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Nyrath

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Posts posted by Nyrath

  1. Cool, possibly vapor-ware, new capacitor tech

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: Cool, possibly vapor-ware, new capacitor tech

     

    Wouldn't a capacitor that huge be very dangerous? Touch both poles of the capacitor accidentally and zap! You're dead? And you can bet someone would be stupid enough to do that deliberately' date=' probably on a triple dog dare.[/quote']

    Energy is energy. A stick of dynamite, a full gasoline tank, a capacitor, and batteries all contain large amounts of energy.

     

    You may have heard about the rash of computer laptop batteries suddenly catching on fire.

    http://gizmodo.com/182257/dell-laptop-explodes-in-flames

     

    Automobile crashes are dangerous since leaking gasoline might catch on fire.

     

    And if you stick a metal object into an electrical wall socket you could be killed.

     

    This has implications for directed energy weapons. Especially laser pistols.

    http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3l.html#lasermagazine

  4. Long Distance Communication

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: Long Distance Communication

     

    It seems when you watch most show set in the future, the ability to communicate is almost instant without any lag. There are those certain episodes where the ship is out of communication range, but for the most part that is a rare occasion.

     

    While I do like space opera shows, the ability to always be able to instantly communicate with home base, seems a bit more than far fetched. I am wondering, if anyone knows, what are the "accepted" methods of long distance communications.

    Well, back in Olden Days, in the classic TOS Star Trek, Captain Kirk would sometime have to wait a couple of weeks to get a response back from Starfleet. Subspace radio was faster than a starship, but not by much.

     

    If starships are faster than radio, you have an "age of Sail" situation (i.e., pre-morse code and undersea telegraph cables). Otherwise you have more of an "age of Steam" situation (where there are steam ships, radio, but no airplanes).

  6. Refining the Deuterium Starship

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: Refining the Deuterium Starship

     

    BTW' date=' on a tangental note: did anyone else think that NASA was referring to nuclear powered spacecraft when they announced the test launch of the new Orion booster ? I have to say that that was my first thought...then I recalled that the same name was being used for the new launch system.[/quote']

    It took me aback for a minute as well. There are too many projects with the name "Orion" on them.

  7. Refining the Deuterium Starship

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=9961

     

    This is about boring non-FTL scientifically realistic starships.

    The article wrings its hands over the unfortunate fact that all the various high-powered starship engines can also be used as weapons.

     

    In other words, they have just realized the existence of Jon's Law. Well, duh. Energy is energy, there is no way to prevent the energy used for propulsion from being used for destruction.

  9. Lunar Cave Discovered

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: Lunar Cave Discovered

     

    I loved that series, years ago.

     

    However, it was pre-internet, and I was never able to find the last two books. :(

     

    Someday I'll probably plunder around and hunt them online when I've time to read them.

     

    Really good reads, if a bit simplistic on characters.

     

    Try looking on

    http://www.bookfinder.com/

     

    The books are

    Inherit the Stars

    The Gentle Giants of Ganymede

    Giants' Star

     

    or the omnibus edition The Giants Novels

     

    Be warned that Hogan has an ... unconventional views on things. He believes in the insane theories of Immanuel Velikovsky, thinks that the Big Bang theory is untrue, believes that the HIV virus is not the cause of AIDS, and thinks the Holocaust was a myth. The first two appear in the novels.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_P._Hogan_%28writer%29#Controversy

  11. Oxygen on Europa

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: Oxygen on Europa

     

    I can see a joint starship crew: navigation by "aquatics" due to their potentially greater ability to "think in 3D" (helpful in space travel' date=' I would think) and "primates" in engineering and propulsion.....[/quote']

    I believe that was STARTIDE RISING by David Brin

  12. Oxygen on Europa

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: Oxygen on Europa

     

    But for me, the point is that in our solar system, there is one planet with "warm" life (Earth), and possibly four with "cold" life (Europa, Enceladus, Ganymede and Titan).

     

    If all four have life, and this is representational, this means in the galaxy in general cold life will outnumber warm life by about four to one.

     

    Some SF authors opine that warm life interstellar empires and cold life interstellar empires can interpenetrate. This is due to the fact that we really don't covet each other's real estate.

  19. Lunar Cave Discovered

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    http://planetary.org/blog/article/00002173

     

    One of the problems with establishing a Lunar base is the deadly radiation flux. You can dig your base underground, but that takes lots of time, massive construction site machines, and lots of resources.

     

    It would be so convenient to find an existing cave.

     

    The Japanese space agency JAXA decided to look for one, with their Lunar orbiter probe. Apparently they actually found one. Looks like part of a hollow lava tube.

     

    This is huge. Instant rad shielding, just add a light-weight inflatable pressurized habitat and a ladder, and you are done.

  23. Using Human “Wetware” to Control Robots

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: Using Human “Wetware” to Control Robots

     

    If I understand this' date=' the rat-neuron robot is basically just a twitch mechanism, right? A signal comes in from the sensor to the neurons, which generate an output signal that's read by the robot as a "change direction" command. So the idea is to see if emergent behavior develops from larger groups of neurons?[/quote']

    If I understand this, it is basically the same as computer software using the so-called "neural net" technique.

     

    Except that by using actual organic neurons, the system is far more compact and sensitive than current computer software/hardware.

     

    I'm reminded of Keith Laumer's A PLAGUE OF DEMONS, where aliens harvest human brains to be used as controllers for their giant robot tanks.

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