Dude, give it up: The Sun (yes our Sun) has a measured variability of ~3%. How much difference do you think 3% increase (or decrease) in sunlight affects the planet? Do you honestly think anything we do has any effect of significance compared to this? I don't think so.
we have detailed observations using telescopes and photographic plates going back around 150 years. 24hour monitoring with satellites only goes back a decade or two (yohkoh, soho, geos, etc.)
I'm picturing adding AI controls to my D-100 pickup, which I already refer to as Franken-Truck (since it's built out of parts from at least three other trucks and one car); and, letting it rip!
The >8-way processors are in the pipeline. There's support from hardware vendors who want access to it; and, AMD's promised it. Let them work out the bugs in the current implementation(S) and then they'll start producing the more advanced versions...
They mean it didn't come out of the box (truck) as a complete package from IBM or Sun or HP or Cray or...
They designed and built it themselves using commodity parts.
when it can rate on the list.
And since it's a fluid list, with big computers regularly falling off, the definition changes.
The real question is, what happens to a "former" super computer?
If you want a comparison, run the linpack code on your machine.
Actually, you're right! It's cheaper to take an older car, fix everything on it, then maintain it properly from that point on, than it is to buy & operate a new car. This is true even if you start with a POS junker and restore it (properly please). The initial investment is less than the cost of a new car. Maintenance costs won't be any higher if the initial restoration was done right. Insurance costs will be lower. etc.
That's OK, I'm going to rule the world when Hydrogen becomes fuel of choice. I'm patenting the secret process for separating Hydrogen from, of all things, sea water. Who'd have thought it was possible.
And it will have to be solved using an artifical gravity... (think spinning cylinder) It's pretty much the only way they'll be able to make the trip, land, then be able to walk, without assistance, on the surface immediately afterwards.
Worst hybrid ever.
Good point. However, the car is designed to run on batteries all the time. The trailer is only meant to be used if you''re driving it cross country. That way you don't get stranded every 300 miles waiting some number of hours while the battery charges.
One of my favorite technologies which may or may not ever be developed commercially: You can initiate a nuclear reaction in a "core" using a beam from a particle accelerator. There is a net energy release; so, the system is thermodynamically good. If you cut off the accelerator, the reactor immediately shuts down. (instant off...). And (here's the good part) because you're prompting the radiation with particles tuned to just the right energies, the end result is a core with all of the material used up and only very short lived stuff left over...
Well, I do see the dangers (present and future). there's a lot of issues that need ironing out, including how to go back and deal with the stuff we disposed of improperly :
I'll just chalk it up to a God awful learning experience. (It's not without precedence: look at the number of people who had to die before Mercury, Lead and Asbestos were discovered to be toxic)
OK, DOE did a lot or research on this. After all, we have kids. Some of us live near power lines and power plants. Some of us work around this power distribution equipment all day long...
It all started with one scientist who claimed he had evidence back in the '80s that the EMF did cause problems. So, lots of studies have been done. Tons of studies. All of them came up with the same results: Nada wrt EMF. No effect at "safe" distances.
To qualify "safe": That means you're far enough away that there's not going to be lethal discharges to your body or lethal currents developed in metal objects your wearing or touching (like a car). So, if you're far enough away not to get shocked, your a "safe" distance away.
What DOE found was that the stories were all coincidence. If there was a neighborhood next to a power line with unusually high number of cancer cases, it was because the people were living next to or on top of a chemical dump site. It was the chemicals in the ground from other neighboring industry.
So, they went back to the original scientist and asked to review his data. He'd made it all up. He saw it as a way to boost his funding so he could work on other pet projects. He's been totaly discredited.
That's 300 miles on the battery. Back to the trailer: What's the fuel capacity and range with the trailer? What's the range of a typical car? 350-400 miles...
I can envision a lot of cases where the only thing they could say is "Ok, it was a satellite that came down." Releasing any more information than that could, even after 38 years, damage national security or foreign relations.
Even then I can think of an exception: Do we make it public knowledge that we found a downed Russian satellite in 1965. If we simply said it was a satellite, the Russians would put 2+2 together "hey didn't we loose the ______ satellite in 1965?" By doing this they'd know we had their technology and may have reverse engineered their encryption way back in '65... You see where this is going???
Then there's the weighing the publics need to know vs. the public's right to know. Do you tell someone that a satellite with a Plutonium RTG landed in their back yard if there was no damage done? You realize I'm only using this as an example...
I can only think of three things that *might* have generated the kind of response indicated in this incident. 1.) one of our spy satellites came down. 2.) one of their spy satellites came down. 3.) A piece of sensitive or hazardous equipment fell off of an experimental aircraft.
Oh, I should have prefaced that with: I don't believe the aliens have landed. Anywhere.
Slashdot Mirror
Dude, give it up: The Sun (yes our Sun) has a measured variability of ~3%. How much difference do you think 3% increase (or decrease) in sunlight affects the planet? Do you honestly think anything we do has any effect of significance compared to this? I don't think so.
we have detailed observations using telescopes and photographic plates going back around 150 years. 24hour monitoring with satellites only goes back a decade or two (yohkoh, soho, geos, etc.)
You need to learn the difference between astrology "the planets are aligned with the wrong constellation" and astronomy ; an actual science
"Hey, is that a rail gun I see mounted on your truck?"
See if you can run your vehicle anyway. Or run it independantly, publishing the results for all (including DARPA) to see. Run it fast. Win.
Just roll a D-100 and see who wins.
I'm picturing adding AI controls to my D-100 pickup, which I already refer to as Franken-Truck (since it's built out of parts from at least three other trucks and one car); and, letting it rip!
The >8-way processors are in the pipeline. There's support from hardware vendors who want access to it; and, AMD's promised it. Let them work out the bugs in the current implementation(S) and then they'll start producing the more advanced versions...
They mean it didn't come out of the box (truck) as a complete package from IBM or Sun or HP or Cray or ...
They designed and built it themselves using commodity parts.
Since when? Sure some work is done openly and published. Some developments are marketed. This is one way a university makes money...
when it can rate on the list. And since it's a fluid list, with big computers regularly falling off, the definition changes. The real question is, what happens to a "former" super computer? If you want a comparison, run the linpack code on your machine.
Naw, doesn't taste right...
btw, that was supposed to be humor: the secret method of separating hydrogen from water is, you guessed it, hydrolysis.
Well, it's depends on whether Equador and Mexico fall in line with OPEC (of which they are members) or tell them to go to hell.
Actually, you're right! It's cheaper to take an older car, fix everything on it, then maintain it properly from that point on, than it is to buy & operate a new car. This is true even if you start with a POS junker and restore it (properly please). The initial investment is less than the cost of a new car. Maintenance costs won't be any higher if the initial restoration was done right. Insurance costs will be lower. etc.
My truck's 20 years old. I'm looking for one from the '35 to '55 frame eventually. I just like the style of the old ones better.
Ethanol: Change gaskets & retune...
Methanol: see ethanol...
Nitromethane: Add fire extinguisher, retune & hold on!!!
Hydrogen: new FI system & Fuel tank...
LPG: see Hydrogen
Methane: See Hydrogen
Biodesiel: Engine swap
Go ahead, change the fuel. I dare you. I'll still be driving my old beat up inefficient non-aerodynamic clunker of a truck.
That's OK, I'm going to rule the world when Hydrogen becomes fuel of choice. I'm patenting the secret process for separating Hydrogen from, of all things, sea water. Who'd have thought it was possible.
Good Plan.
And it will have to be solved using an artifical gravity... (think spinning cylinder) It's pretty much the only way they'll be able to make the trip, land, then be able to walk, without assistance, on the surface immediately afterwards.
Worst hybrid ever. Good point. However, the car is designed to run on batteries all the time. The trailer is only meant to be used if you''re driving it cross country. That way you don't get stranded every 300 miles waiting some number of hours while the battery charges.
Well, I do see the dangers (present and future). there's a lot of issues that need ironing out, including how to go back and deal with the stuff we disposed of improperly : I'll just chalk it up to a God awful learning experience. (It's not without precedence: look at the number of people who had to die before Mercury, Lead and Asbestos were discovered to be toxic)
I'm not trying to make excuses...
It all started with one scientist who claimed he had evidence back in the '80s that the EMF did cause problems. So, lots of studies have been done. Tons of studies. All of them came up with the same results: Nada wrt EMF. No effect at "safe" distances.
To qualify "safe": That means you're far enough away that there's not going to be lethal discharges to your body or lethal currents developed in metal objects your wearing or touching (like a car). So, if you're far enough away not to get shocked, your a "safe" distance away.
What DOE found was that the stories were all coincidence. If there was a neighborhood next to a power line with unusually high number of cancer cases, it was because the people were living next to or on top of a chemical dump site. It was the chemicals in the ground from other neighboring industry.
So, they went back to the original scientist and asked to review his data. He'd made it all up. He saw it as a way to boost his funding so he could work on other pet projects. He's been totaly discredited.
That's 300 miles on the battery. Back to the trailer: What's the fuel capacity and range with the trailer? What's the range of a typical car? 350-400 miles...
Even then I can think of an exception: Do we make it public knowledge that we found a downed Russian satellite in 1965. If we simply said it was a satellite, the Russians would put 2+2 together "hey didn't we loose the ______ satellite in 1965?" By doing this they'd know we had their technology and may have reverse engineered their encryption way back in '65... You see where this is going???
Then there's the weighing the publics need to know vs. the public's right to know. Do you tell someone that a satellite with a Plutonium RTG landed in their back yard if there was no damage done? You realize I'm only using this as an example...
I can only think of three things that *might* have generated the kind of response indicated in this incident. 1.) one of our spy satellites came down. 2.) one of their spy satellites came down. 3.) A piece of sensitive or hazardous equipment fell off of an experimental aircraft.
Oh, I should have prefaced that with: I don't believe the aliens have landed. Anywhere.