tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post3695657362362296489..comments2024-03-18T21:52:45.757-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Exoplanets, waterworlds and asteroidsDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-66215072492902053502017-06-30T08:06:10.609-07:002017-06-30T08:06:10.609-07:00Slight correction-- 1 kg at 0.5 c is 3 megatons. ...Slight correction-- 1 kg at 0.5 c is 3 megatons. You would have to throw 30, 000 tons at half the speed of light to get a 100 million megaton explosion and we are unlikely to have the capability to launch something the size of a battleship at that speed in 50 years.<br /><br />DonaldAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-33883715604324954962017-06-28T16:47:10.176-07:002017-06-28T16:47:10.176-07:00On another point above, there's a billion tons...On another point above, there's a billion tons of lunar polar ice. There's no chance we're going to significantly reduce that resource any time soon, at least until we have self-replicating robots.David desJardinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15205200038718576331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-15189010304829643182017-06-28T16:46:17.823-07:002017-06-28T16:46:17.823-07:00NYT story says:
‘‘It is possible that within just...NYT story says:<br /><br />‘‘It is possible that within just 50 years, we could create an antimatter rocket that could propel a substantial pellet of several kilograms, at half the speed of light at times to intersect with the orbit of a planet within 10 light-years of us.’’ Even a few kilograms colliding at that speed would make the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs look like a meteor shower.<br /><br />I hope you were misquoted/mischaracterized. 1 kg of matter at 0.5 c is only a couple of megatons. The Chicxulub impact was around 100,000,000 megatons.David desJardinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15205200038718576331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-79548784752463062872017-06-27T16:54:08.160-07:002017-06-27T16:54:08.160-07:00great concept!
Now...
onward
onwardgreat concept!<br /><br />Now...<br /><br />onward<br /><br />onwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-68803597762592566912017-06-27T15:53:10.337-07:002017-06-27T15:53:10.337-07:00Wonder how common fire would be on a waterworld, o...Wonder how common fire would be on a waterworld, one with complete coverage of land and rock by water throughout its history. The answer of "pretty darn rare" is of course correct. Of course, fire is mostly a parasite on life itself, as without life, what's gonna burn? Not counting volcanoes.<br />Which all leads to a plot on the world of intelligent sea creatures and their floating islands of kelp and various plants evolved to grow out of the floating islands of organic material. Our heroes, the porpoise equivalents, have no hands, but a rich tradition of history, culture, and intricate language. Only a few tiny creatures have evolved to live on the floating islands; certainly not our porpoises who hold the floating islands in some fear and suspicion, having never had a way to explore them except from underneath. Then one night lightning hits and sets an entire floating island on fire - something the porpoises have never seen or conceived of.Jumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-12697132424804965992017-06-27T15:06:10.808-07:002017-06-27T15:06:10.808-07:00A.F. Rey: I heard the piece, and shrugged. This is...<i>A.F. Rey: I heard the piece, and shrugged. This is far more common in rural America, where local public schools get gutted in favor of Christian schools...</i><br /><br />I'm not surprised. It has nothing to do with religion, just the concept of taking control when being apart from the others in the community.<br /><br />I didn't hear the whole piece--I finished walking the dog, and what I heard upset me enough--but a couple of things stood out.<br /><br />One was where they brought in a negotiator to try to get the two sides to talk. One of the school board members said, why should we negotiate? We have all the power, so we can only lose in any negotiation.<br /><br />The other was when a someone from the high school brought proof of how there were not enough classes. Seniors were spending an extra year in school because there were not enough classes for them to earn enough credits to graduate. She brought in one kid's schedule, which had three lunch periods and two study halls out of the eight classes. There were only three classes for learning in the day.<br /><br />She presented it to the school board, and one of members simply dismissed it, saying he didn't believe it was true.<br /><br />How do you work with people like that? How do you create change when the opposition won't believe what you tell them, has a strong, tightly-knit community to overwhelm your votes, are solely concerned with their group, and has no interest in the institutions because, being apart, they don't participate in them? How can you change that in a democracy?<br /><br />I get the feeling we may soon be facing a similar dilemma on a national level. :(A.F. Reynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-15104914482371972412017-06-27T14:53:47.706-07:002017-06-27T14:53:47.706-07:00onward
onwardonward<br />onwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1568790621974786802017-06-27T13:49:22.649-07:002017-06-27T13:49:22.649-07:00I would prefer to go to Mars and the asteroids but...I would prefer to go to Mars and the asteroids but if setting up shop on the Moon happens to be politically necessary to match the Chinese or whatever then I would be for it and hope that mission creep sets in as it inevitably does.<br /><br /> Deuxglassnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-53572786322379061202017-06-27T13:10:23.957-07:002017-06-27T13:10:23.957-07:00Donzelion
Wouldn't that pretty much be the sam...Donzelion<br />Wouldn't that pretty much be the same list as the 1,000 biggest taxpayers?<br /><br />yes, do you know if there is a list like that?<br /><br />Maybe people from every city in America could start putting up WANTED posters. With a pic of the local oligarch and some verbiage like this;<br /> <br />WANTED<br />in connection to the loss of health care form millions and the preventable deaths of thousands of Americans.occam's comicnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61345420294957424492017-06-27T13:05:06.570-07:002017-06-27T13:05:06.570-07:00Occam's taxes won't work without major int...Occam's taxes won't work without major international treaties. Companies and individuals will just offshore more than before. None of it will do the slightest good without wealth transparency... demanding that any and all property on Earth be ascribed to and claimed by living human beings -- or governments, NGOs or foundations -- with only three transparent layers of holding companies allowed. If it goes unclaimed, it goes to the state. <br /><br />The number of problems that would solve are innumerable. With criminals and tax cheats caught, revenues will go up WITHOUT raising taxes on law-abiding tax payers. In fact, given the amount of wealth that would be abandoned to the state, taxes for the latter should go down! Drug lords would hire local poor folks to launder $10,000 each and the resulting commissions would be a massive blow against poverty. Insurance would go down, if all events could be traced to responsible parties.<br /><br />Now add a treaty against countries undercutting other countries' taxes and you'll have a system that works WITH current rates left intact. <br /><br />Sure, at that point taxpayers might also call for some kind of wealth tax... but these should only be applied at most once per decade. Like the biblical Jubilee.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-84026293250808049642017-06-27T13:04:41.495-07:002017-06-27T13:04:41.495-07:00If you really want those sorts of taxes, it's ...If you really want those sorts of taxes, it's easy.<br /><br />Elect legislators who won't be affected by them.<br /><br />Good luck with that.raitonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-762518582255610792017-06-27T12:48:51.112-07:002017-06-27T12:48:51.112-07:00Occam: "Does anyone know if we can get a lis...Occam: "Does anyone know if we can get a list of the 1,000 people who will get the biggest tax cuts when the republicans kick millions of Americans off their health insurance?"<br /><br />Wouldn't that pretty much be the same list as the 1,000 biggest taxpayers?<br /><br />The flip here ought to focus on how many millions of jobs they will create - in China, in Mexico, in all those other countries where they've been creating them. Trump's efforts at 'nationalism posturing' were intended to obscure and block anyone from directly taking note of this fact, since it's ultimately the weakest element (but easily proven one) in the claims about 'tax cuts creating jobs' (they actually do: just not for Americans, except perhaps in bubble professions).<br /> <br /><i>"I think the people who are going to be given a death sentence should know who is going to benefit from their deaths."</i><br />I wish I could find a colonel nearby to get behind and fight this, but I'll happily settle for a chemist or a physician and go across the street to help. The 39th in CA is solid red and 'safe' 57% for the incumbent Red Royce in 2016 - but went for Hillary over Trump. It is indeed time to start fighting back and finding any last ship in the harbor for a 'last stand', but the only groups and candidates I've heard from want nothing but my money. I'll give a little if that's what it takes to get their attention and join this fight in earnest.donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-23841368058607639642017-06-27T12:39:56.903-07:002017-06-27T12:39:56.903-07:00A.F. Rey: I heard the piece, and shrugged. This ...A.F. Rey: I heard the piece, and shrugged. This is far more common in rural America, where local public schools get gutted in favor of Christian schools (which now, with Liberty University and other Christian universities on tap, including on-line Christian colleges, have a semi-successful pathway toward a 'college degree' - so long as nobody looks twice). That a Hasidic Community near NYC does it too shouldn't be so surprising (the fact that the community is a 1-hr drive from NYC explains why it was made in the first place).<br /><br /><i>"This is the kind of abuse between peoples and classes that you rail against."</i><br />It is a sad tale, but not exactly 'oligarchs v. everyone.' The oligarchic hand is more typical in the various Charter School movements - owning/operating such a school can be an easy path toward six figure salaries for well-connected insiders only. <br /><br />That story involves intentionally wrecking a school district (and other community bastions) for a period of several years, wrecking the suburban property values along with it, while buying up cheap - then 'saving the community' (by stopping the quiet, subtle siege) after the big timers have set up their positions - and then 'flipping' it. It's a slow game that works mostly at the 'renewal' stage (when a 'wrecked' community turns to tax subsidies to bring in 'outsiders' - most of whom were already in place, setting the whole thing up).donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-66601662195485822532017-06-27T12:37:52.199-07:002017-06-27T12:37:52.199-07:00Does anyone know if we can get a list of the 1,000...Does anyone know if we can get a list of the 1,000 people who will get the biggest tax cuts when the republicans kick millions of Americans off their health insurance? <br />I think the people who are going to be given a death sentence should know who is going to benefit from their deaths.<br /><br /><br />Also what do you think about democrats running on a plank of TRUMP TAXES<br /><br />For income above one million dollars to ten million a simple 40% tax of all income no deductions no exceptions.<br />For incomes above 10 to 100 million a simple 50% tax of all income no deduction no exceptions.<br />For incomes above 100 million a simple 60% tax of all income no deductions no exceptions.<br /><br />a 10% annual wealth tax on all wealth above 100 million.<br />A 25% annual wealth tax on all wealth above 1 billion dollars.<br /><br /><br />It is time to start fighting back against the class warfare that has been ongoing sense Reagan.<br />occam's comicnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-19067893257140705072017-06-27T12:25:38.829-07:002017-06-27T12:25:38.829-07:00Dr. Brin: Hmmm...I don't like politicians sett...Dr. Brin: Hmmm...I don't like politicians setting the priority schedule for Mars, the Moon, or anywhere else - but without political backing for a grand vision, what will defend science funding long-term? What vision is worth insisting upon?<br /><br />Can we plausibly mine asteroids within a decade? Kennedy's space race seems to be the model for boldness later president's have sought to follow (or Teddy Roosevelt's use of 'science' as the basis for the Antiquities Act, which in turn gave rise to our National Parks system), or Clinton's support in the 'gene race' (though that one in turn gave rise to an endless stream of gene patents, which have their own patent cliff coming up in the next decade). I struggle to see Obama's grand vision in this field, leaving Trump's 'back to the moon' as a nostalgic embrace of an 'ill-defined era when America was 'great' but for the folks who made it so).donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-26449192821685516192017-06-27T12:17:31.461-07:002017-06-27T12:17:31.461-07:00All this talk of a Mars invasion overlooks my all-...All this talk of a Mars invasion overlooks my all-time favorite must be "The Sirens of Titan" - the most hilarious, hopeless, idiotic, dogmatic invasion of all-time. <br /><br />His Martian invasion offers a Cervantesian treatment of a children's crusade (a recurring motif in his later writings), which ultimately serves no purpose whatsoever but to slaughter a massive Martian invading force using antiquated arms so that the Earth might unite to build proper spare parts for an observing interloper. Sheer brilliance.donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-22630857886956061542017-06-27T08:19:06.519-07:002017-06-27T08:19:06.519-07:00Mostly waterworlds? Alan Dean Foster's "C... Mostly waterworlds? Alan Dean Foster's "Cachalot", or the planet described in Arthur C. Clarke's "The Songs of Distant Earth" being a possibility seems a good thing.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-38089618688528824002017-06-27T00:43:22.961-07:002017-06-27T00:43:22.961-07:00re: lifting the Earth. I wonder how much the chang...re: lifting the Earth. I wonder how much the change in solar mass due to fusion and solar weather would alter the Earth's orbit over time (an idle thought: I suspect the effect is miniscule.) Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40444026183902819932017-06-26T14:51:51.078-07:002017-06-26T14:51:51.078-07:00raito, you would enjoy my YouTube riff on lifting ...raito, you would enjoy my YouTube riff on lifting the Earth:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai8x-ZqjXPc<br /><br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-49798925267591600832017-06-26T11:44:58.693-07:002017-06-26T11:44:58.693-07:00@Robert (Pfeiifer) :
I like your poem, but I woul...@Robert (Pfeiifer) :<br /><br />I like your poem, but I would rhyme "Georges are horrible" with "And Donald's deplorable".<br /><br />:)<br /><br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-19596295712686135902017-06-26T11:42:50.541-07:002017-06-26T11:42:50.541-07:00A. F. Rey:
Say, Larry is it that your daughter is...A. F. Rey:<br /><i><br />Say, Larry is it that your daughter is up-to-date, or up-to-dating? ;)<br /></i><br /><br />Actually, she was the first of her friends to have a boyfriend, and they gave her all kinds of s### about it until they started discovering the joys of dating. It's not like they admit they were wrong, though--they just stopped giving s###.<br /><br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-21243950076252617452017-06-26T10:23:50.298-07:002017-06-26T10:23:50.298-07:00Like donzelion, I am neother a Republican nor a &#...Like donzelion, I am neother a Republican nor a 'screw science' guy, but I do see value in returning to the moon. But not for mining. I've given my reasons before.<br /><br />Re: asteroid mining:<br />One thing I've always though (and never seen addressed) about as far as mass space mining goes is how do we decide what to >export< from earth as we import those materials (or even bring them into the earth-moon system).<br /><br />Yes, all the numbers are (currently) very small compared to the mass of the earth. But I imagine that doing it wrong (like changing the velocity of the earth-moon system) could be deterimental. And yes, the mass of the system is chaning all the time anyway (with gas loss, energy changing, etc.) And I suppose those ships we send into the belt could be offset.<br /><br />Possibly of slightly more concern is changing the rotational period of the earth.<br /><br />As Dr. Brin points out, we're on the edge of the zone, and I sure wouldn't like to upset that balanace.<br /><br />I bring these things up because I'm pretty sure the first blacksmiths in Britain thought that their own making of charcoal wouldn't have much effect of their country, or the world as a whole, for example.<br /><br />As for Fermi,<br />No mention of Liu's 'dark forest'? (Apologies if that's already in Existence. I haven't managed to read it.) Quite chilling.<br /><br /><br /><br />raitonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-13725319710538386472017-06-26T10:05:37.338-07:002017-06-26T10:05:37.338-07:00Maybe David Frum should join David Brooks on the G...Maybe David Frum should join David Brooks on the Good Conservatives List. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/03/how-to-build-an-autocracy/513872/<br />Of course maybe it's in the name - I'm sure David (ahem) would agree.<br /><br />Davids are good.<br />Georges are bad.<br />Bobs are still better,<br />and Donald is mad.<br /><br />A coworker sent me a lame dinosaur joke, but "Tyrannochorus" sounds like a perfect description of last week's Cabinet meeting.<br /><br /><br />Bob Pfeiffer.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05763643308644698795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-88781402878333103712017-06-26T07:58:01.698-07:002017-06-26T07:58:01.698-07:00My teenage daughter and her best friend went to se...<i>My teenage daughter and her best friend went to see "The Martian" three times in the space of about a month. She's up to date too. :)</i><br /><br />Say, Larry is it that your daughter is up-to-date, or up-to-dating? ;)A.F. Reynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60858499854013140232017-06-26T03:11:44.145-07:002017-06-26T03:11:44.145-07:00Hi Tony
half a tonne?
The HE shell was 4.8 Tonne...Hi Tony<br /><br />half a tonne?<br /><br />The HE shell was 4.8 Tonnes and the AP shell was 7.1 Tonnes - defensive missiles designed to kill other soft skinned missiles would not have a chance<br />duncan cairncrosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14153725128216947145noreply@blogger.com