Much appreciated

In reply to this comment by Crake:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1166330/nuclear_explosions/

nicer quality here

Damn it Dr. Strangelove! A Nuclear Explosion? That's your solution to everything!

>> ^calculadoru:
If this saved vast amounts of gas, by preventing it from burning, then how will they be able to pump it out again, after the nuclear explosion?
Just saying.


The underground natural-gas deposit here is probably massive and covers a wide area. Just drill another shaft somewhere in the vicinity and plunk another well on it once you hit gas again.

If this saved vast amounts of gas, by preventing it from burning, then how will they be able to pump it out again, after the nuclear explosion?
Just saying.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'dynamite, atomic bomb, nuclear, atomic, bomb, oil well, fire, explosion, ussr, russia' to 'atomic, bomb, gas well, fire, peaceful, nuclear, explosion, ussr, russia, cold war' - edited by calvados

>> ^Raaagh:

Nah, I disagree.
its been estimiated that for every dollar the US government put in, they got a return of seven with all the space race technology spin offs. Whats the chances within 3m of you right now there are objects which have some off this technology imbued?

Ever stop to think how much more money could be made if it wasn't inefficiently researched by NASA?

Space research should not be the role of government.

I think there is something fatalistic to turn your back on space.

I'm not turning my back on space, I'm turning my back on government pursuing it. The reason it seems necessary for govt to pursue it is cost, what I'm saying is: let costs go down (or technology advance) and that problem will solve itself.

Thank god there is a plethora of commercial investors (Branson most notably) with the money and the foresight, and most importantly - WILL to move the stars closer.

Agreed.

>> ^robdot:
even if you could get this technology to work,which is doubtful, it would take 100 years to get to the nearest star which is 4.25 light years away. and then ..so what? what will you do now? how will you communicate with earth? interstellar travel for people is probably not practical. it would be possible to send probes maybe..but why? to what end? for what purpose? populating our own star system is possible though.


Going to a different solar system would be stupid if it were longer than 2 years. Technology would leapfrog you. 100 years, and you would arrive only to find out it's become a galactic Starbucks.

Yes, a really nice guy. His talk was quite 'out there' by most standards, but a man of his stature most definitely has the right to go out on a limb with ideas that challenge the establishment and help foster alternative ways of thinking. If you check the twitter for 'exoplanetology.org', they have a pretty good running commentary on what was discussed Friday/Saturday during the crossroads conference at Harvard.

I also met Prof David Charbonneau, one of the leading astronomers in the search for exoplanets. Really nice guy as well. I got some pointers on how I could contribute to the search. Being an amateur astronomer/astrophotographer, I wanted to try to get more involved and help provide observations/data. Of course I suspect I have a bit of a learning curve to climb, but that is half the fun.

They have a month of science in Cambridge/Harvard every year. With events, talks and the like. I suspect they'll try to put together another such event next year. Search for the harvard smithsonian center for astrophysics. A person by the name of Christine Pulliam has a mailing list for sponsored events.. from talks by scientists, to SciFi B-Movie night. Quite funny. Sometimes these talks are webcast, so for certain events you don't have to be local!


In reply to this comment by budzos:
Really? You met Freeman Dyson? That's fucking awesome! He's one of my heroes!

In reply to this comment by honkeytonk73:
VERY nice clip. Surprised to see Professor Freeman Dyson there. I just met the man just a days ago. We were both heading to the same place, and accompanied him to a talk near Harvard College. He was among a few other amazing speakers. They discussed the future of mankind, the search for exoplanets, detecting live elsewhere and the like.

Really? You met Freeman Dyson? That's fucking awesome! He's one of my heroes!

In reply to this comment by honkeytonk73:
VERY nice clip. Surprised to see Professor Freeman Dyson there. I just met the man just a days ago. We were both heading to the same place, and accompanied him to a talk near Harvard College. He was among a few other amazing speakers. They discussed the future of mankind, the search for exoplanets, detecting live elsewhere and the like.

>> ^gtjwkq:
I think it's too early in human development to actually go to space. We did go to the Moon and back and sent a robot to Mars with taxpayer money.
Society needs to become a lot more productive, with cost saving technologies that will allow voluntary funding for projects of this magnitude. The space age will fail if it is pursued by governments agencies.
When we find good economic reason to go to space, it will naturally become a worthwhile endeavor for private citizens and companies to profitably undertake.
Right now, NASA is, mostly, a waste of money. That statement will make more sense when the economy collapses.


Nah, I disagree.

its been estimiated that for every dollar the US government put in, they got a return of seven with all the space race technology spin offs. Whats the chances within 3m of you right now there are objects which have some off this technology imbued?

Plus there is never a time to not think of space, IMHO. It lifts the considerations of each individual into the realm of infinity where wars, resource scrabling and politics shrink into insignifigance. Space and more importantly, the sparking of the WORLD's collective imagination and hence cohesion.

I think there is something fatalistic to turn your back on space.


Thank god there is a plethora of commercial investors (Branson most notably) with the money and the foresight, and most importantly - WILL to move the stars closer.

>> ^Memorare:
The excitement of exploration that briefly drove the science and technology of the early 60's has gone into hibernation. The only place you feel it these days is in the new star trek movie.


That is only because you don't know where to look. Projects such as Cassini/Huygens and the Mars Rovers are orders of magnitude more advanced than the moon landings. Just because the media find reality shows more worthy of attention nowadays doesn't mean the science and innovation has stopped.

Your video, Using nuclear explosions to propel spaceships: Project Orion, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'dumbfoundingly silly, indiana jones, sequel, nuclear explosion, harrison ford' to 'dumbfoundingly silly, indiana jones, indy, nuclear explosion, fridge, harrison ford' - edited by calvados

Wild, n'est-ce pas? The fantastic Bill Bryson devotes a chapter to nukes in his bestselling book "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid" and spends a page discussing the experts' breathless masterplans for PNE (Peaceful Nuclear Explosions), which apparently briefly included the idea of "alter[ing] the courses of rivers in our favour (ensuring that the Danube, for instance, served only capitalist countries)" (p.179).

Tags for this video have been changed from 'ambient, post rock, electronica, Jim Jones, pain, nukes' to 'ambient, post rock, electronica, Jim Jones, pain, nukes, nuclear, explosions' - edited by calvados