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Probably but data was supposed to be an android with a positronic brain and that could be an example of what could be done in the future.

Still a lot of work to be done but we are on our way at least.

We have known for some time that the current design of processors for computers and through them Robots has a natural limit using what we call silicon chips. There power is supposed to double every 2 years but there is a natural limit to just how many we can place on a wafer of silicon.

So quantuam computers have been the way to go and if it actually gives us Robots like Asimov so described all the better. Especially when it has to be noted that we have useful and reasonbly competent other components. It has always been the Brain and giving a robot the ability to think that has kept the science of robotics back.

Bring on the Positronic brain!!!!!!!!

I can honestly say that the way to sort out the UNs inaction is to actually give it an enforcement arm. A UN army of peacekeepers.

I can honestly also say that the Idea of a UN army of peacekeepers controlled by the UN really worries me. The UN is a bureaucratic red tape knightmare which is easily dominated by those small countries like Sudan and Zimbabwe that treat there populations as fodder. (Zimbabwe is leader of the Human rights sub committee of the UN). And to give it a modern Hi tech army that would likely have regiments put into it out of control of the regiments goverment and to be very Hi tech and paid by me the taxpayer to be very wrong.

When you see that under colonialism though there was no political power given to the indigenous population at least they had a legal system that gave commen people protection and a quarantee of property law.

There was an organised system that put education and medical services as well as transport available. Leaders didnt "eat" there population or deliberatly wreck the most impressive agriculture system just to score political power. And major foreign buisness couldnt just cause a cou'Detat to install a majorly corrupt official as a new head of state. And leaders dont put there whole country into debt just to get a lovely new palace and a really good peice of military equipment to show of to their neighbours.

Many things where done wrong under colonialism but actually it seems (maybe under a set of western eyes) that things where better then than they are now.

They do deserve the contempt they are getting. But so does China for being more interested in the Oil that the Sudan produces, Russia for not wanting to spend the money, and France for not wanting the possibility that it might get soldiers killed and showing that its aircraft carrier is a brand new floating nuclear powered scrap heap, and of course losing its moral authority to blame the USA.

So what can be done as there is no way that we could get any forces spared by the USA and GB....they are too extended. And the local african forces are frankly....thugs with guns. Chad and Libya have for what is Africa reasonable trained troops(they used them in the war they have been fighting for years but who would trust either to do anything.

So the UN is frankly trying a paper exercise condemn but not too strong. Threaten but not with dates that require action. And of course lie, Big lies and of course statistics.

India has learned from is in the creation of its own rockets and missiles. China has though gained by technology transfers from the USSR and then Russia, India from NASA.

Still what China has is an operating system in the Long march where India is still rather basic.

It is in an operating system that India is behind but in theory I think they are if not equal then it is slightly weighted towards India.

No I have to disagree with you on this, For more than 30 years there have been a lot of people with very good engineering and science skills coming from the Universities and colleges of India. India has a surplus of thse people and with the culture of low wages its one of the reasons that so many buisnesses are outsourcing their technical and support services to India.

But what really is of interest is that there have been a lot of very good aerospace engineers who have left India and now work for NASA or ESA. India in its engineers has a lot of experience in satelites and through involvement with NASA in space flight.

What India has is a weakness in indigenous Launchers and in the making and advancing of them. In this China with its long march are way way ahead.

I dont think that was boasting in saying India is ahead of China in satelite technology just a frank appraisal. But Indias lead is not insurmountable and China could easily overtake.

Virgin have now got 7000 cutomers for the flights to the upper atmosphere and each are paying £115,000 each for the pleasure. That is a lot of money taken in for an investment by Richard Branson of £74 million. If he gets all his passengers he will be paid £805 million in return.

I suspect that he will get the 7000 people and probably a lot more as he gains efficiency and the price for flights reduce. Interesting point is that sort of financial return could easily pay for a developed spaceplane that could enter LEO.

No just plain common sense. We will need to make things to be able to move around and grow in space. If it is sent from the ground it is too expensive. And it is easy for the Asteroid miners to supply the Earth and since we need what the asteroids have someone sooner rather than later will do it

And sending man to Mars isn't? ???

It would especially when there would obviously be an organisation in control of what happens to the money ie how much is printed and in its worth. This is a world bank extraordinaire with the power to tell countries where to go.

The Dollar though used still for measuring how much an item has value ie Oil barrels really is not as useful as it once was and many countries no longer believe it to be stable. This is especially in the case of Argentina which pegged its currency to the Dollar in the erstwhile hope of fiscal security and was badly stung. Actually not having recovered from it.

The only currency that appears to be a threat to the percieved Dollar hegemony is the Euro. It has benefitted from the damage the Dollars slide has done and with some reforms in its member nations could actually become the defact trading financial stock. Ie how many Euros to a barrel of Oil.

For the USA this would be percieved as a real loss of power and respect. And in these dangerous times it would be a real body blow. And with certain countries notably China holding very large reserves of Dollars it could happen that should a sudden slide in Dollars value occur happen then China could dispose of its Dollars and exasperate a bad situation tumbling the dollar to being worth nothing. It happened to the USSR

There is one other way to get such a carrier to increase speed fast. Let it get to a decent height using regular jet engines but when high enough it switches to the rocket that it was carrying and ascends to 100,000 feet. Where we can seperate the actual spaceplane.

Advantages are that speeds in excess of mach 6 are available without requiring very complicated new jet engines and or scramjet technology. This leads to a lighter upperstage needed and a bonus to cargo carrying capacity of such.

Disadvantages are that you would require a rocket motor that can be reused reasonably easy and it would have two seperate engine systems on board the carrier aircraft.

still a possibility.....

Lets see it really is in Chinas interests to keep the Oil flowing that is powering its economy. And with Russia not putting a pipeline into China it means they need to keep the oil flowing from somewhere. China is showing a lot of interest in countries like Libya and Venezuela who still have capacity to increase there Oil production and are not really what could be termed as USA friendly.

Still it really is not cold war material just one of the countries that rely on a reasonable stability so that they can continue to grow. so we have to live with it and especially with China having a border with Afghanistan and Afghanistan with Iran.

Still if a lower stage can seperate at speeds of mach 3 to mach 5 at very high heights. It will allow the second stage to be able to benefit from the reduced air drag. This is why a carrier aeroplane for a lower stage is essential for a TSTO spaceplane and why a ballon will not do anything much for it.

But still its a really difficult and expensive proposal to develop an operational TSTO spaceplane that reaches LEO at the least. Whiteknight and spaceship one never actually made it to LEO nor are they able to. So Rutan will have to design something a lot more powerful (and expensive) if he wishes LEO capability.