Posted on 02/27/2007 4:07:28 PM PST by PATRICKHENRY REPUBLIC
Thanks. 38 is a good age. Still whoop a$$ young : )
I'm aging like a fine cheese... One the moose is unlikely to take a nibble from...
Unless it was a discerning moose with good taste in cheese....*wink-wink*
LOL... Thanks for the vote of confidence.
My pleasure!
Hello? Is this thing on?
:pause:
Evening Ladies, Gentlemen and K'niggets of the Flying Castle:
I wish to apologize for my absence of late however I can not promise to be on line more in the near future.
After a whirlwind courtship that has left me slightly dazed, I have agreed to marry my Snuggly Bear. (Yes I know, I am feeling slightly nauseated myself.) Wedding is in June.
That is all. Please return to your regularly scheduled revelry.
Congrats and all that. Remember, such a purchase is non-refundable and the restocking fee is killer...;-)
I am not planing to give him up in any case. The man can cook and do plumbing! What more could a girl ask for?
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein
I've always liked the idea behind the list.... ;-)
That is so cool! Let's throw her a virtual shower.
Actually, I was speaking of the original announcement, which I caught at the time. I had tuned in to the latter part of the press announcement, which really got my attention.
I had to find a distant TV station rebroadcasting it to get the full story, (such as it was).
At the time, it seemed very surreal. I almost had the feeling they were time-travelers come back to help us solve our problems.
Since that time, of course, the Men in Black have reprogrammed all of us, and we now know there's no such thing as cold fusion.
I loved that man.
Eh... he had a screw or two loose. But still managed to make a heck of a lot of sense at times.
I think you might want to reread the Analog article. While he spends quite a bit of time getting around to the point, the explanation he gives eventually is moderately clear.
It's an entirely different approach to the necessary confinement for fusion reactions.
As explained by Bussard, the ions in a standard thermal reactor are moving in all directions, yet only "head-on" collisions can be expected to yield a fusion event.
With this approach, an electrostatic potential well is set up to attract and trap potential fusible ions. In addition, as they oscillate back and forth because of the electrostatic forces, they tend to engage in more and more head-on collisions.
Bussard explains that once fusion occurs, the reaction kicks the reaction particles out of the chamber with tremendous force, but that force can be captured electromagnetically, making the reactor a super-efficient electricity generator.
Bussard also points out that if you leave the escape path open to space, the reaction particles will escape with a tremendous velocity. He recommends putting a cooler gas in their path to increase the mass of the stream for higher reaction force in a rocket reaction, at a cost of some efficiency.
This concept is at the same time a small, efficient fusion powerhouse, and a potential rocket engine of tremendous thrust and efficiency. (Two months from LEO to Saturn's moons!)
It's very exciting, and I can only hope it isn't too good to be true.
They ALL have a screw loose usually....
A human being should be able to: change a diaper, Check plan an invasion, Check butcher a hog, Yes/No conn a ship, Yes/No design a building, Check write a sonnet, Check balance accounts, Check build a wall, Check set a bone, Yes/No comfort the dying, Check take orders, Check give orders, Check cooperate, Check act alone, Check solve equations, Check analyze a new problem, Check pitch manure, Check program a computer, Check cook a tasty meal, Check fight efficiently, Yes/No die gallantly not yet
Heinlein could have added a lot of other things, but he was only trying to capture the flavor of the idea.
(Of course, I say that with mixed emotions. What? Yes, I know I'm married. So what?)
Anyway, Congratulations! And may you find each other's company most bearable.
Congrats, HTB!
Cool!
Congratulations!
A human being should be able to:
change a diaper, Check
plan an invasion, Check
butcher a hog, (deer) Check
conn a ship, Yes/No (?)What????
design a building, Check
write a sonnet, yes/no sonnet, no. haiku yes
balance accounts, Check
build a wall, Check
set a bone, check
comfort the dying, Check
take orders, Check
give orders, Check
cooperate, Check
act alone, Check
solve equations, yes/no (NO)
analyze a new problem, Check
pitch manure, Check
program a computer, Check
cook a tasty meal, Check
fight efficiently, Yes (I used a rock)
die gallantly not yet (well put)
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