The Official Science Thread

Originally Posted by DylloS

It would be the coolest thing that could happen if they don't fuuck us up.

Or if we didn't over react and fck them up first...

Originally Posted by DylloS

It would be the coolest thing that could happen if they don't fuuck us up.

I know all the experts claim that contact wouldn't turn out well for us, and they cite the history of humans and other animals as examples, but while a valid consideration, what they never account for (at least I've never seen any evidence of it) is the fact that they're talking about animals with enough brains to eat, sleep, and fvck. And when they refer to such encounters as us white folks and native americans or the spanish and the natives, they need to consider that we, as a race of people, are a far cry from those explorers. Fundamentally we're pretty much the same, but the mindset of a people looking for precious metals and spices to turn a profit is a far cry from that of a race of beings who value intelligent life outside of their home planet for the very fact that it exists. I think it's safe to say that if we find life on mars, venus, or anywhere else for that matter we're not going to destroy it, we're going to sit back in awe and analyze how it came to be. IMO if a being is intelligent enough to traverse space-time and land on a planet with intelligent life, they wouldn't be hostile....until some dumbazz here starts firing on them first, then we're screwed.

Quick detour: If an alien race wanted to destroy us, I think they would do it with a virus. Why send a person to do a bug's job?

Some people are challenging general relativity with momentum space.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/...rue&print=true

Sooo....MIT has created a vaccine for nearly any virus on the planet. Wow.
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/antiviral-0810.html

DARPA HTV-2 Falcon Test Flight Set for Thursday

"The mission's goal is to demonstrate hypersonic gliding and maneuvering techniques at the edge of space at speeds eclipsing 13,000 mph. The test flight could help the Pentagon develop a prompt global strike program to deliver conventional warheads to faraway targets in less than an hour."

http://www.dailytech.com/DARPA+HTV2+...ticle22407.htm

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/...r-speed-sound/

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n...minotaurhtv2b/

http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/sci...ch-20/#slide=2

Creeping ever closer to space based weapons...

The term "hypseronic gliding" sounds extremely odd to me. Speed + gliding should never be mentioned alongside each other.

Originally Posted by cowmoo32

The term "hypseronic gliding" sounds extremely odd to me. Speed + gliding should never be mentioned alongside each other.

even when you are re-entering into the atmosphere? becuase it is gliding/falling, just very fast. our typical understanding of gliding is very slow.... this is next level gliding!!

"thats not flying, it's falling with style"

Honestly, I haven't heard it referred to as a hypersonic glider until after the first one crashed a few months ago. Formerly, they would say the craft had "boost-glide" capability which is more accurate.

Also I have to admit, while I find the science behind this idea impressive, I find the project as a whole to be a bit short sighted. The whole reason they are doing this is to develop a long range strike weapon that WON'T be mistaken for a nuclear ICBM. They want to be able to hit targets anywhere on the planet with conventional warheads in under an hour.

I don't understand the fiscal sense behind that. If a standard Tomahawk costs $1mm per shot this thing will probably cost $30mm. Barring the need to blow up Chinese Parliament while it's in full session I can't imaging what kind of target would make this project worth it.

Originally Posted by Rif Raf

"thats not flying, it's falling with style"

You know, the space shuttle was essentially a hypersonic glider. Reentry was unassisted by thrusters. Landing the shuttle basically consisted of holding onto the stick while it fell from orbit like a rock at supersonic speeds.

You got one shot at getting it right.

Now the creationists are really gonna be pissed. Even Fox News is reporting:

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/...ce/?test=faces

did not feel like creating a new thread for this and i figured the only people who would find this interesting are in this thread

Computer Models Show that Towing an Iceberg to a Drought Area Could Actually Work

http://www.popsci.com/science/articl...-actually-work

thought it was a cool idea but would prolly fuk up the ecosystem somewhere somehow

Originally Posted by iwannagofast

did not feel like creating a new thread for this and i figured the only people who would find this interesting are in this thread

Computer Models Show that Towing an Iceberg to a Drought Area Could Actually Work

http://www.popsci.com/science/articl...-actually-work

thought it was a cool idea but would prolly fuk up the ecosystem somewhere somehow

Lol. Turn Death Valley into Life Valley.

Originally Posted by iwannagofast

did not feel like creating a new thread for this and i figured the only people who would find this interesting are in this thread

Computer Models Show that Towing an Iceberg to a Drought Area Could Actually Work

http://www.popsci.com/science/articl...-actually-work

thought it was a cool idea but would prolly fuk up the ecosystem somewhere somehow

Hmmm... Canada's new get rich scheme.

It's a cool idea though.

hypersonic gliding for weapons purposes is meh. we need semi-space human travel, so we can fly NYC to Sydney in 3hrs.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/...er?sc=fb&cc=fp

looks like it failed.

That's what they want us to think!

Lawn Dart!

Thought this was interesting, not sure if this was posted yet- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14492948

Originally Posted by SDKmann

Thought this was interesting, not sure if this was posted yet- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14492948

The technique, they say, could give biologists "atom-by-atom control" over the molecules in living organisms.

Winning. I wish I could go back and have them redesign me before I was born.

Self-assembling robots. What's up?
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/20...mbling-robots/