Alternative: have ability to refuel on orbit, so you can send the fuel with separate rocket or two, and fuel the landing capsule on lunar orbit (probably twice, once for landing and takeoff from the Moon, second time for the trip home).
Then you can cope with much smaller rockets. But of course refueling in lunar orbit is probably quite a complicated operation, and fatal if something goes wrong, and might be very hard with some rocket fuels... I guess all these complications are why it wasn't done with Apollo missions. But I bet we have a bit more advanced technology by now, and it might be easier now.
Surely you can agree that postulating the existence of matter that doesn't behave anything like anything we can observe in the lab, except gravitational interaction, AND that this matter composes 90% of the universe is somewhat less than ideal.
Frankly, I don't see how discovering that current physical theories need to be seriously tweaked is any more ideal than discovering that there's more to existing stuff than meets the eye.
Discoveries about nature of existing stuff have been far more frequent (atom structure, nucleus structure, quarks, neutrinos, Casimir effect, the fundamental forces...) than discoveries about basics of core physical theories (realtivity and quantum mechanics). So in this case, my money is on again discovering that new stuff (dark matter, dark energy) exists, not on discovering flaws in the core physical theories.
Note to clarify: I don't believe our current theories are necessarily correct. I just think it's very likely that these observations that have lead to dark matter and dark energy hypothesis won't overthrow them. They might, but I think it is unlikely.
Can you tell me, does this explain/produce the wobble observed in this experiment, for example? 'Cos if it doesn't, then there's some work to be done with it still, before it's worth considering as a valid alternative...
The rest of Europe should have nothing to say with a democratically elected president.
But of course they should, if they feel like it! That's freedom of speech and freedom of opinion and all that crap. Being democratically elected, saying something about him becomes saying something about the people that elected him, of course. But all the more reason to say it, and perhaps the voters of that country will think more carefully at the next election!
I'm getting sick of Einstein's theories continually being proved right.
Yeah... I can easily imagine the excitement of any reasearch group that some day may make the experiment that shows GR is "wrong" and needs to be refined/changed to account for the results! That'd be the scientific jackpot of the century, or millenium, or whenever that moment comes (if it ever comes).
Gravity. It just seems (as long as this new measurement is correct!) to work that way. And GR correctly predicted this wobble, too, so formulas of GR show *how* the wobble happens.
But to answer your question: what ever is "the mechanics" that cause gravity is also "the mechanics" that cause the wobble, because the wobble is direct result of gravity (according to GR, at least).
There is _something_ that pushes stuff away from the centre, and it's not like any force we already know.
Nitpick: there's no center, so stuff isn't pushed away from center. All stuff is pushed away from all other stuff at large scales, and that's what we call "dark energy".
When "96% of the universe" is only detectable by how your model fails with the visible stuff alone, measurements of the visible stuff become useless. It isn't even science at that point.
I'd say it is. I'm under the impression, that dark matter & energy hypothesis (I think it's fair to call it a hypothesis at this point) is the simplest explanation for all the observations that we have. So I'd say it's very much science, as good science as we're capable of.
Feel free to provide a nicer model that still explains the current observations, though. I'm sure the Nobel Foundation will reward you for your efforts if you get it right enough!
There's a lot of misinformation floating around here (RTFA please). Here's what happens: you want to upload a file. The program makes up a bunch of random numbers - really random numbers that have nothing to do with the original file. The original file is not consulted to make the random blocks - they could be pre-generated even.
Uh... I think you're wrong. Half of the "random" blocks need to be created from the original file after getting the really random blocks somehow ((pre-)generating them somehow or using existing blocks in the "brightnet"). The original file *must* be consulted when generating half of the blocks, if other half are truly random.
I mean, combining two 128KB randomly generated blocks will not generate any sensible data basically *ever*, not in our Universe anyway: not enough energy/time before the Heat Death or the Big Rip or the Big Crunch or whatever... Likelyhood of any fully meaningful 128KB of data being randomly generated is essentially 0.
Of course the non-randomly generated blocks appear to be exactly as random as the really randomly generated blocks, but that doesn't make their generation random at all.
Remember to haul the SUVs with full tanks. I mean, don't SUVs have big tanks that can easily hold enough fuel for a couple of months...?
Hmm, or was it for a couple of hours worth of fuel, and they need a separate fuel tanker to have a couple of months worth of fuel? I always get these minor details mixed up. Well, no problem anyway, then just haul one fuel tanker there for every SUV, too.
I disagree. There are so many cases of "perfectly normal" people becoming addicted to WoW (and other MMORPGs, but I think WoW is one of the worst in this respect), that it's fair to say that it causes addiction.
So as far as I can see, your position is that if somebody is a drug addict, it's not because of the drug, but because some facet of the addicts life/personality that causes the addiction... If they just had normal personality and better life, they would not become drug addicts, right? I disagree...
(Well, of course it's also some "face of this mom's life" in the broad sense, because everything in her life is some facet of her life. Like if she had no computer or no internet connection in her life, or if nobody ever introduced WoW to her, obiviously she would not be addicted to it now. But I'm sure this is not what you're talking about.)
That's why SUVs are gaining popularity in Norway:-D Nah, I think it's the other way around. It may be inevitable that the Gulf Stream slows down or turns south or whatever. At that point it'll get cold even in Norway, and glaciers will start flowing down from the Scandic mountains... 4-wheel drive, large tires and decent ground clearance will be essential at that point. And it's better to buy the SUVs now, because if oil price keeps going up, they won't be making SUVs for long... However, Norwegians will have their own oil so it's up to them if they want to drive their SUVs even in global oil production shortage.
Disclaimer: above is not to be taken as a personal opinion of the writer, it's just food for thought...
I have to say, bravo! A less moral person, or just an indifferent "it's not my business" person would have happily taken their money... I'd say you did the right thing and helped them.
Of course every situation like that is a judgement on case-by-case basis, is it really your business. But if you'd be the one to receive their last money while being aware of their situation, IMHO that very much makes it your business too.
'And when she's not at the computer she's like a lost soul. She just looks straight ahead and says nothing.'"
Correlation and causation, folks. Sigh. It's highly unlikely that WoW took a perfectly normal mother and converted her into a zombie like this. These symptoms are indicative of deeper psychological issues that manifest in an unhealthy obsession with WoW.
Oh, it is more than likely. When you're addicted to a game (be it non-computer, offline or online game), or to a discussion forum or to a chat service, then that fills your life. When you're not on it, you're thinking of what you'll do when you again have a chance to get on. Even when there's some time you're waiting (like in many online games) before you can do stuff, waiting for that time to arrive fills your life.
That's addiction. Not everybody gets addicted, but it is possible, and it is common, and just because you may not even understand what I'm talking about here (lucky you!), it doesn't make it unreal or unlikely. This particular mom sounds just like this. So called real life is a chore, a burden for her, and only things worth living for are in the game, interacting with other people *there* and doing stuff *there*.
Or is this just me? Anybody else here know what I'm talking about?:-)
I think any ratio of falsely convicted innocents is "unacceptable". Unfortunately in reality it is impossible to achieve this ratio. So there's no answer to question of what amount of innocents convicted is acceptable.
Therefore I think the better question is, when does the ratio of criminals not getting sentenced become unacceptable. IMHO that is an aswerable question, and then the ratio of innocents convicted should just be minimized given the current technology and resources.
Well, it seems they stopped feeding the central mouth of the Voorwerp a while ago. So it may be they had the sign, but they already moved it to another exhibit.
Sure seals are amphibous. They're just not amphibians.
Unless you're talking about water-soluble seals, but those have to be protected from rain too, not just from full immersion in water. But I don't know of any material used for sealing things, that is water-soluble.
Nah. There's a modern solution to this. Just get an X Windows window manager that can be configured to force maximized windows. If that's not enough for you, configure it so that it won't run more than one application at a time. If still not good enough (after all, with GUI applications, popups are kinda like using multitasking), just ditch X, remove screen (an application), and use only one virtual console. Possibly tweak the kernel so that suspend signals won't be delivered, if you're worrided you might get distracted by accidentally pressing ^Z.
So just a little bit of tweaking, you can go all the way to MSDOS level of single-tasking with Linux! And if you need those MSDOS applications, there's dosemu too, so there's absolutely no need to use proprietary MSDOS directly.
There seems to be less of a threshold for pulling out a knife and stabbing in an argument and firing a gun. No way! Stabbing someone, pushing your knife into their body, is pshycologically *much* harder than just pulling the trigger of a gun (at least for the first time). I mean, it applies even to military excercise: it's much easier to shoot at human-shaped targets than it is to bayonet-stab sandbags with fake blood bags attached (for the first time anyway).
I disagree. Sometimes the driver behind you is just not paying attention and is driving too close without realizing it. Tapping the brakes might be a wakeup-call. Also, even if they think they're not really too close, there *are* polite drivers who will back off just 'cos you asked (by tapping the brakes).
Isn't it duty of every responsible driver to do their best to slow down the assholes that would like to drive faster than the limit? Works best if two (or more) righteous drivers drive side by side, controlling all lanes and making sure nobody behind them drives illegally!
Remember: if you are driving at the speed limit, everybody passing you is a criminal. We must fight this menace! If you aren't doing your duty as a citizen yet, start today!
What do you mean, "water doesn't sublime"? Concrete counterexample: The laundry can be dried outside even in freezing temperaturs when it is windy or sunny (basically, when the air humidity is low enough). Are you saying that the frozen water in the laundry first melts (even though it's temperature is definitely below freezing point) and then evaporaters? Or are you saying that laundry doesn't dry outside below freezing point of water, contrary to common observation? Or maybe you mean that the wind erodes the frozen water and blows it of as fine ice dust? Or something else?
We do indeed have the technology. We know what we need to do and have the skills to be able to get us up and running. Call me cynical if you will (I prefer realist), but until we actually have the equipment built and working, in my opinion we don't have the technology. At best you could say that we may have the technology, unless there's something unexpected for which we need to develop new technology.
Technology is much more than just the tools. It's also the knowlege to put it all together. To analogize (is that a word?), just 'cos we have a hammer, nails and a pile of planks doesn't mean we automatically have the technology to build a house that doesn't collapse during the first blizzard.
Slashdot Mirror
Alternative: have ability to refuel on orbit, so you can send the fuel with separate rocket or two, and fuel the landing capsule on lunar orbit (probably twice, once for landing and takeoff from the Moon, second time for the trip home).
Then you can cope with much smaller rockets. But of course refueling in lunar orbit is probably quite a complicated operation, and fatal if something goes wrong, and might be very hard with some rocket fuels... I guess all these complications are why it wasn't done with Apollo missions. But I bet we have a bit more advanced technology by now, and it might be easier now.
Uh huh. And exactly how many metric tons of material you have at 50 millikelvin, and over how large a distance/area? ;-)
Surely you can agree that postulating the existence of matter that doesn't behave anything like anything we can observe in the lab, except gravitational interaction, AND that this matter composes 90% of the universe is somewhat less than ideal.
Frankly, I don't see how discovering that current physical theories need to be seriously tweaked is any more ideal than discovering that there's more to existing stuff than meets the eye.
Discoveries about nature of existing stuff have been far more frequent (atom structure, nucleus structure, quarks, neutrinos, Casimir effect, the fundamental forces...) than discoveries about basics of core physical theories (realtivity and quantum mechanics). So in this case, my money is on again discovering that new stuff (dark matter, dark energy) exists, not on discovering flaws in the core physical theories.
Note to clarify: I don't believe our current theories are necessarily correct. I just think it's very likely that these observations that have lead to dark matter and dark energy hypothesis won't overthrow them. They might, but I think it is unlikely.
If you are looking for a nicer model, how about this one.,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modified_Newtonian_dynamics
Can you tell me, does this explain/produce the wobble observed in this experiment, for example? 'Cos if it doesn't, then there's some work to be done with it still, before it's worth considering as a valid alternative...
The rest of Europe should have nothing to say with a democratically elected president.
But of course they should, if they feel like it! That's freedom of speech and freedom of opinion and all that crap. Being democratically elected, saying something about him becomes saying something about the people that elected him, of course. But all the more reason to say it, and perhaps the voters of that country will think more carefully at the next election!
I'm getting sick of Einstein's theories continually being proved right.
Yeah... I can easily imagine the excitement of any reasearch group that some day may make the experiment that shows GR is "wrong" and needs to be refined/changed to account for the results! That'd be the scientific jackpot of the century, or millenium, or whenever that moment comes (if it ever comes).
Gravity. It just seems (as long as this new measurement is correct!) to work that way. And GR correctly predicted this wobble, too, so formulas of GR show *how* the wobble happens.
But to answer your question: what ever is "the mechanics" that cause gravity is also "the mechanics" that cause the wobble, because the wobble is direct result of gravity (according to GR, at least).
There is _something_ that pushes stuff away from the centre, and it's not like any force we already know.
Nitpick: there's no center, so stuff isn't pushed away from center. All stuff is pushed away from all other stuff at large scales, and that's what we call "dark energy".
Nice post otherwise!
When "96% of the universe" is only detectable by how your model fails with the visible stuff alone, measurements of the visible stuff become useless. It isn't even science at that point.
I'd say it is. I'm under the impression, that dark matter & energy hypothesis (I think it's fair to call it a hypothesis at this point) is the simplest explanation for all the observations that we have. So I'd say it's very much science, as good science as we're capable of.
Feel free to provide a nicer model that still explains the current observations, though. I'm sure the Nobel Foundation will reward you for your efforts if you get it right enough!
There's a lot of misinformation floating around here (RTFA please). Here's what happens: you want to upload a file. The program makes up a bunch of random numbers - really random numbers that have nothing to do with the original file. The original file is not consulted to make the random blocks - they could be pre-generated even.
Uh... I think you're wrong. Half of the "random" blocks need to be created from the original file after getting the really random blocks somehow ((pre-)generating them somehow or using existing blocks in the "brightnet"). The original file *must* be consulted when generating half of the blocks, if other half are truly random.
I mean, combining two 128KB randomly generated blocks will not generate any sensible data basically *ever*, not in our Universe anyway: not enough energy/time before the Heat Death or the Big Rip or the Big Crunch or whatever... Likelyhood of any fully meaningful 128KB of data being randomly generated is essentially 0.
Of course the non-randomly generated blocks appear to be exactly as random as the really randomly generated blocks, but that doesn't make their generation random at all.
(Disclaimer: I didn't RTFA.)
I thought it was innocent until proven guilty?
You're thinking of the wrong century.
A common mistake in these post 911 days.
Remember to haul the SUVs with full tanks. I mean, don't SUVs have big tanks that can easily hold enough fuel for a couple of months...?
Hmm, or was it for a couple of hours worth of fuel, and they need a separate fuel tanker to have a couple of months worth of fuel? I always get these minor details mixed up. Well, no problem anyway, then just haul one fuel tanker there for every SUV, too.
I disagree. There are so many cases of "perfectly normal" people becoming addicted to WoW (and other MMORPGs, but I think WoW is one of the worst in this respect), that it's fair to say that it causes addiction.
So as far as I can see, your position is that if somebody is a drug addict, it's not because of the drug, but because some facet of the addicts life/personality that causes the addiction... If they just had normal personality and better life, they would not become drug addicts, right? I disagree...
(Well, of course it's also some "face of this mom's life" in the broad sense, because everything in her life is some facet of her life. Like if she had no computer or no internet connection in her life, or if nobody ever introduced WoW to her, obiviously she would not be addicted to it now. But I'm sure this is not what you're talking about.)
Disclaimer: above is not to be taken as a personal opinion of the writer, it's just food for thought...
I have to say, bravo! A less moral person, or just an indifferent "it's not my business" person would have happily taken their money... I'd say you did the right thing and helped them.
Of course every situation like that is a judgement on case-by-case basis, is it really your business. But if you'd be the one to receive their last money while being aware of their situation, IMHO that very much makes it your business too.
Correlation and causation, folks. Sigh. It's highly unlikely that WoW took a perfectly normal mother and converted her into a zombie like this. These symptoms are indicative of deeper psychological issues that manifest in an unhealthy obsession with WoW.
Oh, it is more than likely. When you're addicted to a game (be it non-computer, offline or online game), or to a discussion forum or to a chat service, then that fills your life. When you're not on it, you're thinking of what you'll do when you again have a chance to get on. Even when there's some time you're waiting (like in many online games) before you can do stuff, waiting for that time to arrive fills your life.
That's addiction. Not everybody gets addicted, but it is possible, and it is common, and just because you may not even understand what I'm talking about here (lucky you!), it doesn't make it unreal or unlikely. This particular mom sounds just like this. So called real life is a chore, a burden for her, and only things worth living for are in the game, interacting with other people *there* and doing stuff *there*.
Or is this just me? Anybody else here know what I'm talking about? :-)
I think any ratio of falsely convicted innocents is "unacceptable". Unfortunately in reality it is impossible to achieve this ratio. So there's no answer to question of what amount of innocents convicted is acceptable.
Therefore I think the better question is, when does the ratio of criminals not getting sentenced become unacceptable. IMHO that is an aswerable question, and then the ratio of innocents convicted should just be minimized given the current technology and resources.
Well, it seems they stopped feeding the central mouth of the Voorwerp a while ago. So it may be they had the sign, but they already moved it to another exhibit.
Just a speculation, mind you.
Sure seals are amphibous. They're just not amphibians.
Unless you're talking about water-soluble seals, but those have to be protected from rain too, not just from full immersion in water. But I don't know of any material used for sealing things, that is water-soluble.
Nah. There's a modern solution to this. Just get an X Windows window manager that can be configured to force maximized windows. If that's not enough for you, configure it so that it won't run more than one application at a time. If still not good enough (after all, with GUI applications, popups are kinda like using multitasking), just ditch X, remove screen (an application), and use only one virtual console. Possibly tweak the kernel so that suspend signals won't be delivered, if you're worrided you might get distracted by accidentally pressing ^Z.
So just a little bit of tweaking, you can go all the way to MSDOS level of single-tasking with Linux! And if you need those MSDOS applications, there's dosemu too, so there's absolutely no need to use proprietary MSDOS directly.
Just try to achive this with any modern Windows!
Shooting is just pulling the trigger, very easy.
I disagree. Sometimes the driver behind you is just not paying attention and is driving too close without realizing it. Tapping the brakes might be a wakeup-call. Also, even if they think they're not really too close, there *are* polite drivers who will back off just 'cos you asked (by tapping the brakes).
Isn't it duty of every responsible driver to do their best to slow down the assholes that would like to drive faster than the limit? Works best if two (or more) righteous drivers drive side by side, controlling all lanes and making sure nobody behind them drives illegally!
Remember: if you are driving at the speed limit, everybody passing you is a criminal. We must fight this menace! If you aren't doing your duty as a citizen yet, start today!
</sarcasm>
What do you mean, "water doesn't sublime"? Concrete counterexample: The laundry can be dried outside even in freezing temperaturs when it is windy or sunny (basically, when the air humidity is low enough). Are you saying that the frozen water in the laundry first melts (even though it's temperature is definitely below freezing point) and then evaporaters? Or are you saying that laundry doesn't dry outside below freezing point of water, contrary to common observation? Or maybe you mean that the wind erodes the frozen water and blows it of as fine ice dust? Or something else?
Technology is much more than just the tools. It's also the knowlege to put it all together. To analogize (is that a word?), just 'cos we have a hammer, nails and a pile of planks doesn't mean we automatically have the technology to build a house that doesn't collapse during the first blizzard.