Ummm, yes they are being used in spill clean-ups. Perhaps not the variety you are thinking of... For over a decade, bacteria have been used to digest petroleum spills.
First off, I think he's accelerating the picture beyond a realistic time frame. Even if the technology is available, it will take time to implement to the level the author suggests. There will also be heavy opposition to the wholesale replacement of humans by Unions. When this starts to happen you can expect more people to join Unions; and, for Unions to start using their power to influence the process. So, I suspect it'll actually take approximately a century longer than Marshall Brain suggests.
He's also ignored the number of people that this will employ. It will require literally millions of people (good old humans) to supervise, maintain, repair, and design (if not build -- but I suppose that would be automated too) these robots. This would, of course, require that the average educational level of the burger flipping McDonalds employee be increased, of course, because instead he'd now be doing the more complex work of maintaining the equipment.
Ultimately though, I suspect Brain's more right than wrong. Once generations have passed where no one can remember when the robots didn't exist, Once the robots become common and entrenched, Once people are used to the idea and don't mind being served by the machines, most of the "menial" jobs will be automated.
At this point, I can see society going one of three ways:
1.) It's going to sound crackpot; but, humans become irrelevant. After centuries of machines doing all the work, society collapses. Our worst nightmares come true... Of course, this is the least likely scenerio (I'm giving human nature some credit).
2.) The line between man and machine blurs. There's some research being done now which would allow interfacing people with machines, at the physical as well as mental level. The current ideas are usually researched with the intention of coming up with repairs for "damaged" humans -- limb replacement, ear replacements, etc. I can image a scenerio where, in a few hundred years, the categories might become something like, hardware, firmware, software, wetware. People, of course would still be working, in some form or another...
3.) Here's the idealistic: We end up with a more or less utopian society. All of the menial work is done by machines. Humans are free to explore whatever avenues interest them. Some would choose to continue to work -- because they find it interesting. This of course assumes a couple of things: Energy is more or less free, Food and water are plentiful, society morphs into a socialistic form where basic necessities are available at no cost to everyone medical care is free and materials are available to anyone who needs them.
I keep seeing stuff on eBay that's been parted out and it really SUCKS! I have a bet with someone about what a vax 11/7xx can (or cannot) do; But, everytime I check ebay all I find are boards...
I had read the article; but, simply hadn't had enough coffee yet. When I replied I thought you simply didn't know... My apologies.
Actually Lead is slightly para-magnetic (repells magnetic fields) so, based on the design of the gun, it would be pushed back into the chamber slightly.
1.) Bring in fans to move air into and out of room (should draw less than A/C). Open all windows. Shut off AC, unecessary lighting, monitors, redundant servers, etc., to save power for critical servers and reduce heating. Don't forget to remove tiles from suspended ceilings -- sometimes you can get some convection cooling via this space...
2.) Call Caterpillar and see how fast they can get you a large portable generator -- large enough to power the center, servers, lights, A/C and all.
3.) Keep tabs on the power company, make sure you know how long they expect the substation to be down...
Recent analysis shows that the smaller ( 250m) silicate based (rocky) asteriods will airburst. It would have to be pretty damn big to survive hitting the surface. Iron asteriods will almost always survive to impact. Fortunately, the iron asteriods are the minority.
Basically, No. There is some work being done; but, usually under the auspices of other projects... (no official funding)
once a smaller object hits a major city, people will become interested. There have been at least two or three in the past century (that we know of) which impacted with the force of a (smaller) nuclear weapon. All struck in uninhabited areas...
Although this is a significant threat (worth spending more money than we do on), the larger immediate threat to the human species is the human species itself...
We seem to be smarter than the dinosaurs were. We've developed nuclear weapons, a functional understanding of genetics (biological weapons) and are working on nano-technology. Any one of these, if used maliciously, could end the species.
It'll happen the first time a small one actually hits a city. There have been at least three small asteriod strikes that impacted Earth in the past 100 years with the energy equivalent of a nuclear weapon. All three happened to hit in unpopulated areas...
A portable, reliable, effective gauss rifle has yet to be (mass) produced.
The damage isn't all related to force (or more correctly transferred momentum ( = mv)); but, also related to energy (= mv^2). There are numerous factors like cross sectional (frontal) area, Type of projectile (jacketed vs not, solid vs hollow point, hardness of metal, etc.), shape of the bullet, etc., which will determine how the projectile affects the target.
Actually, I stopped running seti@home when I checked into their science. Now, before anyone gets defensive it's not the actual method they're using I have problems with. It's the scope. In principle it's a good idea. If it ever found anything, I'd be among the first to applaud them.
However, if one looks closely you'll see that they're only capable of seeing a signal from stars within say, 70-150 light years (I don't remember the exact numbers; but, this is a reasonable assumption). If you look at the stars within this range, first of all, there aren't many; and, second most are not all that interesting. Once they've done a comprehensive search of the area immediately around these stars, for all intensive purposes, the project is complete...
Instead, I'm donating my compute cycles to cancer research (for now).
Ahhh, I see (says the blind man). I agree with the detector. Your right. Unfortunately, the terrorist type will always find a way. If the plane is shielded against consumer electronics, he could rig up a kW level (burst) RF generator in his luggage. (hopefully no one will try this)
Bringing planes up to snuff shouldn't be too hard; but, most of the airlines are on hard economic times. (They asked the government for the money to add the armored cockpit doors after all -- which I think should have been their responsibility). I tend to agree with you; but, I just don't see the airlines doing this until they have to.
Shredding's never really been enough = ) having put documents back together for fun (and to annoy my supervisors, or just freak them out).
Burning the documents is "complete" destruction; and, if you use the resulting heat to warm the building, is environmentally friendly = )
I'm sure someone could make a mint if they could design a boiler that had an automatic feed, where you dump the documents into a hopper and it automatically shredded them (for combustion efficiency) and feeds the shreds to the fire. It could be dual fuel (gas, oil, whatever) to keep it going between pages.
Not too hard actually. I've been able to read stuff off of blacked out pages without too much trouble : ) It depends heavily on what type of ink was originally used and how the solvent in the black marker affects it.
Despite what the article says, the more modern the plane, the more likely it is already hardened. It's not perfect; there are likely to be some issues since none of the aircraft manufacturers is going to go to the trouble of putting the passenger cabin of a commercial airliner in a virtual Faraday cage (which is essentially what you seem to be suggesting).
It's the older planes that are more likely to be susceptible. It's easy to say, "Harden the plane" or "Buy new planes" but, it's not economically feasible. I'd argue that 100k may not be much money for a airline; but, multiplied by the number of older planes flying, no airline could afford it. In time, all of the planes will be of a new enough type that they'll probably be able to rule it totally unnecessary.
To the airline, the cost effective solution, for now, is to inconvenience the customer and ask them to turn off the electronic devices.
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Ummm, yes they are being used in spill clean-ups. Perhaps not the variety you are thinking of... For over a decade, bacteria have been used to digest petroleum spills.
or does the caldera symbol on /. really look like the Death Star from Star Wars?
He's also ignored the number of people that this will employ. It will require literally millions of people (good old humans) to supervise, maintain, repair, and design (if not build -- but I suppose that would be automated too) these robots. This would, of course, require that the average educational level of the burger flipping McDonalds employee be increased, of course, because instead he'd now be doing the more complex work of maintaining the equipment.
Ultimately though, I suspect Brain's more right than wrong. Once generations have passed where no one can remember when the robots didn't exist, Once the robots become common and entrenched, Once people are used to the idea and don't mind being served by the machines, most of the "menial" jobs will be automated.
At this point, I can see society going one of three ways:
1.) It's going to sound crackpot; but, humans become irrelevant. After centuries of machines doing all the work, society collapses. Our worst nightmares come true... Of course, this is the least likely scenerio (I'm giving human nature some credit).
2.) The line between man and machine blurs. There's some research being done now which would allow interfacing people with machines, at the physical as well as mental level. The current ideas are usually researched with the intention of coming up with repairs for "damaged" humans -- limb replacement, ear replacements, etc. I can image a scenerio where, in a few hundred years, the categories might become something like, hardware, firmware, software, wetware. People, of course would still be working, in some form or another...
3.) Here's the idealistic: We end up with a more or less utopian society. All of the menial work is done by machines. Humans are free to explore whatever avenues interest them. Some would choose to continue to work -- because they find it interesting. This of course assumes a couple of things: Energy is more or less free, Food and water are plentiful, society morphs into a socialistic form where basic necessities are available at no cost to everyone medical care is free and materials are available to anyone who needs them.
Actually Lead is slightly para-magnetic (repells magnetic fields) so, based on the design of the gun, it would be pushed back into the chamber slightly.
2.) Call Caterpillar and see how fast they can get you a large portable generator -- large enough to power the center, servers, lights, A/C and all. 3.) Keep tabs on the power company, make sure you know how long they expect the substation to be down...
This will actually heat the room up. Thermodynamics is a bitch like that...
Recent analysis shows that the smaller ( 250m) silicate based (rocky) asteriods will airburst. It would have to be pretty damn big to survive hitting the surface. Iron asteriods will almost always survive to impact. Fortunately, the iron asteriods are the minority.
once a smaller object hits a major city, people will become interested. There have been at least two or three in the past century (that we know of) which impacted with the force of a (smaller) nuclear weapon. All struck in uninhabited areas...
We seem to be smarter than the dinosaurs were. We've developed nuclear weapons, a functional understanding of genetics (biological weapons) and are working on nano-technology. Any one of these, if used maliciously, could end the species.
It'll happen the first time a small one actually hits a city. There have been at least three small asteriod strikes that impacted Earth in the past 100 years with the energy equivalent of a nuclear weapon. All three happened to hit in unpopulated areas...
The most powerful readily available airguns will produce a muzzle velocity of > 1000 ft/sec (300 m/s) with a 25 cal. (6.3mm) pellet.
Just thought you'd like to know.
A rapid fire gun propelling paper clip wire sized needles would be quite effective... Dead is dead.
The damage isn't all related to force (or more correctly transferred momentum ( = mv)); but, also related to energy (= mv^2). There are numerous factors like cross sectional (frontal) area, Type of projectile (jacketed vs not, solid vs hollow point, hardness of metal, etc.), shape of the bullet, etc., which will determine how the projectile affects the target.
All the better to dominate the world with Muhahaha
Did I say that out loud? Gosh, I hope not...
You sir, seem to want a broken wrist...
However, if one looks closely you'll see that they're only capable of seeing a signal from stars within say, 70-150 light years (I don't remember the exact numbers; but, this is a reasonable assumption). If you look at the stars within this range, first of all, there aren't many; and, second most are not all that interesting. Once they've done a comprehensive search of the area immediately around these stars, for all intensive purposes, the project is complete...
Instead, I'm donating my compute cycles to cancer research (for now).
Well, the modern ones have microcontrollers in them; so, the flight attendant was right, provided the airlline bans ANY electonic devices.
Personally, I don't see them setting a man down on Mars' surface for decades. That's why I used 50 years...
Bringing planes up to snuff shouldn't be too hard; but, most of the airlines are on hard economic times. (They asked the government for the money to add the armored cockpit doors after all -- which I think should have been their responsibility). I tend to agree with you; but, I just don't see the airlines doing this until they have to.
where mammoth's are breed and raised like cattle. Mmmmmmm Mammoth .....
Burning the documents is "complete" destruction; and, if you use the resulting heat to warm the building, is environmentally friendly = )
I'm sure someone could make a mint if they could design a boiler that had an automatic feed, where you dump the documents into a hopper and it automatically shredded them (for combustion efficiency) and feeds the shreds to the fire. It could be dual fuel (gas, oil, whatever) to keep it going between pages.
Not too hard actually. I've been able to read stuff off of blacked out pages without too much trouble : ) It depends heavily on what type of ink was originally used and how the solvent in the black marker affects it.
It's the older planes that are more likely to be susceptible. It's easy to say, "Harden the plane" or "Buy new planes" but, it's not economically feasible. I'd argue that 100k may not be much money for a airline; but, multiplied by the number of older planes flying, no airline could afford it. In time, all of the planes will be of a new enough type that they'll probably be able to rule it totally unnecessary.
To the airline, the cost effective solution, for now, is to inconvenience the customer and ask them to turn off the electronic devices.