Talk-Polywell.org

That and the fact kerosene has much more specific energy than any solids. Solids can't compete. They're great for suborbital missiles that need to be in storage for decades, but not much else. The Epsilon rocket looks an awful lot like an ICBM, don't you think? Launcher development makes a great co...

pfrit wrote:Unless someone who wanted to blow up both Mecca and Seattle comes along with only one nuke. In that case, their problem is solved.

Well, OK. It has to be a terrorist attack by *Muslims* before we launch the Minuteman. Muslims would not choose to destroy Mecca.

We would in all likelyhood never have to nuke Mecca, same way we never had to nuke Moscow. Just the threat of it would be enough to make them change their thinking. Remember, the terrorist that causes Mecca's destruction by attacking the west shames his family and clan forever. We just need to anno...

They were taught from birth that as long as things were done by the book, a thing was legal. The epitome of German statism. And they did so. By the book, everything. Meaning that from when Hitler took dominance through to the end of WW2, all those 10 year olds were the hardened experienced members ...

MirariNefas wrote:We'll never know for sure, and using other cases as comparisons has limitations. But for what it's worth, let's look at what diplomacy has accomplished.

The shining example of the power of diplomacy is, of course, Neville Chamberlain and "Peace in our time!"

Apologies to Godwin...

To be blunt, it is the kind of "we may not be perfect, but we're always absolutely right and don't want to make ourselves better or change the way we upset people. What we do is the American way and if people get upset or think it could be done better, then that's just tough on them" that makes the...

Now, on to direct questions, for the third and final time; why is it necessary to put an embargo on midwifery materials to avoid WMD development? If I may jump in here: It isn't necessary. But embargoes, like war, are blunt instruments. There are always destructive side effects and unintended conse...

My apologies for massive thread-drift, but anyway... you are operating in a different realm than most people with an awareness of history. Thank you! Most here have already spotted my unique contributions in this respect! If that's the case, your arguments are only valid in your world. The question ...

if you define "civilized" as any human organization that has no significant militarization, then yes I do, and, exactly! Then in terms of logical argument, you are operating in a different realm than most people with an awareness of history. I could start from the assumption that "civilized" is def...

which came first... instruments of war, or instruments of agriculture? These aren't completely mutually exclusive. There is not much difference between a sickle and a sword, and at one time they may have been the same thing. Tools are a means used by great thinkers to advance our understanding by i...

http://aeroaero1.bravehost.com/ I like your diagram, Aero. Unfortunately when you add mass to the right side of the wheel, the mass must be accelerated with an upwards force, creating a downwards reaction force. When you catch the mass on the left side you must decelerate it with an upwards force, ...

Losses don't bother me too much. Everything has losses. In fusion it's a big problem because making stuff fuse is really, really hard and usually takes a lot more energy than you get out. I didn't mean to downplay losses, they're really the fundamental fusion power problem. It's just that losses do...

The spin is done by pumping the fluid. The chamber does not spin. Oh, well that makes me feel a lot better. Thanks! Yeah. The losses are high and only about 10% of te energy put into the pistons winds up compressing the fluid. Losses don't bother me too much. Everything has losses. And getting the ...

I may not completely understand how this thing is supposed to work, but I wonder: 1. Does the whole thing spin, pistons and all, or just the reaction chamber? 2. Won't this have to spin fiendishly fast in order to centrifugally force the mass of molten lead-lithium plastered to the equator, sufficie...

Tom Ligon wrote:FF may only turn out to be the basis for a very nice spark plug, but I don't begrudge them the opportunity to try.

Assuming FF works, could it be used as a fusion rocket? I've only skimmed the description, but shooting out a stream of fusion-driven ions sounds kind of rocket-like to me.