That "bunch of big words" was NOT chosen very carefully. There's a transcript of exactly what The Architect says circulating somewhere on the net - read it. It explains very little for its verbosity, and the grammar isn't even correct! The writers are giving their audience no credit whatsoever. (I'll assume `sceen' is a typo on your part, and that you, along with the other soon-to-be-dissapointed fans, do indeed have some concept of grammar).
Honestly, what's the world come to when we have to explain the simplest little joke.
"The anticipated response of the average audience member, which is to come up with an amusing and/or complex solution to the conundrum, combined with the unexpected and almost profound simplicity of the answer - `to get to the other side' - make the joke funny."
Why do you think they waited so long to make this movie? Could it be because DNA's vision for the movie was incompatible with Hollywood's? Hollywood is disgusting - they waited for the man to die so they could do whatever they wanted with his work.
Now, I could be wrong, and they could intend to follow his script and vision closely. But then, they could have done that 10 years ago.
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You seem to imply that the article is uninteresting because of the methods used. The interesting part is that they're reproducing a bloody old tree. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it'll be the oldest thing ever to be 'cloned'. This is interesting, even if it is easy to do, because it'll allow all kinds of experiments that you wouldn't want to carry out on the original.
Funny that a technology which is probably destined to be applied in the workplace (no more security cards/keys, just scan!) has first found a widespread use in CATTLE. Maybe the retinal scanners of tomorrow should be coined 'cattle scans'.
"And all those other people out there who have no idea what's going on are the cattle. Mooo!"
What I think you might have missed is the bit about overpopulation. It doesn't matter how skilled a populace is, if there are ten times as many humans as the planet can sustain, we're all screwed regardless.
It's also worth it to check out the DRAO (www.drao.nrc.ca) near Penticton in British Columbia, Canada. Wicked hikes around there, and the Okanagan valley has some of the best vinyards around (think winery tours!). It's one of the few places on the planet where they can make 'real' ice wine.
Also worth checking out: the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia has the highest tides in the world (up to 16 meters!) -http://www.valleyweb.com/fundytides/ - and they've got a tidal power plant running there (in Annapolis Royal) that runs off the tides in both directions.
Can't beat the rockies for nature-geeking type activities during summer, or skiing in winter. Northern lights are a must-see if you haven't caught them before. If you're willing to go up as far as the Yukon/Alaska, you might catch a 24-hour sunset/sunrise party. I've always thought that'd be the perfect place for a demoparty or rave or something, because your body is totally fooled as to what time it is.
That'd be one long-ass tether. If you wanted to avoid taking the full force of the balloon, you'd have to activate your compression system before the manned module separated. That means you'd want a fast compression system, to minimize the impact on the module's altitude.
If you're going to have a tether, though, why not take it a step further: make the tether strong enough to take the full lift of the balloon, and use it to winch up the next module. Sort of a space elevator, but not quite... more of a stratosphere elevator! =)
Looks like they intend to detach first, then fire rockets with the module at an angle of 70 to 80 degrees from horizontal.
http://www.xprize.org/pdfs/ILAT.pdf
Dumb question: do they retrieve the balloon later, or just let it float about up there? How long will it take to come down?
Less dumb question: how do you control where the landing site will be when your initial, 2-3 hour ascent is at the mercy of the wind? I suspect you don't - not my favorite form of transportation, given the landing is supposed to be at 25 km/h (15.5 mph). I can think of plenty of places I _wouldn't_ want to land at that speed, with or without ballutes!
I'm with you on this one. Measuring and manipulating gravity are both easy enough - they're both just a matter of, well, matter! I think this conclusion, along with the agreement that instantaneously transmitting information would violate causality, is a pretty good hint that gravity must go at the speed of light (or slower - why not?!).
Too bad it looks like the experiment was bunk... it'd be nice to know for sure. And what if it did go slower than the speed of light....?;\
What do you suppose the repurcussions would be if it could be shown that gravity was instantaneous, rather than propagating at the speed of light? Could we use that to transmit information instantaneously? Would that violate causality?
Not to mention the huge amounts of Helium produced - what do we do with that, vent it into the atmosphere? In the future we may all sound like chipmunks!
Seriously, though, where can I learn about the direct electromagnetic approach you allude to? How does it avoid having neutrons bombarding everything and making it radioactive?
maybe we should try to spread it before we are gone
I've got to agree with you here. Mars seems like a more obvious choice as a destination though, given its proximity (and relative similarity) to earth. Difficult to observe our garden when it's so far away.
I was there! In the Rockies (at the base of Kananaskis Mountain) - saw ~40/min and it really was spectacular! Hopefully the full moon doesn't bugger it up too much this year...
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That "bunch of big words" was NOT chosen very carefully. There's a transcript of exactly what The Architect says circulating somewhere on the net - read it. It explains very little for its verbosity, and the grammar isn't even correct! The writers are giving their audience no credit whatsoever. (I'll assume `sceen' is a typo on your part, and that you, along with the other soon-to-be-dissapointed fans, do indeed have some concept of grammar).
"The anticipated response of the average audience member, which is to come up with an amusing and/or complex solution to the conundrum, combined with the unexpected and almost profound simplicity of the answer - `to get to the other side' - make the joke funny."
Now, I could be wrong, and they could intend to follow his script and vision closely. But then, they could have done that 10 years ago.
You mean in Saskatchewan?
Where the wheat boards monopolize YOU!
Oh, wait... that's right. Heh.
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You seem to imply that the article is uninteresting because of the methods used. The interesting part is that they're reproducing a bloody old tree. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it'll be the oldest thing ever to be 'cloned'. This is interesting, even if it is easy to do, because it'll allow all kinds of experiments that you wouldn't want to carry out on the original.
Nothin' says lovin' like soylent in the oven!
"And all those other people out there who have no idea what's going on are the cattle. Mooo!"
What I think you might have missed is the bit about overpopulation. It doesn't matter how skilled a populace is, if there are ten times as many humans as the planet can sustain, we're all screwed regardless.
Also worth checking out: the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia has the highest tides in the world (up to 16 meters!) -http://www.valleyweb.com/fundytides/ - and they've got a tidal power plant running there (in Annapolis Royal) that runs off the tides in both directions.
Can't beat the rockies for nature-geeking type activities during summer, or skiing in winter. Northern lights are a must-see if you haven't caught them before. If you're willing to go up as far as the Yukon/Alaska, you might catch a 24-hour sunset/sunrise party. I've always thought that'd be the perfect place for a demoparty or rave or something, because your body is totally fooled as to what time it is.
If you're going to have a tether, though, why not take it a step further: make the tether strong enough to take the full lift of the balloon, and use it to winch up the next module. Sort of a space elevator, but not quite... more of a stratosphere elevator! =)
http://www.xprize.org/pdfs/ILAT.pdf
Dumb question: do they retrieve the balloon later, or just let it float about up there? How long will it take to come down?
Less dumb question: how do you control where the landing site will be when your initial, 2-3 hour ascent is at the mercy of the wind? I suspect you don't - not my favorite form of transportation, given the landing is supposed to be at 25 km/h (15.5 mph). I can think of plenty of places I _wouldn't_ want to land at that speed, with or without ballutes!
Too bad it looks like the experiment was bunk... it'd be nice to know for sure. And what if it did go slower than the speed of light....? ;\
What do you suppose the repurcussions would be if it could be shown that gravity was instantaneous, rather than propagating at the speed of light? Could we use that to transmit information instantaneously? Would that violate causality?
Is this the practical version of an infinite number of monkeys on an infinite number of typewriters?
Perfection is a state of inadequate resolution.
Seriously, though, where can I learn about the direct electromagnetic approach you allude to? How does it avoid having neutrons bombarding everything and making it radioactive?
I've got to agree with you here. Mars seems like a more obvious choice as a destination though, given its proximity (and relative similarity) to earth. Difficult to observe our garden when it's so far away.
I was there! In the Rockies (at the base of Kananaskis Mountain) - saw ~40/min and it really was spectacular! Hopefully the full moon doesn't bugger it up too much this year...