I haven't done the math, but I suspect you are off by many orders of magnitude on that trillions of dollars statement. The key to low cost is leverage. You pick the right asteroid, you pick the right time, you pick the right flight path, you pick the right propulsion method, you steal your...
I see four possibilities for how life got started on earth, listed in descending probability.
1. Genesis of life occurred on earth.
2. Genesis of life on another planet (probably outside of the solar system). Followed by transport of DNA to Earth by natural means. This...
The universe does not preclude paradox. The universe only precludes internal inconsistency of its own rules. Just because relativity tells you that observers A and B see events 1 and 2 in opposite orders doesn't mean that you have to invent something extra beyond relativity to explain it (it...
If the Planck length were changing over time, then chemistry would be changing over time. At some point, chemistry would change enough for life population growth rates to go negative. Not long after, life would have ceased to exist. Since this did not happen...
Huh?
Huh? Why? Did I use the wrong word? Should I have said "quantumized". The spell checker says that is not a word. How could the universe not being chopped up in Planck length sized units preclude "100 Meters" from having meaning? Its true that you couldn't assign it an...
An ancient greek philosopher, an ancient greek hero, and Shrodenger's cat walk into a bar. Ok, forget the cat. The philosopher gets so drunk that he decides to prove to the hero that he can't reach the finish line of a 100 meter dash because he would have to go half the remaining distance an...
Math where 1 + 1 = 0 is perfectly reasonable. There are even a few situations where some of the maths where 1 + 1 = 0, would be useful. It changes nothing.
The universe is not affected by math. We are affected by math. We choose a math based on its ability to predict events in the...
What is escape velocity at 1 Planck length from an event horizon? Or, if it varies with the mass, is there a simple equation for computing the escape velocity? (No rotating black holes please, they hurt my brain).
My intuition leads me to the following:
At a certain point the kinetic energy of a collection of particles ceases to be something that can be thought of as temperature and transitions to simply being the kinetic energy of the particles. Just as it would be improper to think of the motion...
Here is the idea -- flywheel bombs.
Just how much energy CAN you pack into a flywheel per kg? Could it be made to "detonate"? Is there a minimum practical size for a flywheel bomb? Could detectors be created for airports to detect them? Is there an upper limit to practical size...
Thanks
Thank for the links. Changing my body chemistry will remain a thought experiment. Stomach lining = good. Still, an LD50 of about 40kg makes it far less toxic than (for example) table salt. Interesting.
I double checked the volume and price values for that pool of heavy...
More odd physics things.
I consider this a fun fact: you could condense some interstellar molecular clouds into REALLY big martinis (sans olive or vermuth). (Ok, it might be a little toxic)
Mirrors would not work without quantum mechanics (assuming you could get light to work without...
I recently read something about an experiment involving a very large pool of heavy water (deuterium oxide). The article stated the cost of the water and the volume of pool. My immediate thought was "Hey! Heavy water is cheap!". My next thought was "What would happen if someone replaced most...
Semi-ignorant question follows:
Ok, the theoretical maximum observable universe is limited to a number light years slightly less than the age of the universe, but as we increase in speed, the universe flattens out, so, as we approach the speed of light, do we get to see more of the universe...