Water can be superheated as much as you please, it simply has to be at a high enough pressure. Past water's critical point (about 650 K and 22 MPa), it becomes a supercritical vapor, indistinguishable from liquid or vapor. Additionally, the boundary between liquid and gas dissapears, and the properties of the substance are somewhat different.
Here's a nice, fun little resource for those interested in prime numbers. Actually, it's pretty large and exhaustive: The Prime Pages. Make sure to check out Prime Curios!; fascinating stuff.
I think this is a good idea, in the sense that it could provide the public with an annual "spaceshow" with exciting events to help fuel interest. Contests would give incentive for new innovations in this area, and it would give smaller, independent teams a chance to make it to the big time once a few large companies start dominating the commercial space industry. The only qualm I have is that without strict regulation, this could be dangerous to those participating in the events, and worse, the spectators. Private sector space travel accidents would severely put off the public, because all this shooting rockets off into space doesn't look too dangerous until people get hurt. And as soon as the public realizes that this is in fact dangerous, they will be a lot more hesitant to pay a small fortune for a ticket, or even to go see a launch.
The X-prize Cup is a good step towards making space travel really lucrative for entrepreneurs, which is what we need if we want to see it really develop into something huge and take off (no pun intended).
Second day in a row I've seen effect/affect misused in a summary. I didn't even read the summary or the article. My eyes zoomed right to the offending gramatical error, and I began contemplating suicide for being such an annally-retentive, grammatically-obsessed freak. Ah well.
North Korea's suffers attack of extreme jealousy at always being higher and more powerful than its brother but never getting praised, and nukes the hell out of its younger sibling. That'll show 'em! Secretly, North Korea regrets it afterwards and tries to make a truce.
Also sulfides, as well as butyric acid and derivatives thereof. Butyric acid really has a horrible, lingering smell, but interestingly enough, its ester (product of a reaction with an acid) smells like pineapple... Go figure.
Whether the origin of martian methane is biological, or due to some unknown chemical process, or whatever, I think that one thing is becoming clear: we must visit Mars, as soon as possible. If you detect water and methane on planet, it's time to go there and make sure. A rover/probe is all well and good, but sending scientists and a lab is well worth the exta expenditure (and risk). This should become a new priority.
Perhaps this is the beginning of an effort to research applications of genetic engineering to help humans withstand the strains of space travel over long periods of time. Let me explain: Cataloguing the effects of it on mice would allow researcher to the send up genetically modified versions, attempting various solutions to problems such as bone and muscle loss. This would all serve to determine whether or not GMing space travelers of any kind is even feasible or effective, and if it should be attempted on humans or not. Seems like an interesting extension to this plan.
I saw this article, and decided it'd be a piece of cake to post a witty or interesting comment.
First I though, something funny, about the moon being made of cheese or something, eh? I found it soon in enough:
"The moon has a virtually unlimited supply of cheese..." by macshune, 3, funny.
Then I thought, something about this being a farfetched goal without fusion developed yet. Well,
"I love it. We don't even have economic fusion yet..." by hcg50a, 3 interesting, and "fusion is only a few decades away..." by js7a, 5, funny.
At that point I had few options left. I could try something funny, about the man in the moon wanting his helium back for party balloons, or something like that. Or, I could try something insightful, which was certainly out of the question. Nothing interesting with facts to back it up either.
Finally, I could post something like this, and quickly modify the subject to something else to divert modrators.
I wonder if it'd be possible to mine iron on Mars, eh???
"We take the guilt out of gaming and put the fun back into exercise"
This makes no sense! A gamer suffers guilt from not gaming, and exercise will never be fun, or we wouldn't call it exercise. $700...what nonsense. Noone would use this unless they were paid to.
Are those really fake rocks? Interesting how they look so much like the real thing. Martian cilization must have been great indeed for them to be capable of such painstakingly accurate forgeries of pebbles...
Apparently, the skies are indeed blue, even though I used to think the Martian atmosphere was to tenuous to filter much light. But when you think about the conception of a muddy colored, reddish sky, that doesn't make much sense (unless a dust storm's happening): once again, the atmoshpere is so thin that it can only filter some colors leaving a bluish tinge for example, but it won't disperse much light (or block out all higher energy light in favor of red).
Pictures in the visible spectrum sure are nice for us to look at and admire, but what about other electromagnetic spectra? Surely infrared, radio, microwave, x-ray, etc capabilities on this rover camera would be scientifically useful. I wonder if Spirit or Opportunity have any such capabilities. (I know they carry a mass spectrometer, but that ain't exactly a widefield camera...)
For quadriplegics, this is a fantastic idea. For everyone else who wants a direct link to their computer to execute thoughts faster and faster, there will come a time when you will stop having to think in order to record your thoughts. What then? Billions of comments on every/. article that go something like this:
jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj etc.
There is still a lot to be said for typing by hand, and pen and paper in extreme circumstances as well!
Although it is utterly ridiculous that the the word "nuclear" is feared in most every context by the public, this should not be a surprise. The nuclear bomb is the most powerful weapon devised by mankind so far, and even a nuclear power plant evokes a twinge of that fear, that image of a mushroom cloud. It's irrational, of course, but I think that the people we have to blame for this are those who associated nuclear power with death and destruction: the generals and bureaucrats who perpetuated the nuclear arms race for decades.
Imagine that Einstein had sent a letter to President Roosevelt denying the feasibility of an atomic bomb, but citing its potential as a power source. We would have fought Japan a little longer in WWII, but the bomb would never have been dropped, let alone developed (perhaps?). In that eventuality, the rest of the century would have been spent growing to respect the deadly potential of nuclear materials, but remembering that they provide prodigious amounts of inexpensive power and propulsion. There would be as much fear of "nuclear" as there is of coal power plants and airplane engines.
Given a few more decades, I think the tangible fear of atomics will subside a little. Hopefully humanity has survived the test of the late 20th century without destroying itself with atomics, and is ready to put the to use in better ways. Hopefully.
Most spacecraft, especially those which are on missions to other planets, etc. undergo strict procedures to prevent the scenario you have mentioned. The contamination of other celestial bodies is not desired, especially if there is a risk of eliminating existing life in the process. This is why Galileo was flown into Jupiter to destroy it, because the chance of it crashing into Europa (which has life potential) was to great.
I wonder, however, if we'll ever try to terraform planets such as Mars or Venus using bacteria, algae, or other methods to produce a livable atmosphere. If we don't discover any life on Mars, but find enough water, I think that would be the next logical step.
how does this book stand up to such Baxter literature as Vacuum Diagrams (i realize that this is a collection of stories, but comparable to a book) which is another one of his excellent rambles through history? Baxter excels at such writing, which is evident in such works as the Time Ships, an elaboration (and stunning improvement on) Wells' Time Machine. When he grounds himself in too small a time frame, i find his imagination is somewhat constricted, which is why the manifold trilogy was good in my eyes, but was overshadowed by his more temporally epic work.
Baxter and Stephenson, who've been much discussed so far, are both doing incredible work in science fiction. anyone who hasn't read them definitely should. i would recommend Baxter's Time Ships (a lengthy but very enjoyable read) and Stephenson's Snow Crash (so entertaining) to begin, and then explore other books authored by them.
I don't know too much about the physics of gravity (yet), at least mathematically, beyond F=Gm1m2/d^2. However, my interpretation of general relativity was that a collection of mass (or energy) moves inertially through spacetime, that is, without inherent acceleration, and the acceleration we see occurs because the object is following the topology of space as it goes along. If spacetime is curved, the shortest distance between two points is some sort of curve.
That's why I think the term "gravity well" is particularly illuminating; energy/mass moves inertially through curved space time until it finds its way into a state of equilibrium, the highest local curvature of space possible, just as if a marble in a well is going to stay at the bottom. It also explains a little why an object at the midpoint between two equal masses (assume no other mass around) is in unstable equilibrium: imagine a marble on the very tip of a hill in this case.
Gravity resists integration with the other 3 fundamental forces, and maybe this is because it is not a *force*. Perhaps there really is no gravitic force carrier... Curved spacetime is simply a more elegant concept.
Seems almost too good to be true; renewed governmental interest in space development seemed to me a little like the Cubs in the playoffs...quite improbable, and not leading to much in the long run.
Apparently both are possible now, and it's about time. If I got a wish for one of the two to come true, it would be for this bill to do everything it proposes to do, with punctuality as a bonus.
But I doubt that any governmental initiative in space will ever contribute to anything done by the commercial sector. Hopefully the government won't come in and screw everything up once businesses have blazed a trail for them. It would be too typical.
Slashdot Mirror
Water can be superheated as much as you please, it simply has to be at a high enough pressure. Past water's critical point (about 650 K and 22 MPa), it becomes a supercritical vapor, indistinguishable from liquid or vapor. Additionally, the boundary between liquid and gas dissapears, and the properties of the substance are somewhat different.
Here's a nice, fun little resource for those interested in prime numbers. Actually, it's pretty large and exhaustive: The Prime Pages. Make sure to check out Prime Curios!; fascinating stuff.
I think this is a good idea, in the sense that it could provide the public with an annual "spaceshow" with exciting events to help fuel interest. Contests would give incentive for new innovations in this area, and it would give smaller, independent teams a chance to make it to the big time once a few large companies start dominating the commercial space industry. The only qualm I have is that without strict regulation, this could be dangerous to those participating in the events, and worse, the spectators. Private sector space travel accidents would severely put off the public, because all this shooting rockets off into space doesn't look too dangerous until people get hurt. And as soon as the public realizes that this is in fact dangerous, they will be a lot more hesitant to pay a small fortune for a ticket, or even to go see a launch.
The X-prize Cup is a good step towards making space travel really lucrative for entrepreneurs, which is what we need if we want to see it really develop into something huge and take off (no pun intended).
Second day in a row I've seen effect/affect misused in a summary. I didn't even read the summary or the article. My eyes zoomed right to the offending gramatical error, and I began contemplating suicide for being such an annally-retentive, grammatically-obsessed freak. Ah well.
North Korea's suffers attack of extreme jealousy at always being higher and more powerful than its brother but never getting praised, and nukes the hell out of its younger sibling. That'll show 'em! Secretly, North Korea regrets it afterwards and tries to make a truce.
Indeed, while we quote away:
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."
--
Salvor Hardin, from Asimov's "Foundation"
Also sulfides, as well as butyric acid and derivatives thereof. Butyric acid really has a horrible, lingering smell, but interestingly enough, its ester (product of a reaction with an acid) smells like pineapple... Go figure.
Whether the origin of martian methane is biological, or due to some unknown chemical process, or whatever, I think that one thing is becoming clear: we must visit Mars, as soon as possible. If you detect water and methane on planet, it's time to go there and make sure. A rover/probe is all well and good, but sending scientists and a lab is well worth the exta expenditure (and risk). This should become a new priority.
Perhaps this is the beginning of an effort to research applications of genetic engineering to help humans withstand the strains of space travel over long periods of time. Let me explain: Cataloguing the effects of it on mice would allow researcher to the send up genetically modified versions, attempting various solutions to problems such as bone and muscle loss. This would all serve to determine whether or not GMing space travelers of any kind is even feasible or effective, and if it should be attempted on humans or not. Seems like an interesting extension to this plan.
I saw this article, and decided it'd be a piece of cake to post a witty or interesting comment.
First I though, something funny, about the moon being made of cheese or something, eh? I found it soon in enough:
"The moon has a virtually unlimited supply of cheese..." by macshune, 3, funny.
Then I thought, something about this being a farfetched goal without fusion developed yet. Well,
"I love it. We don't even have economic fusion yet..." by hcg50a, 3 interesting, and "fusion is only a few decades away..." by js7a, 5, funny.
At that point I had few options left. I could try something funny, about the man in the moon wanting his helium back for party balloons, or something like that. Or, I could try something insightful, which was certainly out of the question. Nothing interesting with facts to back it up either.
Finally, I could post something like this, and quickly modify the subject to something else to divert modrators.
I wonder if it'd be possible to mine iron on Mars, eh???
"We take the guilt out of gaming and put the fun back into exercise"
This makes no sense! A gamer suffers guilt from not gaming, and exercise will never be fun, or we wouldn't call it exercise. $700...what nonsense. Noone would use this unless they were paid to.
Quite the genius came up with this concept, eh?
Are those really fake rocks? Interesting how they look so much like the real thing. Martian cilization must have been great indeed for them to be capable of such painstakingly accurate forgeries of pebbles...
Apparently, the skies are indeed blue, even though I used to think the Martian atmosphere was to tenuous to filter much light. But when you think about the conception of a muddy colored, reddish sky, that doesn't make much sense (unless a dust storm's happening): once again, the atmoshpere is so thin that it can only filter some colors leaving a bluish tinge for example, but it won't disperse much light (or block out all higher energy light in favor of red).
Pictures in the visible spectrum sure are nice for us to look at and admire, but what about other electromagnetic spectra? Surely infrared, radio, microwave, x-ray, etc capabilities on this rover camera would be scientifically useful. I wonder if Spirit or Opportunity have any such capabilities. (I know they carry a mass spectrometer, but that ain't exactly a widefield camera...)
in other words, stor more pr0n than you could ever possibly view.
For quadriplegics, this is a fantastic idea. For everyone else who wants a direct link to their computer to execute thoughts faster and faster, there will come a time when you will stop having to think in order to record your thoughts. What then? Billions of comments on every /. article that go something like this:
j jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj etc.
jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
There is still a lot to be said for typing by hand, and pen and paper in extreme circumstances as well!
Although it is utterly ridiculous that the the word "nuclear" is feared in most every context by the public, this should not be a surprise. The nuclear bomb is the most powerful weapon devised by mankind so far, and even a nuclear power plant evokes a twinge of that fear, that image of a mushroom cloud. It's irrational, of course, but I think that the people we have to blame for this are those who associated nuclear power with death and destruction: the generals and bureaucrats who perpetuated the nuclear arms race for decades.
Imagine that Einstein had sent a letter to President Roosevelt denying the feasibility of an atomic bomb, but citing its potential as a power source. We would have fought Japan a little longer in WWII, but the bomb would never have been dropped, let alone developed (perhaps?). In that eventuality, the rest of the century would have been spent growing to respect the deadly potential of nuclear materials, but remembering that they provide prodigious amounts of inexpensive power and propulsion. There would be as much fear of "nuclear" as there is of coal power plants and airplane engines.
Given a few more decades, I think the tangible fear of atomics will subside a little. Hopefully humanity has survived the test of the late 20th century without destroying itself with atomics, and is ready to put the to use in better ways. Hopefully.
Most spacecraft, especially those which are on missions to other planets, etc. undergo strict procedures to prevent the scenario you have mentioned. The contamination of other celestial bodies is not desired, especially if there is a risk of eliminating existing life in the process. This is why Galileo was flown into Jupiter to destroy it, because the chance of it crashing into Europa (which has life potential) was to great. I wonder, however, if we'll ever try to terraform planets such as Mars or Venus using bacteria, algae, or other methods to produce a livable atmosphere. If we don't discover any life on Mars, but find enough water, I think that would be the next logical step.
how does this book stand up to such Baxter literature as Vacuum Diagrams (i realize that this is a collection of stories, but comparable to a book) which is another one of his excellent rambles through history? Baxter excels at such writing, which is evident in such works as the Time Ships, an elaboration (and stunning improvement on) Wells' Time Machine. When he grounds himself in too small a time frame, i find his imagination is somewhat constricted, which is why the manifold trilogy was good in my eyes, but was overshadowed by his more temporally epic work.
Baxter and Stephenson, who've been much discussed so far, are both doing incredible work in science fiction. anyone who hasn't read them definitely should. i would recommend Baxter's Time Ships (a lengthy but very enjoyable read) and Stephenson's Snow Crash (so entertaining) to begin, and then explore other books authored by them.
I don't know too much about the physics of gravity (yet), at least mathematically, beyond F=Gm1m2/d^2. However, my interpretation of general relativity was that a collection of mass (or energy) moves inertially through spacetime, that is, without inherent acceleration, and the acceleration we see occurs because the object is following the topology of space as it goes along. If spacetime is curved, the shortest distance between two points is some sort of curve.
That's why I think the term "gravity well" is particularly illuminating; energy/mass moves inertially through curved space time until it finds its way into a state of equilibrium, the highest local curvature of space possible, just as if a marble in a well is going to stay at the bottom. It also explains a little why an object at the midpoint between two equal masses (assume no other mass around) is in unstable equilibrium: imagine a marble on the very tip of a hill in this case.
Gravity resists integration with the other 3 fundamental forces, and maybe this is because it is not a *force*. Perhaps there really is no gravitic force carrier... Curved spacetime is simply a more elegant concept.
~Demosthenes
Seems almost too good to be true; renewed governmental interest in space development seemed to me a little like the Cubs in the playoffs...quite improbable, and not leading to much in the long run.
Apparently both are possible now, and it's about time. If I got a wish for one of the two to come true, it would be for this bill to do everything it proposes to do, with punctuality as a bonus.
But I doubt that any governmental initiative in space will ever contribute to anything done by the commercial sector. Hopefully the government won't come in and screw everything up once businesses have blazed a trail for them. It would be too typical.
~Demosthenes