the two, i think, are not as separate as you make them out to beJohnG@lt wrote:
Inventing the personal computer > going to the moon.
?Trotskygrad wrote:
lolspark
last i heard the french were closest to getting fusion power to break even.Dilbert_X wrote:
I think lifting of the public mood, confidence etc is much more important than the techical spin-offs.Uzique wrote:
where am i saying that at all?
i'm just saying they have a secondary 'benefit' of triggering technological leaps-forward in the public sector of technology/gadgets, too.
The Greeks used to rule the world, look at them now, its all about national confidence (for want of a better word).
The space program gave the US a huge collective ego-boost which is in part reflected in the give-it-a-shot never-give-up-never-surrender mentality.
My personal hobby-horse is fusion power. Given a Manhattan Project style attack it could, assuming its physically possible, be done and finished in a decade or two.
If a humongous asteroid were heading this way and we needed a gazillion watt source to power a bazillion watt laser then no doubt it would get done quicker.
In the meantime we're blowing ever increasing amounts on chavs, single mums and helping nearly-deads live a few extra months.
Last edited by Uzique (2010-11-16 10:00:43)
Last edited by Dilbert_X (2010-11-16 14:44:49)
hell yesUzique wrote:
it would be better to have a generation of destitute, impoverished mums raising emaciated children, so that we can have a giant fucking moon laser?
Neither attitude gets anyone anywhere, we can work like mad and burn resources like crazy just to stand still or we can simply stand still.Uzique wrote:
yeah but that attitude doesn't get anyone anywhere
I said nothing about people with disabilities or colonising Mars, I'm talking about fusion power and raising the general standard of living.Uzique wrote:
and by 'social development' for some reason you're targeting single mothers and people claiming disabilities as an arbitrary target for your ire?
i'm not sure single-moms and colonizing mars have much in common
Criminals and Australia comes to mind. Take it up a notch ---> Mars.Uzique wrote:
and by 'social development' for some reason you're targeting single mothers and people claiming disabilities as an arbitrary target for your ire?
i'm not sure single-moms and colonizing mars have much in common
http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-11-cas … -moon.htmlsay the presence of an oxidizing atmosphere is consistent with remote observations by the Hubble telescope and the Galileo probe of Jupiter’s icy moons Europa and Ganymede, but this is the first time the presence of oxygen has been detected directly on any moon or planet.
Rhea is a mere 1,500 kilometers in diameter and is always covered with a thick layer of water ice. The average surface temperature is estimated to be -180°C. The newly discovered oxygen and carbon dioxide atmosphere is only 100 kilometers thick, and is so thin that if it were at Earth-like pressures and temperatures, the entire atmosphere would fit snugly into a medium-sized building.
The oxygen is believed to be formed when water molecules are split by energetic particles in a process called radiolysis. The oxygen is then ejected into the atmosphere and is captured by Rhea’s gravity. The data suggests about 130 grams of oxygen per second is produced on Rhea. The carbon dioxide may originate in dry ice trapped inside the moon, or it could be from carbon-rich meteorites hitting the surface and split apart by charged particles in a similar way to the water ice. Another possibility is it could be escaping from the planet’s interior.
