Slappie 9 #1 June 28, 2005 That's what the engineer was on when they thought this crazy ass idea up. http://www.livescience.com/technology/050627_warming_solution.html Let's build a ring around the earth and shield ourselves from the suns rays! ____________________________________ They're moving closer and closer to a "Real-Doll" robot http://www.livescience.com/technology/050628_real_robot.html Hmm I might think about buying one when I win the Powerball! _________________________________ Ok this is just to much fucking fun!! Wheeeeeeeeee Grab with your mouse and toss, easy fun "Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slappie 9 #2 June 28, 2005 Add a few more links.. Try the last one "Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,120 #3 June 28, 2005 >That's what the engineer was on when they thought this crazy ass idea up. They've been talking about the opposite idea on Mars for years. A hovering solar mirror that focuses a large amount of sunlight on one of the icecaps of Mars. The idea is to melt the CO2 ice there, and increase the ppCO2 until they get a runaway greenhouse effect that drives temperatures on the planet up. That will melt water and increase pressures overall. The objective would be to get pressures to around 1.2 PSI (currently they are .15 PSI.) At 1.2 PSI, you could walk around outside with an oxygen mask and warm clothing. More importantly, you could start to grow certain kinds of O2-releasing plants. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slappie 9 #4 June 28, 2005 Quote>That's what the engineer was on when they thought this crazy ass idea up. They've been talking about the opposite idea on Mars for years. A hovering solar mirror that focuses a large amount of sunlight on one of the icecaps of Mars. The idea is to melt the CO2 ice there, and increase the ppCO2 until they get a runaway greenhouse effect that drives temperatures on the planet up. That will melt water and increase pressures overall. The objective would be to get pressures to around 1.2 PSI (currently they are .15 PSI.) At 1.2 PSI, you could walk around outside with an oxygen mask and warm clothing. More importantly, you could start to grow certain kinds of O2-releasing plants. If Science Fiction writers aren't the phophets of our generation. "Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kid_Icarus 0 #5 June 28, 2005 Speaking of space crack.... I know it's been posted, but still....come on. Just let me off at 20,000 feet, no need to stop, I'll just get out.... http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/space_elevator_020327-1.html ________________________________________ "What What..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mdrejhon 8 #6 June 28, 2005 QuoteSpeaking of space crack.... I know it's been posted, but still....come on. Just let me off at 20,000 feet, no need to stop, I'll just get out....Actually, there's a far more realistic "Wright Brothers" version of the space elevator being envisioned. The most realistic proposal is the use of carbon nanotubes in a ribbon, and using compact climbers on it. Carbon nanotubes is a recently discovered material that is strong enough to be used for a space elevator ribbon. (If you remember your high school or university chemistry from the days before nanotubes were discovered, the molecular structure of carbon nanotubes is remarkably similiar to graphite rolled up into a tube. This makes this material shockingly strong.) The elevator line would not move; the climbers would use treads to climb the ribbon instead. You'd only need about 24 tons of ribbon just for a starter line that can then be built up by adding extra ribbon parallel to it. 24 tons is something doable with today's launch technology, as you'd need to launch it to geo (geostationary orbit) then lower the ribbon from geo, while raising the counterweight above geo to counterbalance the gravity/centrifugal force exactly and keep the centre of gravity of the space elevator in the same geostationary orbit slot. The spinning Earth would simply "swing" the elevator ribbon taut with the counterweight at the top -- the counterweight would use discarded climbers/discared construction equipment hanging at the top end of the ribbon, this being the counterweight above geo (If you studied physics, this is where objects tend to "pull away" rather than "fall inwards" if you try to keep the object above a certain point of ground as the earth spins -- this in itself compensates for the gravity acting on the elevator ribbon below the geo orbit. As a result, this keeps the elevator line taut as the counterweight pulls the elevator taut as Earth spins. Really simple Physics 101). Even after fully built, The wright brothers equivalent of a space elevator would have a total mass weighing far less than the total mass of a single Saturn V booster, which is amazingly lightweight for something 60,000 feet long. (Note: Length of elevator depends on the size of the counterweight planned. Some proposals say 70,000 miles is needed. However, all proposals require an extension beyond geostationary orbit for the counterweight). Best of all, it would all cost only a few billion dollars - far less expensive than many megaprojects currently accomplished. There are a lot of showstoppers, granted, but the newer proposals *did* sound far more realistic and even covered realism such as lightning storms, terrorism, safety of collapse, rebuilding, and other realistic real-life scenarios, in some newer articles I've read. It's still a "far-out" proposal, but engineers are apparently longer laughing at it anymore - actually now think it can be doable within our lifetimes. Amazingly, even NASA has provided the prize money for an upcoming small elevator-climber contest: Elevator2010. (Think X-Prize style innovation) This type of climber technology is the same type planned for the shoestring-budget space elevator. Yessiere, your taxpayer money already funds space elevator development (indirectly)... Some people think it's now "real" enough to warrant serious attention. Some more interseting information in Wikipedia's Space Elevator entry. I still doubt it would reduce launch costs massively (ie down to $100 per pound like those quoted), but I think it could still reduce costs to the $1000-per-pound range, after accounting for cost overruns and a couple of expected harmless-but-expensive collapses of the first couple of lightweight space elevators... And I think it'll probably take 30 years, not 10 years like some people say. (Note: 1 mile of nanotube ribbon weighs less than 10 pounds -- amazingly lightweight -- and flutters like newspaper, breaking up in the heat of re-entry... space elevator collapses will likely be relatively "harmless", it's amazingly only a few tons of material for the entire space elevator.) Anyway, it all made a hell lot more sense than the outlandish sci-fi proposals I've read in past years. It only recently started sounding "realistic" a few years ago, with the "Wright Brothers style" shoestring space elevator proposal... References: Wikipedia entry: nanotubes Wikipedia entry: space elevator Wikipedia entry: geostationary orbit Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlindBrick 0 #7 June 29, 2005 Quote(If you remember your high school or university chemistry from the days before nanotubes were discovered, the molecular structure of carbon nanotubes is remarkably similiar to graphite rolled up into a tube. This makes this material shockingly strong.) What you've described, and what CNT's are, is a form of diamond. The main factor retarding development of the elevator, and other CNT proejcts, is the sheer cost of the CNT's. Until manufacteuring methods are developed that will dramaticaly lower costs, CNT tech is going to be pricey tot he point of only being used in a handful of apps. -Blind"If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,151 #8 June 29, 2005 QuoteQuote(If you remember your high school or university chemistry from the days before nanotubes were discovered, the molecular structure of carbon nanotubes is remarkably similiar to graphite rolled up into a tube. This makes this material shockingly strong.) What you've described, and what CNT's are, is a form of diamond. The main factor retarding development of the elevator, and other CNT proejcts, is the sheer cost of the CNT's. Until manufacteuring methods are developed that will dramaticaly lower costs, CNT tech is going to be pricey tot he point of only being used in a handful of apps. -Blind No, diamond is sp3 hybridized, and nanotubes are sp2 hybridized, like graphite. Macro lumps of graphite are only weak because the bonding between the layers is van-der-Waals. In nanotubes there is only one layer, so no van-der-Waals to worry about. It's all about electrons.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
