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  1. economics on One Giant Cargo Ship Pollutes As Much As 50M Cars · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's a question of economics. They're built to operate as cheaply as possible. That includes fuel efficiency. So, I'd expect the engines to operate fairly efficiently, in order to minimize the fuel cost; however, that does not mean they minimize pollution. In addition, these ships often use the cheaper heavy fuels, like No. 6 fuel oil, which tend to be higher in sulfur and other contaminants. Until it's cheaper to operate the ship on something else, this will not change.

  2. Re:yes, this is common knowledge on Utah vs. NASA On Heavy-Lift Rocket Design · · Score: 1

    To be fair, the engineers knew that the idiot PR flacks at NASA were trying to launch the Shuttle under conditions explicitly noted as being out of spec.

    While that may be true, the engineering staff on-site should have had the data to show how the spec was determined, what the actual failure temperature was, and continued their objection to launching in those conditions instead of caving the the "PR flacks". In addition, during the investigation it was made apparent that there was evidence from prior launches that the o-rings were not sealing. More than one case of the o-ring burn-through and damage to the o-rings in a recovered booster. So, assuming ATK / Thiokol was responsible for post-flight inspection, analysis and re-furbishing the SRBs (which is a reasonable assumption) then they carry some of the responsibility for the failure.

  3. Re:It's needed. on SpaceX Gets First Private FAA Space Reentry License · · Score: 1

    spacecraft re-entry, especially a manned re-entry, tends to be done at a shallower angle than a ICBM's ballistic re-entry vehicle.

  4. Re:yes, this is common knowledge on Utah vs. NASA On Heavy-Lift Rocket Design · · Score: 1

    Having watched that happen and send my career plans into the toilet (I was about to enter college in 1986)... You'd think that after the 1986 Challenger disaster everyone would know SSRBs are NOT the safest way to go. And yet, here we are.

  5. Re:Meh, we've got better designs in the works anyw on Utah vs. NASA On Heavy-Lift Rocket Design · · Score: 1

    Well you could set off an atomic bomb and follow up behind the shockwave as it pushes the air out of the way, ride the wave of air created by the rising fireball, or you could just let the atomic bomb push you into orbit. Wait, I've read that somewhere before...

  6. Re:Like riding a firecracker on Utah vs. NASA On Heavy-Lift Rocket Design · · Score: 1

    Once the SSRB is ignited, there's no turning back. It's a 2 minute ride and you're in the seat for the duration. In the Shuttle design, any abort or evac has to wait until the SSRBs burn out.

  7. Re:OS/2 on The Software That Failed To Compete With Windows · · Score: 1

    I kind of suspected there was a 3.0 but never saw it in real life myself. Seemed strange to start with version 3.5; but, it was the first version I came across.

  8. Re:Does anyone still have soundcard? on Do You Really Need a Discrete Sound Card? · · Score: 1

    The last Dell I bought (4 years ago) had awful integrated audio. Sure it was capable of 5.1 surround; but, it was corrupted by all kinds of artifacts. I could hear noise (buzzing and clicking superimposed on the audio, associated with disk accesses and apparently from the USB bus, I was not alone as there were discussions about the poor audio quality on various sites, including the Dell customer support portal.

    I put a sound card in the machine to get clean sound.

  9. Re:SideKick (by Intuit) on The Software That Failed To Compete With Windows · · Score: 1

    DESQview gave you some of the same capability by making entire user environments swappable. I used both, SideKick and DESQview.

  10. Re:OS/2 on The Software That Failed To Compete With Windows · · Score: 2, Interesting

    One legacy of OS/2 is NT 3.5. After the IBM/Microsoft split, the Microsoft team turned out the first NT versions... So, in a somewhat obtuse way, if you want to map out the code legacy, OS/2 lives on.

  11. Re:IPAD vs Laptop on An Astronaut's View of Space Station Tech · · Score: 1

    That's a good point. Hadn't thought about that limitation.

  12. Re:Can't wait! on Toyota Introduces Electric RAV4, Powered By Tesla Motor · · Score: 1

    Just carry a generator with you. Saw an example of an early DIY electric civic years ago... For extended range driving the guy would tow a small trailer containing a generator big enough to power the car running at highway speeds. A 2cyl engine doesn't use much fuel.

  13. Re:The opposite please? on Anti-Smartphone Phone Launched For Technophobes · · Score: 1

    So, you do want a smart phone (since you say you want a phone when you're out of WiFi range)...

  14. Re:IPAD vs Laptop on An Astronaut's View of Space Station Tech · · Score: 1

    use a centralized server to handle the data and you'll be fine. ISS, there's an app for that.

  15. Re:IPAD vs Laptop on An Astronaut's View of Space Station Tech · · Score: 1

    g sensor would be confused. Have to manually set the orientation. Since gps signals come from satellites in higher orbit than the station, I'd expect the signal to be stronger, not weaker.

  16. Re:Airplane (Spaceship) Designer on Sciencey Heroes For Young Children? · · Score: 1

    I second this one. He doesn't fit the age criteria but he's been at it for a long time and built some very neat machines. His current projects are, as the parent said, spaceships of a sort. Gen III of the White Knight and SpaceShip may be capable of reaching orbit.

    If space is his thing, a second option might be Elon Musk whose also building space ships and wants to go to Mars. The fact he owns a company that builds fast electric cars just adds to the geeky quotient.

    FWIW, In my opinion Heroes don't have to be real or infallible. My fictional hero was Scotty (Montgomery Scott).

  17. Re:The opposite please? on Anti-Smartphone Phone Launched For Technophobes · · Score: 1

    I believe that's called an iPod Touch. But I might be wrong and expect to be bashed now.

  18. Re:Sorry it's not the most simple on Anti-Smartphone Phone Launched For Technophobes · · Score: 1

    called a firefly phone.

  19. Re:basically on Anti-Smartphone Phone Launched For Technophobes · · Score: 1

    Sorry, I had a cell phone 13 years ago and it was more capable than this one.

  20. Re:No; "powerful explosions" belongs to literature on LHC Scientists Create and Capture Antimatter · · Score: 1

    It would take billions of years to produce enough antimatter

    [reality off] Not so, Starfleet put a station in close orbit to the Sun so that they could use the intense solar radiation to provide the necessary power for the anti-matter production facility. This also adds a measure of safety in the unlikely event of an accident, since it's off-world. [reality on]

  21. Re:What happens when funding gets cut? on Scientists Propose One-Way Trips To Mars · · Score: 1

    Food/water/shelter, and air are relatively easy to generate in-situ. If you have adequate power and are supplied with the necessary supplies and equipement at the start. Food would take the most work since you'd have to build a sufficiently large greenhouse and work up a viable soil mixture. This also assumes you brought adequate seed stock, fertilizer and sample soil biota to bootstrap your greenhouse.

    Acquiring "common" petroleum products like polymer resins for replacment seals, lubricants, various other products from established chemical industries here on Earth, not so much. And then there's the products of our electronic industry that you're going to be very dependant on... Not only would it have to be self sufficient as you describe, they would also have to build an equivalent to our industrial manufacturing complex in order to supply all their needs.

    Let's just hope that within your hypothetical 50 years they find some mineral wealth that Earth is willing to trade for.

  22. Re:We spend more money on things much less importa on James Webb Space Telescope Cost Overruns Adding Up · · Score: 1

    That supercomputer you're sitting in front of, molecular biology, genetic engineering, mass drug studies done using molecular modeling, they're all possible because of science. Science is an area, to be frank, still in its infancy. These big projects like JWST, by studying the structure of the universe, ultimately feed knowledge back into a refinement of our understanding of subjects like quantum mechanics.

    Will JWST feed a hungry child? No. Will the science from JWST help improve our understanding of physics? Yes. Will that indirectly lead to an improvement in the ability to grow more food, provide ready access to information, create better medicines. I think we have has already proven that to be the case.

  23. Re:wrong way, right way, Army way on Military Uses 'Bat-Hook' To Tap Power From Lines · · Score: 1

    Most countries use 230V single phase. One hot and one neutral/ground.

  24. Re:Does NOT work. on Military Uses 'Bat-Hook' To Tap Power From Lines · · Score: 1

    What country are you in? This is not true anywhere in North America. Three phase power delivered from plant but residential power is only single phase except in rare cases. In the U.S., residential power is supplied as split phase 240 VAC delivered on two 120VAC lines and a neutral.

  25. Re:Why are phones special? on T-Mobile G2 'Permaroot' Achieved · · Score: 1

    I can appreciate old school. Built a few of those myself. Don't like to limit myself though. Since I'm an engineer who works with sensors and sensor systems and who writes software... I don't.