Sure, an isolated event is easy to recover from, especially if you have some spare parts around, and if the rest of the supply chain is still operating.
If all the distribution transformers in the entire continent burn out, there won't be a quick fix.
Changing time schedules twice a year still requires people changing their sleep schedule, plus you have to deal with everybody changing their schedule at random times, or not at all, plus the overhead of posting the changes somewhere.
No, because that will pollute Earth, which matters. It doesn't matter if we pollute the moon, because it's a dusty ball of rocks where nothing currently lives.
If you're worried about pollution, then design a closed cycle mining operation on Earth that doesn't leave any contamination. Put a roof over the entire mine and refinery, don't spill any water, and fill the mine back up with the original rock.
Still 100 times cheaper than doing the same thing on the Moon.
But, if lunar iron can be delivered at $10-$100/kg, then it starts being valuable for building orbital structures and interplanetary ships.
There's a big difference between a piece of raw iron and an interplanetary ship. The difference is about the size of an industrial base, plus pretty much every other element of the periodic table.
And there's no particular reason that it would be particularly expensive to get lunar resources to orbit, or to Earth for that matter. After all, you don't need any rockets or rocket fuel - without an atmosphere you can use a rail gun, sling, or various other moon-mounted launch systems to get stuff into Earth orbit,
No, if you launch something from the Moon, it'll end up in a very elongated and unstable Earth-Lunar orbit, and probably smash into the Moon or Earth after some time. If you want to bring it into an Earth orbit you'll need thrusters to circularize.
you just need to add a heat shield and parachutes
You need an aerodynamically stable shape if you intend to fly through Earth atmosphere at hypersonic speed, and payload size will have to be small compared to shield/parachutes, similar to what current Dragon capsule looks like.
unlimited mineral resources without an environmental mining cost
The reason that we have large environmental cost is because of things like dumping large amounts of contaminated waste water in a river or lake. On the Moon, there's not a lot of water, so you would have to focus on extraction techniques that don't use water, or only use it sparingly. But if you can do that, you could also put your plant in the middle of the Nevada desert, and do the same thing there.
Profits are generated by exploiting *people*. If that's what you wanna build our future on then good luck with that, grasshopper.
Wrong, grasshopper. Profits are generated by creating value. There's a little bit of value in sending probes to look at Mars. Just enough to spend a few billion/decade on it. There was military value for the Apollo program.
If you want to spend 100-1000 times as much, you better come up with a good value proposal.
Will you be refused health insurance because you bought too many Twinkies, and not enough greens?
The solution is not allowing insurance companies to refuse insurance based on purchases.
And if you don't think that the laws will save you, you will have to worry about cameras in the store and streets following your exact movements and actions. Using cash won't save you.
being able to predict what you buy and why however, that's pure gold.
How ? Suppose you see me buying groceries 5 times a week, giving you the name of the store and the total amount that I spent. How do you propose to monetize that ? And how will that cause me harm ?
There is always a middle man taking a cut of an electronic transaction.
The cut for electronic transaction is smaller than the cut for cash. Cash requires sorting, counting, transporting, and takes more time at the cash register.
I also have a good paying job, no debt, but I haven't used cash in probably a year. Haven't used credit cards either. Instead I mostly use contactless payments. It's quick and easy and I don't need to carry a bulky wallet.
Slashdot Mirror
it wants to JUST sell its music services, and ride on the coattails of someone else who bothers to make the hardware to make that possible.
Apple rides on the coattails of the semiconductor industry. Shame.
Sure, an isolated event is easy to recover from, especially if you have some spare parts around, and if the rest of the supply chain is still operating.
If all the distribution transformers in the entire continent burn out, there won't be a quick fix.
Sure, the car may run for a bit, but the rest of society is still going to collapse around you. It's not going to make a difference in the end.
I hear they are working on improving the technology so it can be used for peril sensitive sunglasses.
When the power grid goes out, gasoline won't save you.
Certainly one of the more insufferable characters in movie history (and not at all like the guy in the book)
Let's not forget David Levinson from Independence Day.
For those, a global standard time would be extremely convenient.
Nope, because you'd still have to know what everybody's office hours are.
He also straight out denies having said things we have a clear record of.
Changing time schedules twice a year still requires people changing their sleep schedule, plus you have to deal with everybody changing their schedule at random times, or not at all, plus the overhead of posting the changes somewhere.
No, because that will pollute Earth, which matters. It doesn't matter if we pollute the moon, because it's a dusty ball of rocks where nothing currently lives.
If you're worried about pollution, then design a closed cycle mining operation on Earth that doesn't leave any contamination. Put a roof over the entire mine and refinery, don't spill any water, and fill the mine back up with the original rock.
Still 100 times cheaper than doing the same thing on the Moon.
Because we're clearly not going to do it on Earth unless the cost is cheaper than the current disaster
If cost is the reason for dirty mining, how do you figure we will ever do it on the Moon, where cost is going to be several orders of magnitude more ?
There is a market for energy, and putting solar arrays in space makes them more efficient.
Yes, but we still have plenty of open space here on Earth, and it's much cheaper to put 2 panels on the ground than 1 panel in orbit.
But, if lunar iron can be delivered at $10-$100/kg, then it starts being valuable for building orbital structures and interplanetary ships.
There's a big difference between a piece of raw iron and an interplanetary ship. The difference is about the size of an industrial base, plus pretty much every other element of the periodic table.
And there's no particular reason that it would be particularly expensive to get lunar resources to orbit, or to Earth for that matter. After all, you don't need any rockets or rocket fuel - without an atmosphere you can use a rail gun, sling, or various other moon-mounted launch systems to get stuff into Earth orbit,
No, if you launch something from the Moon, it'll end up in a very elongated and unstable Earth-Lunar orbit, and probably smash into the Moon or Earth after some time. If you want to bring it into an Earth orbit you'll need thrusters to circularize.
you just need to add a heat shield and parachutes
You need an aerodynamically stable shape if you intend to fly through Earth atmosphere at hypersonic speed, and payload size will have to be small compared to shield/parachutes, similar to what current Dragon capsule looks like.
unlimited mineral resources without an environmental mining cost
The reason that we have large environmental cost is because of things like dumping large amounts of contaminated waste water in a river or lake. On the Moon, there's not a lot of water, so you would have to focus on extraction techniques that don't use water, or only use it sparingly. But if you can do that, you could also put your plant in the middle of the Nevada desert, and do the same thing there.
All the heavy, expensive stuff is in the Earth
Fixed that for you.
Profits are generated by exploiting *people*. If that's what you wanna build our future on then good luck with that, grasshopper.
Wrong, grasshopper. Profits are generated by creating value. There's a little bit of value in sending probes to look at Mars. Just enough to spend a few billion/decade on it. There was military value for the Apollo program.
If you want to spend 100-1000 times as much, you better come up with a good value proposal.
will the coolant system last that long?
It will last for as long as it's properly maintained.
The world of cashless payments is much bigger than credit cards, at least in the part of the world with a modern banking system.
I have a choice between chip & PIN, or contactless payment.
Will you be refused health insurance because you bought too many Twinkies, and not enough greens?
The solution is not allowing insurance companies to refuse insurance based on purchases.
And if you don't think that the laws will save you, you will have to worry about cameras in the store and streets following your exact movements and actions. Using cash won't save you.
And it's only a matter of time before there's a terrible accident.
We don't need a highly sophisticated capsule built in Earth's gravity well to drop rocks back into it.
For what purpose, exactly ? Because we like to make a wish when we see their glowing streaks as they vaporize in the night sky ?
being able to predict what you buy and why however, that's pure gold.
How ? Suppose you see me buying groceries 5 times a week, giving you the name of the store and the total amount that I spent. How do you propose to monetize that ? And how will that cause me harm ?
That yummy financial info is worth so much more
Really ? What's so interesting about me buying some groceries, gasoline, or a new faucet for the bathroom ?
There is always a middle man taking a cut of an electronic transaction.
The cut for electronic transaction is smaller than the cut for cash. Cash requires sorting, counting, transporting, and takes more time at the cash register.
I also have a good paying job, no debt, but I haven't used cash in probably a year. Haven't used credit cards either. Instead I mostly use contactless payments. It's quick and easy and I don't need to carry a bulky wallet.
Lead is also super soft compared to the jacket, dummy.
Depleted uranium is about as dense as gold, is much harder, and also burns.