Free Republic

>>“ easy interstellar travel”

>Yeh, right.

It won’t be “easy” with current physics, but let’s not forget that a mere 100 years ago nuclear energy was still a theory... It’s hard to say what’s possible, but it’s easy to remember badly failed predictions, such as “rockets won’t work in space, there’s nothing to push against”.

The Solar System offers plenty to keep us occupied in the meantime. It’s true that Earth is the only life-friendly place available, but creating nice extraterrestrial living spaces will be possible given a future including near-infinite energy and pervasive robotics.

“try to build one in antartica first. If you cant do it there you certainly cant on the moon with no air.”

I actually think a simulated Moon/Mars colony on Greenland would be a good idea. At least it’s a lot closer to the US than Antarctica.

Entirely underground, airtight, vertical farming for food, with a small nuclear reactor for power... If it’s a Mars colony simulation, you could make unlimited CO2 available to help with agriculture. You could go outside for a walk, but only through an airlock in a space/Mars suit.

I watched the first part of that video, and I’ll revisit it later. Thanks for sharing it!

The first section dealt with radiation. A trip to Mars with SpaceX Starship (I wish they’d chosen a different name!) level technology will be challenging. I expect there will be “personal radiation vessels” (PRV), possibly able to enclose their bunk area, sufficient to survive solar flare level radiation. I hope some shielding is possible for the manned area of the vessel, but I doubt it’ll be possible to get below the level the ISS experiences. It’ll probably be prudent to spend as much time as practical in your PRV. At least there’ll be VR to keep you entertained, and in fact you should be able to monitor the ship and do other computing tasks using it.

Once you reach Mars, despite all the fantasy artwork you see, the best place to live is underground. Just a few meters of rock are plenty of radiation shielding. One very hopeful thing is that there are large lava tunnels on Mars that may make underground living straightforward. Otherwise, technology developed by Elon’s The Boring Company may be the solution. With known technology, living in an underground Martian habitat could be just as nice as living in a modern home, except with 1/3 the gravity. One could experience the surface of Mars, and do useful work, with low latency and high resolution using a VR-controlled robot. The adventurous could have an occasional outing in a Mars suit. Surface vehicles with significant radiation shielding are a possibility. All in all, radiation need not be a significant problem for Mars colonists.

On to the topic of gravity.

Either a shipboard centrifuge, or spinning the whole ship could provide replacement gravity, although its efficacy at preventing the negative effects of microgravity are unknown (thanks, NASA!). Neither of these are currently possible with Starship, but the few-month trip for the first Martians isn’t a deal breaker, as shown by the longer duration ISS inhabitants.

Once on Mars, it’s a different story. The video presents things as if we know how the human body will respond to Martian gravity. That is a complete unknown at this point. It may be little to no problem (with exercise providing for retained strength and muscle mass), or there may be physiological effects. If some exposure to Earth level gravity is required, large centrifuges may be a long-term solution, perhaps for sleeping quarters.

I’m surely not suggesting that a Mars colony will be a walk in the park, however from everything I know, it should be possible. One thing that will help quite a bit is that the first wave of ships will deliver robots instead of humans. That will allow some initial facilities to be constructed in preparation for humans.

Things will kick into an entirely different gear once nuclear propulsion is in play for interplanetary travel.

Finally, I totally agree that a large lunar colony is the logical first step. Starship, with its large cargo capacity, has made that entirely practical. BTW, underground living is also the way to go on the Moon, so the only noticeable differences between living on the Moon and on Mars when you’re indoors will be the gravity, and what scenery you’re seeing when your wall screens are displaying your local surroundings aboveground...

“I wish they would have more 100% proof of who they are. Rand is asking the right questions.”

I’m pretty sure the boats are identified based on various classified surveillance activities. I suspect they have near 100% certainty they’re hitting the right targets.

It’s likely sharing details would reveal sources and methods, so they’re not doing that.

Y’all (most who responded) missed the statement that this was fossilized soft tissue. That means the tissue was replaced with stone. No DNA or other organic material….

“There are about 16,000 car crashes every day. Some from mechanical error some from human error. Now imagine flying cars crashing to the ground.”

I can imagine the occasional flying car floating to the ground under its steerable whole-vehicle parachute. We already have those for small planes.

Also, I expect collisions to be very infrequent, since with flying vehicles there’s a third dimension to spread out the traffic…unlike with 2D roads. Also unlike 2D roads, one is not constrained to small strips of expensive pavement. Think of the road maintenance savings!

“Unless someone develops fail-safe anti-gravity flying cars, flying cars will should remain in the realm of cartoons and science fiction.”

Like I said, parachutes.

“Also flying car is a misnomer. These cars are less like cars and more like mini-planes.”

Flying cars of today are at about the same point in their evolution as cars in 1900… Even so, there are some interesting designs.

It’s having issues this morning.

I can’t imagine a more attractive target for cyberattacks by bad actors. I hope Elon and team have a good defensive strategy!

“Consumption tax. It would motivate politicians to keep the market humming and impact consumers purchasing a candy bar to a yacht.”

It would also encourage saving and investment.

I recommend the Fair Tax, it’s well thought out and should eliminate IRS involvement with individuals entirely!

“ Hard to collapse when you can create infinite money.”

Not true at all, see ‘hyperinflation’…

Both B-52s and B-2s are in range of Russia from Nebraska and Missouri. :-)

I agree 100%. We’re in Orwell’s 1984 land for sure...the amount of gaslighting is insane.

DJT is the ONLY sane choice. Vote accordingly!

Trump 2024!

CCW would go a long ways towards fixing this!

When every citizen might be carrying, criminals get a LOT more cautious!

Here’s a concept...save up more than an 11% down payment. They should be stacking up money with $11,000/month take home pay.

The funniest part of Joyless freaking out is her cutting off her hair because everyone was saying it looked like Trump’s hair! lol

We can’t afford any more refugees. Our country has almost $35 trillion in debt, something around $140K per household!

All that aside from the cultural rot induced by importing wildly different values, while doing NOTHING to integrate them into our society!

So agreed 100%, INFURIATING!

Trump 2024!!!

Yes, Russia has been using a 1500 kg FAE thermobaric bomb.

Your information seems quite at odds with that given at this link:
https://thebulletin.org/premium/2024-03/russian-nuclear-weapons-2024/

Estimates are that Russia has over 4300 strategic warheads, and something like 2000 more tactical warheads available. Russian nuclear forces have been undergoing modernization, and Russia has working designs for hypersonic glide vehicles among other options.

I guess we’ll see how well their warheads work if they resume testing…I hope not on Ukrainian soil.

Another article on modernization:
https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2024/02/01/russian-leaders-have-high-hopes-for-new-nukes-this-year-again/

To your point, despite a fair amount of searching I couldn’t find an article on current warhead (pit) manufacture in Russia. Do you have a link perchance?

I should have provided a link:

https://www.modular.com/max/mojo

It’s (cleverly) positioned as an AI language right now, but make no mistake - it’s a full-fledged general purpose language!

I personally think Mojo will eat Rust’s lunch.

It’s also a systems language, has most (if not all) of Rust’s memory safety, but is much more approachable and also integrated with the Python ecosystem.

Mojo’s technical chops are impeccable, it’s main architect is Chris Lattner. It leverages MLIR, the latest LLVM technology, allowing straightforward programming of GPUs for instance.

“ EVs are losing favor with a rising number of Americans who don’t want to be tied to them. ”

The sane middle ground is plug-in hybrids. Plenty of range for (cheap) around-town travel, but you can still fill up as needed.

Of course, such hybrids being sane means the Dem mental cases hate the idea!

I think the auto companies will retrench in that direction, since EV demand has peaked for the time being.