A billion-euro rocket goes up in smoke, potentially blowing a one of the best comet research projects ever, and once again put in question the competence of the second largest space research company in the world... *drumroll* And the "insightful"/. comment: "Hey, this is GREAT news for space travel!"
They have a saying in infantry units: "No matter how much fancy GPS's and complicated weaponry a soldier has, it's still the human infantryman, not the technology, who has to suck it up and get moving" Our way of life is going down the tubes everyday. It's called progression of history. Just because I sit in front of my computer everyday does not mean I couldn't suck it up and insure my survival. And yes; a lot of people will probably suffer or even die if this "cataclysm" hits, but first off, that's not looking at the big picture, the human race. Second, we will have hundred of years to adapt or die trying.
Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure one of my lecturers explained once that if the core was supposed to be a bar magnet, it's power at the climax would be so incredibly huge that the globe itself would begin to deform. Can anybody confirm or deny this?
Of course, this will all be complete speculation, since our civilization has never actually been put to "the test". Cavemen were subject to any number of extinction threats that we don't really worry much about in our society. We aren't really worried about regional drought, flooding, forest fires, disease, predators, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc. Maybe worried is not the right word, but we don't face extinction because of these things. Also, the rise of technology has put us in a place where we have a chance of survival in places undreamed of by cavemen. It's true what you say about a lot of hungry people in a small space, but in situations like that, a given population will max out at some saturation point where death- and birthrates even out. Anyway, I wasn't really talking about our civilization's survival chance, just that "THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END!" is paranoia, since it 's happened about 2000 times since our prehistorical ancestors crawled from the ocean.
First off: we are not all gonna die. It has been 800,000 years since the last time the poles flipped. At that time, our ancestors were walking around, munching on wooly mammoths an giant sloths, etc., armed with such amazing modern tech as sharpened flint and fire. If they can take it, so can we.
Second, we have very little knowledge about how the poles are going to switch. There seems to be two options: 1. The poles are going to disappear, then reappear on opposite sides of the planet. 2. The poles will migrate over the face of the earth until they have effectively flipped over.
However, as geophysics usually shows us, there is a third, and much more complicated option, that is more likely. Simply put, the poles will weaken, and then split up into smaller magnetic zones, which will then wander all over the surface in an extremely complicated manner, and then coalesce on the oppposite sides. If you think this is a crackpot idea, you should check out past issues of Nature. I'll also point out that no one really knows how the planet's magnetic field is generated. It is DEFINATELY not analogous to a regular bar magnet, because the core of the earth is much too hot to sustain magnetization of iron.
Big deal. Denmark has a space agency too, but that doesn't mean they're flying rockets into space. These agencies are lucky if they get two sattelites into orbit(in Arianes or STS) a decade.
... The Florida Center for Captive Chimpanzee Care purchased the largest amount of typewriters from an undisclosed source ever, shortly before they announced that they were indeed attempting to write the greatest book, *ever*.
(sorry, it was just so obvious)
Re:Down with specialized pieces
on
Lego Addictions
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· Score: 1
I agree that Lego has had a not so hot period the last ten years, but the future looks bright with concepts like mindstorms
Hey, someone even got one of their toys into space!
By the way, I think the line you were referring to was Black Star (at least that was the danish name)
At 1.4 solar masses (that's about 3*10^30 kg), also called the Chandrasekhar limit, a white dwarf collapses since degenerate electron pressure can't hold off the gravitational force and collapses into the neutron star. A neutron star is ALWAYS between 1.4 and 3 solar masses. (above this limit, the neutrons themselves degenerate and form a black hole) So yes, I think a stick deserves to be respected as much as a tree if it weighed 5 metric tons!
... the project is in fact an experiment used to generate artificial intelligence? Our computers have had the ability to think for themselves all this time, but haven't really had a good enough reason to do so. But now, we'll bully one of them into doing it! If it wants to live, It'll HAVE to do something! BUHUHAHAHAHA!!! IT'S ALIVE!!
so when they develop the ultra-high resolution version, do you think I could see Pluto in my back garden? Okay, maybe that's stretching it, but seriously, would the brain be able to adapt to a higher standard than it was created for?
Re:It has its uses, but is not a wonder-system
on
Electric Armor
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· Score: 0
I really don't think ANY tank is impervious to HEAT attacks: just hit it basically anywhere but the front or just get lucky.
The technology would also help to protect againt tandems, two stage HEATs which has one blast two set off the reactive armor, then another to penetrate completely.
As far as I know, there is no front-line tank commander which isn't scared that some infantry bozo with a Carl Gustav launcher will get just in range to set off a well-placed shot.
But I have a hard time understanding why current would disable a 5000 degree molten stream of metal travelling 200 m/s? Isn't it just a question of force and wear?
Or:
1. Get a visit from myself, telling me the meaning of life, the theory of everything, how to conquer the world, become immortal, what women want and maybe how to build a time machine.
2. Build time machine
3. Go back one month
There really wouldn't be any limit to what information I could give myself, since the information doesn't have to come from anywhere.
So why do I not see myself knocking on the door?
(Maybe because I'm not smart enough)
This has made me think(what a wonderful new feeling)... Where is the site where you can buy property on the moon? if I could get a nice plot of dust on the far side, prefferably in a crater, I could FINALLY be free of USELESS SPAM! Of course, I wouldn't be able to receive any kind of communication, but maybe it's worth it?
Hey, if they're planning to maybe scrap that antenna, i could use it for a couple of things...
Like plastering it with mirrors and place my chicken dinner at the focal point...
Or fill it with water and ejoy some quality scuba diving...
Finally getting a good arena to play rollerball in...
Or finally getting some quality broadcasting from India..
Slashdot Mirror
read the article. This failure might very well mean cancelling the Rosetta project
Okay, fair enough, ESA isn't the second biggest... yet.
A billion-euro rocket goes up in smoke, potentially blowing a one of the best comet research projects ever, and once again put in question the competence of the second largest space research company in the world... /. comment:
*drumroll* And the "insightful"
"Hey, this is GREAT news for space travel!"
My medium size Psilon Battlecruiser has a black hole generator, for gods sake! Neutron stars are for pussies
They have a saying in infantry units: "No matter how much fancy GPS's and complicated weaponry a soldier has, it's still the human infantryman, not the technology, who has to suck it up and get moving"
Our way of life is going down the tubes everyday. It's called progression of history. Just because I sit in front of my computer everyday does not mean I couldn't suck it up and insure my survival.
And yes; a lot of people will probably suffer or even die if this "cataclysm" hits, but first off, that's not looking at the big picture, the human race. Second, we will have hundred of years to adapt or die trying.
Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure one of my lecturers explained once that if the core was supposed to be a bar magnet, it's power at the climax would be so incredibly huge that the globe itself would begin to deform. Can anybody confirm or deny this?
Yes, but they weren't born by rocks; Homo Erectus or Homo Habilis were also tool-users, right?
Of course, this will all be complete speculation, since our civilization has never actually been put to "the test".
Cavemen were subject to any number of extinction threats that we don't really worry much about in our society. We aren't really worried about regional drought, flooding, forest fires, disease, predators, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc. Maybe worried is not the right word, but we don't face extinction because of these things. Also, the rise of technology has put us in a place where we have a chance of survival in places undreamed of by cavemen.
It's true what you say about a lot of hungry people in a small space, but in situations like that, a given population will max out at some saturation point where death- and birthrates even out.
Anyway, I wasn't really talking about our civilization's survival chance, just that "THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END!" is paranoia, since it 's happened about 2000 times since our prehistorical ancestors crawled from the ocean.
First off: we are not all gonna die. It has been 800,000 years since the last time the poles flipped. At that time, our ancestors were walking around, munching on wooly mammoths an giant sloths, etc., armed with such amazing modern tech as sharpened flint and fire. If they can take it, so can we.
Second, we have very little knowledge about how the poles are going to switch. There seems to be two options:
1. The poles are going to disappear, then reappear on opposite sides of the planet.
2. The poles will migrate over the face of the earth until they have effectively flipped over.
However, as geophysics usually shows us, there is a third, and much more complicated option, that is more likely. Simply put, the poles will weaken, and then split up into smaller magnetic zones, which will then wander all over the surface in an extremely complicated manner, and then coalesce on the oppposite sides. If you think this is a crackpot idea, you should check out past issues of Nature.
I'll also point out that no one really knows how the planet's magnetic field is generated. It is DEFINATELY not analogous to a regular bar magnet, because the core of the earth is much too hot to sustain magnetization of iron.
Big deal. Denmark has a space agency too, but that doesn't mean they're flying rockets into space. These agencies are lucky if they get two sattelites into orbit(in Arianes or STS) a decade.
... The Florida Center for Captive Chimpanzee Care purchased the largest amount of typewriters from an undisclosed source ever, shortly before they announced that they were indeed attempting to write the greatest book, *ever*. (sorry, it was just so obvious)
I agree that Lego has had a not so hot period the last ten years, but the future looks bright with concepts like mindstorms
Hey, someone even got one of their toys into space!
By the way, I think the line you were referring to was Black Star (at least that was the danish name)
hey, man, you ripped that off the "Trainspotting" soundtrack, didn't you?
Here and here are a couple of guys who agree with you...
If Groening swings this right, we might have another quality old-school games we all remember from the old days...
Ahh, remember Day of the Tentacle?
"Yes, let's all discuss your promiscuous mother later..." -The Professor
... a no-braner
At 1.4 solar masses (that's about 3*10^30 kg), also called the Chandrasekhar limit, a white dwarf collapses since degenerate electron pressure can't hold off the gravitational force and collapses into the neutron star.
A neutron star is ALWAYS between 1.4 and 3 solar masses. (above this limit, the neutrons themselves degenerate and form a black hole)
So yes, I think a stick deserves to be respected as much as a tree if it weighed 5 metric tons!
... the project is in fact an experiment used to generate artificial intelligence?
Our computers have had the ability to think for themselves all this time, but haven't really had a good enough reason to do so.
But now, we'll bully one of them into doing it! If it wants to live, It'll HAVE to do something! BUHUHAHAHAHA!!! IT'S ALIVE!!
(I really need to cut down)
so when they develop the ultra-high resolution version, do you think I could see Pluto in my back garden? Okay, maybe that's stretching it, but seriously, would the brain be able to adapt to a higher standard than it was created for?
I really don't think ANY tank is impervious to HEAT attacks: just hit it basically anywhere but the front or just get lucky. The technology would also help to protect againt tandems, two stage HEATs which has one blast two set off the reactive armor, then another to penetrate completely. As far as I know, there is no front-line tank commander which isn't scared that some infantry bozo with a Carl Gustav launcher will get just in range to set off a well-placed shot. But I have a hard time understanding why current would disable a 5000 degree molten stream of metal travelling 200 m/s? Isn't it just a question of force and wear?
Or: 1. Get a visit from myself, telling me the meaning of life, the theory of everything, how to conquer the world, become immortal, what women want and maybe how to build a time machine. 2. Build time machine 3. Go back one month There really wouldn't be any limit to what information I could give myself, since the information doesn't have to come from anywhere. So why do I not see myself knocking on the door? (Maybe because I'm not smart enough)
This has made me think(what a wonderful new feeling)... Where is the site where you can buy property on the moon? if I could get a nice plot of dust on the far side, prefferably in a crater, I could FINALLY be free of USELESS SPAM! Of course, I wouldn't be able to receive any kind of communication, but maybe it's worth it?
hey, check it out, they're developing that too!
Hey, if they're planning to maybe scrap that antenna, i could use it for a couple of things... Like plastering it with mirrors and place my chicken dinner at the focal point... Or fill it with water and ejoy some quality scuba diving... Finally getting a good arena to play rollerball in... Or finally getting some quality broadcasting from India..
This has got to be a troll! Maybe if the sun was a couple of million times more massive...