Thanks for the good description. I'm still having trouble with one part of the concept. Doesn't the heat come from the flow of electricity? You are not reducing the flow with this scheme, so wouldn't it generate the same heat?
For example, consider the concept of attaching a flywheel or superconductor such that the ground of your entire circuit assembly, instead of dumping to ground, instead served to power up your storage device. This power is then fed back into the system. To me, this is the exact same concept as is presented in the article, but the current flow is still there, so the heat would still be there in your circuit. How can moving the storage close to the gate change that? Power must still flow through resistive wires and therefore generate heat!
I admit I didn't go and find this frame, but I could think of a lot of other reasons for it besides some type of faster than light flash across the sun (Remember, the sun is big, very big. Any effect would take a noticeable amount of time to cross it, on the order of several seconds, and would not be an instantaneous flash.)
I would guess a wave of particles came hurtling past the spacecraft at that second, briefly saturating the camera.
The large majority of people still using Classic are those that can't afford a new enough Mac to run OS X, can't afford OS X, or who have applications that have not been upgraded because the company that made them is either dead or just doesn't care. This is exactly the same kind of thing that can happen on any platorm. There are lots of people out there running Windows NT because they have hardware that doesn't have 2000/XP drivers. Having users who can't or won't upgrade is by no means a failure of the operating system unless you consider every operating system to date a failure!
I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but NASA used ion propulsion on the Deep Space 1 mission several years ago. Yes, cool technology but like most stuff it's been researched for years and used before.
The other condition that most people fail to mention is that the flight occurred off a cliff. The first powered flight, while indeed powered, was more of a glide than a flight. IIRC, they stayed in the air for all of 30 seconds...
Interesting theory, but you appear to be wrong on all accounts. From the writings of Orville himself:
"This flight lasted only 12 seconds, but it was nevertheless the first in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in full flight, had sailed forward without reduction of speed and had finally landed at a point as high as that from which it started."
Having stood next to the track in Kitty Hawk, NC and walked along the perfectly flat field full of historical marker stones in which it is placed, I'd have to agree with him.
Nice troll. Do you happen to know how much tax they already pay? No, I didn't think so. Additionally, do you know how much money people who are that rich donate to charities? No, I imagine you didn't think about that either in your little political rant. *sigh*
I don't have exact figures, but when the new Civic Hybrid came out, it was essentially the same exact car as the regular Civic EX, minus the sunroof and the fold down rear seats (however the trunk looked the same size!). It was only $2,000 more sticker price than the EX.
So, yes, you could buy any used car for really cheap, but of course if you want a new car, which I imagine is the point, as far as Civics go my only concern would be battery life and replacement costs.
One of the main tips you get to writing something that people will take notice of and actually read is to avoid presenting the reader with just a huge block of text (excluding novels of course). It scares them. However, if you break things up into smaller chunks by including quotes from the text in large fonts, or by throwing in random images, people are a lot more likely to stick around and read your magazine or web page. It doesn't matter what the image is, as long as it's there. All you are doing is giving their brain something more interesting to look at other than all those boring letters. The subconcious takes longer to say "this sucks, move on", and thus they spend more time actually reading.
I would grab one of those things, and rig it with a virus that would work to my advantage.
Yes, because if Hollywood has taught us nothing else, it's that you can take incompatible technology and plug it together, then upload a virus to save the world.
Ah, but it has some built in intelligence to keep from falling down stairs!!! Notice how the batteries are in the back? It'll just drive over the edge until the wheels aren't on the floor anymore and balance there until you kick it.:)
Claiming "BPL will stop when a disaster happens since the power will go out" is similar to claiming "My flashlight is only useful when the power goes out, so I'll only test the batteries then." It's even worse than that actually. In our hypothetical situation, you'd also be assuming that the flashlight had batteries in it when in fact it does not. How does that equate to the BPL discussion? Who the heck are you going to contact? The people in the rest of the world who can't hear you because of BPL or other "interference in the name of progress" in their area? Brilliant.
And I thought people here were supposed to be nerds (ie, smart)...
I agree with all the problems, but as for airport beacons, I would assume they are talking about the radio navigation beacons that were in place long before GPS, and are still in use today. I think every powered aircraft in existance has equipment to follow radio beacons, while GPS is more for the big and/or expensive planes.
I know the common meaning of "apropos". The Architect's usage of it sounds strange because
Let's write it this way: "At an opportune time, she entered the matrix to save your life at the cost of her own." The timing was pretty critical to Neo taking the action he did.
"Pertinent" and "relevant" are synonymous, so saying that something is both pertinent and irrelevant is an oxymoron.
Not really, if you look at how they are used. The Architect is basically saying that the question "Why am I here" at first glance appears to be of critical importance, but in the long run in meaningless. Neo is there because he is. While that seems important it doesn't matter. What matters is what he does in the future. It's kind of a counterpoint to Morpheus' speach "I am here becase of what is behind me."
"There are levels of survival we are prepared to accept." This line is ambiguous. I assumed when I first saw the movie that the level they were prepared to accept was the current state, although it seems that most others thought it meant that the machines could still get by - albeit at a lower level of function - without humans.
This is perfectly clear if you take it in context:
The Architect - "Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash killing everyone connected to the matrix, which coupled with the extermination of Zion will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race." Neo - "You won't let it happen, you can't. You need human beings to survive." The Architect - "There are levels of survival we are prepared to accept."
The machines are willing to accept the death of all humans, thus lowering the level of their own existance, if the allow Neo to destroy the Matrix. It's perfectly clear.
Either the Architect likes to use the word "design" in a heavily metaphorical manner, or something really weird is going on here.
I think you are reading too much into this. To me, the Architect is just talking about human emotion, which was "designed" to overwhelm logic. He is not implying whether he designed it, a god designed it or natural selection designed it.
Why did this get modded up? While there are no facts listed, the company does describe the engine as "Very quiet" on their web site! Have you ever gone for a ride in a small boat of current design? I wouldn't exactly classify them as silent. In fact, it's more along the lines of too loud for even a shouted conversation of any useful length. Without any facts you're fears/claims are meaningless and alarmist. For all we know the lack of prop cavitation and direct transmission of engine vibration through the drive shaft to the water might in fact make this a quieter engine! No claims can be made without seeing, using and testing it ourselves, or reading reliable documentation on the subject.
In context, that comment said that in STOL mode the Cartercopter is marginally better safety wise due to the autogyro ability, and I was strickly refering to the safety aspects, not the general abilities.
But even going back to the VTO aspect, what happens when a helicopter loses power on takeoff anyway? You're often screwed right? If you do VTO in a Cartercopter it's if anything safer.
Ok, let me see if I can make this clear. In a Cartercopter doing vertical take off, you intentionally and always lose power immediately after takeoff. This is not a safer way to do things, and it takes a lot of skill to properly enter level flight 40 feet off the ground with your lift dropping rapidly.
What kind of idiot changes their mind 3 seconds before landing?
The idiot who is about to run into something. Yes, please consider comparing this to a glider, I like that. A glider is a safe, reliable form of transportation perfectly suited for consumer level commuting (which is the whole point of a "Flying Car"). I think not.
I'm not certain if it's really all that much safer. In the first place, you can autorotate and safely land a regular helicopter, assuming you have enough altitude. The "safety" feature of the Cartercopter is that the rotor is always autogyro. But, they are selling it as a VTOL aircraft, so what they do it spin up the rotor on the ground and disconnect it from the transmission when you leave the ground. That means you have exactly 5 seconds of lift to gain airspeed or you drop like a rock. When landing vertically, you have a little more energy to use, but you are still pretty much 100% committed. If you screw up, or catch a gust of wind, too bad because you can't pull out of your landing. This note also scares me: "at speeds slower than 30 mph, the aircraft will begin to sink even at full throttle".
That's safer!? Certainly not in VTOL as it requires more skill than a helicopter due to the limited amount of kinetic energy. Although it is marginally better in STOL because there is no "dead man's zone."
I don't think it has rings. I think the news site is wrong. That "ring" you see in the picture is the typical circle used to indicate the interesting feature. The new moon is estimated to be 9 to 12 miles across. It can't have any rings if it's that small. Another article make no reference to a ring. It's an error by the story author, sorry.
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks for the good description. I'm still having trouble with one part of the concept. Doesn't the heat come from the flow of electricity? You are not reducing the flow with this scheme, so wouldn't it generate the same heat?
For example, consider the concept of attaching a flywheel or superconductor such that the ground of your entire circuit assembly, instead of dumping to ground, instead served to power up your storage device. This power is then fed back into the system. To me, this is the exact same concept as is presented in the article, but the current flow is still there, so the heat would still be there in your circuit. How can moving the storage close to the gate change that? Power must still flow through resistive wires and therefore generate heat!
I admit I didn't go and find this frame, but I could think of a lot of other reasons for it besides some type of faster than light flash across the sun (Remember, the sun is big, very big. Any effect would take a noticeable amount of time to cross it, on the order of several seconds, and would not be an instantaneous flash.)
I would guess a wave of particles came hurtling past the spacecraft at that second, briefly saturating the camera.
New reporting style
Make it sound like a haiku
People think it's cool
The large majority of people still using Classic are those that can't afford a new enough Mac to run OS X, can't afford OS X, or who have applications that have not been upgraded because the company that made them is either dead or just doesn't care. This is exactly the same kind of thing that can happen on any platorm. There are lots of people out there running Windows NT because they have hardware that doesn't have 2000/XP drivers. Having users who can't or won't upgrade is by no means a failure of the operating system unless you consider every operating system to date a failure!
How did they stop?
I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but NASA used ion propulsion on the Deep Space 1 mission several years ago. Yes, cool technology but like most stuff it's been researched for years and used before.
No kidding. I thought I might actually have to go to the bank and get cash out. *shudder*
Yes, please by these peoples' troll... I mean, book. You can find it next to the tabloids about aliens stealing pigs for line dancing lessons.
The other condition that most people fail to mention is that the flight occurred off a cliff. The first powered flight, while indeed powered, was more of a glide than a flight. IIRC, they stayed in the air for all of 30 seconds...
Interesting theory, but you appear to be wrong on all accounts. From the writings of Orville himself:
"This flight lasted only 12 seconds, but it was nevertheless the first in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in full flight, had sailed forward without reduction of speed and had finally landed at a point as high as that from which it started."
Having stood next to the track in Kitty Hawk, NC and walked along the perfectly flat field full of historical marker stones in which it is placed, I'd have to agree with him.
Nice troll. Do you happen to know how much tax they already pay? No, I didn't think so. Additionally, do you know how much money people who are that rich donate to charities? No, I imagine you didn't think about that either in your little political rant. *sigh*
I don't have exact figures, but when the new Civic Hybrid came out, it was essentially the same exact car as the regular Civic EX, minus the sunroof and the fold down rear seats (however the trunk looked the same size!). It was only $2,000 more sticker price than the EX.
So, yes, you could buy any used car for really cheap, but of course if you want a new car, which I imagine is the point, as far as Civics go my only concern would be battery life and replacement costs.
One of the main tips you get to writing something that people will take notice of and actually read is to avoid presenting the reader with just a huge block of text (excluding novels of course). It scares them. However, if you break things up into smaller chunks by including quotes from the text in large fonts, or by throwing in random images, people are a lot more likely to stick around and read your magazine or web page. It doesn't matter what the image is, as long as it's there. All you are doing is giving their brain something more interesting to look at other than all those boring letters. The subconcious takes longer to say "this sucks, move on", and thus they spend more time actually reading.
If you read the article, these are going to the ISS and will be tested inside of it.
I would grab one of those things, and rig it with a virus that would work to my advantage.
Yes, because if Hollywood has taught us nothing else, it's that you can take incompatible technology and plug it together, then upload a virus to save the world.
Ah, but it has some built in intelligence to keep from falling down stairs!!! Notice how the batteries are in the back? It'll just drive over the edge until the wheels aren't on the floor anymore and balance there until you kick it. :)
Claiming "BPL will stop when a disaster happens since the power will go out" is similar to claiming "My flashlight is only useful when the power goes out, so I'll only test the batteries then." It's even worse than that actually. In our hypothetical situation, you'd also be assuming that the flashlight had batteries in it when in fact it does not. How does that equate to the BPL discussion? Who the heck are you going to contact? The people in the rest of the world who can't hear you because of BPL or other "interference in the name of progress" in their area? Brilliant.
And I thought people here were supposed to be nerds (ie, smart)...
I agree with all the problems, but as for airport beacons, I would assume they are talking about the radio navigation beacons that were in place long before GPS, and are still in use today. I think every powered aircraft in existance has equipment to follow radio beacons, while GPS is more for the big and/or expensive planes.
Here's a link which does a good job of giving a general overview of how lightning works:
http://wvlightning.com/cgdesc.html
Who came up with that name? I can see it now:
"What, you're still wearing that old Fossil? Get with the times, man!"
I know the common meaning of "apropos". The Architect's usage of it sounds strange because
Let's write it this way: "At an opportune time, she entered the matrix to save your life at the cost of her own." The timing was pretty critical to Neo taking the action he did.
"Pertinent" and "relevant" are synonymous, so saying that something is both pertinent and irrelevant is an oxymoron.
Not really, if you look at how they are used. The Architect is basically saying that the question "Why am I here" at first glance appears to be of critical importance, but in the long run in meaningless. Neo is there because he is. While that seems important it doesn't matter. What matters is what he does in the future. It's kind of a counterpoint to Morpheus' speach "I am here becase of what is behind me."
"There are levels of survival we are prepared to accept." This line is ambiguous. I assumed when I first saw the movie that the level they were prepared to accept was the current state, although it seems that most others thought it meant that the machines could still get by - albeit at a lower level of function - without humans.
This is perfectly clear if you take it in context:
The Architect - "Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash killing everyone connected to the matrix, which coupled with the extermination of Zion will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race."
Neo - "You won't let it happen, you can't. You need human beings to survive."
The Architect - "There are levels of survival we are prepared to accept."
The machines are willing to accept the death of all humans, thus lowering the level of their own existance, if the allow Neo to destroy the Matrix. It's perfectly clear.
Either the Architect likes to use the word "design" in a heavily metaphorical manner, or something really weird is going on here.
I think you are reading too much into this. To me, the Architect is just talking about human emotion, which was "designed" to overwhelm logic. He is not implying whether he designed it, a god designed it or natural selection designed it.
Why did this get modded up? While there are no facts listed, the company does describe the engine as "Very quiet" on their web site! Have you ever gone for a ride in a small boat of current design? I wouldn't exactly classify them as silent. In fact, it's more along the lines of too loud for even a shouted conversation of any useful length. Without any facts you're fears/claims are meaningless and alarmist. For all we know the lack of prop cavitation and direct transmission of engine vibration through the drive shaft to the water might in fact make this a quieter engine! No claims can be made without seeing, using and testing it ourselves, or reading reliable documentation on the subject.
I'm not certain if it's really all that much safer. In the first place, you can autorotate and safely land a regular helicopter, assuming you have enough altitude. The "safety" feature of the Cartercopter is that the rotor is always autogyro. But, they are selling it as a VTOL aircraft, so what they do it spin up the rotor on the ground and disconnect it from the transmission when you leave the ground. That means you have exactly 5 seconds of lift to gain airspeed or you drop like a rock. When landing vertically, you have a little more energy to use, but you are still pretty much 100% committed. If you screw up, or catch a gust of wind, too bad because you can't pull out of your landing. This note also scares me: "at speeds slower than 30 mph, the aircraft will begin to sink even at full throttle".
That's safer!? Certainly not in VTOL as it requires more skill than a helicopter due to the limited amount of kinetic energy. Although it is marginally better in STOL because there is no "dead man's zone."
Oh, sorry, my bad. :) Although I think that line should have been written differently... "The moon is ringed" is just a tad bit misleading.
I don't think it has rings. I think the news site is wrong. That "ring" you see in the picture is the typical circle used to indicate the interesting feature. The new moon is estimated to be 9 to 12 miles across. It can't have any rings if it's that small. Another article make no reference to a ring. It's an error by the story author, sorry.