Search found 1871 matches

by Tom Ligon
Wed Dec 13, 2017 2:56 pm
Forum: News
Topic: EMC2 news
Replies: 440
Views: 453682

Re: EMC2 news

But LockMart has their own fusion program, and from what I can tell, it has things in common with the Polywells, although it is configured differently. So working with a Polywell truncated cube configuration would throw them off track. Besides which, WB7 apparently stubbornly refused to form true wi...
by Tom Ligon
Mon Dec 11, 2017 1:47 am
Forum: News
Topic: EMC2 news
Replies: 440
Views: 453682

Re: EMC2 news

I have a question, EMC2 probably still has WB8 in working order, what if they could get a plasma injector for it like they did with the little WB-X machine. Maybe team up with Focus Fusion or another company playing with Spheromaks, might be a good way to test scaling up on a low budget. Sounds fun...
by Tom Ligon
Tue Nov 07, 2017 10:04 pm
Forum: General
Topic: Crime and Punishment: Oklahoma (& Texas) style!
Replies: 983
Views: 396791

Re: Crime and Punishment: Oklahoma (& Texas) style!

Turns out this latest jackarse was put into a mental institution in 2012, and escaped. To quote the Washington Post: The gunman who opened fire in a church outside San Antonio, killing at least 26 people, escaped from a mental health facility in 2012 after he was caught sneaking guns onto an Air For...
by Tom Ligon
Tue Oct 31, 2017 5:34 pm
Forum: News
Topic: SpaceX News
Replies: 2324
Views: 1154739

Re: SpaceX News

This makes me chuckle, the average error in the Apollo was 2.4 miles from intended point with the best landing at .55 nautical miles. The navy was prepared to recover from 5000 square miles if necessary. Its a sign of the times. We've gone from hanging on the edge of our seats and holding our breat...
by Tom Ligon
Mon Oct 30, 2017 11:30 pm
Forum: News
Topic: SpaceX News
Replies: 2324
Views: 1154739

Re: SpaceX News

The barge was rocking and rolling enough in the tropical cyclone that it had trouble keeping it's satellite link alive.. and they still stuck the landing. Nice work! No additional points for style? ;-) The good news is, ten votes of boring erases one "rapid unplanned disassembly." Landing under dif...
by Tom Ligon
Mon Oct 30, 2017 10:17 pm
Forum: News
Topic: SpaceX News
Replies: 2324
Views: 1154739

Re: SpaceX News

The landing was OK, but the video feed for both the barge and the first stage suffered major drop-outs, and clearly was a couple of meters off-center. The commentator noted that this one was a little "toasty." The judges deducted two full points. The Russian judge again deducted an extra point for b...
by Tom Ligon
Sun Oct 22, 2017 9:08 pm
Forum: News
Topic: SpaceX News
Replies: 2324
Views: 1154739

Re: SpaceX News

Some of the numbers given show that for the price the big deal isn't mach 25, it's bothering the neighbors. Yah, dang NIMBYs will probably complain about the shock wave leveling houses. I've been wondering about Hyperloop's tunnels, too. The article suggests they think 2 tunnel diameters (28 ft) is...
by Tom Ligon
Sun Oct 22, 2017 5:01 pm
Forum: News
Topic: SpaceX News
Replies: 2324
Views: 1154739

Re: SpaceX News

You could give spacecraft a boost, but please, run the numbers before you try orbital velocity from Earth's surface! Mach 25 at sea level is a bad idea. For that matter, mach 25 at 20 miles up is still a bad idea. The idea would work a treat on the moon, though. Recovering energy by flying into a tu...
by Tom Ligon
Sat Oct 21, 2017 6:36 pm
Forum: News
Topic: SpaceX News
Replies: 2324
Views: 1154739

Re: SpaceX News

"Elon Musk’s Boring Company is digging a 10-mile tunnel in Maryland" Seriously, Musk's outfit for digging the first Hyperloop tunnel is "The Boring Company". Which meshes perfectly with how boring his rocket landings have (thankfully) gotten. Now, do the Tunnel Boring Machines have cute names? "Hone...
by Tom Ligon
Wed Oct 18, 2017 2:10 pm
Forum: News
Topic: SpaceX News
Replies: 2324
Views: 1154739

Re: SpaceX News

Elon Musk on Reddit wrote:The advantage of getting somewhere in 30 mins by rocket instead of 15 hours by plane will be negatively affected if "but also, you might die" is on the ticket.
But, to borrow a line from a 1970's cartoon about an SST design: "This one is so fast, we were able to eliminate the restrooms."
by Tom Ligon
Tue Oct 17, 2017 8:11 pm
Forum: General
Topic: Attn: Tom Ligon
Replies: 16
Views: 29256

Re: Attn: Tom Ligon

He thought the tendency of the AIs to find workarounds for their safeguards was worth thinking about. Asimov had a few things to say about that. I think that may be the original inspiration for the strip. The Freefall AIs are not 3-laws robots, due to the flaws Asimov identified in that approach. T...
by Tom Ligon
Tue Oct 17, 2017 3:53 am
Forum: General
Topic: Attn: Tom Ligon
Replies: 16
Views: 29256

Re: Attn: Tom Ligon

There's another former Talk-Polyweller on Freefall's forum at the moment, posting as JohnDoe. Hah, a likely alias, I say! I'll see if I can get him to fess up his TP ID.
by Tom Ligon
Fri Oct 13, 2017 2:33 am
Forum: News
Topic: EMC2 news
Replies: 440
Views: 453682

Re: EMC2 news

As I understand this sort of simulation, you may use a finite number of cells to simulate the volume, and probably in a limited part of the volume. Perhaps one quadrant is modeled and the rest are presumed symmetrical. Then you put discrete test charges in motion. So you model some number of discret...
by Tom Ligon
Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:48 pm
Forum: News
Topic: SpaceX News
Replies: 2324
Views: 1154739

Re: SpaceX News

Anyone want to buy a twice-flight-proven rocket?

The judges deducted a mandatory full point this time for poor video feed on the first stage descent, with the Russian judge deducting two points on account of it being (in accordance with the plan), boring.
by Tom Ligon
Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:54 am
Forum: News
Topic: SpaceX News
Replies: 2324
Views: 1154739

Re: SpaceX News

Just a little tease, Aero.

I'd much rather you got that EM drive thing figured out. We could beat SpaceX to Mars.