Despite the $/kg numbers, air launch IS more efficient than ground launch, and over time (after the initial cost of development has been diluted), should be significantly cheaper if only because of the fuel savings. Remember, rockets have to carry their oxidizer in big ass tanks that may also need big ass cryogenic cooling systems. Airplanes steal it from the atmosphere.
The effect is so pronounced because a plane is able to carry the rocket past what would be the Max Q point for ground launch, usually around 35,000 to 45,000 feet, which is the point where dynamic pressure (and thus fuel usage) is highest.
Dynamic pressure goes up with increasing velocity and down with thinning atmosphere, which is why it's not just at sea level.
The GP was implying that we tell every kid they are going to be successful in life because they're special. I've never heard an educator of any kind give that impression. The message was always that there are no pre-imposed limits to what you can do.
What's the point of telling a class of third graders that, well, statistically it is highly unlikely that any of you will be astronauts one day, so you shouldn't bother making that a goal?
You really think kids are dropping out of high school at 16 because they have an entitlement mentality? They're mad that they haven't already been hired by NASA? No. Kids drop out because they've been given the impression that they can't succeed in society even if they try, so, they shouldn't even bother.
Um, we don't tell every kid that they ARE going to be an astronaut or President. We tell them that they CAN BE if they dream big and work hard.
Why don't we just crush their aspirations early on? Because America is supposed to be a society where you can become anything you want, no matter what you look like or where you came from. Obviously we have struggled at times to live up that ideal. But, then again, nobody's perfect.
Congratulations, you have just crossed over the Flamebait Singularity. Any sincere words you attempt to utter are now longer able to escape your mouth due to the irresistible urge to have all of America lambast the shit out of you.
But! But! One time I heard somebody say that liquids are "incompressible fluids" and I instantly had a complete understanding of thermodynamics! Teh Global Warmings are a hoax!
Meanwhile, the justice system couldn't give two shits about prosecuting bankers for predatory loan practiced or curtailing insider trading among congress critters.
Two things: One, the predatory lending practices and other shady shit that wall street did prior to the financial collapse was for the most part perfectly legal. That was the problem, and we don't do ex-post-facto laws around here. AFAIK, in the cases where there were illegal actions, investigations are ongoing (also, congress managed to change the laws for next time. See Dodd-Frank).
Secondly, the justice department has no control over insider trading in congress. Again, that's a legal activity which some congressional members are trying to make illegal by passing a bill. Separation of powers, my friend.
I agree with your sentiment. But sadly, in some areas, I think it will literally be impossible to redevelop to the point that people no longer have to rely on a car.
Like, have you been to Phoenix? It's basically 500 sq. miles of parking lots. They'd need to increase to a population the size of NYC to have any workable level of density.
"... there may be a wholly innocent explanation for conduct or behavior that appears suspicious in nature. For this reason, no single indicator should be the sole basis for law enforcement action. The totality of behavioral indicators and other relevant circumstances should be evaluated when considering any law enforcement response or action."
That would probably have made this document a lot less stupid.
Right after I went to energy.gov and searched for Yucca Mountain, I got the same 22 results. However, on that results page was a link right at the top entitled "search all of Energy.gov" which then yielded 108 results. It doesn't seem like the author was very thorough here, herself.
Considering that these are generally PDFs containing large quantities of information (not endless blog re-posts like you'd get with Google hits), it's pretty hard to believe that there's a deliberate attempt to obscure information.
Is their search system as intuitive and comprehensive as Google? No. Then again, nobody's is- if it was easy, everybody would be doing it, and Google wouldn't be Google.
1. Replace all backscatter X-ray machines with millimeter wave scanners; the kind that aren't linked to cancer.
2. Make sure all scanner machines use the updated software which only shows a generic human form rather than your pseudo-naked body.
3. Only used pat-downs on people that set off scanner alarms first.
4. Let people keep their shoes on.
Wouldn't this take care of about 98% of complaints people have with the TSA? Could we at that point accept that the TSA really is just an attempt to provide security, and not to psychologically mindfuck the populace?
It would be fun to see U.S. threaten China about blacklisting them. Oh, wait, they can't because U.S. is so dependent on China that it would hurt U.S. more than it would hurt China.
Other nations you may have heard of that are already on this list include: Canada, India, Israel, and Pakistan.
Being named in this list, as the ambassador suggested might happen to Spain, does not mean that the U.S. is starting some kind of trade blockade or economic war with Spain.
Does the Sinde law sound bad? Yes. But the ultimate responsibility and/or blame lies with the Spanish government. Insinuating that the only reason the law was created and passed is that the U.S. threatened Spain with an act of war is silly hyperbole.
...that if the TSA were replaced by private security contractors, as all these Republicans would love to see, that not a one of them would have a problem with "police-style uniforms" that "insult real cops" or any other complaints people have?
Did you ever notice how the vast majority of these people never said a negative word about the TSA in their life until Obama became president? They don't care about issues of personal liberty. They care about getting people mad at any cost so they'll vote the Democrat out of office.
?The DEA is considered a member of the intelligence community and has been known to use NORAD to track airplanes.
Ok.. they're part of the DOJ, but whatever. I don't see how the mere fact that they are an intelligence or law enforcement agency can be a negative- it's how they run shit that's important. And why would using NORAD to track a suspected airplane be an encroachment on civil liberties?
I'd be interested in seeing evidence on your wiretapping claims.
1. Being the cousin of a member of a drug cartel who recently fled to Mexico.
2. Being the current owner of an SUV which formerly belonged to said cousin.
3. Using said SUV to drive your drug-dealer cousin's wife to Tijuana, and staying there a few days.
No. Guilt by association would be if he was convicted merely of being related to a drug dealer.
Police, local/state/federal etc., investigate and gather info on many suspects and associates of suspects in criminal cases all the time- it's called solving crimes. You're acting like 20 years ago, the police would have never even paid attention to this guy, despite his connections to the suspect, and are only tracking him because it's easy to slap a GPS transponder to his car (as if it requires no resources to do so, or to monitor said GPS device and cross-reference where he goes, etc.)
As for why they didn't get a warrant, from my understanding it is because they are not currently required to, at least not until this lawsuit is resolved, and they obviously feel it is legal.
I'm undecided on whether federal agencies should need a warrant to use a tracking device on your car, but if the person of interest here, "Greg," is trying to insinuate that the government is tracking citizens at random big-brother style, that is wildly inaccurate.
Read the full article: by his own admission, his cousin is involved in a Mexican drug cartel, and was the previous owner of the SUV. His cousin recently fled to Mexico, after which "Greg" drove his cousin's wife to Tijuana and stayed there for a few days.
He noticed the tracking device after these events.
He's clearly being investigated as part of the DEA's attempt to nail his cousin. Even if a warrant were required to track him, it seems likely a judge would have granted it here.
Let me get this straight: the accusation of rape and subsequent extradition to Sweden is all a secret plot by the US authorities (who are forcing Sweden to do this) all in an attempt to eventually extradite him to the United States for imprisonment on other espionage-related charges...
... because for some reason, the UK, who is supposedly a "puppet state" to the US, would never extradite him directly, despite the fact that according to you they have bowed to the whim of the US multiple times in the past?
I don't recall either this administration or the previous one ever promising to have all troops out of Iraq by a certain date and then backing down. The refusal of a pullout date was the problem. From what I recall, Obama promised to begin ending the war as soon as he took office, which is why he removed 2/3 of the troops almost immediately.
Even if we kept a few thousand advisers in the country, at the request of said nation's government, that shouldn't automatically be defined as a continued war. You know we still have troops in Korea, right?
Regardless, I'm glad they're all coming home so we can finally put the damned thing behind us.
Are you suggesting that Obama plans to leave unmanned airbases full of drones in Iraq for the purpose of continuing the war? Or that this would even be possible?
Yawn.. here in Orange County, we've been doing this for over 3 years, because we're getting tired of people from up north bitching about us stealing their water. The plant they constructed near my house pumps out 80 mllion gallons of reclaimed water per day. Anybody who claims they can tell it used to be wastewater is insane.
If they were outraged by Paypal's closing of accounts tied to Wikileaks, perhaps they should have just called for a boycott in the first place rather than resorting to DDoS attacks. So that, you know, they could avoid being arrested.
"But, what about the LULZ???????!!!!?!?!"
Oh right.. I forgot, you're not a credible activist group or social commentators. You're a bunch of punks with free internet access and lots of spare time.
Tell you what; tomorrow, we are going to start raiding the DMV and stealing people's driving test records. Maybe that will teach them to build a DMV without armed guards posted outside 24/7 and orders to shoot on sight.
"Farmville developer Zynga finally filed its IPO paperwork today, as it wants to raise $1 billion..."
There, now everybody who isn't familiar knows wtf Zynga is, and can hopefully avoid wasting their time on this blurb, which was so thorough there was no room for even a Wiki link.
I don't know why I am expecting any standards of halfway decent journalism at Slashdot, but I am nonetheless, so hear my bitching.
When you say "free speech" it's generally assumed that you are referring to censorship by the government, because well, that is the only kind protected by law. Censorship from private entities is common- that's their right. For some reason in the internet age, people have begun to equate the two. Do you think the average citizen would have been outraged in the the 1700s or 1800s if a newspaper refused to publish the letters of everyone who wrote to the editor?
The benefit of cellulosic biofuels like the ones mentioned in this study is that the entire plant can be converted to fuel (rather than just the fruit), resulting in higher yields; less land is needed to produce the same amount of energy.
Additionally, most grasses that would be used as feedstocks, such as switchgrass, are perennial plants. According to Wikipedia:
"The main agronomic advantages of switchgrass as a bioenergy crop are its stand longevity, drought and flooding tolerance, relatively low herbicide and fertilizer input requirements, ease of management, hardiness in poor soil and climate conditions, and widespread adaptability in temperate climates." In other words, switchgrass will be a viable crop in many areas that aren't suitable for food anyway."
Slashdot Mirror
Despite the $/kg numbers, air launch IS more efficient than ground launch, and over time (after the initial cost of development has been diluted), should be significantly cheaper if only because of the fuel savings. Remember, rockets have to carry their oxidizer in big ass tanks that may also need big ass cryogenic cooling systems. Airplanes steal it from the atmosphere.
The effect is so pronounced because a plane is able to carry the rocket past what would be the Max Q point for ground launch, usually around 35,000 to 45,000 feet, which is the point where dynamic pressure (and thus fuel usage) is highest.
Dynamic pressure goes up with increasing velocity and down with thinning atmosphere, which is why it's not just at sea level.
The GP was implying that we tell every kid they are going to be successful in life because they're special. I've never heard an educator of any kind give that impression. The message was always that there are no pre-imposed limits to what you can do.
What's the point of telling a class of third graders that, well, statistically it is highly unlikely that any of you will be astronauts one day, so you shouldn't bother making that a goal?
You really think kids are dropping out of high school at 16 because they have an entitlement mentality? They're mad that they haven't already been hired by NASA? No. Kids drop out because they've been given the impression that they can't succeed in society even if they try, so, they shouldn't even bother.
Um, we don't tell every kid that they ARE going to be an astronaut or President. We tell them that they CAN BE if they dream big and work hard.
Why don't we just crush their aspirations early on? Because America is supposed to be a society where you can become anything you want, no matter what you look like or where you came from. Obviously we have struggled at times to live up that ideal. But, then again, nobody's perfect.
Congratulations, you have just crossed over the Flamebait Singularity. Any sincere words you attempt to utter are now longer able to escape your mouth due to the irresistible urge to have all of America lambast the shit out of you.
But! But! One time I heard somebody say that liquids are "incompressible fluids" and I instantly had a complete understanding of thermodynamics! Teh Global Warmings are a hoax!
Meanwhile, the justice system couldn't give two shits about prosecuting bankers for predatory loan practiced or curtailing insider trading among congress critters.
Two things: One, the predatory lending practices and other shady shit that wall street did prior to the financial collapse was for the most part perfectly legal. That was the problem, and we don't do ex-post-facto laws around here. AFAIK, in the cases where there were illegal actions, investigations are ongoing (also, congress managed to change the laws for next time. See Dodd-Frank).
Secondly, the justice department has no control over insider trading in congress. Again, that's a legal activity which some congressional members are trying to make illegal by passing a bill. Separation of powers, my friend.
I agree with your sentiment. But sadly, in some areas, I think it will literally be impossible to redevelop to the point that people no longer have to rely on a car.
Like, have you been to Phoenix? It's basically 500 sq. miles of parking lots. They'd need to increase to a population the size of NYC to have any workable level of density.
"... there may be a wholly innocent explanation for conduct or behavior that appears suspicious in nature. For this reason, no single indicator should be the sole basis for law enforcement action. The totality of behavioral indicators and other relevant circumstances should be evaluated when considering any law enforcement response or action."
That would probably have made this document a lot less stupid.
Right after I went to energy.gov and searched for Yucca Mountain, I got the same 22 results. However, on that results page was a link right at the top entitled "search all of Energy.gov" which then yielded 108 results. It doesn't seem like the author was very thorough here, herself.
Considering that these are generally PDFs containing large quantities of information (not endless blog re-posts like you'd get with Google hits), it's pretty hard to believe that there's a deliberate attempt to obscure information.
Is their search system as intuitive and comprehensive as Google? No. Then again, nobody's is- if it was easy, everybody would be doing it, and Google wouldn't be Google.
1. Replace all backscatter X-ray machines with millimeter wave scanners; the kind that aren't linked to cancer.
2. Make sure all scanner machines use the updated software which only shows a generic human form rather than your pseudo-naked body.
3. Only used pat-downs on people that set off scanner alarms first.
4. Let people keep their shoes on.
Wouldn't this take care of about 98% of complaints people have with the TSA? Could we at that point accept that the TSA really is just an attempt to provide security, and not to psychologically mindfuck the populace?
It would be fun to see U.S. threaten China about blacklisting them. Oh, wait, they can't because U.S. is so dependent on China that it would hurt U.S. more than it would hurt China.
Surprise, China is already on the Priority Watch List in the "Special 301" report: http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/2849
Other nations you may have heard of that are already on this list include: Canada, India, Israel, and Pakistan. Being named in this list, as the ambassador suggested might happen to Spain, does not mean that the U.S. is starting some kind of trade blockade or economic war with Spain.
Does the Sinde law sound bad? Yes. But the ultimate responsibility and/or blame lies with the Spanish government. Insinuating that the only reason the law was created and passed is that the U.S. threatened Spain with an act of war is silly hyperbole.
...that if the TSA were replaced by private security contractors, as all these Republicans would love to see, that not a one of them would have a problem with "police-style uniforms" that "insult real cops" or any other complaints people have?
Did you ever notice how the vast majority of these people never said a negative word about the TSA in their life until Obama became president? They don't care about issues of personal liberty. They care about getting people mad at any cost so they'll vote the Democrat out of office.
?The DEA is considered a member of the intelligence community and has been known to use NORAD to track airplanes.
Ok.. they're part of the DOJ, but whatever. I don't see how the mere fact that they are an intelligence or law enforcement agency can be a negative- it's how they run shit that's important. And why would using NORAD to track a suspected airplane be an encroachment on civil liberties?
I'd be interested in seeing evidence on your wiretapping claims.
Apparently, it's:
1. Being the cousin of a member of a drug cartel who recently fled to Mexico.
2. Being the current owner of an SUV which formerly belonged to said cousin.
3. Using said SUV to drive your drug-dealer cousin's wife to Tijuana, and staying there a few days.
No. Guilt by association would be if he was convicted merely of being related to a drug dealer.
Police, local/state/federal etc., investigate and gather info on many suspects and associates of suspects in criminal cases all the time- it's called solving crimes. You're acting like 20 years ago, the police would have never even paid attention to this guy, despite his connections to the suspect, and are only tracking him because it's easy to slap a GPS transponder to his car (as if it requires no resources to do so, or to monitor said GPS device and cross-reference where he goes, etc.)
As for why they didn't get a warrant, from my understanding it is because they are not currently required to, at least not until this lawsuit is resolved, and they obviously feel it is legal.
I'm undecided on whether federal agencies should need a warrant to use a tracking device on your car, but if the person of interest here, "Greg," is trying to insinuate that the government is tracking citizens at random big-brother style, that is wildly inaccurate.
Read the full article: by his own admission, his cousin is involved in a Mexican drug cartel, and was the previous owner of the SUV. His cousin recently fled to Mexico, after which "Greg" drove his cousin's wife to Tijuana and stayed there for a few days.
He noticed the tracking device after these events. He's clearly being investigated as part of the DEA's attempt to nail his cousin. Even if a warrant were required to track him, it seems likely a judge would have granted it here.
Let me get this straight: the accusation of rape and subsequent extradition to Sweden is all a secret plot by the US authorities (who are forcing Sweden to do this) all in an attempt to eventually extradite him to the United States for imprisonment on other espionage-related charges...
... because for some reason, the UK, who is supposedly a "puppet state" to the US, would never extradite him directly, despite the fact that according to you they have bowed to the whim of the US multiple times in the past?
Where do chemtrails fit into this story?
I don't recall either this administration or the previous one ever promising to have all troops out of Iraq by a certain date and then backing down. The refusal of a pullout date was the problem. From what I recall, Obama promised to begin ending the war as soon as he took office, which is why he removed 2/3 of the troops almost immediately.
Even if we kept a few thousand advisers in the country, at the request of said nation's government, that shouldn't automatically be defined as a continued war. You know we still have troops in Korea, right?
Regardless, I'm glad they're all coming home so we can finally put the damned thing behind us.
Are you suggesting that Obama plans to leave unmanned airbases full of drones in Iraq for the purpose of continuing the war? Or that this would even be possible?
Yawn.. here in Orange County, we've been doing this for over 3 years, because we're getting tired of people from up north bitching about us stealing their water. The plant they constructed near my house pumps out 80 mllion gallons of reclaimed water per day. Anybody who claims they can tell it used to be wastewater is insane.
http://www.slashfood.com/2008/08/13/orange-county-produces-the-worlds-most-recycled-water/
If they were outraged by Paypal's closing of accounts tied to Wikileaks, perhaps they should have just called for a boycott in the first place rather than resorting to DDoS attacks. So that, you know, they could avoid being arrested.
"But, what about the LULZ???????!!!!?!?!"
Oh right.. I forgot, you're not a credible activist group or social commentators. You're a bunch of punks with free internet access and lots of spare time.
Ah, yes. Ends justifying the means.... bravo.
Tell you what; tomorrow, we are going to start raiding the DMV and stealing people's driving test records. Maybe that will teach them to build a DMV without armed guards posted outside 24/7 and orders to shoot on sight.
"Farmville developer Zynga finally filed its IPO paperwork today, as it wants to raise $1 billion..."
There, now everybody who isn't familiar knows wtf Zynga is, and can hopefully avoid wasting their time on this blurb, which was so thorough there was no room for even a Wiki link.
I don't know why I am expecting any standards of halfway decent journalism at Slashdot, but I am nonetheless, so hear my bitching.
When you say "free speech" it's generally assumed that you are referring to censorship by the government, because well, that is the only kind protected by law. Censorship from private entities is common- that's their right. For some reason in the internet age, people have begun to equate the two. Do you think the average citizen would have been outraged in the the 1700s or 1800s if a newspaper refused to publish the letters of everyone who wrote to the editor?
The benefit of cellulosic biofuels like the ones mentioned in this study is that the entire plant can be converted to fuel (rather than just the fruit), resulting in higher yields; less land is needed to produce the same amount of energy.
Additionally, most grasses that would be used as feedstocks, such as switchgrass, are perennial plants. According to Wikipedia:
"The main agronomic advantages of switchgrass as a bioenergy crop are its stand longevity, drought and flooding tolerance, relatively low herbicide and fertilizer input requirements, ease of management, hardiness in poor soil and climate conditions, and widespread adaptability in temperate climates." In other words, switchgrass will be a viable crop in many areas that aren't suitable for food anyway."