World, Writing, Wealth discussion
The Lounge: Chat. Relax. Unwind.
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Fringe Science
J. wrote: "Searching for Alien Life Having Unearthly Biochemistryhttps://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/2..."
In my ebook, "Planetary Formation and Biogenesis" I argue life will have to be much like ours at the basic chemical level. What the link says is valid, but they have left out one important consideration: reproduction. Chemical thermodynamics leads to one important conclusion - only chemicals like our nucleobases will work, and only phosphate esters will lead to a polymer that can evolve, and to join the two you need ribose because it is the only sugar that forms a furanose, and the furanose is necessary to transmit mechanical energy from sunlight absorbed by the nucleobase to the phosphate. The number of nucleobases that will work is somewhat limited, and the means of getting to them is also very limited, so if life wants to reproduce, it has to go through "RNA" (the quotation marks are to indicate it is chemically similar to RNA, but could have other nucleobases).
The argument that life could use liquid ammonia is misleading. Liquid ammonia dissolves ice incredibly well, and you end up with an ammonia/water solution. That would still work, but the water would have to be there because in the formation of the elements, there is far more oxygen formed than nitrogen and water is the default for oxygen. About half the oxygen in Earth's accretion disk was in the form of water; the rest was carbon monoxide and oxides such as silica.
House Oversight Lawmakers Detail Upcoming Hearing On Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenahttps://youtu.be/4Uc9QIsOR9A
Brain cells in a lab dish learn to play Pong — and offer a window onto intelligencehttps://www.npr.org/sections/health-s...
Whistle blower claims Defense Dept hiding evidence of alien technology https://www.space.com/us-hiding-evide...
From the fringe ethics file:Woman born via sperm donor discovers she has 65 siblings: ‘You can definitely see the resemblance'
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
In statistics, permutations are multiplied so increasing the number of children sired by an anonymous father from ten to one hundred increases the chances of unwitting incest ten times.
Precious Roman Gem Found in Lagoon Depicts Mystery Mythological Figurehttps://www.newsweek.com/precious-eng...
Philip wrote: "E-Air-Taxis anyone?https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-6..."
Neat. I wonder if the range and length of the recharge cycle are within acceptable limits for a taxi service.
A reminder of how easily the most incredible things can simply be forgotten.1936 SECRET IS OUT: DOCTOR SPED GEORGE V'S DEATH
https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/28/wo...
Yep, King George V was murdered by his doctor. I wonder if his eldest son was consulted beforehand.
J. wrote: "Philip wrote: "E-Air-Taxis anyone?https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-6..."
Neat. I wonder if the range and length of the recharge cycle are within acceptable limits for a taxi service."
No info on recharge times which will depend on charger as well as vehicle. 22mile range stated for two person vehicle. Think they are a way off for full commercial but point-to-point avoiding traffic in a city will be attractive for some. Cabs in London have diesel mostly and still can get stuck.
Charging - something I've been investigating. Commercial chargers are upping rates dramatically providing grids can supply 15kwh and even some 300kwh. My Tesla has 87kwh battery so one of those should be able to recharge relatively quickly. Tesla claims 10-80% in <20 mins at its superchargers.
Still not comparable to refuel but then again AVGAS or similar for helicopters is not readily available and landing sites need more.
Flying cars on the way maybe...
We've had flying cars for decades. They're called helicopters. Making them readily available to the average motorist seems like a bad idea.https://youtu.be/k5BivSNiH8s
J. wrote: "We've had flying cars for decades. They're called helicopters. Making them readily available to the average motorist seems like a bad idea.https://youtu.be/k5BivSNiH8s"
Both systems in article are autonomous drones - no pilot/driver
Philip wrote: "Both systems in article are autonomous drones - no pilot/driver"Boeing 737 Max anybody?
I flew Max to Poland and back this March. An excellent plane ✈️, by every parameter although couldn’t easily shake its dark and tragic beginning of life .
Archaeologists discovered a 17th-century 'vampire child' with a padlocked ankle in a Polish 'necropolis' graveyardhttps://www.businessinsider.com/archa...
Nik wrote: "C. L. might know him or of him"Sequel incoming...
Ian wrote: "J. wrote: "Searching for Alien Life Having Unearthly Biochemistryhttps://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/2..."
In my ebook, "Planetary Formation and Biogenesis" I arg..."
How do you feel about...
Project Hail Mary / Artemis/ The Martian
My feeling about "The Martian" was this was an excellent example of the usee of the journal entries as a way of telling the story. There were some horrible scientific aspects: a Martian storm with winds of 200 k would feel like a light breeze, apart from the dust. The idea of taking hydrazine, catalytically breaking it down to make hydrogen, and burning that beggars belief. For goodness sake, he got the hydrazine out of a fuel tank. Just burn the hydrazine and stop blowing up his hjabitat. As to why they take a botanist to Mars, well . . . Not a lot of plant life to study.Howev4r, I really enjoyed Hail Mary and Martian, Good stories. The science is a bit wonky, though.
It was actually Hail Mary I was referring to, given your interests...
That was imaginative, but I don't ant to be too critical about the science because once we got to the alien there were things I did not like, but against that, early on building an accelerometer was quite inte4resting so he gets a bit of lee3way for that :-)
Ian wrote: "That was imaginative, but I don't ant to be too critical about the science because once we got to the alien there were things I did not like, but against that, early on building an accelerometer wa..."So tell me you are marooned on Mars and have to survive. Yes you should use the hydrazine to blast off, but to where? Your guys are gone. Nowhere to go. In the meantime, you have to survive. I assume everything is plausible, just may be a bit farfetched. Except, what can happen when you really have you back against the wall?
Papaphilly wrote: "Ian wrote: "That was imaginative, but I don't ant to be too critical about the science because once we got to the alien there were things I did not like, but against that, early on building an acce..."My objection is this. What he did was catalytically split hydrazine into hydrogen and nitrogen (why he had the catalyst wa snot explained) then he burned the hydrogen in oxygen to make water to grow his potatoes;. Hydrogen is hideously difficult to control and yes, he blew up his habitat.
So what is the alternative? Burn the hydrazine directly. We have
N2H4 + O2 -> N2 + 2H2O.
You burn hydrazine and get water and nitrogen. You end up in the same place, but a hell of a lot more safely.
You are right of course there must be a safer way. Once you remember to eliminate getting into he rocket to start and firing up into space and then traveling across the heavens to land on a different planet and then have your accident....8^)
In survival situations, "good enough" is the standard.For example, the crew of Apollo XIII had to perform a course correction burn to slingshot around Luna at the right velocity to make it home. At this point, the Command Module was dead. So, no nav computer, no telemetry, not even the main engine.
They did the burn with the LEM's descent rocket, aiming by lining up the moon through a window on the LEM, and timing the burn with a wristwatch (Omega Speedmaster).
J. wrote: "In survival situations, "good enough" is the standard.For example, the crew of Apollo XIII had to perform a course correction burn to slingshot around Luna at the right velocity to make it home. ..."
Blowing up yo9ur habitat should not be "good enough". My point is, if you are going to make money by saying your writing is more scientifically reliable than others, you hav eot be careful. But maybe I am just sore because I don't make the money. But then again, I only entered this fray because I was specifically asked what I thought.
Even HE's a critic.10 years ago: ‘Touchdown Jesus’ statue at Solid Rock Church burned
https://www.cincinnati.com/picture-ga...
Thirsty Raccoons Are Breaking Into Homes in Germany, and Specifically Stealing Beerhttps://www.foodandwine.com/beer-drun...
Has the mystery of glowing Norwegian orbs been solved? Expert claims natural 'battery' creates the amazing light showhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...
As a rockhound, I find the proposal interesting. However, Hessdalen is not the only locale which sports earth lights, and many of those other locales are geologically very different. What do y'all think?
J. wrote: "We've had flying cars for decades. They're called helicopters. Making them readily available to the average motorist seems like a bad idea.https://youtu.be/k5BivSNiH8s"
When I was in sixth grade, our Weekly Reader had an article that imagined a car stuck in traffic would one day be able to convert to a flying vehicle and escape the jam it was in. That was almost sixty years ago, and I've never forgotten that idea.
But, if you are like me, you are still stuck in the jam :-(
Ian wrote: "But, if you are like me, you are still stuck in the jam :-("We have air traffic jams too, called holding patterns.
I think drone tech will break through for personal transport. We also have robotic taxis in San Fran and being trialled elsewhere.
In UK Royal mail are now delivering some mail to Scottish Island via drone instead of van and ferry
New ‘sighting’ of Loch Ness monster captured in ‘most exciting’ photos everhttps://nypost.com/2023/08/31/new-sig...
Pentagon UFO office unveils official website for US government personnel to report sightingshttps://www.space.com/pentagon-ufo-of...
Scout wrote: "J. wrote: "We've had flying cars for decades. They're called helicopters. Making them readily available to the average motorist seems like a bad idea.https://youtu.be/k5BivSNiH8s"
When I was in ..."
I remember a Boeing representative showing off the brand new 747 and telling my class by 2000 we would be flying around in personal jet packs.
Philip wrote: "Ian wrote: "But, if you are like me, you are still stuck in the jam :-("We have air traffic jams too, called holding patterns.
I think drone tech will break through for personal transport. We al..."
The problem is that people want to fly, not be flown. We crave the adventure and the resulting esteem from our peers which we dream we would find by just sliding behind the wheel and launching our incredible auto into the firmament. Why else do you think people fantasize about sports cars that could never be legally driven to their fullest on the road? They want to believe they could; not someone (or something) else. They want to be the pilots of their destinies, or at least their commutes.
Another argument against controlling vehicle speeds. Let us have some freedom. We'll pay the speeding ticket.
Flamingo fallout: Iconic pink birds showing up all over the East Coast after Idaliahttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
Philip wrote: "New source of energy - well deeper newhttps://interestingengineering.com/in..."
At first I thought they were developing a MASER. But going by the referenced paper, it is something with a much smaller range
https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.11...
J. wrote: "Philip wrote: "New source of energy - well deeper newhttps://interestingengineering.com/in..."
At first I thought they were developing a MASER. But going ..."
Seems to be typical fossil fuel type drilling to start with before the new technique to get deeper. Interesting comment on jobs for ex fossil fuel drilling folk. Something they will welcome.
Those stem cells seem like an amazing, almost universal tool:https://www.theguardian.com/science/2...
I've been injected some into the bone fracture, wonder whether they did the job
Rare horse — once believed extinct — ‘thriving’ at new CA home. See ‘energetic’ foalhttps://www.sacbee.com/news/californi...
NASA to Release, Discuss Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Reporthttps://www.nasa.gov/press-release/na...
J. wrote: "NASA to Release, Discuss Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Reporthttps://www.nasa.gov/press-release/na..."
Survey says: We should form a group to look at it more closely.
NASA Shares Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study Report
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/na...
I wonder if they'll need to ask for a budget increase.🤔
World, Writing, Wealth
Books mentioned in this topic
Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ (other topics)Project Hail Mary / Artemis/ The Martian (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Roger Stone (other topics)Virgil (other topics)
David Icke (other topics)
Latif Yahia (other topics)
Michio Kaku (other topics)
More...
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20...