(Also, supposedly, to determine if PI is actually infinite or whether it contains a repeating pattern after you get to a certain point)
What? There's a mathematical proof that pi is irrational (in fact, transcendental). Specifically, if it were not, -1 would be irrational (in fact, transcendental) thanks to the Lindemann-Weierstrass theorem and the fact that e^(pi*i) = -1. The digits cannot simply start repeating after a while (in particular, they cannot eventually just become 0, as happens with, for instance, 1/2 = 0.5000....
Well, if pi were not irrational, e^(i*pi) would not be -1.
And 355/113 is also easy to remember (if you write the numerator first, you'll get 113 355, i.e. the first three odd digits twice each), and already about as close to pi as an IEEE single precision float approximation.
The primary reason for this is to confirm the never-ending nature of pi, if I'm not mistaken.
The never-ending nature of pi is well-confirmed by mathematical proof. It is proved to be irrational (which already implies the never-ending nature) and even transcendental. What might be a motivation is checking the normality, i.e. the assumption that there's no pattern in the digits of pi. Normality has AFAIK not yet been proved.
That is, if we were to discover, for example, at the 12 trillionth digit, that pi finally does end, that has wide-spread implications on everything from the microscopic creation of semiconductors to the macroscopic terraforming of a (presumably round) planet.
No one doing semiconductor physics or terraforming cares even about the tenth digit, let alone the 12 trillionth.
The radius of the part of the universe visible to us is about 46 billion light years or about 4*10^26 meters. The planck length, assumed to be the shortest length there is, is about 1.6*10^-35 meters. That is, the radius of the known universe is 2.7*10^61 planck lengths. Thus with just 62 digits of pi you are as accurate as the laws of physics allow. In practice you'll never need even that. Indeed, you'll not even measure cosmic distances to the meter (27 digits), or even to the kilometer (24 digits). Even measuring to the light year (12 digits) is probably impossible for objects that far out.
So tell me... what gives you the right to demand productive efforts without reward?
I can demand pretty much what I want (with few exceptions). I don't have a right to get it, though.
I hereby demand that you pay me ten million dollars. You don't want to pay me that money? Well, I can't do anything about it. But I didn't break the law by demanding it.
Capitalism is greed. Eliminate greed and it becomes communism.
No, capitalism is the belief that if everyone is greedy, then it turns out best for everyone. That's not the same as greed. Is is used to justify greed, and it certainly advances greed, but it is not greed. You can be greedy without being capitalist (although if you are greedy, it's probably a good idea to at least pretend that you believe in capitalism; well, unless you happen to be in a communist country, of course:-)).
OK, so the problem is lack of a magnetic field. Well, we know how to create magnetic fields. Just put a big coil around Mars' equator and send a big current through it.:-)
What's the value of playing volleyball on Mars, or composing poems on Mars? Both can just be done on earth.
Reasoning your way out of a difficult situation without outside help is of course useful. OTOH you cannot reason out of every possible situation, and it's certainly better to lose a rover due to an unexpected situation than to lose a human. Add to that that unexpected situations don't necessarily mean losing the connection, therefore it's well possible for humans on Earth to solve the problem of the rover on Mars.
One advantage that humans have over rovers is that they have better mobility. A human can e.g. climb over a rock if necessary, a rover cannot. Nor can humans on Earth do it for the rover.
Well, not the whole object has to be inhabitable, right? So a set of 2km steel ropes connecting the actual space station with a counterweight should be sufficient. Still very expensive, but considerably less so than a complete inhabitable structure of that size.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually all that Slashcode would have to do is not removing it. Displaying it is the job of the browser.
(Also, supposedly, to determine if PI is actually infinite or whether it contains a repeating pattern after you get to a certain point)
What? There's a mathematical proof that pi is irrational (in fact, transcendental). Specifically, if it were not, -1 would be irrational (in fact, transcendental) thanks to the Lindemann-Weierstrass theorem and the fact that e^(pi*i) = -1. The digits cannot simply start repeating after a while (in particular, they cannot eventually just become 0, as happens with, for instance, 1/2 = 0.5000... .
Well, if pi were not irrational, e^(i*pi) would not be -1.
I raise a 22/7. That's slightly closer.
And 355/113 is also easy to remember (if you write the numerator first, you'll get 113 355, i.e. the first three odd digits twice each), and already about as close to pi as an IEEE single precision float approximation.
The never-ending nature of pi is well-confirmed by mathematical proof. It is proved to be irrational (which already implies the never-ending nature) and even transcendental. What might be a motivation is checking the normality, i.e. the assumption that there's no pattern in the digits of pi. Normality has AFAIK not yet been proved.
No one doing semiconductor physics or terraforming cares even about the tenth digit, let alone the 12 trillionth.
The radius of the part of the universe visible to us is about 46 billion light years or about 4*10^26 meters. The planck length, assumed to be the shortest length there is, is about 1.6*10^-35 meters. That is, the radius of the known universe is 2.7*10^61 planck lengths. Thus with just 62 digits of pi you are as accurate as the laws of physics allow. In practice you'll never need even that. Indeed, you'll not even measure cosmic distances to the meter (27 digits), or even to the kilometer (24 digits). Even measuring to the light year (12 digits) is probably impossible for objects that far out.
But maybe the question is: "What is the 20 trillionth digit of pi in base 97?"
Whoosh yourself.
Large
Array of
Radio
Telescopes
-> LART
Get it now?
Now if only we can find the gene that causes ignorance.
I think that's related to the HOAX gene. :-)
Or simply: Large Array of Radio Telescopes. :-)
I think the current record in size naming is Overwhelmingly Large. However that's for optical telescopes.
Call it SHIT if you want, just don't cut the fucking budget!
They have a separate budget for fucking? :-)
I can demand pretty much what I want (with few exceptions). I don't have a right to get it, though.
I hereby demand that you pay me ten million dollars. You don't want to pay me that money? Well, I can't do anything about it. But I didn't break the law by demanding it.
It's greed as soon as you care more about the money than about the product.
Capitalism is greed. Eliminate greed and it becomes communism.
No, capitalism is the belief that if everyone is greedy, then it turns out best for everyone. That's not the same as greed. Is is used to justify greed, and it certainly advances greed, but it is not greed. You can be greedy without being capitalist (although if you are greedy, it's probably a good idea to at least pretend that you believe in capitalism; well, unless you happen to be in a communist country, of course :-)).
The money spent on sending people into orbit is negligible to the money spent on sending people to Iraq.
I don't know. I wasn't able to find a copy of the constitution of Mars.
Doesn't the term "habitat" imply that?
Many people care about special forms of rocks, known as gems.
Well, just get Hollywood to popularize life on Europa, and you're set.
is on Europa. I hope I live long enough to see whether I lose that bet.
I don't think it's a good idea to store your money there. OK, it's pretty sure that no one will steal it, but how do you get at it again?
...in fact, it's cold as hell.
So hell has finally frozen?
OK, so the problem is lack of a magnetic field. Well, we know how to create magnetic fields. Just put a big coil around Mars' equator and send a big current through it. :-)
What's the value of playing volleyball on Mars, or composing poems on Mars? Both can just be done on earth.
Reasoning your way out of a difficult situation without outside help is of course useful. OTOH you cannot reason out of every possible situation, and it's certainly better to lose a rover due to an unexpected situation than to lose a human. Add to that that unexpected situations don't necessarily mean losing the connection, therefore it's well possible for humans on Earth to solve the problem of the rover on Mars.
One advantage that humans have over rovers is that they have better mobility. A human can e.g. climb over a rock if necessary, a rover cannot. Nor can humans on Earth do it for the rover.
Well, not the whole object has to be inhabitable, right? So a set of 2km steel ropes connecting the actual space station with a counterweight should be sufficient. Still very expensive, but considerably less so than a complete inhabitable structure of that size.
Why on earth? And also in the universe?
While that's certainly an interesting name, I don't think it would be very good marketing. :-)
(BTW those are two questions!)