Yes, but we also know exactly what's the probability of detecting a planet in our plane of sight. The point of the Kepler mission is to examine hundreds of thousands of stars and determine which ones have planets and what kind of planets they are. Then using probability we can then extrapolate how many such planets exist around other stars (not in our plane of sight). The sample size is what makes this extrapolation valid.
The energy required would probably be higher than what you could get out of the nuclear fuel. Remember: shooting something into the Sun doesn't cost zero energy. The Earth's orbital speed is about 30 km/s and there's no atmosphere to loose that velocity.
But all rockets work that way: you accelerate until all of the fuel is used up. Ion engines are not special in any way, they just take longer to use the fuel. However, that has no effect on the final result.
Conceptually, it's really easy to understand. All reaction engines (including conventional rockets and ion engines) work by "throwing" some mass. The momentum of the lost mass provides thrust in the other direction. Since the thrust is the result of the change in momentum it depends only on two things: the mass which is lost and the velocity at which it is "thrown".
Ion engines don't have this constant velocity problem.
I don't know what you're talking about. If you have an unimpeded path through vacuum you're going to have a constant velocity.
Any self-propulsion system has exactly the same problems due to the limits imposed by the rocket equation. Basically, an ion engine can reach a higher velocity only because its exhaust velocity is much higher, but it's still far from practical for interstellar travel. For that you need to get your rocket to about 0.1c, which is practical only if your exhaust velocity is at least something like 2% of c or 6,000,000 m/s. The exhaust velocity of ion engines is only about 30,000 m/s.
To go where? "Out of the solar system" is pretty vague. At over 113 AU from the Sun, the Voyager 1 probe could be considered outside the solar system right now, but that's not a terribly interesting place if you ask me. Now if we're talking another star then that's about 268,000 AU - quite a different scale.
(Otherwise, somewhere 'outside' the observable universe, there is an infinite amount of storage available for each number needed, and some sort of mechanism that handles those calculations in what looks like finite time to any point of view inside the universe - congratulations, you've just proved both the omnipresence and the omnipotence of God - probably not what you were aiming to do).
But it doesn't matter. The important thing is that people can communicate/voice their dissatisfaction/etc over the Internet. It's this ability for anyone to distribute information to millions of people that I'm talking about.
Generally, I'm against the free for all suggested by libertarians, but here I must disagree with you. Information is the key to power. The proper way of handling this is to hand the power back to the people. What we need is to redesign the whole thing so that it's completely unblockable. For example, suppose devices were communicating directly with each other and you had just a bunch of interconnected wi-fi routers forming a global network with no large-scale infrastructure. This is the kind of thing we should be looking to build instead of asking governments to protect our right to free information.
Did you even click that link? The first paragraph of the text states that they grow to an average length of 2 to 3 metres (6.6 to 9.8 ft). Check the pictures if you don't believe it.
What you wrote seems to fit the description of a psychopath pretty well. Actually, the Wikipedia article suggests that there may be genetic factors involved.
It's not just government systems. The NSA has to protect national interests. Knowing that most companies use Windows that means they also have a duty to ensure that the Chinese or Russians can't screw-up the entire US economy by planting trojans in corporate networks.
You're probably suffering from future shock. Beware of false promises of those who would like to go back to more primitive times, however. You may be much better off embracing the newly emerging civilization instead.
That's a very widespread myth. Primitive people had to pretty much work from dawn to dusk every day in order to just barely survive. No weekends, no vacations, leisure time very limited because you have to prepare food, shelter, etc. It's only in highly advanced civilizations that people started having so much leisure time. Seriously.
In my country (Poland), legal documents like acts prepared by a notary are required to have a "readable signature", which means your real name hand written legibly. Technically, that means you could sign with block letters if you like, but they have to be able to read your name.
Please read the entire constitution carefully before making yourself look stupid. Section 10 is about state powers not federal powers. It says that individual states are not allowed to make anything else than gold and silver legal tender. Also in section 8 it says that the senate (i.e. the federal government) has the power to coin money and regulate the value thereof. Here "money" is not defined specifically as gold or silver and this is interpreted as allowing the federal government to use anything as money and arbitrarily set its value.
In the article it says that they will impose the 20 minute delay, but only in the last 35 days of the mission. This mission is too short to simulate the whole 2-way trip anyway, but I agree that the delay should be increased in a more realistic way.
How convenient of you. You forgot to mention the title of that specific section: Powers prohibited of States and also the part that says that coining money is also prohibited. That article does not apply to what the federal government can do. Indeed, section 8 of the same article grants congress the power to coin money (the same power explicitly prohibited of the states). The exact wording is actually "To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin". It does not say that money coined by the federal government has to be made from gold or silver. That restriction is only on state governments. The purpose here is clearly to give the federal government control of the money and the economy.
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Yes, but we also know exactly what's the probability of detecting a planet in our plane of sight. The point of the Kepler mission is to examine hundreds of thousands of stars and determine which ones have planets and what kind of planets they are. Then using probability we can then extrapolate how many such planets exist around other stars (not in our plane of sight). The sample size is what makes this extrapolation valid.
The energy required would probably be higher than what you could get out of the nuclear fuel. Remember: shooting something into the Sun doesn't cost zero energy. The Earth's orbital speed is about 30 km/s and there's no atmosphere to loose that velocity.
Last I checked Ontario was not part of the US.
But all rockets work that way: you accelerate until all of the fuel is used up. Ion engines are not special in any way, they just take longer to use the fuel. However, that has no effect on the final result. Conceptually, it's really easy to understand. All reaction engines (including conventional rockets and ion engines) work by "throwing" some mass. The momentum of the lost mass provides thrust in the other direction. Since the thrust is the result of the change in momentum it depends only on two things: the mass which is lost and the velocity at which it is "thrown".
Ion engines don't have this constant velocity problem.
I don't know what you're talking about. If you have an unimpeded path through vacuum you're going to have a constant velocity.
Any self-propulsion system has exactly the same problems due to the limits imposed by the rocket equation. Basically, an ion engine can reach a higher velocity only because its exhaust velocity is much higher, but it's still far from practical for interstellar travel. For that you need to get your rocket to about 0.1c, which is practical only if your exhaust velocity is at least something like 2% of c or 6,000,000 m/s. The exhaust velocity of ion engines is only about 30,000 m/s.
Jobs.
To go where? "Out of the solar system" is pretty vague. At over 113 AU from the Sun, the Voyager 1 probe could be considered outside the solar system right now, but that's not a terribly interesting place if you ask me. Now if we're talking another star then that's about 268,000 AU - quite a different scale.
(Otherwise, somewhere 'outside' the observable universe, there is an infinite amount of storage available for each number needed, and some sort of mechanism that handles those calculations in what looks like finite time to any point of view inside the universe - congratulations, you've just proved both the omnipresence and the omnipotence of God - probably not what you were aiming to do).
Dude, I want some of that shit you're smoking!
Google for "gorilla suit experiment" to see another great example. After this you won't want to believe eyewitness testimony ever again.
If the math works, then "shut up and calculate"
Sorry, but experiments trump math.
A million seconds is about 11.5 days.
If it were kiddy porn it would be shutdown already.
But it doesn't matter. The important thing is that people can communicate/voice their dissatisfaction/etc over the Internet. It's this ability for anyone to distribute information to millions of people that I'm talking about.
Generally, I'm against the free for all suggested by libertarians, but here I must disagree with you. Information is the key to power. The proper way of handling this is to hand the power back to the people. What we need is to redesign the whole thing so that it's completely unblockable. For example, suppose devices were communicating directly with each other and you had just a bunch of interconnected wi-fi routers forming a global network with no large-scale infrastructure. This is the kind of thing we should be looking to build instead of asking governments to protect our right to free information.
You might want to read a few things on this subject.
Did you even click that link? The first paragraph of the text states that they grow to an average length of 2 to 3 metres (6.6 to 9.8 ft). Check the pictures if you don't believe it.
I'm just curious to know what storage technology you would use instead of relational databases for those kinds of applications.
What you wrote seems to fit the description of a psychopath pretty well. Actually, the Wikipedia article suggests that there may be genetic factors involved.
It's not just government systems. The NSA has to protect national interests. Knowing that most companies use Windows that means they also have a duty to ensure that the Chinese or Russians can't screw-up the entire US economy by planting trojans in corporate networks.
You're probably suffering from future shock. Beware of false promises of those who would like to go back to more primitive times, however. You may be much better off embracing the newly emerging civilization instead.
That's a very widespread myth. Primitive people had to pretty much work from dawn to dusk every day in order to just barely survive. No weekends, no vacations, leisure time very limited because you have to prepare food, shelter, etc. It's only in highly advanced civilizations that people started having so much leisure time. Seriously.
In my country (Poland), legal documents like acts prepared by a notary are required to have a "readable signature", which means your real name hand written legibly. Technically, that means you could sign with block letters if you like, but they have to be able to read your name.
Please read the entire constitution carefully before making yourself look stupid. Section 10 is about state powers not federal powers. It says that individual states are not allowed to make anything else than gold and silver legal tender. Also in section 8 it says that the senate (i.e. the federal government) has the power to coin money and regulate the value thereof. Here "money" is not defined specifically as gold or silver and this is interpreted as allowing the federal government to use anything as money and arbitrarily set its value.
In the article it says that they will impose the 20 minute delay, but only in the last 35 days of the mission. This mission is too short to simulate the whole 2-way trip anyway, but I agree that the delay should be increased in a more realistic way.
How convenient of you. You forgot to mention the title of that specific section: Powers prohibited of States and also the part that says that coining money is also prohibited. That article does not apply to what the federal government can do. Indeed, section 8 of the same article grants congress the power to coin money (the same power explicitly prohibited of the states). The exact wording is actually "To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin". It does not say that money coined by the federal government has to be made from gold or silver. That restriction is only on state governments. The purpose here is clearly to give the federal government control of the money and the economy.