Even if radiation on Mars surface is limited, the computers still have to survive the trip from Earth to Mars. The problem is that the cosmic radiation causes permanent damage to the crystalline structure of the semiconductors, building up over time until they stop working completely. COTS processors simply wouldn't survive, and redundancy doesn't help much if they are all getting damaged at the same rate.
The gut has many different bacteria. This study only tested e-coli.
Many different foods and spices could influence gut bacteria. This study didn't do any controls.
Many sweeteners are already broken down/absorbed in the small intestine, whereas e-coli only lives in the colon. This study didn't compensate for that.
Conclusion: lazy and deceptive study. What is alarming is that fairly obscure/crap (not published in major journal) studies like this show up all over the place. I've seen it pop up several times in tweets, reddit, and now on slashdot. Makes you wonder why so many news outlets feel compelled to pick up such a poorly done study.
I don't see how you can square, "they lied about who wrote it in order to get it published in disguise by people who otherwise wouldn't publish a press release as an op-ed" with "These Political think-tanks openly admit what they do."
As long as you keep the two ends of the business well separated, there's no problem. Keeping this separation is their expertise.
Also, with cost-plus contracting, you can hope to delay the project far enough that the next administration will cancel it, meaning that you never have to show an actual finished product, which means that nobody will ever blame you for something that doesn't work. Instead, everybody will walk away remembering you did such a great job.
A free return trajectory around the Moon doesn't require anything that SpaceX wasn't planning on building anyway. Just launch the BFS, aim it at the right direction, and wait for it to come back to Earth.
That's bull, because if a human driver kills a human, then that human has made a mistake.
In most cases, the driver's insurance just pays the damage, and the human climbs back in a new car without personal consequences. For driverless cars, that would be the same.
There's an intersection on my way to work, with traffic lights that are disabled early in the morning. There's a shocking number of cars (at least half) that no longer have any clue what to do, because they are so used to the lights working. I've seen all kinds of crazy behavior, such as cars not yielding when they should, yielding when they shouldn't, or go at 3 mph across the intersection because they realize they have no idea what they're doing.
As such we require medical device manufacturers to prove that they actually provide therapeutic value.
The regulations are mostly for safety, such as proving that the device cannot deliver an electric shock from the mains supply, while wires are attached to your body. Device must be designed so that they are safe even in case there's a single failure, such as broken insulation, or faulty component.
They also only have 9 million miles on the road, most of that effectively in a "sandbox". In the US, there's one fatality every 86 million miles. So the fact that Waymo hasn't killed anyone yet is hardly indicative of anything.
I'm sure that Waymo has kept track of minor accidents, or near-accidents, both of which could provide a decent indication of chance of real deadly accidents. .
Yes, I was trying to convey the point that any large scale continuous material processor is going to be very averse to random power outages
That makes no sense at all. There are many different processes, and some are much more tolerant of fluctuating power than others. In addition, some processes can be redesigned to be more robust for power fluctuations. You can't cherry pick a particularly sensitive process, and apply it to a range of different industries.
Slashdot Mirror
They're not talking about the MMRTG but about the Li-Ion batteries that are also on the rover.
Even if radiation on Mars surface is limited, the computers still have to survive the trip from Earth to Mars. The problem is that the cosmic radiation causes permanent damage to the crystalline structure of the semiconductors, building up over time until they stop working completely. COTS processors simply wouldn't survive, and redundancy doesn't help much if they are all getting damaged at the same rate.
Carbon dioxide poisoning, on the other hand, is definitely a rough way to go. Hold your breath for a while and you'll see what I mean.
Slightly raised levels of CO2 are definitely uncomfortable, but that doesn't meant that close to 100% CO2 is similar.
Just like Amazon shipments, it will be tossed on the driveway while the rocket speeds off into the distance.
They didn't become dead. The specially engineered e-coli strains become luminescent. Whatever that means for your gut health is anyone's guess.
The gut has many different bacteria. This study only tested e-coli.
Many different foods and spices could influence gut bacteria. This study didn't do any controls.
Many sweeteners are already broken down/absorbed in the small intestine, whereas e-coli only lives in the colon. This study didn't compensate for that.
Conclusion: lazy and deceptive study. What is alarming is that fairly obscure/crap (not published in major journal) studies like this show up all over the place. I've seen it pop up several times in tweets, reddit, and now on slashdot. Makes you wonder why so many news outlets feel compelled to pick up such a poorly done study.
Why not shut down the coal plant, and pump the energy to run this recovery plant straight into the grid instead ?
Planes need the kerosene, and you get a very specific amount of kerosene from oil that doesn't vary to a significant degree between various oils.
Not true. You can convert heaver fractions to lighter ones using cracking. And you can convert lighter to heavier using catalysts.
You can't pour solar into your gas tank
You can pour it into your battery, and run your EV. That's good enough.
You use less and less and less energy to travel the same distance.. This does not happen with batteries..
Batteries, on the other hand, can use regenerative braking. Also, an EV is much more energy efficient.
I don't see how you can square, "they lied about who wrote it in order to get it published in disguise by people who otherwise wouldn't publish a press release as an op-ed" with "These Political think-tanks openly admit what they do."
As long as you keep the two ends of the business well separated, there's no problem. Keeping this separation is their expertise.
Maybe they can use the F-35 as a basis, and just extend the specs to add Lunar capabilities. That would save a lot of money!
Also, with cost-plus contracting, you can hope to delay the project far enough that the next administration will cancel it, meaning that you never have to show an actual finished product, which means that nobody will ever blame you for something that doesn't work. Instead, everybody will walk away remembering you did such a great job.
Is a single fuel tank big enough for Lunar orbit insertion, landing and taking off ?
ripe for mining
Which minerals are on the Moon, and at what kind of concentrations ?
A free return trajectory around the Moon doesn't require anything that SpaceX wasn't planning on building anyway. Just launch the BFS, aim it at the right direction, and wait for it to come back to Earth.
That's bull, because if a human driver kills a human, then that human has made a mistake.
In most cases, the driver's insurance just pays the damage, and the human climbs back in a new car without personal consequences. For driverless cars, that would be the same.
There's an intersection on my way to work, with traffic lights that are disabled early in the morning. There's a shocking number of cars (at least half) that no longer have any clue what to do, because they are so used to the lights working. I've seen all kinds of crazy behavior, such as cars not yielding when they should, yielding when they shouldn't, or go at 3 mph across the intersection because they realize they have no idea what they're doing.
As such we require medical device manufacturers to prove that they actually provide therapeutic value.
The regulations are mostly for safety, such as proving that the device cannot deliver an electric shock from the mains supply, while wires are attached to your body. Device must be designed so that they are safe even in case there's a single failure, such as broken insulation, or faulty component.
They also only have 9 million miles on the road, most of that effectively in a "sandbox". In the US, there's one fatality every 86 million miles. So the fact that Waymo hasn't killed anyone yet is hardly indicative of anything.
I'm sure that Waymo has kept track of minor accidents, or near-accidents, both of which could provide a decent indication of chance of real deadly accidents. .
US NUMBERS FOR CO2 HAVE BEEN FALLING FOR MANY YEARS!!!!!!
When do you expect them to hit zero, with things going they way they are ?
Keep in mind that natural gas replacing coal is just a one time picking of low hanging fruit.
It's a wealth distribution scheme from polluters to non-polluters.
If you really wanted to tackle CO2, then dump every bit of R&D into Fusion Energy.
Yes, let's bet on a single horse that's still far behind.
the free market is inherently free of corruption
If you don't control the free market, you get concentration of power. If you do control the free market, you get corruption.
So with the new law, they'll hire a rich white dude with the proper connections, and his wife.
Because that is magically free and granted by renewable power fairy ?
Who says it needs to be free ? It just needs to be cost effective.
Yes, I was trying to convey the point that any large scale continuous material processor is going to be very averse to random power outages
That makes no sense at all. There are many different processes, and some are much more tolerant of fluctuating power than others. In addition, some processes can be redesigned to be more robust for power fluctuations. You can't cherry pick a particularly sensitive process, and apply it to a range of different industries.