... just like it was going to the good ol' German Democratic Republic. Nothing like getting some special attention from a "security" agency when entering the country.
If it wasn't for my in-laws, I'd be spending my vacations in more welcoming places, but I just have no choice.
Actually, US utility steam turbines usually spin at either 1800 or 3600 RPM. 60 RPM (Revolutions per MINUTE) would not yield 60 Hz (Cycles per SECOND) alternating current.
That depends on how many poles the actual generator has.
I'm all for preserving rainforests and places teeming with life, but this seems a bit like opposing tree-planting in Sahara because we might upset the fraigle desert ecosystem.
Yes it would. The water needed to keep the trees growing will eventually lead to soil salination, and then leave the place in an even more barren condition.
Second, we've been trying to detect any life or ecosystem there for decades.
That should be "We've looked at it from orbit and we've examined a fairly insignificant fraction of the surface, mostly with instruments that were designed for geological research.".
We haven't really looked anywhere below the surface, and we still need to know where the methane in the atmosphere is coming from.
Though if anything can actually live in that place, it will eat our germs and bacteria for lunch.
Yep, just like the fearsome Australian predators ate our cute little rabbits for lunch.... oh wait...
Why not Antarctic glaciers, Gobi desert, Kazakh wastelands, Belarus swamps and Alaskan tundra?
If we screw up terraforming on Mars or Venus and they end up unhabitable (which is what they're now), we'll just go back to the drawing board, refine out methods, find a different target or try a different approach at space colonization.
If we screw up terraforming on Earth... well, evolution will get another try a producing a sentient species that will do things right.
And what environmental factors could possible cause that on the moon, which has no atmosphere or tectonic activity?
Static electricity is one thing that keeps moving dust around on the moon. And then there's ejected material from meteor impacts (with gravity that low, stuff kicked up by meteors can travel quite far)
... on their parents for at least nine months, and receive all the attention during that time. And for an infant, play/attention equals learning. All following kids will have to deal with parents who are already stressed out by their firstborn.;)
"Certainly someone already got the point that killing humans, on Earth, outside this country called the United States of America, which the US Congress happens to have at least a portion of authority over, is way more important than sending humans to a rock somewhere out there in space."
They should have made it a diet center instead of using the space for condos, then.
That aside, IMHA Biosphere II used the wrong approach - too many things at once (several different ecosystems, lots of species, etc). A better approach could be to find the minimum number of species that is necessary (which means that there'll be a lot of algae and fungi, and not all that many vertebrates and insects), and determine what type of inputs and outputs are necessary (even on the most barren planet, there'll be some local resources to use).
How about we stop worrying about the galaxy for a minute and think about colonizing our solar system first ? There's plenty of interesting real estate within less than three light-hours, and enough resources to accomodate a couple of trillion humans.
Once we've done that, and our industrial and research base encompasses a lot more than "one planet", the hop to one of the nearby star systems will seem much smaller. Maybe we've even sent a probe there, or really refined out ability to detect extra-solar planets (wonder what you could do with a couple of dozen large telescopes, scattered all over the solar system).
Mercury and Mars are just too small to be counted (Mars is only around 10% of Earth's mass and 15% of Earth's volume).
Both are close enough to the sun and large enough to be fairly noticable.
It probably depends on what kind of planet the alien would find habitable/interesting/valuable. If their main interest lies in hot Jupiters, our solar system would get a "nothing interesting here, let's try the next one". If they're interested in the most massive objects, it would be "One sun, one smallish and one tiny gas planet, and assorted debris"
So people in Denmark are expected to run away from their own homes if they are broken into?
Usually, crooks over here are smart enough to break into homes when their owners are away (usually, they do so in broad daylight. It's much easier to find the valuable whens you don't have to fumble around with a flashlight, and much less suspicious, too. The most common time for burglaries is 10 a.m. ). You're infinitely more likely to find your house burglarized when coming home from work or your vacation than to notice someone trying to break in while you're at home.
Wait. So the most useful tool in the house for protecting ones self from a criminal is also forbidden by law from being used?
Sorry, around here, "criminals" entering your house by force while you're there is a very, very rare occurence (basically: you're more likely to be struck by lightning). Burglars that break into your house at night while you're asleep are very much an American thing. Over here, they'll pick your lock and steal your stuff after having made sure that no one's at home. You're better off investing in a good lock if you want to protect your stuff.
It is sad that it is usually the anti-gun nuts like you
I have way too many guns at home to be called an anti-gun nut, thank you.
It's not like most courses will spend a couple hours on the legal and psychological ramifications of carrying and the possible need to use your firearm, they just make sure you can hit the broad side of a barn and know which end to hold before they sign your permit.
Do these courses also include making all these decisions while getting shot at (or while there's a real possibility of getting shot at) ? Otherwise, you can consider me having undergone that much of "training".
A CCP holder is going to be the least of your concerns.
You're right. One CCP holder doesn't concern me. A couple hundred of them, who do have reason to believe that their lifes are being threatened and will do whatever they think is necessary to survive... I'd rather watch that in the news than be anywhere close to it. (And always remember - any randomly chosen group of people has at least 5% utter idiots.)
On the other hand, a friend pointed out to me today that you never hear of school-massacres from countries other than the US. Is it because we don't pay attention to world-wide events, or is it because it just doesn't happen as often?
Probably both. They don't happen all that often in the rest of the civilized world, and when they do, they don't receive a lot of coverage in the US (just like so many other news items that happen "elsewhere).
On the other hand, you don't hear about many "school shooting" incidents that happen in the US over here, especially if there are few or no casualities. Last time I was in the US, I read about four school shootings in the newspapers, and only one of them (the "Amish elementary school" one) received international coverage.
Does it not happen because of 'stupid' laws like these?
Probably because of more restrictive gun laws and more of that evil welfare stuff. And if the bureaucrats had done their job, the Erfurt shooting wouldn't have happened. They passed up several very good opportunities to yank that guys weapons license instantly and permanently.
Maybe if someone on the campus had a gun they would have popped a cap in him and lives would have been saved.
Yes ! The lone hero would have shot the crazy gunman, just like in the movies !
On the other hand, if there had been dozens, or hundreds, of terrified and confused people with guns on the campus, the shooter wouldn't have had to shoot anyone himself. Just create a scare and watch everyone shooting anyone else who has drawn their gun (or whom they suspect to have drawn a gun, or might draw a gun).
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Because in civilized nations, fingerprinting is usually reserved for people suspected of a crime.
You can bet that their names are on the watch lists now. Just to be sure.
"Give me your fingers."
Yeah, here's both of them.
If it wasn't for my in-laws, I'd be spending my vacations in more welcoming places, but I just have no choice.
That depends on how many poles the actual generator has.
Mr. Daimler and Mr. Benz are probably spinning in their graves at higher rpms than the engines in their cars ever did.
Quite fast on an astronomical scale
Yes it would. The water needed to keep the trees growing will eventually lead to soil salination, and then leave the place in an even more barren condition.
Second, we've been trying to detect any life or ecosystem there for decades.
That should be "We've looked at it from orbit and we've examined a fairly insignificant fraction of the surface, mostly with instruments that were designed for geological research.".
We haven't really looked anywhere below the surface, and we still need to know where the methane in the atmosphere is coming from.
Though if anything can actually live in that place, it will eat our germs and bacteria for lunch.
Yep, just like the fearsome Australian predators ate our cute little rabbits for lunch.
If we screw up terraforming on Mars or Venus and they end up unhabitable (which is what they're now), we'll just go back to the drawing board, refine out methods, find a different target or try a different approach at space colonization.
If we screw up terraforming on Earth
Static electricity is one thing that keeps moving dust around on the moon. And then there's ejected material from meteor impacts (with gravity that low, stuff kicked up by meteors can travel quite far)
... on their parents for at least nine months, and receive all the attention during that time. And for an infant, play/attention equals learning. All following kids will have to deal with parents who are already stressed out by their firstborn. ;)
Clueless HR people definitely will. Even if it's just the criterium the decides between to otherwise equally suitable candidates.
Why bring it back ? Any resource that's not sitting in a big fat gravity well (like Earths) is worth more than one that is.
Except for some really rare materials (no, even gold doesn't count here, but maybe Platinum or Rhodium do).
"Certainly someone already got the point that killing humans, on Earth, outside this country called the United States of America, which the US Congress happens to have at least a portion of authority over, is way more important than sending humans to a rock somewhere out there in space."
They should have made it a diet center instead of using the space for condos, then.
That aside, IMHA Biosphere II used the wrong approach - too many things at once (several different ecosystems, lots of species, etc). A better approach could be to find the minimum number of species that is necessary (which means that there'll be a lot of algae and fungi, and not all that many vertebrates and insects), and determine what type of inputs and outputs are necessary (even on the most barren planet, there'll be some local resources to use).
they'd have to be so close to human that you might as well just send them and leave the biologicals out of it entirely.
... we've got bigger fish to fry. The galaxy is ours."
Or, during the long, long voyage, the machines might just come to the same conclusion.
"Let's let the humans play around in the sol system
Once we've done that, and our industrial and research base encompasses a lot more than "one planet", the hop to one of the nearby star systems will seem much smaller. Maybe we've even sent a probe there, or really refined out ability to detect extra-solar planets (wonder what you could do with a couple of dozen large telescopes, scattered all over the solar system).
Both are close enough to the sun and large enough to be fairly noticable.
It probably depends on what kind of planet the alien would find habitable/interesting/valuable. If their main interest lies in hot Jupiters, our solar system would get a "nothing interesting here, let's try the next one". If they're interested in the most massive objects, it would be "One sun, one smallish and one tiny gas planet, and assorted debris"
Usually, crooks over here are smart enough to break into homes when their owners are away (usually, they do so in broad daylight. It's much easier to find the valuable whens you don't have to fumble around with a flashlight, and much less suspicious, too. The most common time for burglaries is 10 a.m. ). You're infinitely more likely to find your house burglarized when coming home from work or your vacation than to notice someone trying to break in while you're at home.
"I've got moons that are bigger than you."
Sorry, around here, "criminals" entering your house by force while you're there is a very, very rare occurence (basically: you're more likely to be struck by lightning). Burglars that break into your house at night while you're asleep are very much an American thing. Over here, they'll pick your lock and steal your stuff after having made sure that no one's at home. You're better off investing in a good lock if you want to protect your stuff.
I have way too many guns at home to be called an anti-gun nut, thank you.
It's not like most courses will spend a couple hours on the legal and psychological ramifications of carrying and the possible need to use your firearm, they just make sure you can hit the broad side of a barn and know which end to hold before they sign your permit.
Do these courses also include making all these decisions while getting shot at (or while there's a real possibility of getting shot at) ? Otherwise, you can consider me having undergone that much of "training".
A CCP holder is going to be the least of your concerns.
You're right. One CCP holder doesn't concern me. A couple hundred of them, who do have reason to believe that their lifes are being threatened and will do whatever they think is necessary to survive
Probably both. They don't happen all that often in the rest of the civilized world, and when they do, they don't receive a lot of coverage in the US (just like so many other news items that happen "elsewhere).
On the other hand, you don't hear about many "school shooting" incidents that happen in the US over here, especially if there are few or no casualities. Last time I was in the US, I read about four school shootings in the newspapers, and only one of them (the "Amish elementary school" one) received international coverage.
Does it not happen because of 'stupid' laws like these?
Probably because of more restrictive gun laws and more of that evil welfare stuff. And if the bureaucrats had done their job, the Erfurt shooting wouldn't have happened. They passed up several very good opportunities to yank that guys weapons license instantly and permanently.
Yes ! The lone hero would have shot the crazy gunman, just like in the movies !
On the other hand, if there had been dozens, or hundreds, of terrified and confused people with guns on the campus, the shooter wouldn't have had to shoot anyone himself. Just create a scare and watch everyone shooting anyone else who has drawn their gun (or whom they suspect to have drawn a gun, or might draw a gun).
I thought most of medical research was about extending things in spatial dimensions ?