There's no need to go to 60 GHz for this. Amimon already has a chipset that transmits low latency HD video on the 5GHz unlicensed band. It uses a combination of MIMO and Joint Source-Channel Coding.
Produced using traditional pottery techniques using local resources (except for the tiny amount of colloidal silver as antibacterial agent impregnated into the ceramic filter).
Even if this technique can eventually produce better pictures at lower cost it is still limited to wavelengths that can penetrate the atmosphere. Some of the most exciting recent discoveries are in infrared (Spitzer) and X-ray (Chandra). The next big telescipe (James Webb Space Telescope) is also for infrared.
> Personally, I'm rooting for Carmack, but I'm expecting more from Scaled Composites.
Just to put things in perspective: after a previous Armadillo crash Carmack commented that he could crash that kind of vehicle every week for 10 years and still not spend as much money as Rutan did on winning the X Prize.
I would feel much more comfortable with a planetary defense system that does not rely on a single, unbuilt launch vehicle.
Instead of carrying six weapons on a single platform it would be better to have smaller vehicles that can be launched on Atlas, Delta, Ariane, SpaceX falcon, etc.
> Carbon nanotubes are a miracle material. Not just for space elevators,
Exactly. They are also a miracle material for building airframes and pressure vessels for single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch vehicles.
The financial calculations of space elevator proponents convniently assume that they get to use these miracle materials (which don't really exist yet outside of laboratories) while comparing them with the current state of competing launch technologies without the benefit of new developments. Sure, if you stack the deck this way and add a bunch of other optimistic assumptions you can make your favorite technology seem more cost effective.
Sorry, I don't see a space elevator in our future. It will be overtaken by other players that don't need such a huge upfront investment in infrastructure before they ever deliver the first cargo.
One of the things that made hubble so expensive was that it was designed to be serviced by astronauts in space suits. Designing it for access as well ha using only modules and components that can be changed while wearing bulky gloves drove up the price.
In the case of hubble it paid off because it was fixable when they found out that they polished the main mirror to the wrong shape. In general, though, a telescope not designed for maintenance can be more cost effective.
The MIT Technology Review has just posted an article titled The Case for Burying Charcoal. It showed up on my RSS reader shortly after I posted my comment.
> And couldn't we sequester CO2 from the atmosphere by converting trees into an inert substance--such as paper--then burying it into landfills?
Yes we can.
But instead of trees, use fast-growing plants like switchgrass or elephant grass. Instead of making them into paper you can pyrolize them into a gas with high energy content and charcoal. Burn the gas to make electricity. Bury the charcoal.
IIUC, this means Bussard won't be getting any new money for now but the money already allocated for the project will resume flowing.
Note that the $200 million number is for Phase 2 (full scale 100 MW reactor). Phase 1 (validate and review WB-6 results) was estimated at $3-5 million so "two orders of magnitude below $200 million" is in the ballbark.
Powered USB will not fail. It is already a success - in the Point Of Sale market for which it was intended.
The reason why the USB-IF did not adopt this is because of IBM's patent schticks. Without this issue they probably would have ratified the 12v version for general consumer use. The other voltages would have remained specialty items for the POS industry that normal users would never encounter. The multiple voltage versions make a lot of sense for the tightly integrated and cost-sensitive POS market.
BTW, the designers of USB were not dumb. Sure, they made compromises, but if you started with the same constraints you would have reached more-or-less the same results. Consider the fact that it is impossible to build a $2 firewire mouse.
The behavior of simple organisms is determined purely by their genes. What's good for the survival of the individual is, by definition, good for the survival of the genes.
Once they develop to the point where they can acquire complex behaviors passed on as memes rather than genes it opens up the possibility for the development of selfish behavior memes which are deterimental to the survival of the group as a whole and of its genes. In these circumstances there must evolve a mechanism which would let a group keep such behavior in check - a social instinct. Species that evolve such an instinct have an survival advantage over those that don't.
The best way to distribute a relatively small database to hundreds of millions of computers is probably through DNS. It's ubiquitous, reliable, efficiently cached by ISPs and contains a built-in system for delegation of authority.
Some organization would need to manage the top-level authority and coordinate the encoding and naming conventions.
Since this is used for cache memory it may be possible to eliminate the refresh cycles. A cache row can always be re-fetched from main memory. All you need is some reliable method to tell if has expired. Any cache row which hasn't been accessed long enough for it to expire is, pretty much by definition, not very critical to performance anyway.
Slashdot Mirror
There's no need to go to 60 GHz for this. Amimon already has a chipset that transmits low latency HD video on the 5GHz unlicensed band. It uses a combination of MIMO and Joint Source-Channel Coding.
I think you may be mixing up the Soyuz launcher with the Soyuz spacecraft.
The launcher can lift 7,800 kg to LEO.
It must be bunnies!
Ceramic Water Filter
Produced using traditional pottery techniques using local resources (except for the tiny amount of colloidal silver as antibacterial agent impregnated into the ceramic filter).
> But there is no useful piece of software released in this license and I doubt there ever will be.
IronPython.
Even if this technique can eventually produce better pictures at lower cost it is still limited to wavelengths that can penetrate the atmosphere. Some of the most exciting recent discoveries are in infrared (Spitzer) and X-ray (Chandra). The next big telescipe (James Webb Space Telescope) is also for infrared.
> Personally, I'm rooting for Carmack, but I'm expecting more from Scaled Composites.
Just to put things in perspective: after a previous Armadillo crash Carmack commented that he could crash that kind of vehicle every week for 10 years and still not spend as much money as Rutan did on winning the X Prize.
Build a little, fly a little, crash a little.
Rinse. Repeat.
I would feel much more comfortable with a planetary defense system that does not rely on a single, unbuilt launch vehicle.
Instead of carrying six weapons on a single platform it would be better to have smaller vehicles that can be launched on Atlas, Delta, Ariane, SpaceX falcon, etc.
> Yes, the vulcanoes on La Palma are still "active", but it's very benign activity
For an astronomer, there's nothing "benign" about hot air. It causes optical distortions.
J. Dzhugashvili? Is the full name Josif ("call me Stalin") Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili by any chance?
> Carbon nanotubes are a miracle material. Not just for space elevators,
Exactly. They are also a miracle material for building airframes and pressure vessels for single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch vehicles.
The financial calculations of space elevator proponents convniently assume that they get to use these miracle materials (which don't really exist yet outside of laboratories) while comparing them with the current state of competing launch technologies without the benefit of new developments. Sure, if you stack the deck this way and add a bunch of other optimistic assumptions you can make your favorite technology seem more cost effective.
Sorry, I don't see a space elevator in our future. It will be overtaken by other players that don't need such a huge upfront investment in infrastructure before they ever deliver the first cargo.
Article title: "Perfect silicon sphere to redefine the kilogram!"
Slashdot summary: "This will replace the International Prototype!"
Actual content of article: "...could help pave the way..."
Some day. Maybe. Unless one of the other alternatives (watt balance, ion counting, etc) is chosen.
> Looks a lot like a transformer with a large air gap to me...
Exactly. A transformer with an air gap this large would have an efficiency lower by 5-6 orders of magnitude.
Yes, only this time Europe goes dark without access to Russian natural gas.
Perhaps the French had the right idea with going 80% nuclear for their electric power needs.
One of the things that made hubble so expensive was that it was designed to be serviced by astronauts in space suits. Designing it for access as well ha using only modules and components that can be changed while wearing bulky gloves drove up the price.
In the case of hubble it paid off because it was fixable when they found out that they polished the main mirror to the wrong shape. In general, though, a telescope not designed for maintenance can be more cost effective.
The Google motto should have been "Do no evil", not "Don't be evil".
It is entirely possible to do evil without being evil.
The MIT Technology Review has just posted an article titled The Case for Burying Charcoal. It showed up on my RSS reader shortly after I posted my comment.
> And couldn't we sequester CO2 from the atmosphere by converting trees into an inert substance--such as paper--then burying it into landfills?
Yes we can.
But instead of trees, use fast-growing plants like switchgrass or elephant grass. Instead of making them into paper you can pyrolize them into a gas with high energy content and charcoal. Burn the gas to make electricity. Bury the charcoal.
Unless he lied about his age when he wrote this.
IIUC, this means Bussard won't be getting any new money for now but the money already allocated for the project will resume flowing.
Note that the $200 million number is for Phase 2 (full scale 100 MW reactor). Phase 1 (validate and review WB-6 results) was estimated at $3-5 million so "two orders of magnitude below $200 million" is in the ballbark.
Kite Wind Generator
QuickTime movie of the concept
Powered USB will not fail. It is already a success - in the Point Of Sale market for which it was intended.
The reason why the USB-IF did not adopt this is because of IBM's patent schticks. Without this issue they probably would have ratified the 12v version for general consumer use. The other voltages would have remained specialty items for the POS industry that normal users would never encounter. The multiple voltage versions make a lot of sense for the tightly integrated and cost-sensitive POS market.
BTW, the designers of USB were not dumb. Sure, they made compromises, but if you started with the same constraints you would have reached more-or-less the same results. Consider the fact that it is impossible to build a $2 firewire mouse.
The behavior of simple organisms is determined purely by their genes. What's good for the survival of the individual is, by definition, good for the survival of the genes.
Once they develop to the point where they can acquire complex behaviors passed on as memes rather than genes it opens up the possibility for the development of selfish behavior memes which are deterimental to the survival of the group as a whole and of its genes. In these circumstances there must evolve a mechanism which would let a group keep such behavior in check - a social instinct. Species that evolve such an instinct have an survival advantage over those that don't.
It's pretty obvious. Why is this considered news?
The best way to distribute a relatively small database to hundreds of millions of computers is probably through DNS. It's ubiquitous, reliable, efficiently cached by ISPs and contains a built-in system for delegation of authority.
Some organization would need to manage the top-level authority and coordinate the encoding and naming conventions.
Since this is used for cache memory it may be possible to eliminate the refresh cycles. A cache row can always be re-fetched from main memory. All you need is some reliable method to tell if has expired. Any cache row which hasn't been accessed long enough for it to expire is, pretty much by definition, not very critical to performance anyway.