherryh has a universe of space stations and ships. While reading one of them, I enjoyed the realistic depiction of life aboard a corvette. I eventually came to realize that it was a lot like the books I've read about life aboard sailing man-o-wars. Which makes sense, as the parallels are there, and she's just describing how a lot of humans react in the same situations.
In one of Larry Niven's books, a small group of protectors have a space battle that takes months, as they don't have FTL. He compresses the hell out of the timeline and makes it interesting, of course, including a slingshot maneuver around a neutron star.
Sounds good, and that's more or less the way ships are really designed. Instead of a points pool, there's the budget and resources. Whether or not they're called classes, you're going to have a largest and a smallest. Once you have that, you can have something in the middle. With more fine tuning one ends up with a small-medium group, and a medium-large, for certain mission types or budgets. So I think your 5 groupings is spot on.
Regarding designers doing dumb things, history is littered with "classes" of only one or two ships. And, of course, we can't always blame the designers; often they're directed to do things that they do by other people/organizations.
Good luck with your game.
My 2nd thought was that this looks like a field of dicks. It may be a way to win over powerful nimby types who look and find that there's something, er, aesthetically pleasing about them.
Maybe that will be in the trailer.
Coming, This October...
"Field of Dreams 2"
Streisand effect: let's see how many mj references we're going to get now because of the AC's mini-rant. Conversely, perhaps he's a tokin' troll.
"Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!"
"Googles regular search has turned to shit. Even bing is better." I have the opposite experience.
Pretty much.
Yep. It takes one to know one.
"...suppose that some *other* species evolved into intelligence more than 5 million years ago and left. Would we see any evidence?"
Yes. Assuming they didn't try to hide their traces. If I remember right, full surface recycling takes more than 200M years.
That certainly makes more sense. I read about a fight someone in Oregon has been having for years. I think what got him was the type of caveat above: "and has not been previously been put to beneficial use".
"If somebody brought a model of that to school in the 50's as a lunar lander project, it would be laughed at, smashed, and given an "F", not necessarily in that order."
Yeah, pretty much. I guess it was in the 60's when people in general started realizing that "no air in space" means "no aerodynamics needed".
Of course if SpaceX et. al. have their way, perhaps we'll dust off ol' Bonestells blueprints in the future.
Ok, thanks. I can think I can see the benefits regarding grayscale.