10-13-2009, 10:13 PM
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#221
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First Line Centre
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Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
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Kurzweil was right! We will have immortality by ~2040!
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10-14-2009, 02:53 PM
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#222
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Lifetime Suspension
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New pterodactyl fossil found and called "Darwinopterus" after the renowned naturalist Charles Darwin.
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Scientists say a very rare find of some 20 fossilized pterodactyls has produced the first clear evidence of a controversial theory of evolution.
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Story
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10-14-2009, 03:33 PM
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#223
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God of Hating Twitter
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What a horrible quote, CNN is got to be joking when they say these things:
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has produced the first clear evidence of a controversial theory of evolution.
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__________________
Allskonar fyrir Aumingja!!
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10-14-2009, 03:41 PM
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#224
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Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Winebar Kensington
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thor
What a horrible quote, CNN is got to be joking when they say these things:
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I think the controversial theory they are referring to is that birds evolved from dinosaurs, not evolution itself.
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10-14-2009, 03:42 PM
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#225
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NOT Chris Butler
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Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
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Amazing indeed. And yes, Kurzweil may not be off his rocker after all.
I for one welcome our new Petri Dish rat brain F-22 flying overlords?
Some had to say it.
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10-19-2009, 10:05 AM
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#226
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CP Pontiff
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: A pasture out by Millarville
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__________________
Dear Lord, help me to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am. - Anonymous
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The Following User Says Thank You to Cowperson For This Useful Post:
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10-19-2009, 10:11 AM
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#227
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First Line Centre
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowperson
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“A whole bunch of countries (were involved), but Canada has one of the main pieces of hardware. And this engine can get us to Mars in 39 days.
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That is amazing! Our astronauts can be back home from Mars just 3 months after they leave instead of 2 years. That is incredible.
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10-19-2009, 10:14 AM
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#228
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Vancouver
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The shuttle program always bugged me because the shuttles are so mind blowingly inefficient it's ridiculous. I guess the shuttle program was really just step 5 in the 100 steps we need to take to conquer our solar system. More efficient ways to space travel are required if we hope to get anywhere. Is ion propulsion the be all end all? I doubt it, but it's another stepping stone. Although, I don't know what propellant they would use, cause I don't think the stuff they use is as readily avaliable as rocket fuel is.
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10-19-2009, 10:18 AM
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#229
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Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Winebar Kensington
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowperson
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This greatly reduces the amount of radiation the human crew would be exposed to.
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10-19-2009, 10:36 AM
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#230
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First Line Centre
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Saddledome, Calgary
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Finally, something better than a solid-fuel rocket. Now we're getting somewhere
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10-19-2009, 10:37 AM
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#231
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The new goggles also do nothing.
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Calgary
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Quote:
Originally Posted by worth
The shuttle program always bugged me because the shuttles are so mind blowingly inefficient it's ridiculous. I guess the shuttle program was really just step 5 in the 100 steps we need to take to conquer our solar system. More efficient ways to space travel are required if we hope to get anywhere. Is ion propulsion the be all end all? I doubt it, but it's another stepping stone. Although, I don't know what propellant they would use, cause I don't think the stuff they use is as readily avaliable as rocket fuel is.
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An ion engine isn't a replacement for the Shuttle.. the thrust from an ion engine is like the weight of a piece of paper on your hand; it's hardly there. So an ion engine couldn't replace the shuttle (or comparable) for lifting stuff into orbit.
Where the ion engine shines is in the relatively flat space between planets; while the thrust is very small, it's constant. And since it's so small, the amount of "propellant" is comparably small too (argon gas in that case). I say "propellant" because in an ion engine the argon gas is simply the mass being thrown out to generate the thrust, the actual energy to accelerate the argon ions comes from solar panels (or a nuclear reactor, or batteries, or whatever).
So the ion engine isn't going to replace chemical rockets any time soon.
The amount of energy required to get into orbit is so staggeringly huge it'll probably always be big an noisy, until we can make a space elevator that is I guess.
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10-19-2009, 10:40 AM
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#232
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Vancouver
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Ah, yes of course, my mistake. 
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10-19-2009, 11:29 AM
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#233
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A Fiddler Crab
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Chicago
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That rat-brain pilot thing has me pretty excited. I've been wanting to be able to plug a computer into my brain since I started playing Shadowrun when I was like, fifteen.
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10-19-2009, 12:04 PM
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#234
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One of the Nine
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Space Sector 2814
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I love this thread.. just wanted to say that. I get excited every time I see it bumped with a new post.
I do not know a lot about space travel, in case you didn't know by now I am not really Green Lantern.. but more just a fan of the comics.
That video with Carl Sagan is pretty fricken' sweet, so good to see people with such passion for what they do and believe in. I had never even heard of him until I watched that video.
I had a question about the worm holes, is that another name for Black Holes? Or are they completely different? And has anyone ever sent anything into one just to see what would happen? Or can we not reach them?
__________________
"In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
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10-19-2009, 12:27 PM
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#235
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The new goggles also do nothing.
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Calgary
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A worm hole is (in theory) different than a black hole.
A worm hole is like cutting a "hole" in space and having that hole connect to another hole somewhere else directly:
While a black hole is just a hole:
Wormholes are completely theoretical; a result of playing with the math. No wormhole has ever been observed.
Black holes do exist, but the nearest ones we know of are still far far away, thousands of light years.
EDIT: And a black hole really isn't a hole, or at least we don't know if it is. Observing inside a black hole from outside is forbidden by the universe.
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10-19-2009, 12:47 PM
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#236
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Vancouver
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Yeah, a black hole is an extremely dense star that implodes in itself under huge amount of mass. In order for a star to become a black hole, it would have to be thousands of times more dense than our Sun. The star basically collapses into itself, and it is so dense that not even light can escape its gravity. If you go into a black hole, you will essentially be squished into a singularity.
There are supermassive black holes at the center of each galaxy, and probably thousands of black holes just wandering around all over the place.
Worm holes, like Photon said, are theoretical. They are a way to get from point a to point b without "driving" there.The theory is to bend "space-time" so you emerge at the chosen point without actually having traveled the linear distance, because as we all know according to Einstein, we can only travel as fast as the speed of light. Therefore, to get anywhere over 100 light years away in one lifetime, we would need to bend space-time.
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10-19-2009, 12:49 PM
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#237
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One of the Nine
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Space Sector 2814
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Thank you both for that explanation, clears things up a bit for me.
I can't believe that I have never heard of this Carl Sagan considering that I have been studying climate for the past 4 years and now work in that field.. it seems he was somewhat of an atmospheric specialist for not just our own world, but many others. Of course among his many other prestigious tittles and accomplishments.. I will have to do a great deal of reading about him.
__________________
"In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
Last edited by GreenLantern; 10-19-2009 at 12:56 PM.
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10-19-2009, 01:04 PM
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#238
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Vancouver
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Do youself a favour and go out and get Carl Sagan's "Cosmos". Either the book, or the 13 part DVD series. Both are great.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmos:_A_Personal_Voyage
It is probably the best space related series ever produced, (not to mention one of the best non-fiction series ever produced) and still very relevant today even after nearly 30 years. There isn't much in it that needs updating or that is wrong.
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10-19-2009, 01:11 PM
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#239
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Calgary
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowperson
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The Honor Harrington series of books by David Weber speak to this issue of fractional light speed space travel and the whole accelerate halfway / decelerate the other half. Fascinating theoretical look into some of the technical challenges of space travel and pretty good stories, to boot.
Last edited by Biff; 10-19-2009 at 01:22 PM.
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10-19-2009, 01:29 PM
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#240
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Lifetime Suspension
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Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
Wormholes are completely theoretical; a result of playing with the math. No wormhole has ever been observed.
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150 years ago when a man came across something like this:
He probably thought, wow this is going to take 3 days to get to the other side!
Of course nowdays it takes a few minutes:
If we live long enough we will learn...we always do! 
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