Satellites rarely need a 30-year life cycle. Earth-orbiting satellites are obsolete long before that (or they're constrained by other factors like the amount of fuel they carry), only the occasional scientific satellite needs a longer lifespan.
it really is going to be a stability upgrade like a service pack. As far as we know now, anyway. It wouldn't be unlike Apple to pull a rabbit or two out of the hat at the last minute. There's plenty of stuff they can do that wouldn't need a year of advance notice to developers.
The interesting thing will be: why were e.Coli never able to metabolise citrate? Has new code been added to allow for citrate metabolisation, or was the mutation much smaller, maybe removing a blockage from existing but dormant code?
The press release is fascinating and infuriatingly incomplete at the same time.
I wonder how they arrived at the 1 sample/500 generations mark. It seems low to me, but IANAB [1]. If you want to detect mutations, is that sampling rate high enough? 44000 generations in 20 years means 6 generations/day. That means every colony was sampled once every 83 days. Maybe it was just a matter of space (for storing the samples), although 88 samples per culture doesn't sound like a lot.
He named it the KdF-Wagen (i.e. Kraft durch Freude (Strength Through Joy), the official leisure organization in the Third Reich). The company that produced them (after the initial prototypes were built by Zundapp and NSU) was called Volkswagen. The car was saved by its high "aww, cute" factor (and by British Army officer Major Ivan Hirst who restarted production after the war).
People underestimate the load a car can tow. For heavy loads (>1600 kg), you may need a car with 4WD. Not many people tow enough (~3500 kg) that an SUV or van is the only option. All the camping I've done didn't require more offroad ability than a car can offer either.
It's no good until it violently self-destructs five seconds after finishing its first playback, wrecking your DVD player and belching smoke all over the general vicinity.
Knowing what greedy bastards the owners of the F1 "brand" are, I don't doubt an unofficial game would be sued before you can say "Gentlemen, start your engines".
I was there a few years ago. Some of the exhibits were in WW2 vintage barracks (i.e. temporary buildings never meant to stand for more than 5 years, let alone 50. In one hut, there were puddles on the floor. The whole place is falling apart.
As for the argument 'you can always move the exhibits to the Science Museum and sell the land': The exhibits are important, but the accomodations themselves make a point that's worth remembering as well. The most vital project of the entire war was being run out of a collection of sheds, basically. To think that 9000 people worked there on the most advanced technology in existence back then, boggles the mind.
They're already doing that. Some of the estate has been sold off. Parts of the main building (the old mansion) can be hired for conferences etc. if I remember correctly. There's no hubris there, at least none that I could detect when I visited the place a few years ago.
Seems like a light weight, semi disposable way to drop bombs on people would be cheap and would avoid hostage situations with POWs. True, but this jet-powered wing isn't the solution. A 10-minute endurance is useless in military terms, and a significant fraction of its 100 kg payload would have to be devoted to the flight control system, sensors, radio links and targeting equipment. The smallest practical UAV in use today is the Predator. It weighs up to 1000 kg, 200 kg of which is payload. It can carry up to 2 Hellfire missiles.
The turbines are excellent radar reflectors, but may be too small to show up well. Air defence systems don't rely on radar alone, though. Short-range systems often have optical and/or IR tracking, and those would have no problem tracking this contraption. It's slow enough to be an easy target.
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Satellites rarely need a 30-year life cycle. Earth-orbiting satellites are obsolete long before that (or they're constrained by other factors like the amount of fuel they carry), only the occasional scientific satellite needs a longer lifespan.
Over here, movies are never shown on TV before their DVD release date. Is this different in the US?
Of course, since anything worth doing is worth doing quickly.
The interesting thing will be: why were e.Coli never able to metabolise citrate? Has new code been added to allow for citrate metabolisation, or was the mutation much smaller, maybe removing a blockage from existing but dormant code?
The press release is fascinating and infuriatingly incomplete at the same time.
I wonder how they arrived at the 1 sample/500 generations mark. It seems low to me, but IANAB [1]. If you want to detect mutations, is that sampling rate high enough?
44000 generations in 20 years means 6 generations/day. That means every colony was sampled once every 83 days. Maybe it was just a matter of space (for storing the samples), although 88 samples per culture doesn't sound like a lot.
1: biologist? biochemist?
Coming up next: nuclear-powered displays, for when those pesky LEDs just aren't bright enough....
I thought the number of colors the average human can see is less than 1 million. Seems pointless to go beyond 24-bit displays.
He named it the KdF-Wagen (i.e. Kraft durch Freude (Strength Through Joy), the official leisure organization in the Third Reich). The company that produced them (after the initial prototypes were built by Zundapp and NSU) was called Volkswagen.
The car was saved by its high "aww, cute" factor (and by British Army officer Major Ivan Hirst who restarted production after the war).
People underestimate the load a car can tow. For heavy loads (>1600 kg), you may need a car with 4WD. Not many people tow enough (~3500 kg) that an SUV or van is the only option. All the camping I've done didn't require more offroad ability than a car can offer either.
Oi! Quit posting my password!
It's no good until it violently self-destructs five seconds after finishing its first playback, wrecking your DVD player and belching smoke all over the general vicinity.
Knowing what greedy bastards the owners of the F1 "brand" are, I don't doubt an unofficial game would be sued before you can say "Gentlemen, start your engines".
You're missing something about the relative distances and resolution of the observing telescope.
This is the best we have at the moment:
the shadow of a lander is just visible
relevant earlier AskSlashdot
What surprises me is that the opposite (having a formal dress code/"no tie, no service") is considered normal.
...and brother, when it disintegrates, it disintegrates (about his trusty Acme Disintegrating Pistol)I was there a few years ago. Some of the exhibits were in WW2 vintage barracks (i.e. temporary buildings never meant to stand for more than 5 years, let alone 50. In one hut, there were puddles on the floor. The whole place is falling apart.
As for the argument 'you can always move the exhibits to the Science Museum and sell the land': The exhibits are important, but the accomodations themselves make a point that's worth remembering as well. The most vital project of the entire war was being run out of a collection of sheds, basically. To think that 9000 people worked there on the most advanced technology in existence back then, boggles the mind.
They're already doing that. Some of the estate has been sold off. Parts of the main building (the old mansion) can be hired for conferences etc. if I remember correctly.
There's no hubris there, at least none that I could detect when I visited the place a few years ago.
I never read that until it was mentioned here. I do remember a MacGyver episode very similar to that story, though.
A moat filled with gasoline.
The turbines are excellent radar reflectors, but may be too small to show up well.
Air defence systems don't rely on radar alone, though. Short-range systems often have optical and/or IR tracking, and those would have no problem tracking this contraption. It's slow enough to be an easy target.
Maybe not 'in production', but I wouldn't rule out the occasional demo run.