Yes, evolution is a theory. Gravity is a theory. The big bang is a theory. Intelligent design isn't a theory; it's a story. There's a difference.
Who modded this "flamebait"? SnapShot's absolutely correct!
Note that in science "theory" is a technical term with a specific meaning distinct from its everyday use. In fact "theory" is the most solid status any body of scientific knowledge can ever attain - much stronger than "law", for instance. And ID doesn't come anywhere near qualifying.
Could someone explain to me what use a laser would be in pointing out stars to his daughter? That was one of the things he said he was doing with it, but I fail to see what the laser would reflect off of that would make it useful.
The airplane, of course. Duh!
Re:Unmanned mission to mars is OK
on
One Year on Mars
·
· Score: 1
there is also the apparent size of the moon relative to the L2 Point, and compared to the earth
What about it? I calculate that the apparent size of the Moon from L2 is almost twice that of the Earth. In other words, L2 lies well within the moon's radio shadow, except for emissions from GEO. GEO communications satellites have highly directional antennae pointing down at earth though, so this should not be much of a problem.
a "halo" that "orbits" the L2 point rather than being at exactly L2
I think you're confusing that with L4/L5, which are statically unstable but have dynamically stable halo orbits around it. There are no stable orbits known around L1/L2/L3. Yes, this means a telescope would have to actively maintain its position at L2, but since this does not require much energy, a solar sail should suffice to do the job.
an established lunar colony would be of tremendous benefit to such a project. Indeed, lunar smelting operations could provide the raw materials for such a project, and then the only logistical issues would be to be able to move the materials on site over ground terrain.
Oh, I agree. What I'm saying is that from our present status (zero resources on the Moon) it makes no sense to establish a lunar base *in order to* build a telescope (of whatever kind) there - it's much simpler to just put it into space. Of course there may be *other* good reasons to build a lunar base - and once you have that, it may make sense to site a telescope near that base.
Re:Unmanned mission to mars is OK
on
One Year on Mars
·
· Score: 1
The big advantage of the Moon here is that it is a physical barrier that stops RF interference, and the fact that it is turned away from the Earth 100% of the time. Not even Io or Ceres can offer that sort of guarentee.
But the Earth-Moon L2 point (above the lunar farside) *does* offer that. Whyever would you want to stick any very sensitive, automated science instrument down a gravity well where it requires tons (literally) of structural support that wouldn't be needed in space? Not to mention having to deal with vibration & dust kicked up by those lunar He3-mining operations, interference from the miners' WiFi gear (noone would want to live farside without broadband:), and so on.
The only reason to *not* put a telescope in space is pre-existing logistical support (for repairs etc.) at the bottom of a given gravity well - but in case of the Moon you're putting that cart before the horse.
It's because the Torino scale is helpfully divided into ranges that suggest the appropriate public response:
0-1 - nothing to see here, move along 2-4 - events meriting coverage on slashdot 5-7 - events meriting coverage on local, regional, or global evening news 8-10 - events meriting local, regional, or global panic
Over 2 in 100'000 *die* within a year. Over 2 in 10'000 "have a problem" severe enough to land in intensive care in any given year. Makes a risk of about 1% over an adult lifetime of a life-threatening complication. Get your numbers straight.
Chronic prescription of NSAIDs for blood thinning is controversial precisely because for many patients the risk of dying from the NSAID may be larger than that of dying from a stroke or heart attack.
For example, aspirin can cause an upset stomach in some people -- but it's also been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease. If I were in a high-risk group, I know I'd rather have a grumbling stomach than a malfunctioning heart.
Bad example. Aspirin and other NSAIDs can cause fatal stomach bleeding in some people - I know because I've been there: intensive care, blood transfusion, all because of a prescription of naproxen (= Aleve over-the-counter) for a torn ligament. This is not all that rare: several thousand people die from it each year in the U.S. alone. But NSAIDs are among the biggest money-makers for the big pharmas, so it's all nicely swept under the rug.
"Upset stomach", my ass - that's like saying a bullet might give you abdominal pain. Technically true, but a bit of an understatement.
Dude, why not use the free open source tool chain for AVR? To quote:
AVR Libc is an open source project whose goal is to provide a high quality C library for use with GCC on Atmel AVR microcontrollers.
Together, avr-binutils, avr-gcc, and avr-libc form the heart of the Opensource toolchain for the Atmel AVR microcontrollers.
They are further accompanied by projects for in-system programming software (uisp, avrdude [formerly avrprog]), simulation (simulavr) and debugging (avr-gdb, AVaRICE).
I use most of the above to program ATmegas under Linux with no problems. But this stuff even runs on Windows, or so I hear.
In fact, as reported on a recent documentary on TV (forget the channel), there is an evil worldwide (at least Mexican-American-Canadian-British-Swedish-German-F rench-Finnish-Indian-Chinese-liberal) conspiracy against oil and energy companies trying to convince the world that CO2 emissions are bad.
Fair enough, I understand your sentiment. I just don't think that requiring that the story features a space elevator in some way is all that restrictive. Not trivial in fact to think of an SF story into which a space elevator couldn't be happily worked in. If you want to be wild and imaginative, how about a story about what will *replace* space elevators in some far future?
Until Asimo appeared, there were no self-balancing two-legged robots.
Honda themselves disagree, never mind that there also have always been a number of (little-known) academic research projects around the world in this area since the 60s.
American universities had given up on the idea.
Oh, is that why MIT started work on M2 in 1998, two years before ASIMO came out?
Look, I do not deny that ASIMO has captured the public's imagination and done a great deal to popularize this field. However, it wasn't the first to do much of anything, it's just (along with Qrio) the most lavishly funded and hence prettiest show-off biped.
I still haven't seen a working self-balancing bipedal robot of American design
Wrong, it means "like a human", no reference to shape involved. What you're thinking of is "anthropomorphic".
ASIMO is anthropomorphic but doesn't have a truly humanoid gait (yet).
Asimo was the first to do that.
You mean "the first I heard about". ASIMO has certainly done much to popularize the field, but - and I quote - "One of the first functioning bipedal robots was developed in the 1970s by Kato (Kato and Tsuiki, 1972)." ()
Whoa, hold yer horses. Have you RTF endorsements of the contest by Clarke and Bradbury on their website?
existing project that needs some PR
Wish it were so, but we're far from that. We've barely reached the point where the possibility of actually building it is being taken seriously at all.
And what makes you think ASIMO represents "world leadership" in humanoid robotics?
From a scientific point of view, ASIMO is an expensive glitzy remote-controlled toy that doesn't tell us much at all about humanoid (as in fluent and efficient) sensorimotor coordination. Take humanoid locomotion: it's based on coupled oscillator dynamics, and letting the physics of the body do much of the work for you. ASIMO doesn't do that at all.
For an example of real "world leadership" in robot (in this case: quadruped) locomotion, check out these videos. Less glitzy but way more interesting.
The most amusing aspect of an ASIMO demo is (or at least used to be last time I watched) the half-dozen Japanese engineers hovering nearby in order to fling themselves under their million-dollar toy in case it should keel over.
Why bother with solar panels and propellers? A buoyancy glider powered from temperature gradients is far more efficient. And you can use it where the sun don't shine, even off-planet.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, evolution is a theory. Gravity is a theory. The big bang is a theory. Intelligent design isn't a theory; it's a story. There's a difference.
Who modded this "flamebait"? SnapShot's absolutely correct!
Note that in science "theory" is a technical term with a specific meaning distinct from its everyday use. In fact "theory" is the most solid status any body of scientific knowledge can ever attain - much stronger than "law", for instance. And ID doesn't come anywhere near qualifying.
Could someone explain to me what use a laser would be in pointing out stars to his daughter? That was one of the things he said he was doing with it, but I fail to see what the laser would reflect off of that would make it useful.
The airplane, of course. Duh!
there is also the apparent size of the moon relative to the L2 Point, and compared to the earth
What about it? I calculate that the apparent size of the Moon from L2 is almost twice that of the Earth. In other words, L2 lies well within the moon's radio shadow, except for emissions from GEO. GEO communications satellites have highly directional antennae pointing down at earth though, so this should not be much of a problem.
a "halo" that "orbits" the L2 point rather than being at exactly L2
I think you're confusing that with L4/L5, which are statically unstable but have dynamically stable halo orbits around it. There are no stable orbits known around L1/L2/L3. Yes, this means a telescope would have to actively maintain its position at L2, but since this does not require much energy, a solar sail should suffice to do the job.
an established lunar colony would be of tremendous benefit to such a project. Indeed, lunar smelting operations could provide the raw materials for such a project, and then the only logistical issues would be to be able to move the materials on site over ground terrain.
Oh, I agree. What I'm saying is that from our present status (zero resources on the Moon) it makes no sense to establish a lunar base *in order to* build a telescope (of whatever kind) there - it's much simpler to just put it into space. Of course there may be *other* good reasons to build a lunar base - and once you have that, it may make sense to site a telescope near that base.
The big advantage of the Moon here is that it is a physical barrier that stops RF interference, and the fact that it is turned away from the Earth 100% of the time. Not even Io or Ceres can offer that sort of guarentee.
:), and so on.
But the Earth-Moon L2 point (above the lunar farside) *does* offer that. Whyever would you want to stick any very sensitive, automated science instrument down a gravity well where it requires tons (literally) of structural support that wouldn't be needed in space? Not to mention having to deal with vibration & dust kicked up by those lunar He3-mining operations, interference from the miners' WiFi gear (noone would want to live farside without broadband
The only reason to *not* put a telescope in space is pre-existing logistical support (for repairs etc.) at the bottom of a given gravity well - but in case of the Moon you're putting that cart before the horse.
Wasn't L. Ron Hubbard a con artist before he became the leader of the Church of Scientology?
What do you mean, "before"?
they had to use a LOT of pigs, because they only look that cute for the first week or so of their lives.
And in what way precisely is cloning going to address this issue?
It's because the Torino scale is helpfully divided into ranges that suggest the appropriate public response:
0-1 - nothing to see here, move along
2-4 - events meriting coverage on slashdot
5-7 - events meriting coverage on local, regional, or global evening news
8-10 - events meriting local, regional, or global panic
The signal does not get through your dead outer skin
Suuuure... so how come I still get great reception with my cell phone in a leather pouch?
one in 100,000, had a problem
Over 2 in 100'000 *die* within a year. Over 2 in 10'000 "have a problem" severe enough to land in intensive care in any given year. Makes a risk of about 1% over an adult lifetime of a life-threatening complication. Get your numbers straight.
Chronic prescription of NSAIDs for blood thinning is controversial precisely because for many patients the risk of dying from the NSAID may be larger than that of dying from a stroke or heart attack.
For example, aspirin can cause an upset stomach in some people -- but it's also been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease. If I were in a high-risk group, I know I'd rather have a grumbling stomach than a malfunctioning heart.
Bad example. Aspirin and other NSAIDs can cause fatal stomach bleeding in some people - I know because I've been there: intensive care, blood transfusion, all because of a prescription of naproxen (= Aleve over-the-counter) for a torn ligament. This is not all that rare: several thousand people die from it each year in the U.S. alone. But NSAIDs are among the biggest money-makers for the big pharmas, so it's all nicely swept under the rug.
"Upset stomach", my ass - that's like saying a bullet might give you abdominal pain. Technically true, but a bit of an understatement.
Dude, why not use the free open source tool chain for AVR? To quote:
AVR Libc is an open source project whose goal is to provide a high quality C library for use with GCC on Atmel AVR microcontrollers.
Together, avr-binutils, avr-gcc, and avr-libc form the heart of the Opensource toolchain for the Atmel AVR microcontrollers.
They are further accompanied by projects for in-system programming software (uisp, avrdude [formerly avrprog]), simulation (simulavr) and debugging (avr-gdb, AVaRICE).
I use most of the above to program ATmegas under Linux with no problems. But this stuff even runs on Windows, or so I hear.
Yes, and instead of the hypothesized liquid hydrocarbon ocean we only have a "viscous fluid", probably liquid hydrocarbons. Doh!
George W. Bush The Great Divider
He can divide??
In fact, as reported on a recent documentary on TV (forget the channel), there is an evil worldwide (at least Mexican-American-Canadian-British-Swedish-German-F rench-Finnish-Indian-Chinese-liberal) conspiracy against oil and energy companies trying to convince the world that CO2 emissions are bad.
That would be FOX.
Fair enough, I understand your sentiment. I just don't think that requiring that the story features a space elevator in some way is all that restrictive. Not trivial in fact to think of an SF story into which a space elevator couldn't be happily worked in. If you want to be wild and imaginative, how about a story about what will *replace* space elevators in some far future?
Until Asimo appeared, there were no self-balancing two-legged robots.
Honda themselves disagree, never mind that there also have always been a number of (little-known) academic research projects around the world in this area since the 60s.
American universities had given up on the idea.
Oh, is that why MIT started work on M2 in 1998, two years before ASIMO came out?
Look, I do not deny that ASIMO has captured the public's imagination and done a great deal to popularize this field. However, it wasn't the first to do much of anything, it's just (along with Qrio) the most lavishly funded and hence prettiest show-off biped.
I still haven't seen a working self-balancing bipedal robot of American design
Well now you have. You're welcome.
Here's the missing link, sorry. Check before you post, duh.
Humanoid means "shaped like a human".
Wrong, it means "like a human", no reference to shape involved. What you're thinking of is "anthropomorphic".
ASIMO is anthropomorphic but doesn't have a truly humanoid gait (yet).
Asimo was the first to do that.
You mean "the first I heard about". ASIMO has certainly done much to popularize the field, but - and I quote - "One of the first functioning bipedal robots was developed in the 1970s by Kato (Kato and Tsuiki, 1972)." ()
misuse of the names of some SF writers
Whoa, hold yer horses. Have you RTF endorsements of the contest by Clarke and Bradbury on their website?
existing project that needs some PR
Wish it were so, but we're far from that. We've barely reached the point where the possibility of actually building it is being taken seriously at all.
And as EVERYBODY knows, ANYTHING written in CAPITALS is ABSOLUTELY true. Lay off the caffeine & caps lock, dOoDe.
Sure, but you can get that kind of thing much cheaper from a RoboSapien.
And what makes you think ASIMO represents "world leadership" in humanoid robotics?
From a scientific point of view, ASIMO is an expensive glitzy remote-controlled toy that doesn't tell us much at all about humanoid (as in fluent and efficient) sensorimotor coordination. Take humanoid locomotion: it's based on coupled oscillator dynamics, and letting the physics of the body do much of the work for you. ASIMO doesn't do that at all.
For an example of real "world leadership" in robot (in this case: quadruped) locomotion, check out these videos. Less glitzy but way more interesting.
The most amusing aspect of an ASIMO demo is (or at least used to be last time I watched) the half-dozen Japanese engineers hovering nearby in order to fling themselves under their million-dollar toy in case it should keel over.
Here. Anything else?
Why bother with solar panels and propellers? A buoyancy glider powered from temperature gradients is far more efficient. And you can use it where the sun don't shine, even off-planet.
Is it a system requirement that all new manned spacecraft have to look like killer whales
Yes. As others have pointed out, it's thermal management for re-entry into the atmosphere.
#include "tinfoil.h"
Now, why do killer whales look like they've had to survive atmospheric entry? Hmmm...