In addition, since we're being informative, it should be noted that the use of the words "degrees" is incorrect.
Pluto's temperature is 43 kelvins, 10 kelvins cooler than expected.
Seriously, this is pathetic. I'm sure people remember the last "competition", where there was the same monetary reward for generating 10 kilos of O2 from regolith in 8 hours. The lab I work in has the capability to do this, in fact at the time we had a contract with NASA to show electrochemical reduction could in fact solve this problem. The problem is that given the scale of our lab set-up, we would have had to run... wait for it.. 2000 amps through our system for eight hours. Were we to properly scale up our electrolysis unit, test it, and run it under the competetion specs, we estimated it would cost around $0.3 Mil to ensure that it worked.
I like that NASA is opening up it's engineering to potentially innovative ideas from outside, but these incentives are kind of a joke. Just more proof that if there's going to be any major boost to the space race, it's going to come from private sector, not government.
So true...
I was lucky enough to go to a private high school (by my own choosing) where the teachers got to know all of their students. There was still the geek, goth and hippie crowds (all of which I considered myself a part of), and we/they were still picked upon by the jocks and preps, but we didn't care. There were enough of us that we essentially formed our own support groups. We also had the sympathy of the teachers, who over the years saw that the vast majority of intelligence lay in us. Indeed, we were lucky, moreso than we could realize at the time.
Looking back now, I shudder to think what would have happened had I attended my public high school. I was never truly an outcast in middle school, I had friends in the "mainstream", etc., but I likely would have found my niche with the smart, free-thinking outcasts. Frustration, anger, and hate are very powerful emotions, ones that I have known. My reactions to such a situation could have possibly been disasterous, at least for my future.
My greatest sympathies go out to the geeks, the gamers, the goths, and anyone who finds themselves downcast from the self-indulgent social circles abound in our schools. You have been given the bittersweet view from the outside. From your vantage point, you see the problems inherint in our systems, but feel powerless to induce change. Be strong. You time will come.
~nepharis
Slashdot Mirror
In addition, since we're being informative, it should be noted that the use of the words "degrees" is incorrect.
Pluto's temperature is 43 kelvins, 10 kelvins cooler than expected.
Mmkay?
Seriously, this is pathetic. I'm sure people remember the last "competition", where there was the same monetary reward for generating 10 kilos of O2 from regolith in 8 hours. The lab I work in has the capability to do this, in fact at the time we had a contract with NASA to show electrochemical reduction could in fact solve this problem. The problem is that given the scale of our lab set-up, we would have had to run... wait for it.. 2000 amps through our system for eight hours. Were we to properly scale up our electrolysis unit, test it, and run it under the competetion specs, we estimated it would cost around $0.3 Mil to ensure that it worked.
I like that NASA is opening up it's engineering to potentially innovative ideas from outside, but these incentives are kind of a joke. Just more proof that if there's going to be any major boost to the space race, it's going to come from private sector, not government.
~nepharis
So true... I was lucky enough to go to a private high school (by my own choosing) where the teachers got to know all of their students. There was still the geek, goth and hippie crowds (all of which I considered myself a part of), and we/they were still picked upon by the jocks and preps, but we didn't care. There were enough of us that we essentially formed our own support groups. We also had the sympathy of the teachers, who over the years saw that the vast majority of intelligence lay in us. Indeed, we were lucky, moreso than we could realize at the time. Looking back now, I shudder to think what would have happened had I attended my public high school. I was never truly an outcast in middle school, I had friends in the "mainstream", etc., but I likely would have found my niche with the smart, free-thinking outcasts. Frustration, anger, and hate are very powerful emotions, ones that I have known. My reactions to such a situation could have possibly been disasterous, at least for my future. My greatest sympathies go out to the geeks, the gamers, the goths, and anyone who finds themselves downcast from the self-indulgent social circles abound in our schools. You have been given the bittersweet view from the outside. From your vantage point, you see the problems inherint in our systems, but feel powerless to induce change. Be strong. You time will come. ~nepharis