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#1 Re: Not So Free Chat » Political Potpourri IV - Continued from previous » 2005-05-18 15:44:51

CC - your signature just reminded me of some "news" that's been doing the rounds the last couple of days, with the imminent theatrical release SW Ep III. I don't remember seeing it mentioned before on this thread:

Apparently Revenge of the Sith has some conservatives / Republicans hot under the collar, as they say it is a thinly veiled attack on the Bush Administration. (If you're not with me, you're are my enemy; Disguised motives dragging the Republic into war etc.)

Frankly, I find that to be a fairly amusing take. Almost like the "South Park Conservatives" bit that was floating around a couple of weeks ago ... really people.  roll

#2 Re: Not So Free Chat » Rockets:  The Good, The Bad, The Ugly - (To heck with boring utilitarianism!) » 2005-05-12 15:28:58

Continuing with the car metaphor, I believe, until we get past the more utilaterian stage (say Model T), it will be a while before we can get in the Italian designers for our nice sleek Ferraris...

big_smile

Anyway, most engineers still believe in function over form.

#3 Re: Not So Free Chat » L.A. Car Chases, Media & Cops » 2005-05-12 15:17:42

Didn't the LAPD announce a while ago (last year, I think) that they were no longer going get "involved" in this type of high speed chase?

If I remember correctly, the LAPD's concern was, amongst other things, the collateral damage to innocent members of the public, and the danger to its own members.

<Shake head>

#4 Re: Not So Free Chat » Political Potpourri IV - Continued from previous » 2005-05-11 13:26:29

Yes ...

A Soviet-era, inactive, grenade was found ~100 feet from the stage (which was behind bullet-proof glass) It is not clear whether it was found or thrown. W was in no way in danger.

The big fuss is because the Georgian government only told the Secret Service of the incident about 2 hours after.

#5 Re: Not So Free Chat » Political Potpourri IV - Continued from previous » 2005-05-11 12:58:55

JC ...

Those guys in DC should really get a clue. A freakin' Cessna is not a 747 ... I mean really.

Two small planes recently crashed into buildings here in GA (accidentally) - and no-one (not even the pilots) got hurt.

Sheesh.

roll

#6 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Singularity - Black Holes, Gamma Rays, Magnetars, etc » 2005-05-09 16:19:23

Someone once said that the universe is both stranger than we think, and stranger than we can think ...

Sagan I think. Or Clarke.

Speaking of things glowing brighter than the galaxy - I remember Nova mentioning that gamma ray burst of that magnitude happens fairly regularly (in astronomical terms) - except no one has quite yet figured out why...

#7 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Singularity - Black Holes, Gamma Rays, Magnetars, etc » 2005-05-09 11:26:35

Hey Cindi:

No sure whether you've seen http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/0 … .html]this at space.com yet.

Some astronomers observed the formation of a low-mass black-hole from the (aparent) collision/merger of two neutron stars.

Over 2.2 billion years ago!

Daniel.

#8 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Antimatter:  Galactic Cloud » 2005-05-07 16:58:30

Hey, Cindi -

Intriguing article. I wonder how this new observation will impact origin theories (Big Bang) and theories on black holes ...

4,000 light year pocket of anti-matter ... wow.

<Shakes head>

Daniel

#9 Re: Civilization and Culture » KSR's Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars... - What do think of his books? » 2005-05-03 06:56:55

Morn'

I guess having a "cast" of 100 odd characters did not really help with character development - people already complain that the books are too long.

(But in my opinion, a good book can never be too long)

As some of the First Hundred got killed off or cast aside as the story progressed, it did allow more focussed character development for the "central" cast members, like Sax, Nadia, Art and Ann.

KSR wrote a fouth book set in Mars, called "The Martians" - contains a set of short stories / vignettes based either in the traditional KSR Tri-color Mars, and expanding on some plot points or general history, or set in an alternative history where the First Hundred never went to Mars ... It was interesting enough, but too disjointed.

#10 Re: Civilization and Culture » KSR's Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars... - What do think of his books? » 2005-04-30 17:23:52

Well, my two cents:

I've read all three books of the tri-color, as well as "The years of rice and salt"

The trilogies, in my opinion, were great ... KSR used several different themes - science, religion, terraforming, economics, conservation and politics - and weaved them together in a rivetting tale. If any of these elements were left out, the story would have been the lesser for it.

As for "Years", well, it really over-abused the concept re-incarnation. Good idea, poor execution.

Shikata ga nai ...

#11 Re: Human missions » Crew vehicles discussion » 2005-04-12 13:34:16

Kenya sits right on the Equator. An ideal location for a space cable. Geologicaly stable, Currently low in terrorist priorities. Nice People, Could do with the Economic benefits. It would Make Africa a critical player in Space.

The last time I checked, Kenya was the location of four of the most recent terrorist attacks in Africa.

Geologically stable? Um ... ever heard of the (Great) African Rift Valley? It is a vault line, like San Andreas. Or for that matter, do you know that Mount Kenya is actually a volcano? As is, for that matter Kilimanjaro, in nabour Tanzania.

Check your facts, heh?

#12 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Singularity - Black Holes, Gamma Rays, Magnetars, etc » 2005-04-01 20:19:44

ok ... lets see if I can explain this ...

The researchers where drawing comparisons between the astronomical black-holes (that result from gravitational collapse of matter) and a quark-gluon plasma http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/0 … ng.html](a state of matter that existed shortly after the big bang)

When both of these are expressed in ten dimensions using string theory, they are similar in structure and may have similar characteristics - que all the fluff about evaporating black holes, bacteria et al in the article.

The article is not very consistent in the usage of the term "black hole", using it to refer to both the "standard" gravitational black holes, and the "mathematical" black hole structure shared between the former and a quark-gluon plasma.

#13 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Singularity - Black Holes, Gamma Rays, Magnetars, etc » 2005-03-27 11:12:36

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … 2005]Black holes could contain a perfect fluid

*This is one of -- if not THE -- weirdest articles about black holes I've ever read.  Have fun.  tongue 

--Cindy

I was also initially confused by this article ... but read another article elsewhere that clarifies: the "black holes" they are referring to are not the regular "astronomical" black holes we all know and love, but some feature of string theory ... still very fascinating.

#14 Re: Human missions » ISS Woes & To-Mars » 2004-12-29 18:58:35

Just noticed this link on projectconstellation.us, courtesy of Pravda -

http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/ … tml]Russia flies to Mars in 2014, USA's Martian mission slated for 2030

Personally, I think, this should be read with a couple grains of salt ...

#15 Re: Not So Free Chat » Disney's Mission: Space - Edutainment? » 2004-07-08 00:06:57

I was at Epcot in April and tried out Mission: Space. I would say it's a push to say it's "realistic" in the very scientific sense, but it is a whole lot of fun ...

#16 Re: Not So Free Chat » Open Debate: Military Spending vs Space Exploratio - Is our military spending worth it? » 2004-06-11 07:21:25

Something does matter : USAF will aim at military space.
I'm more interested in Science than in military technology, even if I 'm interested in technologies

Until we find a cheap / easy way to get of this rock, military space technology and space science technology will to a large extend be similiar (that was my point)... do I need to point out who launched Clementine ... it wasn't NASA.

#17 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Cool gear - for use in space » 2004-06-10 14:37:05

As I was posting my reply I was thinking the same thing ... but then again, with so little resistance and almost zero gravity, very small "squirts" would be required. Once depleted the canisters can also prob. be refilled again.

But I think your information is probably the most up to date.

#18 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Cool gear - for use in space » 2004-06-10 14:04:57

I guess they changed that - the programme I watched mentioned that it used compressed gas.

#19 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » 40% increase in Panda population » 2004-06-10 13:56:49

Didn't a big shipment of Viagra go missing in China a while back ....  :laugh:

I guess it got into the water supply somehow ...

#20 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Cool gear - for use in space » 2004-06-10 13:54:17

I remember seeing this on a Discovery Channel programme a while back. I always wondered why NASA could not adapt this 'bot for shuttle in-space inspections.

#21 Re: Not So Free Chat » Open Debate: Military Spending vs Space Exploratio - Is our military spending worth it? » 2004-06-10 13:47:27

Inflation is a measure of the growth of the money supply versus production capacity of a country. (That's why inflation is controlled using interest rates, as that controls the relative supply or demand for money). Deflation is also possible, but is generally even more disliked as it results in price uncertainty, and lower corporate profits (lower prices, and consumers wait for prices to fall even futher before buying).

Inflation will cause deflation of a country's currency relative to another country's currency, if inflation in that country is higher than in the other country, if no other influences (politics, speculative cash flows, etc.) are considered.

As for the topic: in the end it doesn't matter if the fuding goes to NASA or USAF - if they cooperate better.

#22 Re: Martian Politics and Economy » A Politically Correct Development Plan - Communism & Socialism & Capitalism » 2004-06-10 13:27:16

There's a saying about economics - every economist has a theory, and none of them are wrong (or something like that anyway ...)

Speaking off capitalism v socialism in the context of a single, small initial settlement just does not make sense. The production of goods and services will form a very insignificant portion of the initial settlement, especially if that settlement is largely supported by the off-world (Earth) economies.

Only once you have larger or multiple settlements will this become a question - and even then, IMHO, it will (initially) resemble more of a barter economy than either socialism or capitalism.

Either way - there are few pure socialist states left on Earth - the scandinavian countries referred to all have mixed economies - somewhere in between pure socialism and laisez faire capitalism.

#23 Re: Not So Free Chat » Gasoline/Petrol Prices » 2004-06-10 07:22:27

The price of petrol in SA is comparable to that in the US (its about (R4/liter ... with the exchange rate at about R7 to the dollar) Considering that SA is at the end of a long supply chain and a relatively high tax surcharge - that's not too bad. It is my understanding that the relatively low cost of fuel is in a large part due to the Sasol contribution mentioned earlier.

The other plus is that relatively low-grade coal is used in the process.

The use of diesel fuels is also considerably higher in most of the rest of the world than in the US (thus impacting the relative demand for petroleum). I've seen relatively few of the newer TDI's here in the US, while they are everywhere back home (in SA).

#24 Re: Not So Free Chat » Gasoline/Petrol Prices » 2004-06-09 18:44:44

During the boycott of South Africa in the 70's / 80's the white apartheid government instituted a programme to convert coal into oil (and other chemical products). Today, a large percentage of petroleum sold in South Africa is extracted using this process. http://www.sasol.com/sasol_internet/fro … id=1]Sasol is the only industrial facility in the world to produce petrochemicals from coal.

Ironically, SA "traded" the technology to France to obtain nuclear technology to build a nuclear power plant close to Cape Town ... and for a short while, nuclear weapons. Geopolitics  roll

#25 Re: Not So Free Chat » James Cameron Mars movie? » 2004-06-09 06:57:04

Your wish is my command:

http://www.cinescape.com/0/Editorial.as … 38845]Hurd Manages Red Mars

I suspect James Cameron handed the project over to Hurd due to an overfull schedule.

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